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E in Holland

16K views 37 replies 17 participants last post by  MarcoFranssen 
#1 ·
I am owner of an E in Holland for 8 weeks now.
There is one firm in Holland who makes the cars that ready that wyou can bring the car to the RDW and they will give you an acceptance. You pay the tax and get the right papers.
 
#5 ·
Conversion for RDW

If you have your Element on German plates you do not really need to make that many changes. Once a car has been approved and admitted in the EU the change to Dutch licence plates is much easier. The RDW test is basically a safety and emission test and the rest is paying the BPM taxes.

The company Matthijs was reffering to specializes in preparing cars for the 'goedkeur individuele toelating' which applies to cars that come from outside the EU. This company is:

http://www.automobielbedrijfjaarsma.nl/
0515 569811
Piet Jaarsma
Jaarsma autos
Hartwerd

It seems they are specialized in importing Ford Mustangs.

Good Luck, Robert

I want to move with my Element from Germany to Holland. Where is this firm who makes the Elements ready for RDW?

Thanx
 
#6 ·
Another E in The Netherlands

2 Months ago I bought a new Element in Connecticut. Just received it last friday. The container ship only needs 2 weeks to cross the pond but it just missed the 'perfect schedule' by a few days.

I was over in the US a year ago and really liked the E. Could not find anything similar in Europe so I decided to import one. First looked at second hand ones but concluded that the difference in price and tax I will pay in Holland is not worth the added risk of buying a second hand one. Another bonus was the ability to order it by phone and e-mail from a Honda dealer instead of having to go over and check out several cars.

The car is now with a Honda dealer in Holland being prepared for the test at the RDW (government body for road approval). The test will be executed a few weeks from now. Keep my fingers crossed.

If it passes the test I will have to pay BPM (about 45% tax on cars in Holland) and wait some more to get licence plates...
 

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#7 ·
Thats great news RobertS :)
I went through the process recently bringing mine back from the US to the UK. So worth all the hassle and time spent doing it.

Where abouts in Holland are you located? The reason I ask is that I am over in Belgium for the F1 grand prix next month and planning a trip to Roermond ( I used to live nearby) to go eat at a much loved, and missed restaurant. We could maybe get an international meet going :-D

Edited as I am stupid, just read your details and saw where you are located.
 
#8 ·
Welcome to the Club !
I love that area of Europe - I worked a summer in Geel Belgium doing a job for Genzyme.........traveled a lot around Holland and Belgium
 
#9 ·
Well my E made it over from the UK to Holland the other weekend. We were on a trip to Belgium to watch the F1 Grand Prix.
This is me and my E outside my favourite grill-house. hmmmm shoarma.

During the trip we kept the speed down and managed 27mpg over 1200 miles from the UK, through France, Belgium into Holland and Germany (hit a hundred on the autobahn) and back again.
Whilst waiting at the docks for the ferry to France we had lots of people come up to us asking what we were driving and where could they get one.
 

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#13 ·
Yo Beaker: How's it going? That E is looking good. How's the family? You should see all the things I've done to my E. This week I'm having the new CD/DVD/Nav system put in along with a new amp and 11" monitors installed in the head rests. Can't wait. Hope all is well with you and the family. Keep us posted on your whereabouts.......
 
#11 · (Edited)
How I got my Dutch licence plates!

Difficult?, no, not really. Expensive, yes and very slow!

Once my Element was safe and sound in Amsterdam I got it transferred to Auto Maarschalk, the local Honda dealer in Velserbroek. They were willing to support me in this adventure and will be able to service my car in the future. I filled in the paperwork for a so called 'ITS, Individuele toelating speciaal' which is an admission test for cars with no European approval but which are build in mass production (so no kit cars are allowed). It took 5 weeks before I could come over to Lelystad where the tests are performed. The test costs about 1000 Euros which is expensive but no different from the similar (TUV) test in Germany.

I did some homework partly using this forum and partly by reading the 'APK' (yearly safety test in Holland for cars older than 3 years) requirements. The mechanics at Maarschalk and I concluded that we had to add a rear foglight with switch and remove the orange diffuser in the headlights (2007 model) since the parking lights would become citylights plus front signal lights in the same bulb. The blinkers are supposed to be white or yellow, not orange. I would have missed that one but luckily Maarschalk didn't. I expected that two rear reflectors were needed as added by Vincent in France (see forum Element in France). The 2007 model has little round reflectors build in the rear lights which solved this problem. The side markers became side blinkers and luckily we concluded that we did not have to add extra ones in order to have the correct visibility from the back. I read that the British test was a little harsher on this matter but instead of adding them beforehand we took the risk of retesting. The RDW agreed with us that changing the side markers to blinkers was sufficient. So you see, one Europe, one law is not quite the case yet.

