Kodiaq RHD to LHD

[Mofa]

Does anyone have experience of converting an Edition DSG 4x4. for use in Norway? Or even recommend someone in UK that could do it for me?

 

[BRUN]

working in parts at a dealers, im 100% sure this would be cost prohibitive, if its even possible

[DaveMiller]

There’s also a depreciation cost. The resultant car, having been converted by someone other than the manufacturer, would be valued at less than an original RHD, and less than an original LHD.

[Phil-E]

When you say "for use in Norway", do you just mean swapping headlights etc?

 

If you mean a full conversion to LHD then it's totally not worth it. So many components to swap.

[lowedb]

As others have suggested. If you really mean converting in full (like moving the steering wheel from the right to the left), it would cost less to set fire to your RHD car and buy a LHD one.  But just making it LHD market compatible (lights mostly) could be do-able. I helped someone do this to a Mitsibuishi Outlander. The replacement headlamps were a silly amount of money and turned out not to be original but poor copies and damaged in transit. For the rear the replacement lamps were also not good, but the wiring had to be adapted.

 

This said, if it were me,  I'd still have sold the car in it's home market and bought a replacement in the new place.

[SimonAudi]

Doesn't the edition have LED  lights - so automatically swap - for the light part - with just some clicks in the infotainment?

 

As for moving steering wheel / pedals / dash... as others have said do not bother.... because when you get into it... little things like wiring looms, door cards etc also have to be changed and these cost big money...

 

 

[linni]

I believe there is a question of taxes.

If you buy LHD in Norway, the prices will start from 42 400 GBP. For a lowest end.

To buy from mainland - import taxes not less.

Only legal way, if I recall right, is to take your own vehicle, which you must have owned for some years.

But as you probably cannot drive RHD in Norway, you have to rebuild it. Anyway cheaper than to pay ridiculous amount of taxes

[CJJE]

1 hour ago, linni said:

But as you probably cannot drive RHD in Norway, you have to rebuild it. Anyway cheaper than to pay ridiculous amount of taxes

As a tourist in a RHD drive car, I don't know of any country where I would be banned from driving it. Or do some countries actually insist on their residents not driving RHD drive cars?? 

[linni]

1 hour ago, CJJE said:

As a tourist in a RHD drive car, I don't know of any country where I would be banned from driving it. Or do some countries actually insist on their residents not driving RHD drive cars?? 

 

Well, nod driving, but registering, to be precise.

I believe he is moving temporarily there.

In Finland for example (and pretty much in all Sandinavian countries) you can drive around with your car, which is registered to another country, for few months. After that leave the country or pay the taxes and register the car in the country. But the registration could be impossible, if the steering wheel is on the wrong side. In Estonia lately you couldn`t registered the RHD car if the car was built after 1984.

Edited 13 September, 2020 by linni

[CJJE]

That's what I was asking. In the UK, yes you have to register your car in the UK once you are living here, but there is no restriction on you registering LHD drive cars here - whether European or American imports. 

[Mofa]

Dear All, many thanks for your informative advice.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear, but we drive our RHD car to and from Norway every year (apart from this year due to Covid), and we will be living there permanently soon hence the need for LHD. Main reason to consider changing to LHD is the astronomic cost of used cars in Norway. My Kodiaq March 2019 (Edition 2.0 TSI DSG 4x4, high spec - panoramic roof, floppy paddles, heated steering wheel, 5year warranty, etc) is probably worth £26k In UK,. Similar used model in Norway is £57k! 
However on balance the risk of not getting the vehicle accepted to drive is not worth it, so we’ll just have to accept moving downmarket from our beloved Kodiaq, for an affordable RHD car. Driving a RHD long term is not safe, and probably not allowed, as you really need a passenger “spotter” when overtaking the many slow-moving “bobils”  (camper vans) on the typical narrow and twisty roads in Norway.

[blakey7]

There was a dealer down south selling a good spec Kodiaq LHD car i think it was on eBay. May be worth a search on eBay or Auto trader although as others have said you may need to own the vehicle for a few years before you can register in Norway.

[linni]

Better ask Norwegian customs - if you are moving into the country the restrictions might be different - new car allowed etc.

Then sell your car in UK, buy one in Germany and register it in UK. And after all that reregister it in Norway.

mobile.de - lots of buying options.

[DSL]

Would conversion from RHD to LHD even be possible, never mind expensive, without changing the body shell?  OK not a Kodiaq but the old style Discovery (3 & 4) had 4 body shells, RHD with & without sunroof and LHD with & without sunroof, I would have thought the Kodiaq would be similar.  I’m assuming taking a gas axe to a RHD and a LHD shell, say rear crash damage, isn’t an option. 

[DaveMiller]

Off-topic, sorry, but I remember years ago my mate’s Pontiac Bonneville in Hong Kong, converted to RHD to sell new there.

 

The whole dash had been changed, but the brake servo stayed where it was, on the left.  The brake pedal (on the right) connected behind the scenes with the rod which went through the floor (on the left) to the servo.   In scary moments, the front passenger might press the floor - and bring the brakes on!

[lowedb]

The physical body probably isn't different RHD to LHD. For volume manufacturing you design things like that in. I'm kind of surprised Disco 3 and 4 were like that, Disco 1 had only one shell for LHD and RHD, and the roof ISTR was bolt on (Range Rover certainly was).  What is almost certainly different is the wiring harness as just one example. While the engine bay for example will be similar, the instruments, pedals and so on all switch sides. Harnesses are designed in a modular way, so quite often the the car is ordered the harness is made specifically for that car, the ordering computer uses the PR codes for the car and selects the right modules. So I'd be pretty sure you would need a replacement one, and that will NOT be cheap. Also the wiring harness is almost the first thing fitted to the car when its built, and reaches every corner of the car. Imagine the labour to strip it out and fit the new one.

 

You would also need, most likely a new steering rack, new wiper motor assembly and arms, new headlamps new dashboard / fascia moulding to name just a few. Then the whole car would need to be re-coded to tell it it's LHD instead of RHD.

 

It could all be done with time and money, but it really isn't something that is even remotely financially viable.

[DSL]

Deffo 4 parts as they like to tell peeps on the factory tour when entering the Body in White (really silver) section of the factory tour.    Sad souls that I was, I went on 3 of them!    
 

Re using a RHD in Norway, as a regular visitor to Arctic Norway I fully understand the hassle of getting found the droves of campers crawling around but had a bit of a technique/routine for getting round them, worked fine.  Mixture of patience, enough of a gap, hopefully a left hand bend ahead and plenty of power/acceleration.  OK, not ideal but better than costing crazy amount of money?  If it was me, I’d check and see if it is possible to register and insure a RHD car as a first move.  

[silver1011]

What are the import taxes like?

 

Sell your RHD Kodiaq here in the UK. Pop over to the Czech Republic or some other Eastern European market and buy a LHD Kodiaq for much cheapness.

 

Drive to Norway.