Frequently asked questions

Do you only sell old cars from outside the UK?

Most of our stock comes from outside the UK but we love all interesting cars so some of the cars for sale will have been sourced from these shores and clearly advertised as such.

Why are your cars right hand drive if they come from outside the UK?

We tend to concentrate import from countries that are RHD such as South Africa, Namibia, Japan, Austraila and Newzealand, but occasionally some are left hand drive too. Its easy with a bit of practice!

Why do you bother to ship cars in and out from other countries?

Usually there isn't one answer to cover this question but several! Mainly we source cars that were either never produced here in the UK or are so rare that all the good examples are already in the hands of collectors and speculators. There can be other reasons too such as specific engine options never seen in a particular car (such as the BMW 333i or Discovery 4 5.0 V8) or simply that the condition of cars is better from a different climate, for example its well documented that Japanese cars do not suffer salt damage to their chassis as its not used as an Ice inhibitor even in the coldest parts for the country.

Why should I use you as opposed to any other importer/exporter?

That is a good question and one we are happy to answer in the most light-hearted way possible. Retro Imports is a hobby business and pleasingly cliched insofar as its for enthusiasts by enthusiasts, we don't have any dealership corporate attitude, shareholders, politics, bosses to appease or targets to meet. What we do have is a great network of people for sourcing and moving cars around the world with as little hassle (and cost) as possible.

I'm looking for something specific, can you help?

Yes, we have a number of contacts to "spread the word" if there's something you really want - unfortunately we will have to be specific on budget with these type of requests as otherwise it can be frustrating to find out we wasted everyone's time looking for an Escort Mexico for under £2k.

I'm emigrating and want to take my car with me, can you help?

Yes, although not the usual thing for us its broadly similar to what we do so we will be happy to help with this and our shipping agents can provide lots of different scenarios for export/import

I'm looking to export/import a car temporarily can you help?

Yes, we have a lot of experience in gaining temporary export ATA Carnets and will be happy to assist with this on a consultancy basis.

I'm nervous about buying a car from another country, how can I be sure its ok?

Dealing specifically in older vehicles can be daunting and adding that extra unknown can ultimately put buyers off their dream vehicle, it's certainly caught many professional people out as well as hobby buyers. We only really sell cars that we have hand selected and imported ourselves, this eliminates most of the risk to you as you can see and touch, hear and smell the car before deciding to buy or not.

Is it difficult or more expensive to insure an import?

A great question that really depends on the car itself, most mainstream insurers will look at cost to repair as a factor in an import so naturally if your chosen car has specific body panels that will be hard to replace for example then insurance premium will reflect this. There are a number of specialist brokers that are usually much cheaper than normal insurance providers which we can put you in touch with.