Importing a Cali Beach - Classification

s2bear · Sep 13, 2017

Goldie said:
If you need a T6 V5 message me with your email address and I'll send you a redacted copy of mine. It may help when you get the Certificate which will be in German.

Andy

Done - many thanks again!

flying banana · Sep 13, 2017

am I missing something here. despite all the rules. .my form v5 says motor caravan. so that's what I insured it as. I have t6 beach. so surely I insured a vehicle according to my v5. isn't that what everyone does? my vehicle is a t6 motor caravan end of

Goldie · Sep 14, 2017

s2bear said:
Thanks, Andy. That's really kind.
I'm buying a new one and the dealer is supplying the Cert of Conformity which I have to send to the VCA with some garage paperwork before it then goes to the DVLA. I'm not looking to rock any boats, more just trying to avoid delays/knock backs with the DVLA. Seems 'Motor Caravan' is the way to go for an easy life.

Stu

Be aware that the factory worldwide guarantee is only for two years. In the UK the third year is covered by VW UK so get anything fixed in the first two years under warranty.

The third year can be difficult, I had to have a new dash in my Yeti, it cost about £2500 and it took about 8 months to get the money back through the supplying Skoda dealer in the UK. So in the third year you will need to go back to the dealer in the country where you are buying the Beach, or you'll need to pay for the repair in the UK and try and get the money back; it can be a long process. Luckily I had no problems with my Beach.

Andy

WelshGas · Sep 14, 2017

Goldie said:
Be aware that the factory worldwide guarantee is only for two years. In the UK the third year is covered by VW UK so get anything fixed in the first two years under warranty.

The third year can be difficult, I had to have a new dash in my Yeti, it cost about £2500 and it took about 8 months to get the money back through the supplying Skoda dealer in the UK. So in the third year you will need to go back to the dealer in the country where you are buying the Beach, or you'll need to pay for the repair in the UK and try and get the money back; it can be a long process. Luckily I had no problems with my Beach.

Andy

I believe on the continent there is no 3rd year warranty from any Dealership.

s2bear · Sep 18, 2017

WelshGas said:
I believe on the continent there is no 3rd year warranty from any Dealership.

Thanks, well pointed out. I'm getting a VW 5yr warranty through the German dealer - it's around £1,100 which I thought was pretty reasonable for an extra 3yrs.

s2bear · Sep 18, 2017

So, now I've decided to go the 'norm' route (motor caravan) when it gets here - I'm struggling to get insurance. I dont mean its a slight pain, I mean its a brick wall. Comfort will insure it but not on a VIN for me to drive it back, AJ won't insure it at all, LV can insure on a VIN but wouldn't insure a LHD Beach 'Edition' (Bloke was really, particularly, rc on the phone), Aviva will do it on a VIN for driving back and insure it IF it's PLG. Apart from Adrian Flux (I don't really want to go there as past experience in years gone by has been poor), any ideas or recommendations? I've imported many LHD cars from Europe and the US in the past and never had such difficulty

owen_h · Sep 18, 2017

No personal experience but have you tried Brentacre?

s2bear · Sep 18, 2017

No but good idea. Will give them a shout tomorrow. Thank you.

Goldie · Sep 19, 2017

VW UK gives you five days free cover. I had it on my first Beach and was offered it again but didn't need as dealer delivered Beach to port.

Have you thought about getting it delivered or asking whether VW Germany offers the 5 day insurance?

s2bear · Sep 19, 2017

Goldie said:
VW UK gives you five days free cover. I had it on my first Beach and was offered it again but didn't need as dealer delivered Beach to port.

Have you thought about getting it delivered or asking whether VW Germany offers the 5 day insurance?

Thank's- it's already an expensive exercise and I want to make sure all is in order before I accept the car etc. I love a road trip too. The dealer can arrange transit plates and insurance but that's only 3rd Party which I'm not comfortable with. Good point about the 5day free Insurance over here so I'll have a chat with the dealer but I've a sneaking suspicion that would only apply to Germans in Germany. Amazingly VW Insurance here didn't even want to talk about it - the person on the phone sounded very uninterested - operator just muttered about "would be surprised if they'd even quote you..." , thought I'd at least get to the 'computah says no' stage

SimonK · Sep 26, 2017

Good shout regarding Brentacre. I insure all my vehicles with them.

I used to have a T5 conversion. Firstly they insured it as a van, and once i'd completed the conversion and had the V5 changed they insured it as a Motor Caravan with a dramatic reduction in price

I'd definitely give them a call

s2bear · Sep 26, 2017

SimonK said:
Good shout regarding Brentacre. I insure all my vehicles with them.

I used to have a T5 conversion. Firstly they insured it as a van, and once i'd completed the conversion and had the V5 changed they insured it as a Motor Caravan with a dramatic reduction in price

I'd definitely give them a call

yes thank you - Brentacre were very helpful but strangely, they seemed quite expensive - althoughthey did clarify that they don't charge for modifications except power increases, I thought that was pretty good. haven't ruled them out!

s2bear · Oct 23, 2017

OK, so it would seem that the decision was made for me by the DVLA. Despite ME writing MOTOR CARAVAN on my V55 registration form and my declaration of newness etc. The V5 arrived today with classification as MPV / Diesel Car / M1.
Has anyone else bought a Beach in the last month? was wondering what the DVLA put on your V5C if so.

WelshGas · Oct 23, 2017

s2bear said:
OK, so it would seem that the decision was made for me by the DVLA. Despite ME writing MOTOR CARAVAN on my V55 registration form and my declaration of newness etc. The V5 arrived today with classification as MPV / Diesel Car / M1.
Has anyone else bought a Beach in the last month? was wondering what the DVLA put on your V5C if so.

That's not helpful. Might help with the Insurance though, as long as you put down the Pop-Top roof as a modification.
I think this has arisen because of different Departments being involved at DVLA.
I think you will find that ALL Beachs sold by VW in the UK are Motor Caravan - Diesel Car - M1

s2bear · Oct 23, 2017

WelshGas said:
That's not helpful. Might help with the Insurance though, as long as you put down the Pop-Top roof as a modification.
I think this has arisen because of different Departments being involved at DVLA.
I think you will find that ALL Beachs sold by VW in the UK are Motor Caravan - Diesel Car - M1

Insured it just now, wish I'd called a local branch of NFU ages ago. Will query the classification with the DVLA asap to hopefully shed some light on the grey area that got greyer.

andyinluton · Oct 25, 2017

s2bear said:
OK, so it would seem that the decision was made for me by the DVLA. Despite ME writing MOTOR CARAVAN on my V55 registration form and my declaration of newness etc. The V5 arrived today with classification as MPV / Diesel Car / M1.
Has anyone else bought a Beach in the last month? was wondering what the DVLA put on your V5C if so.

I can understand that, if you converted a van to beach spec you would not be able to register it as a Motor Caravan as it does not have the neccesary camping equipment - yours is registered correctly everyone else is wrong!

Being MPV /Car does give you two advantages:
You can park on the seafront at Swanage without being ticketed.
You are a tall car for Eurotunnel without having to argue with them.