I had something rather amazing happen to me today ... I was offered a transfer to England! And I accepted! I will be transferring in October of this year. I've been getting dizzy trying to think of all the things I'll have to do before I go, including for Lucy ... tires, routine maintenance, etc. I am allowed to ship one vehicle, so Lucy is going (back) to England too!

Well ... any advice for how to prepare Lucy for the big move would be appreciated. I will be moving to a town about 2 hours outside of London. I would imagine Lucy will be spending a minimum of two months in transit, perhaps three, so I may be putting her on the boat only a few days after Spring Fling.

Cheerio!

MINIangelD

 

Angel - That is some very exciting news! Looks like Lucy will be heading home for a long stay. Lucy probably doesn't need any prep right now, but you'll have to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Check with MINI USA to see if there needs to be any type of software change for Lucy due to differences in petrol between the UK and the colonies. Good luck!

 

FedEx Lucy. They have an excellent service for such important cargo. FedEx does shuttle thoroughbred horses and Giant Pandas around the world and should be able to handle a MINI very well.

 

how sporting that sounds!

i'd check out the john cooper works factory as well as the classic minis. if i had $$$, i'd probably get a classic to cruz around in.

only thing is it's so cold there.

and there's no waves.

 

Wow, how cool is that? Time now to sign up at MINI2.com, since they are UK based and oriented.
Best wishes! :smile:

 

Angel - Just some thoughts on your move. Check with MINI USA regarding your US warranty and 3 yr/36k free maintenance. I'm not sure how that stuff would transfer over as one is warranted by MINI USA and the other by MINI UK.

Since you'll be in Europe, you might as well check this out. http://www.speed-buster.de/ With just super tuning a chip, they are getting 196 hp. All that for only 1000 euros. I'd like to see what kind of hp gains they can get with a pulley, intake and exhaust.

 

oh good luck miniangeld.....this sounds like a great adventure! please do join us on our next mini meet so that we can see you at least a few more times before you leave!!!

 

Wow...great news...why don't you sell Lucy and bring a RHD Lucy home when/if you come back.

Sorry but you are now our source for all things British...love and good luck..

Jeff

 

:smile: Maybe you can pick yourself up a Classic Mini while you are over there.

 

Before you leave, you should have the American Flag emblazoned on your roof! That'll show your American pride whilst motoring all over Europe! Maybe we'll all chip in for a going away gift!

 

 

wow, how exciting! maybe we can plan a mmm in england keiki? you gonna plan it?

 

>>Well ... any advice for how to prepare Lucy for the big move would be appreciated. I will be moving to a town about 2 hours outside of London. I would imagine Lucy will be spending a minimum of two months in transit, perhaps three, so I may be putting her on the boat only a few days after Spring Fling.

Angel and Lucy,
So sorry to hear you have to leave but have a good time and safe journey. We hate to see you go but will look forward to seeing you return if that is possible.

Don't worry about driving on the wrong side and don't practice it in MINIlani.

You'll get used to roundabouts in no time-the trick is to not stop and keep going round and round until you see the right place to exit. It's similar to a holding pattern over a busy airport.

Parking in rural and small town areas is on either side of the street facing whatever direction that suits you-it seems. Good thing you have a MINI-they are easy to drive on small roads and in congested urban areas and gas is over $5 a gallon!!!! Your MCS can get 32 mpg if you coast alot.

Insurance for MCS in the UK will be horrible and you will know why few buy MCS over there.
Be sure to keep sending us reports from the UK. Cheers.

 

Have fun on "the other side of the pond"

 

>>Before you leave, you should have the American Flag emblazoned on your roof! That'll show your American pride whilst motoring all over Europe! Maybe we'll all chip in for a going away gift!

An American flag? I think I might as well put a big bullseye on Lucy instead. I've no interest in becoming a lightning rod for all Europeans' criticism of Bush/American foreign policies/rude American tourists. I've always preferred to keep a low profile, and Lucy stands out enough as it is. I don't think Britons hate Americans, or will hate me when they find out I am American, but I'd rather not draw attention to myself as such, either. I hope that when they find out I've lived in the Sandwich Isles for ten years, they won't hold me quite so accountable for the pre-emptive war doctrine. :smile: I'll keep you updated.

