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LHD Pros and Cons?

2K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  TwentyOneThirtyFive 
#1 ·
Im looking at a few vans at the mo and one is LHD. Any LHD owners that want to share their Pros and cons experiences with owning a LHD van.

Thnaks
 
#2 ·
Not ownd a LHD T4, but have been VERY tempted over the years.

Owned several LHD Vauxhalls years ago, a friend was a test driver for the company and they used LHD just for going round and round Millbrook Proving Ground's high speed bowl (LHD mean the driver was on the 'low' side of the banking). Bought because they were cheap and in reality 'had been no where'.

Negatives from memory ............. not many to be honest, car park and toll barriers were interesting, and going through the KFC drive through on your own had its challenges. Don't remember things like insurance being any issue either.

I am sure our forum full of LHD owners will advise you much better ............... I may still get one myself (anyone got a Last Edition Executive Syncro Multivan?)
 
#5 ·
As above any situation where you need to do a transaction from the drivers seat. But when on holiday you don't have that issue.

Some corners can be fun but as you are not going fast and you can see just how much room you have till you are in the drainage ditch

Main one is if parking on the road side your sliding door opens onto traffic. Bonuse you step onto the pavement. Pain if it is a wall. But then you open the slider and get out that way.

So any way you look at things there are good and bad for both.
 
#6 ·
Unless you're abroad A LOT in it I would think it's best to get RHD? I had a mk2 golf LHD but being small it posed no real problem. I used a litter picker stick for the odd time I used ticket machines etc as it would reach out of passenger door, but t4 is lot wider so not so easy. If you always have a passenger with you then OK.
Also, if no front passenger, overtaking where a necessity can be a pain in the bum for visibility. Again, not hard in a smaller Golf where you can lean over to see ahead (and with power to hang back then speed up when clear) but t4 would make it harder again. Getting safely past something like a bin wagon in a town street for example can be hard if no passenger to look for oncoming traffic. All depends how often you would be driving it alone (in the UK) :*
 
#8 ·
I don't mean racing around, hence why I said 'where it's a necessity'. Even hanging back and looking down the inside there's that moment when you have to swing out (even slowly) and wonder if a bike or something's snuck in the blind spot and you can't see it until you're halfway on the wrong side of the road.
 
#10 ·
All depends where you live...if you live in a congested area, LHD makes almost no difference. I drove one for years in the South East and never had a problem. Ticket machine issues are an urban myth, unless you have no arms and/or you can't release your seatbelt :*
 
#12 ·
Easy to live with, I've not encountered any problems and find those that dis them are folks that haven't owned one. I personally now prefer LHD to RHD and that fact that there are far more LHD produced gives you a bigger market place for those obsolete spares.
The first week of ownership you'll think why did I ever buy one, the second week you'll enjoy the challenge of mastering it, and from then on you'll enjoy driving it more. It's a bit like the novelty of being on the road for the first time..
Go for it ! T:
 
#17 ·
i find i do the opposite - i can drive within a couple of inches of the kerb which is great for narrow roads/lanes. let the bugger coming the other way worry about whether they'll scrape the other side of your car and if you don't quite fit they're the ones that end up kerbing their wheels or scraping the hedgerows. :)

i've had 3 LHD bays and i've got a LHD bug. only hassle i've ever had is drive-throughs, but it's no real hardship to park up, buy your dirty maccyd's breakfast and then walk back to the car.

and if it's a panel van you have to remember to pull up to junctions at 90 degrees. but you pretty much have to do that with a RHD anyway.

another pro is that you can get cheap parts from the continent. have you seen the price of LHS sliding doors?
 
#16 ·
Driving is easy, it's walking to the wrong door that constantly gets me.

And passengers find it a bit freaky on small roads with oncoming traffic... I winced a few times when the Mrs had her first goes at driving. But we don't even think about it now, even on a camper that gets used odd weekends...

Go for it! All the best uns are LHD ;)
 
#18 ·
No real problems with ours and I'm not the world's greatest driver. Jumped back into ours last week after it had been off the road for 7 months and driving it was as natural as you like.

Think most points have been covered by others. Be a bit careful following buses - need to leave a bit of room to look around them when they stop. Having a window in the sliding door will help with junctions and roundabouts.

We keep a few LHD specific spares in case of breakdown while away in the UK, such as clutch cable (RHD are hydrolic?) and accelerator cable.

Also, I got a set of RHD headlights off of ebay since we're in the UK most of the time. Cheap and easy to fit.
 
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