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Buying a new Vauxhall from Holland or dealer
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I think it'd be great to have the full story of how you found it. I for one will read it with interest. It's great to talk about in theory, but the hear the practicalities makes it much easier to work out whether it is worth doing for people.
just to add a note we recentley bought a mpv from a car supermarket which imports them from abroad and also saved thousands off the rrp, we were a bit worried about the spec etc but everything was perfect and the staff were exellent (and very busy) and the service brilliant, would really recommend it.
1. Go to the website www.vandermolen.nl and click on international buyers. Fill in the ‘get a quotation’ section with the model and optional extras. The export dept will email you back with a quote within a couple of days. Don’t forget to state the car is to be badged Vauxhall not Opel, to have a full UK spec including RH drive, imperial speedometer, pan European warranty, UK headlights and UK manuals. You can pick the car up from the dealer in Holland, take delivery from Hull/Harwich docks or have the car delivered to your door – the delivery price varies accordingly, I chose home delivery. The quote Van Der Molen gives you is in euros. Conversion to UK pounds is euros/exchange rate x 1.175.
2. Get a quote from your local Vauxhall dealer. See if their price is within £1500 of the Dutch price. Repeat at different Vauxhall dealers until you get bored. They won’t be anywhere near the Dutch price. Compare the savings made.
3. In order to pay the deposit for the car in euros, I used a company called FX Solutions www.fxsolutions.co.uk based in London who specialise in trading in currencies. First set up an account with FX Solutions (tel: 08709 007 007). For this you need two forms ID, eg a passport & a utility bill. Fax or scan & email copies to them. They will give you two rates for buying euros; the spot price is used for the deposit and the forward price can be used for the balance. The exchange rate you get from your local bank or travel agent will work out far more expensive but by all means check them out.
4. Do you need a bank loan to finance the deal? Go to www.moneyfacts.co.uk and click on loans then click on unsecured and check out the best five and choose the best one and apply as required. I didn’t know about the MSE website then.
5. When you are happy with the specification, Van Der Molen will send you the Order Acceptance Agreement Confirmation to sign and return by fax. Buy the euros from FX Solutions and pay the 15% deposit. Ask FX Solutions to transfer the deposit to Van Der Molen’s bank account. This will cost you £15 to transfer the euros.
6. Ring the DVLA on 0870 241 2416 and ask for the following: the V55/4 form ‘Application for a first licence for a new motor vehicle and declaration for registration’, the VAT 415 form ‘New means of transport – notification of acquisition’ and the V267 form ‘Declaration of newness for use by an independent importer’. Also ask for the notes ‘How to complete the formV55/4’.
7. Wait until the dealer informs you the car is ready. Buy the rest of the euros and pay the remaining balance via FX Solutions. Again paying £15 to transfer the euros.
8. Receive the certificate of conformity and the car invoice by courier. Arrange for a cover note with your insurance company - the registration number can’t be filled in but you can give them the VIN number. Fill in the three forms obtained in (6) above. If help is required ring the DVLA on 0870 241 2146 and ask to speak to your local DVLA office. Take these three forms with the certificate of conformity, the car invoice, the cover note and payment (£25 to register and £160 for car tax) to the local DVLA office. A list of local DVLA offices can be found at www.dvla.gov.uk. The registration number and tax disc can be collected two days later.
9. Take delivery of your new car. Buy the new number plates (£10 each from Halfords) and fit them.
10. Customs & Excise will bill you for importing a new car and charge you VAT on the car. This is 17.5% of the imported price. You have thirty days to pay the VAT – so wait 25 days then pay it to get maximum interest.
An example of a total car price and saving (based on an exchange rate £=1.55€ on the 30/09/02) might be:
Car price c/w opt extras 16900€ £10900
Delivery to door 550€ £353
VAT car price £1969
Transfer fees from bank to bank £30
DVLA £25 +£155 £180
Number plates £20 Total Car Price £13452
List price £18050
Dealer’s price £16425
10% discount if you are lucky!
Saving on list £4598 = 25.5%
Saving on dealer £2973 = 18.1%
Door to Door delivery was to NW UK. The above figures are for illustration purposes only and are not guaranteed. Also these savings are dependant on the rate of exchange between £ & €. For any other car manufacturer, use the dealer locator section on their european manufacturer's website. You will have guess their web name eg www.ford.nl
We bought a new MGF from the Netherlands in 1999 and saved £7-8K.
We dealt directly with a Rover dealer in Rotterdam to get the best price, but this easy because my wife is Dutch & that is where her family lives.
I realise that a lot has changed since then (ie the Euro and car supermarkets) but if you put in the legwork you can still get great savings.
Two other things....
We drove the car back from Rotterdam (via chunnel) so we had to arrange insurance. The insurance company were fine about this but we had to quote the VIN (as it wasn't registered).
THis bit might have changed, but there was a period (for us it was two weeks) between when we went to the DVLA and they let us know what the registration number was. During this period you are not supposed to drive the vehicle on the road, so if you have a garage, fine, but if the car is to be kept on the street you may have a problem!
Don't know if this is still the case... perhaps someone knows?
