Railgun

So, this question may be more geared towards ex-pats rather than UK natives. The reason I say this is due to obvious differences and perhaps a better ability to compare here vs. there. That's not to say I'm not going to welcome input from the locals, but experience is what I'm looking for in terms of the move itself, and, in particular, being an auto enthusiast.

So, at present, I live in NW Indiana. Decent space. Room to work in my garage. Can't say I'm a fan of maintaining landscaping, so I'm not considering that. But most importantly to me, I love driving. I spent two weeks in London a few years ago for work and know that it's congested as hell. Of course, I wouldn't be in London proper as far as where I'd potentially live, but in terms of taxes, insurance, emissions and the like revolving around an FD, what's your take? I'm not concerned with costs per se, but if I'm paying triple or more than what I'm paying now, doesn't necessarily make it worth it in my mind.

I'm not looking for cost of living in the general sense as I can find that elsewhere. I'm really more curious to know what you rotary enthusiasts have experienced. I've seen a couple of threads related to importing my car to the UK which I would love to learn more about. I have experience driving a LHD vehicle in a RHD country so I'm not worried about that.

Any experience you all could share would be great.

Thanks in advance.

c_akira

iTrader: (1)

I can only tell you from my own personal experience and my opinions may not reflect yours or anyone else. Second stint in the UK for me (from Toronto originally). First time I sold my fd prior to moving and bought and MR2 on this side. This time I've put the fd into storage. I live in central London now and drive a 330ci over here. They imported fds here's till about 2002 so you can buy a newer one on this side of the pond (i.e. rather then importing yours). With today's exchange rate that may be a better option. However, I found owning an fd in the UK was not appealing for a number of reasons: 1) It falls into the one of the highest insurance groups and you're going to have a tough time finding an insurance company that will honour your driving history from overseas 2) When you do find that insurance company (there are a few) you'll find the premiums are easily 2-3 times what you may be paying now 3) Gas/petrol is 2-3 times more expensive 4) even if you live outside the city, houses don't come with the kind of garage space we have in NA (not to say you can't work on your car but you'll have to adjust to what's available to you). Most people I know that have garages don't even park their cars inside them - let alone work on their cars in a garage. Having said that there are a lot of automotive enthusiats in the UK and you come to appreciate a whole new world of cars. When you get here you may be tempted buy something other then a 7 (think tvr, lotus, caterham, etc). Good luck.

Railgun

Thanks.

TVR...that would be fun.

On some forums, I've seen as low as about 650 pounds to insure, but apparently insurance as we know it is pretty different there.

Needless to say it's going to be a somewhat long process, but one I'm pretty excited to take.

c_akira

iTrader: (1)

One more thing. Are you planning to stay in the UK for more then 12 months? If you are then you'll need to convert your US license for a UK one. If you took your road test in an automatic car in the states then you may need to retake the test in a manual car here, otherwise your UK license will only allow you to drive automatics.

Railgun

Good to know. It would more than likely be well more than 12 months. I wish driver's ed here was done in a manual.

Railgun

Well, just a small bump. It's looking like perhaps October is when I'll be making the move. They'll fly me out there for five days to look for housing. Any recommendations for a 30-something single dude? (Work is basically in Central London).

Dunno if it's worth bringing a bike over, but I'm looking into that too (it has some minor bodywork and other cosmetic mods that I'd hate to do over). Looking at prices there, it may not be a bad option.

As far as the 7, I'm going to be somewhat storing it in New Mexico, and if I decide to sell or import, I'll worry about it then.

Looking forward to the move. Though my nerves are tightening up.

Rei99

Hi, your FD is original or mod? I think take in UK and sell in Euro Land will be a good idea

Railgun

Heavily modded.

Rei99

Mmmm... So leave your there, buy an original and take the like new here
Original it's easy to sell to a good price...

Railgun

Well, I wouldn't be bringing it out there to sell. I'd bring it out there to enjoy.

It's only 406 miles to Nürburg.