Moving To Netherlands - Advice On Taking The Aygo With Me

[bogopogo]

Hi All

I plan to move to Netherlands in the new year - transfering my job there. Currently the proud owner of a 4 month old AYGO Blue, and absolutely loving it, don't want to get rid of it.

So, was thinking of buying another in Netherlands, but then thought maybe I could just take it with me. I have been looking into the cost, and looks like the only major thing seems to be having the headlights converted.

Does anyone know if this can be done without replacing anything or if I could simply buy LHD headlights and replace the the current ones. I have seen headlighs for about £65 each. If this is possible, how easy is it to replace them and does anyone know where I can buy cheapish LHD ones? I dont really want to be paying dealer prices.

Plus if anyone has any general advice or tips on exporting/importing a car to Netherlands and owning a car there I would appeciate any advice I can yet.

Many thanks for the help.

Jon

[AygoYugo]

Hi All

If anyone has any general advice or tips on exporting/importing a car to Netherlands and owning a car there I would appeciate any advice I can yet.

Many thanks for the help.

Jon

Stena Line do a Car + Driver service from Harwich to Hook of Holland.

From £ 49 single.

Stena Line

[gordonh]

You probably need to contact the Dutch version of the DVLA and see if there are any problems with you registering the car over there if this is a longterm move.

The fact that it's right hand drive might cause problems with the local insurance companies, so you might just have to trade it in for a new one.

[Jan van de Wouw]

Headlights are relatively easy to swap. It DOES require the

bumper to come off, but it can be done in less than an hour.

You might need to swap taillights too for correct placement

of the rear foglight, this COULD involve some wiring...

Getting a set of either is easy too; just call a breaker (or PM

me for details on doing so online as I am Dutch myself).

For how long are you planning on moving?

If it's sort of permanent I really think you'd be better off buying a new one

over here (do it on time: there's about a 3 month delivery delay atm).

I've driven a couple of LHD cars in the UK and for a holiday

it's fine, but if it were for a longer time I'd definately want to

be on the correct side of the car for the traffic I'm driving in.

Driving is a lot of looking and seeing and that's a LOT easier

if you're near the middle of the road instead of the shoulder...

But when you do move (where to?) I'd say "Tot Ziens"!

[boukehj]

Well, where to start? I have moved from the Netherlands to Belgium and back, taking 2 cars along each time.

I guess you've accepted that it's going to be inconvenient to have a LHD in an RHD country. So, assuming that you cannot be talked into buying a local car, here we go:

- If you're going to stay and live in the Netherlands, you will have to have the car registered. I do not know the exact rules on how long you can drive with your British license plate - those rules are likely to be different for those that apply to us natives.

- The government service that deals with the registration and does the technical + car identity check is the RDW. They will be able to help you with the specifics for the lights (although I can't imagine that you need to do more than swap out the lights). Send them an email to be sure; it's free ;) http://www.rdw.nl/nl/voertuigeigenaar/alge...ing_the_rdw.htm

The registration process requires you to:

Go to an RDW station (typically only open in the morning). You can drive there using your own plates, assuming that your UK registration is still valid.

* There, you have to hand over proof that the car was registered in the UK. I do not know which documents proof UK registration (but I assume that you do). Anyway, be prepared to hand them over. No, you will not get them back. A car cannot be registered in two countries at the same time!

* Furthermore, you will have to present the car's EC-Certificate of Conformity. Is that something that UK car owners normally have? It's not normal to have it in the Netherlands; Dutch owners will typically have no clue what it is, but it is necessary for importing and exporting a car. You can request the Certificate of Conformity that is specific for your car with the Toyota importer in the UK (more generally, the country where you bought the car).

* Finally, bring your driving license!

In order to put a car to your name, you will have to have a Dutch address. Go to the city hall of your town and make sure you get listed. There, the most difficult questions are the dates and places of birth of your parents ;), but it will take some time to get finalised (couple of days, possibly a week).

Again, there are some options for non-natives to get a special plate, but I have no clue about procedures to get such a special plate. Try the RDW. Easiest option is probably to get normal plates. Do not bring proof to the RDW that you are now a Dutch resident - the RDW will find it in the computer (and check it with you when you're there).

After a short wait you will be called to drive your car to the check-up lane. They will only check the identity of the car (the VIN number is inside the car. For LHD cars it's under the front of the passenger seat, in the bare metal of the floor plate). They will know where the number is by the way. For some reason, they also quickly have a look at the car from underneath. Maybe this has something to do with checking whether it's main components are original. After all, if you put in a 3 litre engine, it cannot be registered as a normal 1.0. I guess they will check your lights at this stage as well. For a new car, nothing to worry about.

