Can rhd Opels be imported from Germany or Netherlands?
The model I want, Vectra Estate (aka Caravan / Stationwagen) Design 3.0CDTi automatic, has a higher towing limit than the Vauxhall version.
I know rhd Opels can be imported from Ireland but the 3.0CDTi isn't available there. Which other countries drive on the left other than UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand?
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Cyprus - as a bonus you can get them badged as Vauxhalls so they are easier to sell later on.....
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Nothing stopping you going to Germany either with a box full of Euros and buying one form a dealer there or getting an UK based car broker finding one for you elsewhere in Euroland.
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Trading Standards in Staffordshire have successfully prosecuted one of the large car supermarkets for rebadging Opels as Vauxhalls as they're not built to EXACTLY the same specification.
All the UK brokers I've checked exclude rhd Opel (but will import lhd Opels).
I don't mind retaining Opel badging as it'll be kept for a long time so difference in residual value won't matter.
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Cyprus dealers will specifically re-badge them for Squaddies (and crabs for that matter)
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The model I want, Vectra Estate (aka Caravan / Stationwagen) Design 3.0CDTi automatic, has a higher towing limit than the Vauxhall version.
Are you sure it is not a case of different regs in different markets and that it will have the same limit if used in the UK?
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The model you want is listed by Vauxhall UK in all forms or have you not bothered to looked at their web site and are identical in everyway to the German counterpart except the badge, any spec difference is due to the different ways the UK DVLA translates information.
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The EU survey of car prices shows Opel cars being available in RHD format in all EU countries. Extra 986 euros in Germany and 1294 euros in Netherlands for a 1.8 Vectra - note only two year warranty
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Towing limit, the difference between Gross Train Weight and Gross Vehicle Weight, is normally identical between equivalent Vauxhall and Opel models as the test data comes from a single GM engineering unit and the UK, Germany and Netherlands adopt the same EU test procedure for determining towing limits, specifically a 12% gradient.
The Vectra Estate 3.0CDTi manual has a towing limit of 1800kg whether as a Vauxhall in the UK or an Opel in Germany and Netherlands. The automatic however, has a towing limit of 1200kg as a Vauxhall and 1500kg as an Opel. The automatics limit is ridiculously low for a car of this size, the same as my present Astra so no point changing as I want to retain automatic transmission.
In the past, when asked about similar differences like Zafira towing limits, Vauxhall refuse to comment on anything that Opel do in European countries.
The two obvious sources for rhd Opels, Ireland and Malta, don't have the 3.0CDTi available. I haven't yet sourced a website for Cyprus that's in English.
I'm encouraged that rhd is shown with prices for Germany and Netherlands so I'll concentrate my research there. I was already aware that Vauxhall's 3-year warranty wouldn't apply.
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The cars are identical forget any blurb the cars are the same it is how the two countries have labeled them ,the german cars do not have any magic bits added .The difference in the UK is to do with warranty and towing .
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Andy - the blurb can't be ignored.
If I buy and use a Vauxhall with a 1200kg towing limit, but use a 1500kg caravan, I may get prosecuted in a roadside check because the weights specified on the VIN plate and EC Certificate of Conformance will have been exceeded.
It's no consolation to know that there's no engineering reason why the higher weight would be unsafe!
If the difference is warranty I'd rather buy a car with a 1500kg limit and 2-year warranty than a car with a 1200kg limit and a zero warranty - because by exceeding their tow limit, any Vauxhall warranty would be null and void.
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My salesman aquaintance at Autohause Dresden main opel agents has said have you read the spec correctly there is a note under KG at the top kg1 and a note at the bottom about special conditions and to speak with your local handler it means the log book will be stamped at 300kg under this weight its to do with laden and unladen weight if I understood him correctly,and in In reality if you import it to the uk the log book and spec will be the same as the uk as they will be worked out by the DVLA as per the english version and you will end up with the UK towing weights
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EC Certificate of Conformance. We're in the EU so the Certificate of Conformity would be the same as in other EU countires (I would imagine). If you want a paper chase imort a second hand Landie from Spain !
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Andy - the blurb can't be ignored.
Perhaps you ask one of the Carvavan Towing magazines (who would surely be very interested) to query this with Vauxhall?
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If you read the way these weights are configured on the respective web sites you can see they are different ,the UK method uses many more considerations uncluding a 12% uphill gradiant and two people in the car the German system does not just for one.
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Can I be the first to suggest you simply look at other cars? I say that as a reasonably happy Vectra owner too.
How about an Octavia Elegance 2.0 TDI DSG? 1400Kg towing limit.
Or, to get above your 1500kg ( I guess that's what you actually want to pull?), how about a Mondeo 2.0 (petrol) Ghia Auto.
Fuel economy/performance not quite as good as the 3.0CDTI auto Vectra, but no disgrace either and can pull 1800kg?
Or even, a Peugeot 407 SW 2.7 V6 HDI Sport? 1600Kg for that one and similar performance to the Vectra too.
There's bound to be others too that I haven't thought of. Any of these has to be easier to buy, insure and sell on than an Opel badged RHD car.
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Andy - thanks for your additional input. These details are beyond my limits of foreign language. I'll have to study the Opel Germany website when my son is around to give me a fighting chance.
OilBurner - do you not think I've looked at alternatives - next best for me would be a Vauxhall Vectra Estate 1.9CDTi(150) auto which has a 1500kg towing limit, bigger than the Octavia and more economical than the petrol Mondeo and 407.
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Fair enough - just no mention was made of the alternatives. :)
I can't understand going to these lengths when there's other cars that can do the job just as well but without going through this hassle?
If the Vectra 1.9 CDTi will do the job, then I'd heartily recommend it - in the real world it is every bit as quick as the 3.0 V6, has no known issues and gives very good economy. The manual version I have does 50mpg average with careful driving.
Test the 3.0 against the 1.9 back to back if you're unsure.
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Out of interest what do you want to tow,I have always found automatics even big 4x4s are not happy without a gearbox cooler under when towing heavy trailers on hot days.
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I've driven the 1.9 in an Alfa 156, not sure it's an engine for towing, like most diesels it's real world bottom end torque is actually quite low. The 3 litre would be a better bet although I suspect traction would be the limiting factor.
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A 2.2 Mondeo or X-Type estate both produce 400nm torque at 1800 rpm and from what I can work out have a towing limit of around 1600kg.
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There's no auto option for either though - which is a shame. Maybe Ford haven't got a box that can handle that much torque?
They used to do the 2.0 TDCI with the Durashift, but that didn't last long, which means it was either unpopular or fragile, or both...
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They used to do the 2.0 TDCI with the Durashift, but that didn't last long, which means it was either unpopular or fragile, or both...
The 2.0 TDCi / Durashift was available from mid/late 2002 (pre facelift) and was discontinued IIRC for the 2006 model year so around three years, I have not heard of and Durashift related problems however it is clear that it did not sell in great numbers which is probably why it was withdrawn.
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There are many excellent diesel vehicles which never even make it to my "long list" because they're not available with automatic transmission. Autos are always matched to engines by their torque rating and many manufacturers simply don't have autos available with high torque capacity.
Ford and Jaguar's lack of diesel auto is strange given that Volvo use the Aisin-Warner autobox, in common with Toyota and Vauxhall/Opel/Saab.
I always fit a transmission cooler, even if the vehicle has a standard fit cooler (in reality just a pipe in the radiator "bottom"tank) and the manufacturer states that no cooler is necessary.
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There are many excellent diesel vehicles which never even make it to my "long list" because they're not available with automatic transmission. Autos are always matched to engines by their torque rating and many manufacturers simply don't have autos available with high torque capacity.
How about a Merc? I have C Class C270CDi auto. I don't tow with it so I've no idea about spec's but it feels like it would pull a house, never mind a caravan. And it'll show 50MPG on its trip computer if I drive it gently (although possibly not while towing). I gather the fact that it's RWD makes it better for towing.
Mine's the latest facelift version (from mid 2004) although the straight 5 cyl 270 engine was replaced a while ago by a new (slightly less economical, but livlier) 320 V6.
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Mine's the latest facelift version (from mid 2004) although the straight 5 cyl 270 engine was replaced a while ago by a new (slightly less economical, but livlier) 320 V6.
IIRC it is a 3.0 V6 called the 280 in the C-Class and both 280 and 320 in the E-Class in two different states of tune.
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IIRC it is a 3.0 V6 called the 280 in the C-Class and both 280 and 320 in the E-Class in two different states of tune.
It is all the same 3.0 engine but it's called 320CDi in the C Class (you're correct on the E Class).
I don't know why there isn't a C280CDi - although maybe one will get added now BMW have *very* quietly introduced 325d (so there's now 320, 325, 330 & 335 diesels - it must be hard to choose!).
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