Birty Dastards Jeep Club

Tech Forum => Workshop => Topic started by: AVR2 on January 19, 2014, 06:15:23 AM

Title: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 19, 2014, 06:15:23 AM
I'm currently living in Dubai but have plans to move back to the UK towards the end of the year. I have a 2005 Jeep Cherokee that I've owned since new, and since I know its history and it's not actually that expensive to ship it back to Blighty (it's certainly cheaper than buying a decent replacement back in the UK), I'm tempted to do just that.

Does anyone have the skinny on exactly what would be needed to get it road-legal for the UK? I'd like to think that it would just need new headlamps, since the rear indicators are (AFAIK) already correct for Europe, and it has the "Euro Stage 4 emissions" ECU. Or am I being hopelessly naive?
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 07:41:26 AM
Not sure on the rest of it, but I just gave away a perfect set of RHD headlamps..I still have the instrument cluster (complete) in MPH, if that helps. Last year I swapped my stuff over to make it LHD compliant.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 19, 2014, 08:09:45 AM
The speedo has KM/H as the main scale with MPH as the smaller scale. Would it need to be the other way around? I've been trying to find a website that lists exactly what the technical requirements are, but no luck so far. On the plus side, the gov.uk site about importing vehicles suggests that I wouldn't need to pay VAT or duty on it.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 08:20:03 AM
Don't think the speedo has to be the other way round..but it has to have both scales on it. Mine has both, but the MPH is the dominant one and much easier to read, especially at night. It takes about 20 mins to change them over.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Bulldog67 on January 19, 2014, 02:03:02 PM
Dr Mike should know all this .......
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: willo on January 19, 2014, 02:51:44 PM
I should know the answer to this but someone has done it for me :icon_super:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Dave69 on January 19, 2014, 03:04:49 PM
change the headlights to uk spec units, fit a rear fog light to the offside if one isn't fitted.

emissions will have to meet uk limits and yellow indicators

as a minimum
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: UKJeeper on January 19, 2014, 03:25:33 PM
You don't have to change the headlights. Mine are still the US ones from when i brought it over 13 years ago, with the prism's taped off and Mike passes it every year. You must have amber indicators on all 4 corners though, and not combined with any other lights (eg running lights in front or turn signals in the rear). I turned my reversing lights on the YJ into turn signals (amber bulbs).

You'll need a rear fog light, has to be mounted in the centre or right rear.

Speedo will be fine. Don't even think that speedo's are part of the MOT (Mike?). No SVA involved as your car is way over 10 years old.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: YT on January 19, 2014, 03:32:49 PM
As long as the speedo has MPH (even if its in the form of a sticker overlaid) it will be fine.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 03:33:01 PM
Unless he's been messing with lenses, his Jeep already has dedicated orange indicators..there is a foglight setup on the rear, but is probably on the wrong side. Can't be sure, but I don't think a 2005 model is way over 10 years old!  :017:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 19, 2014, 04:33:24 PM
This is what my tail light clusters look like - they're the stock KJ type:

(https://birtydastards.com/frm/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi96.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fl174%2FAVR2%2Flight_zps0b7999bf.jpg&hash=45ca5f6285843d5905cb3efa251bca60646bb533)

Upper red semicircle is the combined brake light/rear light

Under that is the orange indicator

Then the reverse light

Then the fog (there are fogs both sides)

It has the standard high-level brake light on the roof line above the flipper glass.

By the sounds of things it won't take too much to make it UK-legal, then  :greggmo: As I say, it has the "Euro Stage 4 emissions" ECU and exhaust system, so hopefully is identical to all the native UK-market KJs in that respect.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 04:48:49 PM
Yep, I know how the KJ lights are set up and that's why I suggested that unless you had been changing things around, all should be good. Shame you didn't post just before Xmas..the headlights would have been perfect for you with no taping or messing around. I don't sell my surplus stuff..they would have been free to you or anyone else..same goes for the speedo/instrument cluster. Just pay the courier cost which is about 25-30 pounds.

