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Further to a message I posted last year, today I checked the prices of a Joint E33 motorhome from the main UK dealer, Don Amott in Derbyshire and a German main dealer. Results using todays exchange rate (which has been virtually constant for some time) - UK price £22,775, German price £15,822. Both include VAT. The only difference in the vehicles is that the the German one is left-hand drive.

I don't think it costs THAT much extra for a RHD Fiat chassis or to move a vehicle over the channel.

Hi, from what I've read the price of bringing a 'van back over here is no more than a few hundred quid, and really, driving a 'leftie' isn't that bad. We've only had our Hymer for a few weeks, and I got used to being on the left within a couple of hours. When ready to trade up, I will definately consider a trip to Germany - cut out the importers costs and have a holiday into the bargain.

It really is time this country made a stand. If we could all be bothered to go to the slight effort involved in importing our own cars/motorhomes/bikes e.t.c. then the rip-off market would be crippled and forced to stop ripping us off....... ho hum, dreaming again.

You can order righthand drive motors abroard, they take a little longer to arrive at the dealership and you might have to pay a couple of hundred more than a leftie but you'll still be saving thousands, people do this all the time with cars.

I asked the German dealer if he could supply a RHD and he said no, but without trying.. I've found that it's possible to buy new abroad for a similar price some UK dealers are asking for a 10 year old UK model of similar type. When I see a VW Transporter based model with an 'N' (1996) reg.with the same price tag as a new Joint coachbuilt in Germany, I wonder what's going on..Rampant profiteering, I suppose. My brother-in-law wanted to trade in his 1 year old Abbey caravan to the main dealer he bought it from in the north-east in part-ex for a motorhome. He bought it for £13,550 new and was offered £4,500!! He'd used it three times and it was immaculate.. No caravan dealers in heaven?

Quote: Originally posted by EddieF on 27/02/2005

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I asked the German dealer if he could supply a RHD and he said no, but without trying.. I've found that it's possible to buy new abroad for a similar price some UK dealers are asking for a 10 year old UK model of similar type. When I see a VW Transporter based model with an 'N' (1996) reg.with the same price tag as a new Joint coachbuilt in Germany, I wonder what's going on..Rampant profiteering, I suppose. My brother-in-law wanted to trade in his 1 year old Abbey caravan to the main dealer he bought it from in the north-east in part-ex for a motorhome. He bought it for £13,550 new and was offered £4,500!! He'd used it three times and it was immaculate.. No caravan dealers in heaven?

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Ask around and you may be able to find a dealer who will order you a RHD model, you could get sneaky and find someone who talks German to ask for you......dealers (of cars) got their bums kicked for not long back for treating UK residents different from EU ones so you might want to get someone German to ask just to see if it's a race thing.

The German dealer concerned phoned me and we discussed VAT. I said I wanted to pay German VAT as it's 1.5% cheaper than the UK (This is an option Billy, you don't have to pay UK VAT on entry to the UK providing you've paid it in an EU country.) and it was included in the price I quoted above. As my wife has had a sudden serious health problem which requires daily specialist treatment, I haven't been able to go to Germany yet and we may have to alter our plans to get a motorhome.

My advice is, spend a few hours searching the web, it's amazing what you can find. I start with the makers website then look for dealers in Germany (German prices seem cheaper than elsewhere in the EU). A few dealers have English translations (such as Joeressens in Germany, a Hobby dealer who sells many caravans to the UK) but the German is fairly easy to pick up - Reisemobile is motor home, Wohnwagen is caravan. Gebraucht...  means used, Neue.. new. When you find that bargain, use http://www.xe.net/cgi-bin/ucc/convert to convert the price to Sterling.

Moneycorp will change your money into Euros for £14. You open an account, pay in Sterling in the UK, then they wire Euros to the bank account of the dealer. Easy!

Check with your local DVLA office for registration rules. Swansea don't give you the right gen., I've found. I read that it's possible to get temporary insurance (and registration if necessary) in Germany, best arranged by the dealer. Then I planned to drive to the ferry myself, and once I got to the UK, employ a company to drive it home on their trade plates. Edinburgh to Inverness was only £100. You then have to register it before you can use it yourself. DVLA said it must be transported, but I believe that is incorrect. Do your own enquiries, though...

I was happy to have a LHD model anyway, RHD wasn't so crucial for me, but hey-ho..