UK Car Prices and Importing Reviews

I experienced real problems trying to insure an imported car – a Mitsubishi Pajero - from Southern Ireland. As soon as I told an insurer the car was still on an Irish number plate and that I would need a covernote with a chassis number for the DVLA they couldn’t help me. I was recommended to a company called A J Insurance Service (0870) 444 3511 ...  Read the complete review

Write or Right ? On or Off? Buying any second hand car can be a dodgy and desperate business. Speaking as someone who has only ever bought used cars, ( despite having what may be seen as a 'good' job, this being a senior academic lecturer, no matter what you do in the public sector you are never going to make a fortune, hence the ...  Read the complete review

Ok, i'm not religous. But when i first drove up to a backstreet garage in Manchester and saw my first ever import I knelt down and kissed the earth. T'was a fine sunny day 4 years ago during the height of Import fever, I borrowed the keys of a 1990 MR2 Turbo Mk2(toyota). With a cheery "you bend it you mend it" quote from the ...  Read the complete review

I just now imported a left hand drive Mercedes 280E 4Matic Elegance Estate with sun roof and special Designo edition. This car is not sold here (4 wheel drive is possibly too small a market for the UK). I wish I had been given tips (similar to those which follow by someone prior to undertaking this adventure). By chance I came across a ...  Read the complete review

Now here's a topic that gets me annoyed every time. Car prices, like so much over here, are very high compared to the rest of Europe. Well, so is booze, cigarettes, CDs, food, etc. I could go on and on. The question everyone is asking is why? The media and consumer groups are quick to point out that it is due to some kind of ...  Read the complete review

The arguments continue over the dearer price of cars in this country compared to the prices of cars on mainland Europe. Over and over again we are told that the prices in the rest of Europe are cheaper than in this country, but why is that? Well a major reason has got to be that most of the world drives on the right hand side of the road ...  Read the complete review

Update: No.2 I have just found out one of the disadvantages to having an imported car. One of the parts has broken on my car and is unavailable in the UK from any Toyota dealer, this is a non-stock item. I have asked my local dealer and they where very quick to point this out but agreed to find me the part and get me a price and ...  Read the complete review

Well I have a view on why we Brits pay more for our cars than our counterparts in Europe. I think over the years we have been tempted by unrealistic part exchange prices on our old cars, this has in general caused dealers to raise new car prices to cover this cost. Also, we have been seeking extra " goodies " such as ...  Read the complete review

There is a lot of misunderstanding about how European built cars are distributed by UK importers. Consequently buyers assume responsibility for "high" prices being in various persons control. The truth is that the manufacturer has a duty to its shareholders and its employees to sell at the highest price the market will bear. Where a ...  Read the complete review

Are we stupid or simply lazy? Well according to motor manufacturers a little of both! The UK is unofficially referred to as ‘Treasure Island’ due to car manufacturers being able to charge such high prices to their UK dealers for new cars. That is the highest prices in Europe. The cost of cars has been, in some cases, 45% more than ...  Read the complete review

When it comes to buying a car, you have a trade off between the overall transaction price and the level of service and general amount of hassle. The most convenient way of changing car is to drive up to your closest dealer and take what they have in stock. The cheapest way is usually to break the deal down into its seperate parts ...  Read the complete review

With all the talk of UK car prices and the hassle of importing I thought I would add my own experiences to the pot. Before I give you all my tips for saving money without going abroad I'll just put forward a bit of information about why you find it hard to purchase from abroad. ~~~ Manufacturers Won't Supply RHD Cars ~~~ I ...  Read the complete review

I ordered a new Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec through DC Cook interactive in March 2000. The website was good and the price excellent a saving of £4000 compared to the UK list price. The local ford dealer despite multiple offers could not get within £2500 of the DC Cook price. I spoke to them on a couple of occasions and was happy with the service so ...  Read the complete review

There has been much publicity recently to the high excise duties levied against petrol. The 615% tax is universely despised and costs every family in the land money directly on their motoring costs and indirectly through higher business costs. However I feel that to reduce the price of petrol by 3p a litre wouldn't make make a great ...  Read the complete review

For a long time, the UK has been called 'Treasure Island' by car manufacturers due to the vastly inflated prices they have been allowed to sell for in this country. The UK motorist has been footing the bill for large fleet buyers who are getting phenominal discounts. Granted they are buying by the thousand, but why should we have footed the ...  Read the complete review

Importing cars is a great way to get a cheap new car. It use to be a messy business importing but now it's as easy as ordering anything else online. Now the government is doing all sorts of things to make our car prices cheaper, great. Now we can all buy low cost brand new cars, which has got to be good. The only ...  Read the complete review

My Father-in-law Graham visited us recently from Canada. As usual we ended up talking about car prices. Its quite amazing to hear about the differences between our prices and theirs on general goods but what about cars !!! Graham described the new Dodge 7 seater MPV which he bought a few months ago, it sounds just like the Chrysler Grand ...  Read the complete review