You can go back into the office. Short wait, and pay the registration fee. I paid EUR 96, but it could be slightly more in your case since they will do a more thorough check of the car 'cause of the lights issue.

Then go to customs, that is also in the same office. Present the purchase agreement of your car (showing your name, the VIN etc) and some pre-filled out forms. Your source for all official information is

http://www.douane.nl/english/bpm-pr.html

You don't have to worry about the BPM, which is the tax on new and imported cars. It can be substantial for more expensive cars (up to 40% of total value for new cars), but since your Aygo's is registered after 01-01-2009 (you mentioned that it's four months old), the car is BPM-free (because of its low carbon emissions - only 109 gr/km CO2). So, you are in the special situation that you don't care whether you are exempt from BPM or not; it's going to be zero anyway. Choose the fastest procedure. Again, probably the 'normal' procedure is the best.

After this, you can go home. Formally, you cannot drive your car anymore since you don't have the registration papers. however, as long as you retain your English insurance, you should be fine (although I do not know what happens if you should get pulled over).

After 4 to 5 working days, you will find the Dutch registration papers on your door mat. Unfortunately, this part of the process cannot be sped up; the registration papers are printed in only one location...

The registration papers contain all the information you need to get your plates. Go to a plate producer (the complete list is here: http://www.rdw.nl/nl/voertuigeigenaar/de_k...atfabrikanten/). 'Brezan' is a known chain of car parts suppliers that can make plates. Note that plates can only be made at licensed plate producers. Don't worry, there are no rogue suppliers around.

Get the car insured in the Netherlands and you're done! I won't say 'Bob's your uncle', because it's not the least bureaucratic procedure around, but that unfortunately comes with international moving...

PM. You will not have to bring the car in for a vehicle check until it's four years old (counting from first registration, in whichever country that was). After that, every two years.

Road tax for 2010 and 2011 is zero (again, because of the low carbon emission of the car). If you manage to do this in 2009, you'll pay EUR 4 per remaining month in 2009. The invoice from the tax office comes via regular post.

Any remaining questions? send me a pm.

[bogopogo]

Wow, thanks for the very thorough advice.

Still in 2 minds on taking the AYGO or not. I agree with some of the points that it would certainly be easier to buy a Dutch car, steering wheel on correct side, insurance probably easier, etc. I will be going probably for about 18 months.

It really all comes down to the cost

As I said the AYGO is only 4 months old and its only done 2000 miles. I would possibly get, what, around £6.5-7k for it? To buy a new Blue in NL is approx €12k, which at current exchange rates is around £11k, so cost would be about £4-4.5k to have the same car but with steering wheel on correct side.

From what I can gather, it would be fairly simple to change the lights at the front (~£200) plus looks like about another €200 for the inspection and plates. Hopefully I wont have to change the rear lights. Plus it looks like a bit of a pain to go through the process, but only a day of ones life! With the advice above I can get all my paperwork in order - I have no idea what a 'certificate of conformity' is either, but will ask my Toyota dealer for one.

So all in all it does seem much cheaper to try to keep the AYGO. It has the added bonus of making my move easier too - I dont have any furniture - so I just pack my stuff in the car and book a ferry - although it may take a couple trips to get all my stuff across - but thats OK, I will be back to the UK quite a bit. In addition, when I move back to the UK in about 18 months I can just bring it back with me, replace the headlights with the originals and bolt back on my old plates and 're-import' it.

Just to answer Jans question - My office will be based in Utrecht, but will live Amsterdam Zuid - only have to go in 1-2 days per week. Rest of time can work from home or will be back in the UK office.

Thanks again for the advice - any thoughts?

Doei

[boukehj]

I agree with you that it's probably a lot cheaper to hold on to your own car. Also keep in mind that the delivery time for a new one is currently three months...

You have a somewhat uncommon combination of work and home addresses - but that probably implies that you're relatively OK traffic-wise (don't pin me down on that - traffic is terrible). I commute the other way around.

[Jan van de Wouw]

Reading the above I agree that importing and re-importing will

probably be cheaper, especially with depreciation being that high...

And with you being in the center of The Netherlands for that long I can assure

you you're welcome at any meeting the Dutch Forum will be organising ;)

Most of us Dutchmen speak English and in 18 months

I'm sure you'll pick up some Dutch too ;)

Have a look around on http://www.citybugclub.nl to get aquainted and

possibly to get help or parts when you're ready to convert the lights...

Bouke is on the Dutch forum too AFAIK.

