Hi My husband and I live in NZ and we are heading off to France for a year of house sitting, workaway and Helpx experiences. All of which hang on us being able to purchase a second hand LHD vehicle to drive while there and sell when we leave. We are just struggling a little to get our heads around the buying of the car. Can members give us any advice? We are happy to fly to UK (both of us are UK citizens) and purchase vehicle there and also have a sister who lives in France so will have a french address to access.
We have a budget of around 3000 pounds and thought we could make the purchase using our credit card. Is this possible? Any help, advice greatly appreciated.
I would say it is easier to do once in France, which would avoid the hassle of having to re-register the car in France (although if it is only for one year you may get away with keeping a UK registered car.) Buying a car here is not difficult. There are plenty of second hand dealers, although you'd need to check with them whether they accept credit cards or not. Could you arrive at your SIster's place a few days earlier to give you a chance to look around.
The other alternative would be to buy from a LHD specialist seller in UK, they tend to be cheaper than RHD for obvious reasons. You can Google, there are several in the south of England. You would need to resell in the UK I guess, or register the car in France on arrival if you want to resell in France. Take into account costs of ferry and reregistering (could be quite a chunk of the budget).
Apparently second hand cars are pretty cheap in Belgium, so it might be worth trying there, but I suppose the hassle factor would be too much relative to the money potentially saved. ALso be aware of illegal second hand sellers operating out of Belgium and selling stolen cars via internet into France. If it seems too good to be true it probably is!
Good luck!