In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Used car prices are nuts in Italy.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi nick
nuts good or nuts bad
regards
simon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=lushsandwich;80836]we are tempted to exchange our focus for an lhd/mpv at a dealers in london in anticipation of our move to abruzzo,but have been advised that we could save a lot of money buying one in italy,is the cost saving worth the hassle? .
any views /experience appreciated.
simon[/quote]
You do not say what MPV you are looking at? or if its new or secondhand.
It does makes a difference,as to which is the best approach......
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Why not use your UK car in Italy and take it back once a year for service and MOT? Right hand drive really isn't that difficult, you'll get a few laughs as you nip out to pay your road toll, so what! you will have to use your wing mirrors more often but then you should anyway.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi giovanni
my wife and i were both originally from leicester,she from the city,me from lutterwoth,
secondhand by the way,
regards
simon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
thanks elliven
well ,we need to get something to ferry people to and from the airport,and as we are hoping to move permanantley,it seemed to make sense to get rid of the rhd while we were in the uk.
regards
simon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=lushsandwich;81038]hi giovanni
my wife and i were both originally from leicester,she from the city,me from lutterwoth,
secondhand by the way,
regards
simon[/quote]
hi simon.
Lutterworth, the nicer part of the county. :smile:.
"secondhand" In theory buying here in the UK should get you the better deal with regards buying secondhand,but you are after a lhd car which again should have made the car slightly cheaper when compared to a rhd vehicle.
Alas thats not always the case,i suggest you try comparing them, ie using the autotrader site here,and trying to found the equivelent type of thing from Italy [i know they exsist, let me try and found an old mag and get there website, might take a day or two]
Note. Italian cars do tend to average less miles when compared to UK vehicles,that in its self should mean the uk market would have more bargains,but at the cost of higher miles.
Love my Italian cars, but if durability is a key feature then the vw/ford/seat range would be my first choice.
good luck.....
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=lushsandwich;80946]hi nick
nuts good or nuts bad
regards
simon[/quote]
Expensive.
Before deciding to buy new I went around with some family. We checked out the various used car lots. Prices for even seven year old cars weren't much less then new. The scary thing is everybody thought the high prices normal.
I said nah and paid not much more for brand new. Got a longer warranty. Got a year fire and theft insurance for free. Not to mention all the other benefits from buying new.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I agree with NickZ about secondhand car prices here. That's why I might have seriously considered buying new for the first time ever, because everyone here seems to think their old banger is worth a fortune.
I bought a LHD drive car before coming out here, thinking I'd put it on Italian plates. It cost more than the equivalent RHD in the UK, quite a lot more, and frankly I can't face the palaver of putting it on Italian plates. So I'll eventually have to sell it back in the UK at a big loss.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi there
think best option for us is to buy here ,and if we cant sell the focus privately,part ex it.
we just have too much else to do ,
thanks for the info
simon
You can buy a new LHD in the UK
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/25/2008 - 03:11In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
When I moved out here, nearly 4 years ago, I had a UK RHD car I was having trouble sellng so I part-exchanged it for a LHD brand new Fiat Panda bought in the UK from a Fiat dealer.
The same law that says the French/Germans etc. have to sell us RHD cars in France and Germany, also says that UK dealers have to sell us LHD cars in the UK at no extra cost. Admittedly, I had to do a lot of phoning round to find a willing dealer but it worked fine. It cost me around €500 to register it here in Italy and it was very easy to do.
Remember that you can only register a car here once you have your residency.
I'm just about to sell the Panda for something bigger and have been weighing up buying a used car in the UK versus buying one here as they are definitely cheaper in the UK (if you don't mind driving a RHD here - which I don't) BUT by the time I worked out how long it would take and how much it would cost to go back to the UK and drive it over, I was only saving £1,000 and losing out on any aftersales warranty. Also, if I ever want to sell it on I would have to go back to the UK again - more cost.
Here in Italy, the dealer has to by law give you at least one year's warranty and they will also source any car you want for you and part exchange your own. That's what I call servce!