MINIangelD

 

>>>>Before you leave, you should have the American Flag emblazoned on your roof! That'll show your American pride whilst motoring all over Europe! Maybe we'll all chip in for a going away gift!
>>
>>An American flag? I think I might as well put a big bullseye on Lucy instead.
I think you're right on that one. I did not see very many modded MINIs out on the road. 90%+ were plain stock.
No telling which terrorist group might spot Lucy and park their explosives on wheels next stall over.
At least you sorta look English and will blend in.

>>I am concerned about insurance. Guess I better call GEICO and get the bad news. If it really is horrible I will have to consider putting Lucy in storage on the mainland (preferably in my Mom's garage in the Midwest, but who knows).
Let us know what you find about insurance for the MCS.

>>I was already online today, checking out flats in the town I'll be in and there's nothing that looks decent below 500/mo GBP (with the current exchange rate - about $950). I'm hoping to use public transport so as to give myself time to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road (and maybe also save on insurance).

Public transportation is excellent in general so that is worth a look. Also you can find a place to live that is on a transportation line. In urban areas parking can be tough and require a parking sticker much like any city.

To learn to drive in the UK-
Here's what I did last summer.
Get the keys for the car.
Get in the car.
Put key in ignition and start it up.
Drive away.

Time to adjust to driving right side of car and shifting with left hand while driving on the right side of the road and reading signs on the roundabouts (no stop lights!):
5 or 10 seconds. You'll do fine.

Time to really get familiar driving like that? A day or two should be enough. Think of it as autocross on the street with mirror images.

 

>>An American flag? I think I might as well put a big bullseye on Lucy instead. I've no interest in becoming a lightning rod for all Europeans' criticism of Bush/American foreign policies/rude American tourists. I've always preferred to keep a low profile, and Lucy stands out enough as it is. I don't think Britons hate Americans, or will hate me when they find out I am American, but I'd rather not draw attention to myself as such, either. I hope that when they find out I've lived in the Sandwich Isles for ten years, they won't hold me quite so accountable for the pre-emptive war doctrine.

 

>>Time to adjust to driving right side of car and shifting with left hand while driving on the right side of the road and reading signs on the roundabouts (no stop lights!):
>>5 or 10 seconds. You'll do fine.

If Lucy goes across the pond, Angel won't have to worry about adapting!

I wonder if Geico insures cars in Europe and what kind of coverage they offer?

Okay, no American flag. What about a Hawaiian Flag? The Brits are pretty cool about us Americans. It's just the French that are anti-American, but I'm sure teh feeling is mutual. lol

 

I called GEICO today to get a quote, but their European division is only open M-F, so I'll have to call them sometime this week.

While I am not willing to get an entire Hawaiian decal put on Lucy's sunroof, I do have a small decal with a Hawaiian flag on it that I could display on a window. What with the left-side steering wheel, the flag decal, the plumeria decals, and the Hawaiian print seat covers, people might not need me to tell them I just came from Hawaii.

Well, obviously a lot of factors will play into whether I take Lucy with me ... insurance costs, warranty transfer, and parking availability mainly.

MINIangelD

 

geico?! how come you don't have usaa or that insurance for military families only? i know they have SUPER CHEAP rates. i'm jealous

 

Hawaiian stuff like a license plate holder flag is small and looks good.

When I am in Europe, I usually say I am from Hawaii and that works. If you want to really confuse them tell them you are a "pacific islander". Sometimes like in Italy the vendors would say to us- "no, you don't look American" or "Your english is so good". Well we don't speak anything but english so I hope so. Pidgeon english doesn't count- that would really throw them for a loop.

The Hawaiian Flag has a union jack on it!

 

the hawn flag looks pretty cool. my brother has one. pretty easy to stick on, just like tint. i plan to stick on an all-white one soon before summer.

i had usaa at one time. but when i p/u my mini last year and started pricing around for 2 car quotes, usaa wasn't really all that cheap. a big reason why was that because i lived under the same roof as my parents, i needed at least the same amount of coverage as them. otherwise, if someone sued me, my parents would ultimately suffer also. but even when i put down our other address, usaa still didn't pan out as cheap as geico. at least a few hundred diference.

plus geico has some other professional membership discounts that apply, ie. NATA, APTA, etc.

