Hi everyone, profuse apologies if this has been asked before, I've searched around and can't find any information. I did find a link somewhere, but it was dead.

I've taken my UK-spec Octavia (late 2009 model) abroad semi-permanently and am eventually going to have to get round to registering it in France. I'm hearing conflicting information on whether stick-on headlight adaptors are acceptable, but if there's a facility to set them to "drive on the right" mode, then obviously it'd be preferable to do that. The manual isn't much help, it just says "take it to a dealer"; however, I'm just wondering if it's possible to do it yourself? (I'm not particularly useful when it comes to big car jobs but am willing to give it a go if it's reasonably straightforward!) I believe I read somewhere a while back that there's a lever somewhere behind the headlight unit that does it but it's a little bit inaccessible - is this correct?

It's going in for its annual service soon anyway and I can probably ask the garage to do it (it's going to a Skoda-approved workshop) but if I can save a few quid by doing it myself, then I will.

There was a discussion on this a while back. I think the best you can do is to remove the kick-up on the left hand side of the dipped beam. Headlight units need to come out and ,as you say, a lever slid with a small screwdriver. Was in one of the locked posts at the top IIRC .

Whether this is good enough for a permanent residence abroad who knows.....

An earlier post had this link Octavia VRS EU headlight conversion which might be what you are looking for. I'm working in France next week so will have to give it a try on mine, looks a bit of fiddle.

All the lever does on the back of headlight is flatten the beam.

This is acceptable for holidays but if as you say you intend to take the car over on a semi-permanent basis you will need to replace the headlights eventually.

If you have Maxidot, there should be a setting in there called Tourist Mode, just activate it.

I did on my Elegance, just after we left the ET Shuttle in Calais, it worked perfectly, especially wandering around the dark car parks of Cité Europe!

If you have Maxidot, there should be a setting in there called Tourist Mode, just activate it.

I did on my Elegance, just after we left the ET Shuttle in Calais, it worked perfectly, especially wandering around the dark car parks of Cité Europe!

Thats also fine for holidays, but even that will not pass the required tests to export a car to an EU country. The only way to pass these tests is to replace the entire headlights for LHD ones.

The total france forum is also a good source of info for property buying, car registering etc.

http://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/index.php

Thanks for the replies everyone... No unfortunately the SE model I have doesn't have Maxidot, there's no facility to do the automatic change. Looks like it'll have to be a complete replacement... even so, it still worked out far cheaper overall than buying the equivalent car out here.

So, if anyone would care to break the bad news... I know it's probably difficult to give an accurate answer to this, but how much am I going to be looking at (to the nearest hundred, let's say) for a pair of headlight units?

Thanks for the replies everyone... No unfortunately the SE model I have doesn't have Maxidot, there's no facility to do the automatic change. Looks like it'll have to be a complete replacement... even so, it still worked out far cheaper overall than buying the equivalent car out here.

So, if anyone would care to break the bad news... I know it's probably difficult to give an accurate answer to this, but how much am I going to be looking at (to the nearest hundred, let's say) for a pair of headlight units?

Do the flat line and check the scrappy's over there you could be lucky and get a pare, or even ebay Europe

Edited 4 January, 201115 yr by skippy41

The tourist mode is only available on cars with maxidot and Xenons, if you have the standard halogens, then to flat line them, it's a manual adjustment...

If you're over there on a 50% basis then I'd agree with earlier suggestions and track down a set of LHD headlamps. They're pretty easy to remove and there's guides available on here to help you.

If you want to be fully compliant, and for peace of mind, then this is the way to go I think.

Steve

This summer I may be in similar situation as OP. I've got xenon lights (but no maxidot) so I'm toying with the idea of buying a set of LHD xenons and then to swap the lights either just before leaving UK or soon after arriving at destination in France. Is this something best left to Skoda dealer (in France)? If vagcom is required then it's going to be a dealer job.

A spare set of xenon headlamps are going to be expensive! Prepare yourself for a shock if you ring a dealer for prices

If you do somehow manage to get a LHD set for good money, then I don't think anything else would be required beyond the actual swapover, as long as the LHD set were set and aligned properly beforehand. Not sure how involved the removal will be though, but should just be the removal of the xenon ballasts from the electrical connectors and then remove the headlamp units. Only have direct experience of Fabia factory xenon lights though, and the Octy2 FL units may be more involved.

HTH,

Steve

I'm bracing myself for any replacement set of headlights to be expensive, not just xenons...! Does anyone know roughly how much a set of standard halogens cost? UK price will be fine, it's a close enough guide.

Probably going to get a dealer to do it anyway to be honest... the car's still under warranty for over a year and a half yet so I'd rather stuff was done properly and not by some dodgy French back-street shack. I had some warranty work done by a place just over the border in Switzerland that deals with most VAG brands - I imagine it's going to go back there (which means paying in Swiss Francs - even worse on the pocket...!)

Swapping the headlight units is a doddle, you could do it yourself. You have to remove them to change the bulb, takes me about 10 minutes to do both bulbs so would take about the same amount of time to change the units over. They may require alignment after that though...

Agreed, the dealer price for them won't be cheap. But you'd have an easier job finding some halogen ones on eBay from an Octy2 that's being broken. Xenons are fair rarer, and the chances of one being broken are even smaller.

Steve

You say a late model 2009, is that a facelift?

If not here you go...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Set-SKODA-Octavia-LHD-european-headlamps-headlights-/370300403870

£330 delivered from Germany.

Just seen the thread title

Facelift ones here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Set-SKODA-Octavia-LHD-OE-european-headlamps-headlights-/370334087126?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5639a1b7d6

£470 delivered from the same seller.

Edited 4 January, 201115 yr by silver1011

Ha, yeah it's a facelift model - 59 reg. Thanks very much indeed for that link, that's extremely helpful.

Wow £431 for LHD halogens! I hate to think what a set of LHD xenons cost. The original factory-fitted xenons cost me £600. Looks like I'll have to keep my visit to less than 3 months.

Wow £431 for LHD halogens! I hate to think what a set of LHD xenons cost. The original factory-fitted xenons cost me £600. Looks like I'll have to keep my visit to less than 3 months.

You might be suprised.

Although I couldn't find xenons for the Octavia the same seller does have some for the Fabia for just over £300.

You will need to use your bulbs, ballasts, ignitors etc. from your existing xenons but not as expensive as I thought:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Set-SKODA-Fabia-LHD-european-XENON-headlamps-headlights-/400150192590?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5d2acf61ce

Perhaps worth emailing him to check availability for the Octavia?

Just sent an e-mail to my local UK dealer... Been quoted £282 for the set. (Hopefully that's including VAT!)

Seen some other 2nd hand ones on other countries' ebay sites that would be a bit cheaper, but half-tempted to buy new as it's not as much as I thought.

Just about to phone Skoda UK now to see how much a European Certificate of Conformity is going to set me back (and bracing myself accordingly.)

Thanks once again.

Many thanks to silver1011 for link re lhd xenons.