So, I will be staying at home here in Amandola and will be letting the dealer take the strain. OK - it takes a bit longer (he said it might take a month) but it's not too much dearer and it's a damn sigth easier!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
hi penny
thanks for the info,i am thinking the best thing for us to do,is sell privately our rhd,in the uk, as we will get more for it,if not ,try to part ex it at a lhd dealership in the uk,for a nearly new lhd mpv.everyone has different ideas,and i suppose we must do what suits us at the time ,hopefully we wont get any if only moments.our focus isnt big enough for want we want to do in italy so it has to go,also i think from some of the roads we have used ,a rhd could be dangerous.
now to plan the road trip!,notice as i write lhd ads at the top of the page,now thats marketing!
regards
simon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Another option for you to consider if you decided against trading in your current car in the UK for an LHD - which you would still have to re-register...
Get the Eurostar to Brussels and buy a second hand LHD in Belgium (where LHD prices can be significantly less than the UK for and certainly Italy). It's easy enough to buy a car with export plates and insurance for 6-9 months which will be long enough for you to get through the drudge of re-registering in Italy. Don't underestimate what a pain this can be though.
This was the approach we took and it was enough to tear my hair out when I did it (which is not the best endorsement to this particular approach I know), but I'm sure we saved a shed load of euros.
Safe driving
Chris
[url=http://www.olivopiegato.com]Tuscany Bed and Breakfast - L'Olivo Piegato, The Crooked Olive[/url]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
thanks chris
so many answers and so many options.any idea of belgian websites to check out the prices?
ps had a quick look at your site,stayed in lucca a couple of years ago and took at look at the region,beautiful.
decided to opt for abruzzo in the end tho and hope to open a b&b,hows yours going?
simon
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Penny;81266]
Remember that you can only register a car here once you have your residency.
[/quote]
Or what the lady at the car dealership told me.
"We'll register it the way you want but if you don't have residency it's on your head" Okay fine :laughs:
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=lushsandwich;81839]thanks chris
so many answers and so many options.any idea of belgian websites to check out the prices?
ps had a quick look at your site,stayed in lucca a couple of years ago and took at look at the region,beautiful.
decided to opt for abruzzo in the end tho and hope to open a b&b,hows yours going?
simon[/quote]
Hi Simon
The car we bought was from an UK eBay trader resident in Brussels, but he doesn't seem to be trading anymore. This is the link to Ebay LHD [url=http://motors.search.ebay.co.uk/lhd_Cars_W0QQfromZR34QQsacatZ9801]eBay.co.uk - lhd, lhd Cars, left hand drive, left hand, left items at low prices[/url] and this one is to a Belgian site [url=http://fr.autoscout24.be/Home.aspx]Auto occasion / 51.571 autos d'occasions à vendre - AutoScout24 Belgique[/url] At least from these two links even if you don't buy from either (if you watch them for a while) you will be able to get a decent feel for "price". I did also check eBay Italy, but wouldn't touch with the preverbial barge pole for a variety of reasons.
Just to re-emphasise, the re-registration process in Italy can be an absolute pig and take months, even if you use a "fixer" or agency such as ACI. e.g. despite having a valid E.U. wide certifcate of conformity we were required to get hold of more documentation in Italian from the Italian head office of Lancia (in our case) before we could proceed, by which time our export insurance had expired, meaning we had to take the car off the road. You'll see this is not a compelling argument for following in our steps, but, at least you would be forewarned!!
Re our experience with matters B&B, if you send me a private email with your UK land line I will happily give you a call and we can chat.
Chris
[url=http://www.olivopiegato.com]Tuscany Bed and Breakfast - L'Olivo Piegato, The Crooked Olive[/url]
It depends whether you are moving here permanently, or just for a short time, and whether you will return to the UK regularly.
Buying a secondhand car in Italy is not that much cheaper than in the UK (if at all), but the saving is in the wear and tear on your nerves when you try to register your UK car here. Bureaucracy is nightmarish, not helped by the fact that many of those you are dealing with don't know or understand the rules themselves. It helps if you have a Certificate of Conformity for the car, but can still cost about 700-800 euros.
You can run a UK car here officially for six months, but I believe some do it for longer than that, and return to the UK to get the car MOTed. They insure with international expat insurers like Locktons or Clements.
If I were in your position, I would buy a car in Italy if at all possible.