EU Conversion and Registration

[rogerwelch]

Does anyone have experience of converting a UK Octavia for the continent and registering the vehicle?

 

We are moving to Holland and currently have a UK Octavia Elegance TDi on a 58 plate with Xenon headlamps. I've reviewed various topics on this forum (many are useful but getting dated), I've also looked at the Dutch official sites which explain the process pretty well. I also spoke to my garage and was met with much sucking of teeth.

 

I'd be interested in any lessons learnt.

 

Thanks in advance

Roger

 

 

p.s. diesel may be cheaper on the continent - but they get it back through the road tax - the Skoda is approx 1300Euro a year to tax (ouch!)

[Stoofa]

First thing I will say is have you checked what you could sell your car for and how much a replacement would cost in Holland?

I remember in the past people have wanted to do similar, and in the end the hassle involved could be easily solved by simply swapping the car

[Huskoda]

Yep, I would sell it and buy one locally. Having the wheel on the correct side is a big thing when overtaking, using automated gates etc.

[rogerwelch]

Thanks Mike - very helpful

Not sure how to contact an individual member - the site won't let me post a 'profile feed'

Roger

[ConanBarbarian]

Does anyone have experience of converting a UK Octavia for the continent and registering the vehicle?

 

Are you referring to LHD conversion? Octavia is a fairly easy job in this case.

[rogerwelch]

Ah ha!

I took my Skoda into my friendly garage (Aladdin - Jericho - Oxford) to enquire if my Xenon's can be converted. They do a lot of conversions for the local transient population.

 

It's a 30 minute job once you know how (quite a bit longer the first time) - there is a small black lever on the Xenon bulb/lens which has two positions (one for LHS kick-up, and the other position flattens the beam). There was a bit of fiddling around with the a mask that obscured the beam (so had to take the bulb out of the lens assembly an poke around a bit - glad the chap in the garage did that with a £600 bulb and 42kV electrical system!).

 

Hopefully now all OK for Dutch registration

Thanks Aladdin

Roger

[JohnMcL7]

Thanks Mike - very helpful

Not sure how to contact an individual member - the site won't let me post a 'profile feed'

Roger

 

I'm perhaps misunderstanding you but you can click the 'send me a message' button on the profile link above which will pop up a little editor allowing you to send the person a PM.

 

John

[mannyo]

Flat beam will not pass the test the car needs for EU registration, the car will require the headlights to kick up on the right. Flat beam is intended for short term tourist use hence the "Tourist Mode" reference in the owners manual.

[FUBAR]

Does anyone have experience of converting a UK Octavia for the continent and registering the vehicle?

 

We are moving to Holland and currently have a UK Octavia Elegance TDi on a 58 plate with Xenon headlamps. I've reviewed various topics on this forum (many are useful but getting dated), I've also looked at the Dutch official sites which explain the process pretty well. I also spoke to my garage and was met with much sucking of teeth.

 

I'd be interested in any lessons learnt.

 

Thanks in advance

Roger

 

 

p.s. diesel may be cheaper on the continent - but they get it back through the road tax - the Skoda is approx 1300Euro a year to tax (ouch!)

The Dutch are some of the best overall people in the world they really are. Is your move permanent? If sub 1 year you don't need to do anything really registration and licence wise. That 'could' be the case initially for a private vehicle but then closer to the year point it then becomes permanent and you would need to register  as that is all down to your own personal intentions...... Might be a way of gaining some breathing space. Obvious things as with all other EU countries until your vehicle is registered there you need to have registration certificate in vehicle at all times driving, UK tax disc in date, mot certificate, full driving licence and insurance certificate. Once registered in the Netherlands you basically still need to carry all these things inc drivers licence at all times when driving unlike the UK. 

 

 

Diesel is a fair bit cheaper in the Netherlands than the UK but petrol is vastly more expensive! The equivalent of road tax is very high indeed, at least it can be paid monthly. Insurance is fairly reasonable. You should be able to exchange your driving licence for a Dutch one fairly easily. If you are for some reason required to do a driving test there from scratch the theory test can be taken in English, because the Dutch are that cool! 

 

For the Car importation though, by the book you need lights beam pattern to kick up the opposite way not just flat, fog light on back needs to be on other side (can be done on computer I think) and that's about it as speedo will already have kph. For obtaining insurance you will need a lot more details than in the UK as the original price of the car when brand new is required (in euros) the weight in KG, fuel capacity etc. You essentially insure the car for anyone with an EU licence and your permission to be able to drive it and not like it is in the UK the driver + extra folk. 

 

Paying import tax will be the main thing, I am not 100% on the method but it used to be BTW (equivalent of VAT) on the value of the vehicle BTW went from 19% to 21% a couple of years ago though :( .

 

First thing I will say is have you checked what you could sell your car for and how much a replacement would cost in Holland?

I remember in the past people have wanted to do similar, and in the end the hassle involved could be easily solved by simply swapping the car

When I bought my vRS and brought it over to the Netherlands the Dutch price was €46500 for a stock diesel vRS. For that difference in price I would stick with RHD unless move is going to be absolutely permanent. 

 

Yep, I would sell it and buy one locally. Having the wheel on the correct side is a big thing when overtaking, using automated gates etc.

The barriers in carparks etc is an art form which I mastered quickly. Some people not joking in RHD cars use a grabber pole and keep it behind front seats just for this.

 

Flat beam will not pass the test the car needs for EU registration, the car will require the headlights to kick up on the right. Flat beam is intended for short term tourist use hence the "Tourist Mode" reference in the owners manual.

Yea the flat beam is meant to in EU rules be a max 3 month thing (law from 2008 I think). Beam benders don't seem to be time restricted in the same way though. Dutch APK (equivalent of MOT) is not as strict as UK MOT and done in most garages like in GB and can be fairly easy to get anything a certificate prices tend to be from €25 to €60 diesels seem to be more expensive to test.