Importing a car from Germany?

Herzlos

Ah, just a lack of demand then? Makes sense. Thanks

eamon

Quite a few used RHD motors end up in the Baltic states. The get a dash board and pedal rejig at that end. It must be worth their while!

Iceweasel

I see lots of Polish, Czech, Slovak and even Ukrainian car transporters heading East on German Autobahnen, loaded with RHD UK used vehicles.

4X4s are very popular as are BMWs, M-Benz, and Audis.

sinbad182

Yeah, a load of English cars end up in Eastern Europe.

Older prestige marques and Japanese runabouts seem particularly popular.

AdrianC

sinbad182 wrote: »

Yeah, a load of English cars end up in Eastern Europe.

We saw very, very few RHD cars when we spent about four months between Albania/ex-Yugo/Romania/Slovakia/Czech/Poland two years ago. Some of what's shipped over there may be converted, but I suspect most are either parts sources or identity donors for nicked LHD cars.

Albania was the one exception - the Friday night cruise around Blloku in Tirana was full of RHD BMW Ms, AMG Mercs etc with no plates at all on, and there were quite a few RHD school buses in use. Because, obviously, it's worth the saving to have the kids getting out into the traffic... The buses in Tirana were mainly ex-French, still with the Lyon destination signs and ads (and a sheet of A4 with the actual destination sellotaped into the windscreen... at night). Petrol pumps were mostly in Deutschmarks...

Probably the greatest density of locally-registered RHD cars in "LHD-land" Europe is in the ex-pat areas of France and Spain, when people retiring to the sun realise they can't have the same level of car for anywhere near the same money.

Hintza

If you ever bid on Copart for salvage your main adversaries are the Eastern Europeans.

AdrianC

Hintza wrote: »

If you ever bid on Copart for salvage your main adversaries are the Eastern Europeans.

<points up, at final sentence of first para>

sinbad182

Must have been in a different part of Poland to me - saw a fair few rhd taxis (avensis, primeras etc) in zakopane both times I've been, and Georgia is full of British BMWs and Mercs that are shipped/driven back and used as cheap 'flashy' rides or have cheap lhd bodges done and sold on.

In fact my mate from tblisi had an excellent enterprise going when he lived in London - would take orders for old mercs and sprinter vans and ship them back.

AdrianC

sinbad182 wrote: »

Must have been in a different part of Poland to me - saw a fair few rhd taxis (avensis, primeras etc) in zakopane both times I've been

We came through Zakopane. Didn't see any. We did have a slightly aromatic shepherd manage to stick his head into our van through the driver's door window - whilst I was trying to overtake his sheep...