1. personal choice - some people like a car that hasn't been sicked up in, had dogs in, kids etc etc
2. A new car is covered by a decent warranty
3. A new car doesn't need a MOT for 3 years
4. EVERYTHING is new and should not need replacing for some time (eg tyres, exhaust)
5. Peace of mind that you are less likely to break down. I know all the horror stories regarding the reliability of new cars - but on the whole they are more relaible than older cars (unless you buy a Peugeot)
1. I assume most people would clean up the sick but I guess you never can tell.
2. Not all warranties are created equal and there are certainly horror stories around these if you care to look.
3. Not needing an MOT shouldn't be used as an excuse for not performing what is in reality only a very rudimentarty check of a vehicles roadworthiness.
4. "should not." is hardly the same as will not.
5. Can I ask where you got these figures from? Do you have a comparison which includes regularly serviced vehicles as opposed to new vs. old?
3 years ago I bought a 3 year old Audi A4 Avant (Estate) - diesel with the turbocharger and fuel injection.
I've not had a single problem with it, only mechanical costs being the annual service, that a friend of mine does.
I have the oil and oil filters changed regularly, and my mechanic says that as long as I continue to do this and get it serviced regularly it should last me at least another 200,000 miles.
On motorway miles I get 50mpg, and city/rush hour driving I get 40mpg.
After 3 years old I don't get a car serviced with the franchised dealership, Audi in Leeds charge £75 an hour just for labour, my mechanic charges me £25 an hour.
Also, it is very important to get the Cam Belt changed at the manufacturers recommended mileage...
If that goes whilst you are driving it means a dead enging and £000's for a new one.
I would never buy a new car for these reasons and the ones I quoted previously...
The depreciation levels on new cars really is frightening! Some models are only worth half the buying price after the first year!
But of course at the end of the day if you want to lose one third to half the value of a new car in the first year, purely for vanity reasons, then that's up to you.
If I had the choice between a new ford/vauxhall, and a well maintained 3 year old Audi or Mercedes, I would go for the Audi/Mercedes every time!
I don't always think a car is about vanity, I bought the best car I could at the time based on it's safety,(it was a used car) yes I could have kept my old reliable VW Polo without any air bags or side impact protection bars but in a crash my money sat in a bank wouldn't be of much use to me or my children.
mini
I think it'd be great to have the full story of how you found it. !I for one will read it with interest. !It's great to talk about in theory, but the hear the practicalities makes it much easier to work out whether it is worth doing for people.
It's an insult to describe buying a new car as a "vanity" choice. There are several reasons why people would want a new car. These may not fit in with the opinion of some, but that's what opinions are all about. A secondhand Audi would suit one person and a new Vauhall the other.
For those that think it is pure vanity, do you also buy your clothes and furniture secondhand? I doubt it. Yet such items would be easily available in good condition at a fraction of the price.
At the moment the debate seems to be whether to buy a new car or not...
Fact - Some people want a new car (my wife did)
Fact - The figures I quoted are roughly what I paid for the new car - I don't really care if Dannyboy or whoever doesn't want a new car. That will keep the 2nd hand car market alive.
Fact - The warranty is European wide & works in the UK because I have used it. There is no RAC cover but full cover is around £100/yr.
Local Vauxhall garage hasn't ripped us off with servicing
I am explaining what happened to us when we bought our car and I just thought some others who were thinking of purchasing a new car might like the benefit of my experience. However, a much easier method of buying a new car without all the aggro I am told is buying from one of the car supermarkets in Burnley or Derby or wherever, but I'll leave you to debate that one...
I wasn't trying to offend anyone (except perhaps those who had suggested my car smells of sick!)
I think if you want a new car and can justify buying it to yourself (not the bunch of skinflints you find round here) then great and if you have a suggestion to do it more cheaply too then even better. I was impressed by your willingness to give all the gory details to assist others.
Also hope that wasn't a final "Goodbye". This site is all about saving money in whatever you do and I think I can say on behalf of all those who are considering buying a new car that your input here has been well presented, invaluable and is greatly appreciated - THANK YOU!
Hell, with all that money you saved, why not cheese off Dannyboy by buying another new car? !
If you really want to save money you should try buying your car in Denmark. The tax there is so high they have to make the car price less tax very very competitive. A lot of people in northern Germany do this already, so if its cheap for the Germans its got to be cheap for us!!
I really hope the goodbye wasn't final, it's a great story about shopping around which most of the people on here are doing for varying reasons with different budgets, when people ask for help buying a tv we don't all jump in & say keep with what you've got/buy a second hand one.
Thanks to Jmalls for giving sucha concise step by step guide, I hope you stay around
Excellent post, I've often considered buying from abroad but never understood what the proceedures were. Your post makes it very clear indeed and I have taken a print for future reference.
On the subject of why buy new, I'd just like to add that not only do you have peace of mind that nothing bad has happened in the life of the car, like accidents or potentially unwarranted intermittent faults which may not appear on the test drive of an out of warranty 2nd hand car, but by buying new you get to specify your optional extras. Finding a 2nd hand car with everything you want in the model and colour yof your choice can be difficult and you often have to settle for 2nd best.
When you can make such great savings on a new car, and you can afford it, why not!
However. if you're prepared to take the risk with a second hand car and you know what you're looking for, or employ a professional who does or prepared to pay inflated dealer prices or buy from a car supermarket that's fine, good luck to you. Mind you, I thought I knew what to look for but have had some awful problems with 2nd hand cars, but then I couldn't afford to buy new anyway.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps. Take care over copyright. Use excerpts and links rather than copying long text. This site asserts copyright on all comments posted on the board.
Pls be nice to all MoneySavers. There's no such thing as a stupid question, and even if you disagree courtesy helps.
Buying a new Vauxhall from Holland (uk idea included)
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