[boukehj]

Reading the above I agree that importing and re-importing will

probably be cheaper, especially with depreciation being that high...

And with you being in the center of The Netherlands for that long I can assure

you you're welcome at any meeting the Dutch Forum will be organising ;)

Most of us Dutchmen speak English and in 18 months

I'm sure you'll pick up some Dutch too ;)

Have a look around on http://www.citybugclub.nl to get aquainted and

possibly to get help or parts when you're ready to convert the lights...

Bouke is on the Dutch forum too AFAIK.

You couldn't help advertising the Dutch forum couldn't you? :P

Indeed, I am wasting way too much time over there as well :D

[REFZ]

I'm also from Holland and I can advice you to contact the so called RDW if you decide to import your current car to Holland.

But I would like you to advice to consider to buy a Dutch (LHD) car because I think it would be a lot easier to drive in daily traffic and I also think it would be a lot saver too.

I'm the CEO of the Dutch CityBugClub and I would like to invite you to join our forum.

The Dutch CityBugClub is the number one source of information about the 107-Aygo-C1.

[bogopogo]

Dear All

Thought I would resurrect this thread with an update and an additional question.

So after much deliberation I decided to import the AYGO into the Netherlands. Decided it is the perfect car for Amsterdam (so would have bought another one), only 6 months old and UK dealers only offering £6000-£6500 [cost to buy a new one in Netherlands ~€11k] - so cost to change around £3500-£4000.

All I changed were the headlights (cost £160 delivered from Mr T: fitting was relatively simple (took a couple of hours but I don't have a clue what I am doing so probably take a vaguely competent person an hour or so).

Gathered all my documents and took it to the Amsterdam inspection centre (customs there also) - didn't need to make an appointment (but did need to organise a 1 day registration which was basically the same as making an appointment as I needed to tell them exactly when I was turning up!).

Three hours, several queues, and €100 later, the car was imported.

The only near hiccup was with the inspection- the first thing they did was check the front lights (fair enough) and the fog light. As you all know there is only one fog light and it is located on the drivers side (with the reversing light occupying the same position on the passenger side). Initially the guy said I needed to change it (bugger) but in the end agreed to let me change it prior to my next MOT (nice guy!).

2 days later the registration document arrived and I was able to get the plates made in 30 mins - all relatively easy.

So the question I have is how to go about the fog light. I guess I have 2 options:

1. Get an additional fog light kit (I have seen them for cheap in Halfords) and wire it in - probably simplest but a bit ugly

2. Try to re-wire the rear lights and swap the reversing light for the fog light and vice versa. This would be much nicer but is this possible does anyone know?

Any advice on the fog light greatefully received.

Have to say very happy with importing the AYGO - I know the wheel is now on the wrong side - but it really isn't that much of a problem - and I save a fair amount of money by importing.

[gordonh]

Does the side of the fog/reversing lights actually matter to the MOT?

I assume that the fog/reversing wires must run together at some point close to the back of the car. If you can get a wiring diagram you should be able to just cut the two wires and use a jubilee block to swap them over. Then you would need to buy the EU rear cluster lights. This would be the most expensive option but also look the best. Would be a quick job to return to UK spac as well if you wanted to.

[bogopogo]

Been advised that a fog lamp on the other side is required for MOT.

Was rather hoping I could re-wire and just switch the bulbs, if this is not possible then I guess its the cheap but ugly solution for me! Not going to spend yet more money on replacing the rear light clusters too.

Cheers

[Jan van de Wouw]

Rear foglights need to be in the middle of the car or to the left side in The Netherlands.

Unless you have two of them, but since that looks like braking this isn't advised...

The wiring for ALL taillights runs to BOTH taillights! So the wiring for both left and right

turnsignal is present at both sides, as is the wiring for the reversing light and the rear fog.

The only problem with this is that the contacts are NOT present both sides.

You can swap the taillights to LHD-versions for about €125, but then you

still need to change some of the wiring. I'm pretty sure this can be done

by cutting and swapping a couple of wires on just one side of the car.

Installing a single rear foglight would be cheaper, but not nessecarily easier, as you

need to run wires inside then and that would involve removing the rear bumper...

Plus an extra lamp would be ugly (where would you mount it?)

If you don't mind a roadtrip to Alphen NB (near Tilburg and Breda) from Amsterdam

I'd be more than happy to help you out with swapping and rewiring your taillights...

I'm available most weekends and can do mods like chaning the dash illumination too :D

[Jan van de Wouw]

Just thought of something: if you swao your taillights for a LHD-set you might be

able to just move the contacts for reversing light and rear fog light within the plug!

These can be opened with some difficulty, so that might work too...