[midnight]

Hey there,

I am moving to UK (London) from San francisco for a year. I am thinking of moving my car and motorbike out to uk. My car is Mercedes CLS 500 year 06 and Motorbike is Ducati Monster 696 year 09. I wanted to know the following things

- How much work there may be involved to make them aligned to UK motor vehicle regulation (emissions, lights and all that) and is there anything else that i dont know about

- Can you recommend a listing of good car/bike movers to move from USA to UK, i dont think that money will be an issue.

- Any other consideration that I should look into before taking this step.

Most importantly.. is it even worth the hassle?

I will really appreciate any help that i get from you guys

 

[DWE]

In all honesty, it isn't worth the hassle. Not for a year, and not if you're living in London.

Public transport there is generally excellent, so you won't have to worry about getting around. And should you wish to leave London, and maybe see more of rural Britain, then you can always rent-a-car or get a train.

Best of luck mate.

 

[Bevdeforges]

I second DWE's comments and will add one consideration of my own. The Brits drive on the other side of the road and the cars over there have the steering wheel on the other side of the car. When you're adjusting to that little difference, it really really really helps if you're in a vehicle designed to drive on the left.

Then there is also the little matter of car parks (parking lots) where you can't take the little ticket from the booth if you're on the wrong side of the car on entry.

It's expensive and a major hassle to take a car (and, I suppose, a motorbike) and chances are, they'll take a good 6 to 8 weeks to catch up with you in both directions. By that time, you could be adjusted to driving on the other side of the road in a vehicle designed to do so.
Cheers,
Bev

 

[jlms]

We have a car, we got it before moving to London, it is parked outside our house most of the time because we use it very little.

Driving in London is a real test of endurance (it is expensive, traffic is slow, parking is a rip-off).

I frankly can't see a good reason to have a car in London, if you are a person of means, as you seem to imply, then paying for taxis in London (expensive mind you) may not be an issue.

 

[JohnD63]

What the others said. however if you have the money to pay for transporting your car and a bike then i would use that money and buy a bike in the UK. If you look after it you can probably get most of your money back when you come to sell it. They are cheap in comparison to the rest of Europe, great for commuting around London and the rest of the country (i commuted in London for 20 yrs on a motorcycle) and there are some awesome bike meets in and outside the city. Plus there is such a high percentage of motorcycles being used for commuting in London that it makes the ride to and from work a blast.