F
Fin
VIP Member
I haven't posted on here for a number of years but in the past have found the community extremely helpful, so I wonder if I could get some advice regarding a query that I have.
Our vehicle (Frank) is a late 2011 reg' and my query relates too the fact that we have just moved to Germany. We have moved here for 2 years in the first instance, however depending on a few factors (such as me getting a job) it is likely that we will remain for longer. Last week I took Frank for a TUV test (German equivalent of MOT). Being a little naive, I completely forgot the fact that the headlight orientation of a RHD vehicle would ensure it failed, (it did fail) and of course the temporary sticker/deflectors that we had fitted are just that, i.e. temporary, and won't help it to get through the test. However the test centre were very understanding and offered to test it again free of charge if I could get the lights corrected and brought it back within a couple of weeks. I drove to three Volkswagen garages near Munich to see if they could assist, all were really busy, however one of the larger places offered to book it in for the work to take place in a couple of weeks. What really surprised me was the cost, I was quoted approx' 1,500 Euros for the work to be carried out and was told that they would need to have the vehicle for two days, as in undertaking the work they would need to remove some of the front parts of the vehicle. *Please note that this was for a straightforward replacement i.e. remove and replace with a standard headlight LHD unit. I did query that because this was quite expensive whether it would be worth me having a more modern unit Xenon? as I understand that these are both RHD and LHD compliant and if I drove the vehicle back to the UK I would be able to use these more modern units without having to switch/change again, however I could tell that there was a clear reluctance to fit this partly owing to a more complicated fix and also because the additional cost (I wasn't told how much more) would make it somewhat prohibitive. So my questions are.
Has anone else had this dilemma and if so how did they resolve it?
Does this work seem particularly expensive?
Are there any other options that would see our vehicle pass the TUV (similar to first question)
Some things to consider, whilst I am competent at DIY I am not in the least bit competent when it comes to mechanics & vehicles, so really wouldn't be keen to try and undertake this myself. At the moment I am also considering whether as a temporary measure get in insured via a specialist scheme that offers a policy for UK registered cars for annual use in the EU without a time limit.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts that you might have, and sorry for the very long post.
Fin
Our vehicle (Frank) is a late 2011 reg' and my query relates too the fact that we have just moved to Germany. We have moved here for 2 years in the first instance, however depending on a few factors (such as me getting a job) it is likely that we will remain for longer. Last week I took Frank for a TUV test (German equivalent of MOT). Being a little naive, I completely forgot the fact that the headlight orientation of a RHD vehicle would ensure it failed, (it did fail) and of course the temporary sticker/deflectors that we had fitted are just that, i.e. temporary, and won't help it to get through the test. However the test centre were very understanding and offered to test it again free of charge if I could get the lights corrected and brought it back within a couple of weeks. I drove to three Volkswagen garages near Munich to see if they could assist, all were really busy, however one of the larger places offered to book it in for the work to take place in a couple of weeks. What really surprised me was the cost, I was quoted approx' 1,500 Euros for the work to be carried out and was told that they would need to have the vehicle for two days, as in undertaking the work they would need to remove some of the front parts of the vehicle. *Please note that this was for a straightforward replacement i.e. remove and replace with a standard headlight LHD unit. I did query that because this was quite expensive whether it would be worth me having a more modern unit Xenon? as I understand that these are both RHD and LHD compliant and if I drove the vehicle back to the UK I would be able to use these more modern units without having to switch/change again, however I could tell that there was a clear reluctance to fit this partly owing to a more complicated fix and also because the additional cost (I wasn't told how much more) would make it somewhat prohibitive. So my questions are.
Has anone else had this dilemma and if so how did they resolve it?
Does this work seem particularly expensive?
Are there any other options that would see our vehicle pass the TUV (similar to first question)
Some things to consider, whilst I am competent at DIY I am not in the least bit competent when it comes to mechanics & vehicles, so really wouldn't be keen to try and undertake this myself. At the moment I am also considering whether as a temporary measure get in insured via a specialist scheme that offers a policy for UK registered cars for annual use in the EU without a time limit.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts that you might have, and sorry for the very long post.
Fin
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