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Can I register a left hand drive car?
Yes. And you do not have to convert it. Three things need to change, and none of them is the steering wheel.
- No requirement to convert it to right hand drive
- Speedometer, headlights and fog light are the work
- Done in our own workshop, not sent out
- Tested on our own lane
Yes — and you do not have to convert it.
A car is a car at the end of the day, whether it is left hand drive or right hand drive. You can import and register virtually anything in the United Kingdom.
There is no legal requirement to convert an imported car to right hand drive, and we would usually talk you out of it. A conversion costs more than the three jobs below put together, it rarely looks like the factory did it, and on most cars it takes value off rather than adding it.
The real work
Three things, and the wheel is not one of them
The issue with left hand drive cars is mostly that they come from countries where they might not read the speed in miles per hour and the headlights more often than not need adjustments or changing.
The speedometer
A speedometer has to be able to show miles per hour. On a lot of European and Japanese cars that is a setting; on others it is a new cluster or an overlay. Your own copy names this as the first issue, and it is the easiest of the three to solve.
The headlights
This is the one that actually matters. A left hand drive headlight throws its dipped beam to the right, into oncoming traffic on a UK road. It has to be corrected — by adjusting the beam pattern, fitting a converter, or replacing the unit with its right hand drive equivalent.
The rear fog light
UK rules expect a rear fog light on the offside, or a pair. Plenty of left hand drive cars have one on the wrong side, or none at all. It is a small job and a common reason for a first-time failure.
All three are done here, in our own workshop, rather than sent out — which is why we can do them in the same week the car is tested. More on what the compliance work involves.
What stays exactly as it is
The steering wheel
It stays on the left. Nothing in UK law requires an imported car to be right hand drive, and the DVLA will register it exactly as it is. The photograph is a left hand drive Defender that came through our workshop.
The practical differences are real but small — overtaking takes more care, and drive-through windows and car park ticket machines are on the wrong side. None of that is a registration problem, and hundreds of thousands of left hand drive cars are on UK roads.
We do this every week
Left hand drive is routine here
At My Car Import we regularly deal with a plethora of cars from LHD countries and register them without any issues.
If you are looking to import a car from a country where the steering wheel is on the left – fear not, we can help to get it registered for you.
Answers
Frequently asked
Send us the advert and the VIN before you commit, and we will tell you exactly what yours needs.
Do I have to convert a left hand drive car to right hand drive?
No. There is no requirement to convert an imported car to right hand drive, and we would almost always advise against it — a conversion is expensive, it rarely looks factory, and on a lot of cars it damages the value rather than adding to it.
What has to be right is the lighting and, usually, the speedometer. That is a day of work, not a rebuild.
Will it pass an MOT as a left hand drive car?
Yes, provided the lighting is correct. An MOT tests the car in front of the tester; it does not care which side the wheel is on. Headlight aim is a test item, which is exactly why the beam pattern work matters.
Is a left hand drive car harder to insure?
Not usually, though it is worth getting a quote before you commit to buying rather than after. Some mainstream insurers are less keen and specialist import insurers are very comfortable with it. It is not a registration issue, but it catches people out.
Does being left hand drive change how it gets registered?
Not in itself. The route depends on the age of the car and where it is coming from — a modern EU car usually goes on a Certificate of Conformity, something from outside the EU usually goes to IVA, and anything over ten years old is normally registered on its date of build. The timings for each are here.
Related
Read next
The work itself, the test, and where most left hand drive cars come from.
- Compliance modificationsThe speedometer, headlight and fog light work, done in our workshop.
- IVA testingThe route for most cars built outside the EU, on our own lane.
- Importing from the USWhere left hand drive lighting work is at its most involved.
- Importing from the EUWhere most left hand drive cars come from.