 

I switched to GEICO from Allstate when I first came to the islands in 1994. GEICO was a lot cheaper than Allstate! I'm not sure if I asked for quotes from other companies; I'd heard a lot of good stuff about GEICO. I stuck with GEICO because the few times I had to make claims, they were VERY fast in processing them - I never had any complaints about that, and you usually always hear about how insurance companies hassle people and cause delays. They also got high marks for service when Consumer Reports reviewed car insurance companies a few years ago.

Having said that ... my insurance went up by about 30-40% when I got Lucy, which I figured was a rip off and I meant to shop around and get some quotes from other companies, but I was lazy and I never did.

I called GEICO Europe this morning and got an unofficial, non-binding quote that was amazingly low ... a lot lower than what I pay in Hawaii, and for the same coverage! I asked why it was so low, and she said it was because England has universal health coverage, so no need for any medical stuff on the policy.

There was one complication, though, that I found very annoying. In 2001 I loaned my car (a Toyota Camry) to some friends for a few weeks, who were also covered by GEICO, and unfortunately, my friends had a minor fender bender, which was their fault. Even before I loaned the car to my friends, we called GEICO and confirmed that if anything happened to my car, it would be covered by THEIR policy, not mine. We went round and round with GEICO on this a few times, and GEICO told me on more than one occasion that the claim (a very small one, less than $500) was made on their policy. I only found out this morning that in fact, the claim was made on MY policy. No, my friends didn't sponge this off on me ... GEICO did. It is their rule that if the primary insurance holder (me) had adequate coverage for the damage, then it comes off MY policy, even though my friends were at fault, and even though my friends also had adequate coverage! So because that claim is sitting in my claims history, I do not qualify for an extra 10% discount on my GEICO Europe policy, which amounts to about $400 over three years. I am pretty p!ssed about that. You can bet that if my friends were not insured with GEICO, that GEICO would have insisted that the other company pay for the damage... so GEICO really screwed me on that.

So ... I take a deep breath, try to calm down, and remind myself that I am not dealing with a saintly non-profit organization. There is a possibility I can still get that extra 10% discount ... and even if I can't, my insurance costs will go down around $500 a year.

Now I have to find out what "British insurance" is, which is related to cars and is not regular car insurance. I have to have proof of British insurance in order to register my car in the UK. I've e-mailed someone with this question who deals with this stuff, hopefully I will hear back from him soon.

mini-t, I hope this answers your question about me and GEICO.

 

Angel - Don't forget that when in the UK you will need to get a MOT. I believe it is their version of our DMV's registration.

 

An MOT is a comprehensive yearly vehicle inspection. Every car registered for the road must have one and comes due the month the car is registered. You will also have Road Tax to pay yearly.

Having returned a few years back, I lived in the UK 6 years about 2 hours out of London also. I’d like to know the town or area you’re going to. Lots of country roads and farms and that means lots of slow trucks and farm equipment on the narrow roads so be careful when you first get out there. Remember when you are going to pass someone, driving in a LHD car, you have to see out the passenger side of the window to see around to oncoming traffic. THAT is the hardest thing about driving a LHD car there, but is the most deadliest to forget.

Not knowing your situation, if you are with the military or government and they are sponsoring your move, things may be different than you think cost wise. You will get gas at a reduced rate, you may be eligible for base housing, car insurance if over 25 will not be as bad as you may think and have access to stores that have better prices than the local economy.

You will have to pay all license, fees, VAT’s and taxes local people do which includes a tax to own and operate a TV.

Driving is very easy to get adjusted to. The secret is when you get on the road the first time just follow the rear of the car in front of you. If you see headlights in your lane more than likely YOUR on the wrong side. It’s not hard. Where you will find you have trouble will be parking lots. With a LHD MINI you will find yourself bumper to bumper with an on coming car at least a few times because there’s no lines or reference point and your years of LH driving instinct will steer you wrong.