Shipping my car to UK, is it crazy idea? Please help!

I know it sounds crazy, but I am thinking of shipping my car to UK. Is it cost effective?
We are starting our married life from scratch and who know when we will be able to afford a car, so shipping mine to get to places and travel around will do the job. Here in Canada selling I won't get much, but having my car in UK would be a luxury for us.
Did anyone ship a car, do you know th cost to do that?  Or how much is a second hand car in UK?

once you add in insurance and port fees, etc....my guess is you can't do it for less than 1500 pounds, with a good chance that your final costs could be significantly larger than this.  i personally would sell it for what you can and wait to see if you really need one once you get over.  you can always buy a cheap used one if it comes to that.

I badly wanted to ship mine, for sentimental reasons. But by the time you do all you have to to make it street legal here, it really is prohibitively expensive. Unless it's an exotic, it's just not worth it.

Winner, where are you moving to?  That does make a difference in the need to have a car.

We just purchased a 2000 Ford Focus with 68,000 miles for £1,600 last month. You also need to take into account that your vehicle must pass an MOT once it arrives where the car will be emissions tested, safety inspected and anything that is noted needing repair MUST be repaired prior to being allowed to be driven on UK roads and must be retested each year. Also there will be some mandatory modifications made to lights on the vehicle which will add to the cost as well. Depending on the vehicle you may find that it is not easy to get replacement parts for it, which is precisely the reason I sold my 1966 Ford Mustang and didn't bring it with me. Just somethings you will need to consider.

We just purchased a 2000 Ford Focus with 68,000 miles for £1,600 last month. You also need to take into account that your vehicle must pass an MOT once it arrives where the car will be emissions tested, safety inspected and anything that is noted needing repair MUST be repaired prior to being allowed to be driven on UK roads and must be retested each year. Also there will be some mandatory modifications made to lights on the vehicle which will add to the cost as well. Depending on the vehicle you may find that it is not easy to get replacement parts for it, which is precisely the reason I sold my 1966 Ford Mustang and didn't bring it with me. Just somethings you will need to consider.

Thank you for all your comments. If under 2000.00 GBP we can buy a car, then it is not bad at all. You are right, it will be very expensive crazy thing to do.  So that is off of my shoulders. Now again thank to some of you  I got in touch with  a company who can ship our clothing and other staff for $3.20 (CAD) per LB. This is a very good price to tell you. Thanks again.

Just to make sure that all sides of an issue are presented, I am one of the few who did ship a US car to the UK, and I have NO regrets whatsoever.  I have had no issues with driving a LHD car in a RHD country, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I have a nearly new (2006) VW New Beetle convertible (my profile pic is me picking up my car at the port in Liverpool). When I shipped it last summer, the xchange rate was 2:1 dollars/pounds, and I knew to buy a comparable car was WAY more expensive (indeed, it was basically twice as much). 

I think I spent about $2000 US shipping and modding my car, and there is no doubt in my mind it was a great decision.  But I was very emotionally attached to my car and it was a newer model with all the bells and whistles.  The only adjustment they made for MOT was a big ugly zit under my rear bumper they call a fog light.  Of course, VWs are everpresent here in the UK, so I don't have to worry about service issues (although HOLY CRAP, 145 pounds for an oil change and pollen filter change is extortion).

I'm happy to answer any questions about the pros/cons of shipping a car over!

Hiya,

WebyJ - you sold a 1966 Ford Mustang and decided not to bring it?! I think you got yer wries mixed up~!  old Mustangs are collectable and quite sought after in the UK! there's many a USA car meet up and down the country and I do know of one that's floating around this way as well! if your's was a clean good car etc, it may have been worthwhile bringing it over and you may have had interest in selling it for a good profit !

Winner - There's been various posts about this, have a quick blast through the search feature as myself and Paul1966 drive USA left hand drive cars/vehicles. I know quite a few other people with left hand drive as well. The basics are, 'usually' US cars/trucks are brought here if they're 'interesting' - normal bread and butter everyday type cars are seldom bought over. ExJerseyGirl being the UKY exception to that, as she's obviously very very veryyyy attached to her particular Beetle!

To aid with your situation when you do get here, cars can be had from just a few hundred pounds which are still perfectly driveable and usable - yes, they'll most likely have issues, but theres many out there which have plenty of servicable life left and/or will need some mechanical work which isn't too budget draining to keep you on the road. I saw a 97 Volvo S40 saloon on a nearby lot for just £595 and it looked clean and straight, so not a bad potential first car. There's hundred of similar cars and prices too, so havea look around.

Lastly, ExJerseyGirl - nip onto some of the very active VW/Adui forums - there's a ton of VW/Audi speciaists who'll porbably do the service you mentioned for alot cheaper - there's even one 75 yards from my house and they're  well reputed! another specialist just 3 miles away too !! - The 'zit' foglamp, you 'could' get a good bodyshop to re-locate it flush into your rear bumper and or you could change just your rear lens assemblies to maybe a Euro spec one with the built in foglamp for instance to get away from that 'add on' look you currently have., See the specialist forums and ask where and how to do that in your area and you should get some good responses.

Hopw this helps
Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!