Importing a Thesis

[fay66]

That's great that you got 12 months tax for £215, which tax band is it in and what are the emmissions?

When applying to VCA I was initially told I had to supply the Certificate of Conformity which I duly obtained from Fiat UK. When SCS checked all the paperwork upon looking at the CofC, they decided not to disclose it as the emissions (234)were highish, resulting in a £435 road tax bill. Instead they sent in the documentation as they do when importing non EU cars (which do not have a CofC) which fall into one of two categories, Low £105 per annum or high £215 per annum.

I do not think the system is fair because you could purchase for example a Hummer from the states and only pay £215 per annum yet much smaller and more enviro friendly European vehicles get assessed according to emissions, however as I was paying a premium to allow a specialist company to prepare the vehicle for UK legislation I am not complaining!

Certainly sounds like SCS were worth employing!
Brian
8227

[Paul Greenway]

Certainly sounds like SCS were worth employing!
Brian
8227
[/quote]

Yes Brian, they were , the quotation was honoured (not always the case), they opened specially for me on a Sunday when I dropped off the car, they were super efficient, prompt, professional and even valetted the car on collection. The fact they saved me a few bob into the bargain was the icing on the cake.

Please note, if you are planning to import a European LHD car into the UK you cannot escape the emissions ruling/tax banding if the vehicle is recognised in the UK, it only applies to cars unavailable in the UK and not listed such as the Thesis which is why I was fortunate.

If you plan to import a used LHD Lancia which is not recognised in the UK and is relatively modern (less than 10 years old) i.e. Ypsilon, Lybra, Musa, Delta, Phedra, Kappa & Thesis it may be better not to disclose the C of C if emissions are potentially high.

[fay66]

Paul,
From what you outlined of the work they carried out, I take it that it is fairly easy to switch the headlamps to RHD?

I appreciate that they got around the C of C as far as the emissions were concerned, but did you still have to present the C of C ?
Brian
8227

[westernlancia]

Hi Paull, can't comment on most of your questions (yet) but the wheels I suspect are to do with the polished finish - just like Themas, Dedras, Subarus and every other polished finish wheel, they look fabulous when new but unless you are anal about cleaning them, they will corrode quicker than a normal powder coat type finish. In saying that, all they need is a stone chip to break the lacquer or top finish and that is the start of it. Look great when new, rubbish for longevity.  The wheels on the 2004 one I have just bought are 2 perfect, 2 starting to bubble - but they are a normal powder finish and the 2 can be refurbished at reasonable cost. Refurbishing diamond finish is trickier and will need a specialist.
Lindsay

Just a little bit of help here if it is any good (I meant to tell you about this by email, Lindsay, so remind me and I will give you more detail). My (ex-Lindsay!) Kappa has lovely lacquered wheels, and they aren't that old, having been replaced by the owner before Lindsay. However, I obviously have the same problems of poor longevity as everyone else, but I have managed to slow down the decline considerably. In winter I spray the lacquered finish with WD-40 every time I wash the car (that's usually 2-3 times a week in winter because I am pathological about salt). It is extremely effective at keeping the wheels going longer, because any little chips or cracks that the lacquer gets are protected by the WD-40. Just be careful to cover the brakes (it is best to take the wheels off the car to do it, although that's a bit of a burden on a daily driver!). The only downside of course is that the WD-40 attracts dirt, so although the wheels are protected by a thin layer of oil they tend to look really grubby. But they do in winter anyway, and I reckon having grubby wheels for 3-4 months a year is better than having corroded ones.

Finally, we just did some work on an absolutely fantastic 8V Integrale that had been imported from Japan, and although the wheels (the original pepperpot ones with the gunmetal centre but unpainted lacquered edges) were 90% perfect, the owner wanted them to be 100%. So we searched around, and to my considerable surprise we managed to find a refurb specialist in Cornwall who did them for about £75 per wheel (I am not 100% certain on the price because it was a few months back, but that's within £20, and it was certainly less than £100). Although that is a bit more expensive than our usual wheel refurb man (things are cheap down 'ere in darkest Devon!), it is only about the same price that I usually hear quoted from refurb people 'up country'. And it is considerably cheaper than it would cost to strip them and paint them - I once stripped the lacquer off a set of Thema wheels, and just doing that bit of the job alone took me 3 days!

I hope that helps a bit - if you have a set of lacquered wheels that you want to get done let me know and I will try to help.

Cheers

Alan

[Paul Greenway]

Paul,
From what you outlined of the work they carried out, I take it that it is fairly easy to switch the headlamps to RHD?

I appreciate that they got around the C of C as far as the emissions were concerned, but did you still have to present the C of C ?
Brian
8227

Brian,

I was told that it was just a matter of turning the bulbs prior to purchasing the car which I think maybe the case on non xenon cars, however on mine I understand it was a bit of a faf with the self levelling system and its sensors still at least it's sorted.

No as far as I understand they did not require to disclose the C of C as the car is not recognised on any UK database system which is one of the issues I had when trying to get it insured- no-one would quote because the Thesis doesn't exist???

Paul.

[fay66]

Paul,
Pity I didn't realise that or know of SCS (Assuming they were in business then) when I imported my Y Elefantino Rosso in 1999, as I wasn't aware that if it wasn't available in the UK you didn't have to comply.
As for the headlamps said they were ok, and were supposedly centre dip according to an article by someone else who had bought one in, in fact that was incorrect as they definitely dipped to the right, but I kept my headlamp adjustment in the lowest position and never had a problem.
It seems easier these days as the pattern is no longer in the headlamp glass, and just rotating the the bulb holder sounds a really sensible solution, one good thing about the Y's headlamp was the lens wasn't glass but polycarbonate with no chance of breakage, which was a nightmare with Dedras.
I had the same problem with insurance but eventually found a company who insured lhd cars,  in Swansea.

Brian
8227