To add to our problems at the start of the New Year, our beloved ancient SAAB conked out the week after Christmas, so we have had to hire a rental car until such time as we can find out if the SAAB can be repaired or not. Due to its age it might not be cost effective, so we decided that probably our best option was to buy a new one! Second hand cars in Spain are really expensive, so we thought our best option was to buy one from the UK and drive it down. However, we then found a LHD Land Rover Discovery for sale on eBay, which looked to be perfect. Where we are located we really do require a 4 x 4 vehicle, as we are surrounded by uneven tracks that are virtually impossible to tackle with a normal saloon car! At the same time, we also need a fairly smart car for airport runs and the like, so the Discovery or the Disco (as we understand it is called in Land Rover circles) seemed to fit the bill.
The only small problem was that it was being sold by a dealer in the South of France and had German Export Plates. Life is never easy is it!
However, our friend Ed (who was staying with us over Christmas) said that he would love to collect it from Cannes and drive it down to us.
Obviously, it was not possible for us to see the car before we bought it or take it for a test drive, so as we were in a difficult position, we decided to take a huge gamble and go for it!! On the day of Lin’s admission to hospital we confirmed the purchase and transferred our deposit of £500 to the French dealer, with the view to finalizing all of the arrangements after Lin’s operation.
However, you can imagine our horror when we discovered that it was not possible for us to insure the car, either here in Spain or in the UK, as the vehicle had German Export plates!! We were informed that if we could get the car to Spain, along with the purchase invoice and correct documentation, we would be able to insure it on the chassis number, assuming that we started the process of re-registering the car in Spain. But how were we going to get the car to Spain without insurance cover?
By this time Ed had already booked his flight down to Nice, so at this point it looked as if we were going to lose a sizeable amount of money!
However, after a few heart searching moments and sleepless nights, we fortuitously found a resolution to the problem! The French dealer agreed to insure the car himself for 8 days and include Ed as a named driver, which would enable us the time to get the vehicle down to Spain.
This is all going to happen (or not) this coming Tuesday 5th February, so we now have an anxious week ahead of us awaiting the arrival of our new car, sight unseen!!
I’ll keep you posted!
The only small problem was that it was being sold by a dealer in the South of France and had German Export Plates. Life is never easy is it!
However, our friend Ed (who was staying with us over Christmas) said that he would love to collect it from Cannes and drive it down to us.
Obviously, it was not possible for us to see the car before we bought it or take it for a test drive, so as we were in a difficult position, we decided to take a huge gamble and go for it!! On the day of Lin’s admission to hospital we confirmed the purchase and transferred our deposit of £500 to the French dealer, with the view to finalizing all of the arrangements after Lin’s operation.
However, you can imagine our horror when we discovered that it was not possible for us to insure the car, either here in Spain or in the UK, as the vehicle had German Export plates!! We were informed that if we could get the car to Spain, along with the purchase invoice and correct documentation, we would be able to insure it on the chassis number, assuming that we started the process of re-registering the car in Spain. But how were we going to get the car to Spain without insurance cover?
By this time Ed had already booked his flight down to Nice, so at this point it looked as if we were going to lose a sizeable amount of money!
However, after a few heart searching moments and sleepless nights, we fortuitously found a resolution to the problem! The French dealer agreed to insure the car himself for 8 days and include Ed as a named driver, which would enable us the time to get the vehicle down to Spain.
This is all going to happen (or not) this coming Tuesday 5th February, so we now have an anxious week ahead of us awaiting the arrival of our new car, sight unseen!!
I’ll keep you posted!
No comments:
Post a Comment