Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Sparkrite on Sunday,December 06, 2020, 05:35:43 AM
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After years of searching I have found a europa which I'm very keen to buy asap. However I am in the U.K. and the car is in Europe.
As it is a non driver I am thinking of hiring a luton van ,loading the car inside after making a suitable "bed" then bringing it home. But a europa is 3.994m x 1.64m x 1.08m high , but the luton has 3.93m x 1.95m x 2.18m high space.
Are there better suited vans in the U.K. and is this a dumb idea.
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The way I'm reading the dimensions, the car is wider than the width of the van interior. Unless you don't mind body damage loading/unloading the car, you may want to consider another option. How far is the transport?
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Why not just a normal trailer, or is the car in pieces and not rolling ?
Even if the car is rolling it sounds very tight on width even if you could leave the rear door open. Plus of course you have to get the car from the ground up to the bed height.... you'll need a long ramp & winch ? The pro's who use flatbed trucks to move cars around (I used one to move my cars down here) have ramps/winches to handle non-runners and the flatbeds are plenty long enough even for larger cars. If you could hire something like that you might be in with a chance.
Brian
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Is the body attached to the chassis?
If not it may be light enough to load at an angle above the heavy bits?
You would need to build some sort of support frame from lumber, in advance or on-site.
Just an idea.
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The car is all complete and rolls but not drives. On my license I can drive a 3.5 tonne van which I hope should be able to carry the 700 odd kg payload. I probably need to find one with a longer load bay. I do not have a towing car and would find pulling a trailer not easy for a first time attempt.
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Pulling a trailer is not difficult at all. You have to pay a bit more attention to it and what is around you. Backing up with a trailer is the hard part but with only a little planning, you should be able to avoid that altogether.
If you are still worried, maybe you can find someone who can help (after you find a tow vehicle and trailer of course!).
Good luck and don’t forget to post pictures of your new baby!
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I collected my car from Wisconsin by renting a pickup truck and a trailer. When all the costs were added up I didn't really save any money compared to paying a delivery service. If I had to do it again I think I'd put the effort into finding the right delivery service.
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A flat bed recovery type truck may be better for you if you don't want to tow, I know someone who has one, not sure if he'd hire it or maybe he'd even do it for you. Where in Europe is it?
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I've agreed a price on the car and will likely get a shipper to do the transport. The scary thing is I will have to transfer the equivalent of $14,000 to the seller on trust that the car will be there for the shippers. I have no security whatsoever this way.
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I've agreed a price on the car and will likely get a shipper to do the transport. The scary thing is I will have to transfer the equivalent of $14,000 to the seller on trust that the car will be there for the shippers. I have no security whatsoever this way.
Airfare prices have been low of late.
I would not send a penny without confirming the car first.
Visit and pay in person, or use an escrow service.
At the VERY least get a "Proof of life" picture.
This can be as simple as a new picture of the car with the seller standing next to it making an OK sign as you have requested. A pic with a copy of that days Times lying on the bonnet would be good too.
You said "Europe" but not which country, have you seen any ownership documents?
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I've agreed a price on the car and will likely get a shipper to do the transport. The scary thing is I will have to transfer the equivalent of $14,000 to the seller on trust that the car will be there for the shippers. I have no security whatsoever this way.
As Richard says, unless I knew the person I was dealing with I would be reluctant to hand over cash without some serious proof. If it was a long term owner who'd been around the Europa scene for some time, maybe on the old Yahoo group or this forum then I'd be more relaxed. I think it was Alex on here who had trouble with one seller around the time he was importing several cars to the UK, it would be worth searching the forum for how that turned out.
If the car is in Europe and you were considering bringing it back yourself, then I'd either drive or fly over there to see it myself. At that point you can arrange bank transfer or similar payment once the shipping details are sorted out and you're happy the car is worth what you're paying.
Brian
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I bought my car via feeBay, unseen, from a stranger. :o
But feeBay/Pay-Pal do give you some recourse (Almost an escrow.) and I only sent a $500.00 initial payment with balance on picking it up.
I also had a working phone number and conversations with the seller to get a feel for the deal.
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Thank you all for your advice. The car is for sale from a dealer with what seems completely genuine site with other cars. I have received over 30 photos alot of which are at his premises. I have now transferred £500 and will transfer the other £10,500 in the next few days. I am arranging a shipper to collect and bring back to London. He says vin is 3776R.
I will post photos soon.
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Just be careful Sparkrite.....do you have something like the Better Business Bureau in Europe that you can check up on a business' reputation?
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Well then , CONGRATULATIONS! :beerchug: :BEER3:
Hope you get a speedy delivery.
Dakazman
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Thank you all for your advice. The car is for sale from a dealer with what seems completely genuine site with other cars. I have received over 30 photos alot of which are at his premises. I have now transferred £500 and will transfer the other £10,500 in the next few days. I am arranging a shipper to collect and bring back to London. He says vin is 3776R.
I will post photos soon.
Hope it all goes smoothly for you. I was lucky. Went to see it/test drive on Saturday and it was delivered on the Wednesday! I didn't have too much time to let the excitement build as I spent most of the time in between clearing a big enough space in the garage to get it in!
While you are waiting you could always post some of the "over 30 photos" you were sent so we can all get excited for you....just saying 😁
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Good luck with it. Then the journey of working on a Europa. Have fun and enjoy.
Dave
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Congratulations indeed :beerchug: