Hi guys I had my visa appointment last week, long stay yearly visa scheduled to begin 1/10…… I have plenty of days left on my 90/180…..so can I go sooner?
Thanks
You can do using your UK passport. but you must EXIT and RE-ENTER to trigger the start of your 1 year visa.
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Would I have to do that on the exact date it starts?
Also, is there anything to prevent me from buying a car while I’m there before my visa officially starts?
Would it be a new car or a second hand one? If new, I had to provide quite a few documents like proof of address and ID, driving licence.
I’ll take plenty of documents as that will be my priority, get a LHD car 
I don’t fancy a new, pristine one, modern cars don’t seem built to last…I’ve never been a petrol head, a car is merely a tool for me …..just something reliable and has a tow bar as I’m a regular at my Dechetterie……how did you find transitioning to a LHD?
What kind of visa? If one you have to validate then I believe you can just use your 90/180 first with no need to exit/enter on due date. Which is the date you use to validate visa.
I’m like you, no expert on cars, so perhaps can offer a helpful perspective.
The first time I drove a LHD car, the fact that it was an automatic gave me more problems than the location of the steering wheel.
We brought our UK car here and registered it.
The second time I drove a LHD was when the UK car was in the garage for a day. The courtesy car was, of course, LHD. It was manual as well.
It really wasn’t a problem. The manual transmission was the worst aspect.
I’ve been at it for so many decades here, there and everywhere it’s second nature to me. But the one point I would make is take care at roundabouts. Enter and go around them in the right direction 
and lane discipline is different (though locally equally legit) to the UK. Cars will pull across you to exit and that!s not considered “cutting up”.
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Roundabouts is a good point. I’ve adopted the local habit of signalling LEFT even if going straight over.
I found it helpful to imagine driving on the right, especially negotiating roundabouts, until it seemed natural.
At complicated junctions, I follow someone who seems to be going where I want to go. (The restraining order expired a few weeks ago.)
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Pay extra attention leaving car parks for the first few months as your RHD brain will think you’re back in Blighty once a blue moon.
Well, mine did a couple of times and I’d driven thousands of LHD miles in the USA, Italy and France before moving here.
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I agree, car parks and fuel stations, hotels. I also found roundabouts quite tricky to start with.
A friend used to wear his watch on the other wrist to draw his attention to his hands on the steering wheel, we found that worked for a while until we got used to it.
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I had to rent a car last Saturday and Hertz had rubber yellow wrist bands on the counter for customers to use to remind themselves. I took two 
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What a good idea.
When I’m flying I’ve a red one on the other wrist to remind me I’ve a pacemaker and to avoid metal detectors 
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