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Lupo 3L - importing & taxing


rick briddon
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I just imported a 3L and have found out its going to cost me to tax it even though its usually tax free (road tax)


Apparently as its registered before march 2001 it's now costing me £135 per year.


So if you are thinking of bringing a 3L into the uk, buy one registered after march 2001

Thankfully it's amazing on fuel so makes up for the tax

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That sucks man. I bought my SDI expecting 30 pound road tax, and instead, because it was registered before the date you mentioned, it's costing me £240 or something :(

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I thought about trying to contact someone reference it, but after googling the world I dont think ill get anywhere.

It proper sucks when you buy a car that is in the Guiness book of records for being so fuel efficient etc only to find you have to pay road tax equivalent to a gas guzzling co2 spewing petrol car.

On the side of importing RS ill brake it down-

Lupo 3L- £3000 (82000 miles on the clock)

Flight to Holland- £100

Train to car show room- £20

Fuel home- £20

Ferry- £35

Registration fee- £55

Road Tax- £130

Insurance- £565 However my no claims didnt mirror for some reason and as it had to be done on the vin only certain insurance companies would insure

MOT- £27 with a voucher, only failed on track rod end (£12) Lights (purchased beam convertors online £8) and a couple of tires.

£3972 in total

Thats prity much everything, i hope that helps potential buyers.

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Not bad that isn't.

Does that mean it gets a UK reg plate too?

What's the rules on driving from one country to another in a car you've only bought but not insured? 3rd Party only?

Edited by Skezza
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Skezza

The place I bought the car insured it back to the UK for me, then I assumed my fully comp covered it. Id check with your insurance mind

And yep I will get UK plates, so next years insurance should at least be cheaper

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I think a How To based on the information provided by Rick should definitely be made. Also, a quick note should be made on the issues with taxing in the UK, especially as I'm really irritated at the fact I bought my SDI on the understanding I'd get £30, but I'm not eligible.

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Thanks Guys. I hope this info helps future buyers, unfortunatley me and Skezza are the unlucky ones.

If an administrator wants to put it in the how to im more than happy as it may effect other model purchases.

Note the Audi A2 3L is an option, however these go for around £6000 just for the car

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I think a 'how to' is probably unnecessary for something that most people would concider a basic check when buying a car. The tax change from March 2001 (Y registration and onwards) is widely known and the information is freely available.

As for insurance, in Germany I got a short term export insurance from ADAC, as I am a member, which is required to export a car. This covered me to drive home.

Once the car was in the UK I got another short term policy, just to cover the time it took to MOT, tax and register the car in the UK. Once that was done I got a regular insurance policy.

It is still a pain each year, as most insurance companies will not accept that a 2001 3L exists.

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Derv I don't think everyone knew about the tax change, the woman at DVLA didn't even know what she was doing until she'd chatted to 2 of her work buddies.

I did put a post on here asking about importing a Lupo 3L, pity you didn't put on there about the tax, as I would have found that helpful.

Wish I had that crystal ball :-)

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Derv I don't think everyone knew about the tax change, the woman at DVLA didn't even know what she was doing until she'd chatted to 2 of her work buddies.

I did put a post on here asking about importing a Lupo 3L, pity you didn't put on there about the tax, as I would have found that helpful.

Wish I had that crystal ball :-)

Sorry, I figured most people these days owned at least 1 car that is less than 12 years old, so would be aware of the CO2 based tax system. It is no secret.

Also not everyone is concerned with vehicle running costs. Take someone with a MTM RS6 plus. for example. :lol:

Before I imported my 3L I did a lot of research. I enquired about many 3Ls for sale, asking for details and photos. I took 3 trips to Germany viewing and test driving more than one, despite giving myself a very narrow search band, because of the specification of the car I wanted. Sure, it cost more at the time, but it paid off in the long run when I found the exact car I was looking for.

On the plus side I have now clocked up over 180k km of 3L experience, and I also know RAB has 3x 3L experience. So amongst others we are here if you need help in the future. But on the whole I would say they are very reliable cars. Just look after it with routine maintenance, including the 3L specific things like checking the hydraulic oil level, accumulator condition, clutch cable adjustment, on so on. :)

Hopefully you can keep running costs at a minimum from now on, despite lacking a tax disk with "NIL" printed on it.

