Benji Lad

Will the headlights on my Euro import pass the MoT next year? They seem to point to the right on dip. However the vehicle does have a STA certificate. Does this mean the headlights are approved for use in the UK?

Cheers, Benji

(This may look like a previous post from me, that I now can't find)

Apple

Benji,

do you mean parallel import or grey?

parallel should be set to UK spec (if that's how you ordered it)

grey might be set to anything depending where it originated / was used prior to you in UK

dou you mean SVA certificate rather than STA as this hints at grey import but lights should have been tweaked for UK to pass the test (but could be wrong )

can a garage with a beam-splitter (what they use to set up and check lights) have a look - might be just misaligned...

Apple

Benji Lad

Apple,

The car was bought in Germany and brought to England in Aug 2000. The paper it has is a "EEC Certificate of conformity for complete vehicles". I bought the car second hand last Nov.

What is the difference between a Grey import and parallel? The logbook is all in German if that is of any help?

Cheers,

benji

Apple

Benji

It's a good start if you've got the cert. of conformity but was the car supplied as new to German spec? - if so it'll have the lights for driving on the other side which is why you think they're off to the left AFAIR

where was it registered and did it need to have the SVA test to bring it into the UK? Did you have to do this test or was it part of the paperwork when you bought the car?

Parallel imports - cars with european type approval and delivered to UK spec (speedo in mph, bandwidth of radio, lights pointing the right way etc). generally imported to uk to take advantage of "favourable pricing structures" and tax rates i.e. save a packet over rip-off Britain prices . No official hassle from dealers

Grey imports - sourced from / first registered outside EU, e.g. Japan and may not be to EU spec hence needs SVA (Single Vehicle Approval) test to make sure it complies to home legislation / spec etc. No official support from franchised dealers although independants can take care of things.

This is a very sketchy answer and things may have moved on from when I got my import (parallel). Open to corrections by any experts out there...

Apple

Apple

just re-read your post - looks like you've got a car supplied to and first registered in Germany (log book in German) and then someone's personally imported it to UK and then sold it on later.

don't know whether you'll physically be able to reset the lights to point in the right direction - depends whether there's enough travel in the adjustment or it might mean getting hold of some UK spec lights

Apple

Benji Lad

Apple,

Cheers very much. From your description it is def' a parallel rather than grey import. Speedo is in mph and radio (until I bought my new one) was set up for UK use.

The lights at the mo' do dip to the right, so I will go to a garage and have them checked to make sure they won't dazzle other people. If they do I'll get them adjusted or hunt for some that dip to the left.

Thanks for your advice,

Benji

cheeseboy

As we drive on the opposite side of the road, our headlights send light forwards and to the right to light up the edge of the road. It is easy to see if you have euro lights or if they have been changed already - drive up towards a wall with low beam on and you will see a distinct pattern (triangular) - ours have the right side of light much higher than the left. If yours are like this you need to replace them.

And NO, the travel will not do the trick as it is a lot more than that. It is the whole reflector piece. contact Richard (re-bitten hero) at Bitten.Hero@scoobynet.co.uk and have a chat to him - he had to replace the headlights to live in germany, so perhaps you can buy his old ones??

Neal

[Edited by cheeseboy - 11/19/2002 11:43:06 AM]