If you give the MAF sensor a good clean before any MOT over there, your test should come back perfect.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: isle of man on January 19, 2014, 05:12:04 PM
The speedo has KM/H as the main scale with MPH as the smaller scale. Would it need to be the other way around? I've been trying to find a website that lists exactly what the technical requirements are, but no luck so far. On the plus side, the gov.uk site about importing vehicles suggests that I wouldn't need to pay VAT or duty on it.

Oh yes you will, dependant on engine size!!!
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 05:47:25 PM
Used to be that if you had owned and driven the vehicle for a certain period of time, you didn't pay anything in the way of tax.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Bulldog67 on January 19, 2014, 05:59:40 PM
 :imwitstupid:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 06:17:21 PM
Thank you, Mr Dawg. When I came to the UK in 2004, I shipped my 100 series Landcruiser, along with a shitload of other stuff,in a container. No duties or tax was due because it was was all 'personal goods'. Registering, taxing etc was straightforward because I could prove that I had owned and used everything for more than two years...blind Freddie could see that was no lie.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: isle of man on January 19, 2014, 06:36:07 PM
Thank you, Mr Dawg. When I came to the UK in 2004, I shipped my 100 series Landcruiser, along with a shitload of other stuff,in a container. No duties or tax was due because it was was all 'personal goods'. Registering, taxing etc was straightforward because I could prove that I had owned and used everything for more than two years...blind Freddie could see that was no lie.

Trust me!! For 10 years I have shipped shit allover the world, some new some used, I have been busy for 6 years but unless an act of GOD has changed things, you will pay DUTY and you will pay VAT!!!
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 19, 2014, 06:46:55 PM
Money hungry cnuts..there is no reason to do so!!  :wsmile: :wsmile:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Delk on January 19, 2014, 08:51:29 PM
I didnt pay a penny in import dues, taxes, vat or anything else when I shipped my jeep into the UK. If you owen it and use it for more then six months prior you are free and clear. I had mine 10 years at that point and it came in a shipping container full of my house hold goods.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 20, 2014, 06:06:12 AM
I didnt pay a penny in import dues, taxes, vat or anything else when I shipped my jeep into the UK. If you owen it and use it for more then six months prior you are free and clear. I had mine 10 years at that point and it came in a shipping container full of my house hold goods.

That's exactly how I did it.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 20, 2014, 08:27:36 AM
Trust me!! For 10 years I have shipped shit allover the world, some new some used, I have been busy for 6 years but unless an act of GOD has changed things, you will pay DUTY and you will pay VAT!!!

This is what the government website (https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/vat-duty-and-tax-vehicles-from-outside-the-eu) says:

If you’re moving to the UK

You don’t pay VAT or duty on vehicles imported from outside the EU if you qualify for transfer of residence relief. To qualify you must meet these conditions:

    you’re moving your normal home to the UK
    your normal home was outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
    you’ve owned and used the vehicle for at least 6 months outside the EU
    you didn’t get the vehicle under a duty or tax-free scheme
    you’re going to keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months


As far as I can see, that's all me  :greggmo:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: UKJeeper on January 20, 2014, 08:32:39 AM
Nope. No tax/vat/duty/whatever paid by me either when i brought the YJ here from the States.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Mike Pavelin on January 20, 2014, 02:23:30 PM
If it's Euro spec you may get away with a certificate of compliance. Does it have a CAT and wing repeaters?
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Plank on January 20, 2014, 07:13:29 PM
Thank you, Mr Dawg. When I came to the UK in 2004, I shipped my 100 series Landcruiser, along with a shitload of other stuff,in a container. No duties or tax was due because it was was all 'personal goods'. Registering, taxing etc was straightforward because I could prove that I had owned and used everything for more than two years...blind Freddie could see that was no lie.

Trust me!! For 10 years I have shipped shit allover the world, some new some used, I have been busy for 6 years but unless an act of GOD has changed things, you will pay DUTY and you will pay VAT!!!

Looks like there has indeed been an act of GOD because no duty needs to be paid as long as the requirements for none payment are met.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: bgbazz on January 20, 2014, 07:44:36 PM
It wasn't a recent act of God..it's been that way for many years..and those requirements have always been in place.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 21, 2014, 06:03:26 AM
If it's Euro spec you may get away with a certificate of compliance. Does it have a CAT and wing repeaters?

Yes to both (if by CAT you mean a catalytic converter). It's the "export emissions" dual-cat system, one cat per cylinder bank.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Mike Pavelin on January 21, 2014, 07:20:24 AM
If that's the case, You could contact Jeep in the UK and ask them to confirm/deny it is European spec. If it is, they can issue a certificate of conformity, you can then toodle off to the DVLA with a current MOT and insurance along with your original docs and import papers and register it.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Bulldog67 on January 21, 2014, 09:30:43 AM
Trust me!! For 10 years I have shipped shit allover the world, some new some used, I have been busy for 6 years but unless an act of GOD has changed things, you will pay DUTY and you will pay VAT!!!

This is what the government website (https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/vat-duty-and-tax-vehicles-from-outside-the-eu) says:

If you’re moving to the UK

You don’t pay VAT or duty on vehicles imported from outside the EU if you qualify for transfer of residence relief. To qualify you must meet these conditions:

    you’re moving your normal home to the UK
    your normal home was outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
    you’ve owned and used the vehicle for at least 6 months outside the EU
    you didn’t get the vehicle under a duty or tax-free scheme
    you’re going to keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months


As far as I can see, that's all me  :greggmo:

Hah I win IOM, I win :headbanger:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: eastryjeep on January 21, 2014, 01:08:36 PM
Nope, sorry.
Categorically can't be done, sell it to me!
Oops, meant to say 'give' there, but might console you with a bacon sarnie!
Does that sound convincing enough?

Didn't think so!
I brought a couple of cars back to Blighty with me when I moved back, (ruddy fool).
XR3 came over in 40 foot container with majority of household gubbins via Felixtowe with no problems, no VAT or duty, easy.
CJ7 came in second 20 foot container via London and got caught for all sorts of rubbish. No charges wrt the purchase of the vehicle itself but got clobbered for VAT on the shipping charges and duty on the  container contents. Never did get HMRC to see reason so bit the bullet and paid up chop-chop before they started charging storage too.
Moral of that story is insure the vehicle for UK use, get it to a RORO ferry, drive off like every other tourist but with a booking at an MOT station near where you are going to stay, take it to the garage, get your MOT then get hold of the DVLA and register the car.
Anyway that's how I'd bring it in but the choice as they say is yours.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: j33pky on January 21, 2014, 01:25:45 PM
Or do what I did with the 2004 ram I had...  Leave it as the good Lord made it.  Mot station just sad Iraq's a import and didn't need to comply.  Never got stopped for having yellow side lights :97:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: Dutch on January 21, 2014, 02:15:47 PM
get it to a RORO ferry, drive off like every other tourist

P&O Dubai to Dover ................ fook me, you learn something new every day. :hysterical:
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: eastryjeep on January 21, 2014, 05:42:18 PM
Car in container to Amsterdam, then ferry to Felixtowe or Harwich (farmers accent required on exit), job done!

However!
If you don't like my suggestions and not many do, be warned that your sidewalls WILL be chaffed when you get the car out of the shipping container. When the removals company puts the car in the box they put blocks beside the tyres to stop the car working it's way across the container floor, so make sure you put the Jeep in with slightly deflated tyres, let them strap it down, then re inflate the tyres to add a bit more tension to the strops, after that let them block it into place, but make damn sure the blocks are radiused on the top corners. (This all learnt from experience).
Also:
If the Jeep and furniture is all going in the same container, the removals company will probably build a feeble shelf across the bonnet which usually collapses, complete with the contents of the china cupboard onto the Jeep five minutes after the container door is shut, this leaves you with a lovely hollow dent in the bonnet and nothing to eat off! (Experience again I'm afraid).
Just take the time to watch the container packed, I wish I had.
Title: Re: Making a LHD Jeep Cherokee road-legal in UK?
Post by: AVR2 on January 23, 2014, 06:02:32 AM
If that's the case, You could contact Jeep in the UK and ask them to confirm/deny it is European spec. If it is, they can issue a certificate of conformity, you can then toodle off to the DVLA with a current MOT and insurance along with your original docs and import papers and register it.

Interesting, cheers for that Mike. I'll look into it. As far as I can tell, the bits that matter are all European spec.