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Derv great advice :)

I will keep an eye on the hydraulic fluid, does this ever need changing like engine oil or is it more like just keeping it topped up? (Would it benefit from a change?)

The lupo 3L i purchased was a good choice specifically for price and location, if I could get another one i would go for a 2002 onwards and one with power steering, but you learn aye :yes:

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Keeping an eye on the hydraulic fluid can give you a clue to whether there is a leak somewhere.

For example my 3L has a very small weep on the clutch slave cylinder, and always has. In the winter it hardly needs any oil, but in the summer it needs about a teaspoon every couple of months. It has never got any worse, so I just opt to put a few pence of G 004 000 in it, rather than pay the £120+ for a new slave.

If the fluid is even a tiny bit low the gearbox shifts into neutral, the engine just idles and the throttle does nothing, which can be a pain if you are just starting to climb a hill.

I changed the hydraulic oil when I did a gearbox rebuild at about 200k km. The whole hydraulic system comes out as a complete unit.

Weirdly the 3rd/4th selector fork broke meaning it would not select 3rd gear. The rest of the gearbox was in fairly good condition, but I just changed a few bearings that were less than perfect while I was in there. I also fitted a new clutch, but the old one only had about 1mm of wear, which should reassure other owners that the 3L seems to be very kind to clutches. As the gearbox gets perfect shifts all the time, I imagine the gearboxes are very reliable.

To check the accumulator shift to tiptronic (+/-) and go up and down the gears slowly until you hear the pump whirr. Then count the number of shift you can do before the pump works again. It should do 6 shifts. The first time I had an accumulator fail I think it only did 2, then the car wouldn't drive.

With this information it should solve ~90% of 3L trouble. It's amazing how many people I have helped out that have been at a complete loss as to why their 3L won't drive. The solution is almost always fluid level or the accumulator. As they don't give any obvious fault codes.

I imagine there are a lot of 3Ls for sale with "getriebe defekt" that could be very easy to fix.

Bare in mind that a 3L with electro-mechanical PAS does not have stop/start.

Do you have the SSPs relating to the 3L? They are very useful for understanding how the car works.

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Great info again, wish I'd got in touch with you prior buying.

But great to know your very knowledgable on the 3L, so can I assume its either power steering or Stop start?

I have the SSP which are great thanks

Edited by rick briddon
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I have had to learn a lot of it the hard way, so it's hard to forget. It seems there are more 3Ls around these days. Don't forget to lurk on a2oc.net, as there are a few 1.2TDI owners on there too.

Make sure you have the instructions for doing the clutch cable adjustment and gearbox basic settings using VCDS. I do this every other service, which is 30k km. Or twice a year for me.

From what I know PAS means no stop/start. But I know not everything in the SSPs is correct.

Is your engine an ANY? Is your battery in the boot, or under the bonnet? Do you have an E or a D on the gear selector?

At least you should have an Mg/Al tailgate, unlike an '02 3L. The 3rd brake light should be behind the glass on the tailgate. Unlike a 'normal' Lupo.

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No. The ANY is not a bad thing. I was just working out what age it is without asking for you VIN. ;)

Just remember:

Check the hydraulic fluid level first.

Then check the accumulator.

Check for fault codes.

Check the cable adjustment.

Do the gearbox basic setting.

Pretty much all 3L fault diagnostics should be done in that order, and fixed in that order. That should cover most problems.

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Another tip I can give you is to rotate your tyres occasionally, front-rear. The rear tyres should hardly wear, so will end up getting old and past their best way before they wear out.

I have 14 wheels and tyres, and swap them at each change of season. I always put the 2 tyres that have the most tread at the time on the front.

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Nice one.

Ive done the accumlator check and i only get 3 gears before it kicks in, does this mean i need to change the black accumulator?

Any idea where i can get one?

Also im not sure how to check/adjust the clutch cable.

Fault codes checked, only one present is an ABS Hydraulic pump code (V64) 01276 - sporadic signal outside tolerance..... Any ideas

Thanks for your help Derv, much appreciated.

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