Hi all,
I imported an XKR from the US to Oman last year and managed to get it all fixed up really nicely. It took about 10 months with covid-19 affecting imports and causing the closure of the garages. Now I'm getting a new job somewhere else and I am not allowed to take the jag with me. I'm thinking of sending it home to Newcastle and I'm wondering if it's at all possible to convert it to RHD there? If anyone done if before and how much would it roughly cost.

 

Anything is possible, but it will undoubtedly cost MUCH more than selling it and buying another. Include shipping, import fees and the like you you'd be a crazy loon to try it all. Of course, if you have copious amounts of cash, Go For It!

 

Far easier to purchase a RHD vehicle that passed MOT at home instead of having to deal with HMRC and the DVLA.

 

PLUS, a comparable car at Newcastle would be far less money than what you could get selling yours where you are.

 

What he said...whatever that is...LMAO.

 

MOT = Ministry Of Transport - much like the US DOT
HMRC = Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs - much like the US customs and duty
DVLA = Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - much like the US DMV and county tax collector for vehicle registration

 

Go and lie down in a darkened room until the madness passes.

Graham

 

He clearly has an attachment to THIS car. And why not? I must say this is one of the nicest XKs i've seen on here.

Probably put in a lot of time and effort to get it to this condition... no one wants to do all that again.

So what would a conversion like that involve? Lets see...
new power steering rack?
new steering column and trim?
new dash and trim?
fuse box?
A/C lines?
harnesses?

And whatever else under the hood would need to be swapped. I'm just thinking out loud.

Don't forget all the leather and trim colors have to match what you currently have. So just FINDING the right parts in the right colors would be a challenge.

I agree with the others on this one ... in the end it will cost more (or close to) what the car is worth.

 

Graham, TTFYC, JSYK YTB.

 

Good day, Ali. I can understand your passion for your XKR. You put alot of love and time into rebuilding it; but, the job to convert it to RHD would be overwhelming and frustrating. Congratulations on rebuilding it--you did a great job. Enjoy it the way it is.

You will have a myriad of frustrating problems doing the conversion and after. The conversion would be much more expensive and time consuming to do than the repair you've done to right front corner.

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It's certainly a very beautiful car and I can understand your reluctance to part with it.

I am not sure how difficult it would be to import the car into the UK as a LHD car, but why not consider that? You say you are going to be working elsewhere, so the need to convert it to RHD is not immediate. Once you get back to Newcastle, you can investigate the conversion costs and difficulty (although I think other posters are right that it's probably a quest only Don Quixote would accept...). Even in you don't convert, at least you can drive it as an LHD in the UK or if that's not acceptable to you, sell it to a Yank.

 

Lot's of people drive RHD in Europe so driving LHD in the UK wouldn't be a problem. My dad had an Triumph Stag RHD and I borrowed it a couple of times and had no problem driving around, actually it is safer getting out of the car as with a RHD in Europe you step out of the car on the sidewalk and with a LHD in UK you'll be doing the same!:-)

 

Have you given this further thought or made a decision? Would love to know...

 

There is plenty of companies specializing in LHD to RHD conversions in Poland (so other way round). Never used any of them, but might help if you are really into it. Parts would be really cheap in Poland (there are two LHD dashboards on a local marketplace for about 200-300EUR each).

But frankly - I would use it as is. Conversion would be a significant value loss.

 

Another thing to check is whether the car has a valid COC certificate for the UK. If not, it will probably need testing and possibly some other safety-related components changing which for a one-off is just not worth it.

 

So a car made in England is shipped to the US, then shipped to the Middle East, now you're considering sending it back to the UK?

Did it get air or sea miles?

The expression 'coals to Newcastle' springs to mind.

As has been said, sell it there.

 

 

Now I'm kind of regretting bringing this thread to the top of the forum again in post #13. IMHO we should let the OP answer the question I posed instead of teeing up less-than-supportive remarks.

 

Unfortunately aiman ali posted the question, logged out immediately and hasn't returned:

• Last Activity: 12-28-2020 04:38 PM

My troll detector is flashing a warning.

Graham

 

Awww and after all the effort Bill, gkub and peter put in

I know if I were leaving the UK (which I may well do in 5yrs) I'll be selling up everything inc my XKR and buying some old rattlelac out there until I got use to the country