The good thing about the test is that you can drive up there with a 1-day licence. This was my first real driving experience in an Element. No disappointments there. My car was tested on a rainy morning in September and it passed everything exept the sound test. The total produced sound is measured on a piece of road and my tires produced too much sound. An escape would have been a classification as a 'terreinwagen' which is an offroad vehicle but for this classification its ground clearance is too small. Luckily the friendly people of the RDW allowed for a second test in the afternoon without extra charge after the tarmac had dried a little. So a few more coffees and car magazines later it passed the test!

The next day I drove to the customs office in Amsterdam to get an invoice for the so called 'BPM', the tax you pay to register a car, besides the import duties (10%) and sales tax (19%). The officials were quite friendly and gave me a break in the calculation of the bpm to be paid. Since the Element was completely new to their records they had to use a formula instead of picking a fixed bpm figure from a table. The relatively low USD really helped me this summer!

Two weeks after transferring the BPM I got my license documents. With these you can have plates made in a few minutes. I could not wait to get officially on the road so I attached them to the car myself on a saturday afternoon and off I went. I did get some funny looks on the road like all others in this forum. It is a great car and the kids love it.:)
 

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#12 ·
Fantastic news RobertS!!

Well I shall be back over in Roermond next September if you want an international meet?? :rolleyes:

I too didn't need rear reflectors as there are small reflectors built into the rear lamps (in the center). I took some along ready to stick on, but the testers were happy enough with those already there. Wish they had been more easy going about the side markers / indicators though. :neutral:

Come on then, show us a picture of your E with its new plates.
 
#14 ·
another Element in Holland !!!

Hello,

first, my english is not so good, but i trying .......

i have bouth 8 weeks ago an element 2003 model in de u.s. (Texas). Yesterday (22-6) the E arrived in Rotterdam. now i must wait for 1 week to pic up my E, and showing him his new home. then i must make some shanges to make it an dutch Element, like whrote a few post back by RobertS. i have allready buy 20" rims with 245-40-20 tires, an a 1.5 inch lowering kit by Megan Racing. i have allready learn some things about the element on this forum, like the headlights conversion U.S to Dutch, and side marker to blinker light. i can not wait to get my E !!!

pictures soon ..............
 
#19 ·
Hello,

first, my english is not so good, but i trying .......

i have bouth 8 weeks ago an element 2003 model in de u.s. (Texas). Yesterday (22-6) the E arrived in Rotterdam. now i must wait for 1 week to pic up my E, and showing him his new home. then i must make some shanges to make it an dutch Element, like whrote a few post back by RobertS. i have allready buy 20" rims with 245-40-20 tires, an a 1.5 inch lowering kit by Megan Racing. i have allready learn some things about the element on this forum, like the headlights conversion U.S to Dutch, and side marker to blinker light. i can not wait to get my E !!!

pictures soon ..............
You have your mods before you have your E!!!

You are going to fit right in here. :)
 
#15 ·
Hi Marco, welcome to the club! Your English does not sound very much from Holland, but it was understandable (at least for me). Glad your E is in Rotterdam. Good luck with all the work that needs to be done before you put it on the road! We want to see the pictures (soon is too late):D
 
#17 ·
Come on folks................lets see some pictures of those Elements in the European countryside !

one question? is it hard driving in those wooden shoes?
 
#22 ·
Looks awesome Marco, love the rims! Congrats on the new metal baby! :D



 
#25 ·
Nice................very nice

Are you near Venlo ?................the reason I ask is that you haven't filled out your profile !
 
#26 ·
Fantastic rims man, way cool. Another E in Europe!!:)

If you fancy a mini European meet, I'll be travelling to the Belgium F1 grand prix in September, but will be going to Roermond on the Saturday before the race for a few hours.
 
#32 ·
Well Done, Marco -

I cannot believe how much trouble you went through to obtain this delicious vehicle. Wish you could join us on the roadtrip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in two weeks. Just ship it back to our east coast and drive it across the country....

Enjoy.

Ric
 
#33 ·
Any E owners in Holland near to Roermond fancy a meet? Or in fact anybody with an E in Norther France, Holland, Belgium or North West Germany?
I am driving over from the UK to go to the Belgium F1 GP next weekend, Sept 4th.
I will be going up to Roermond on the Saturday if anybody is about? :p
 
#34 · (Edited)
Another Element in Europe, The Netherlands

Hi,

Just bought a 2007, Element SC, 3 weeks agoo. I had to go through some paperwork, but it seems we'll be able to ride the box next week.

First mods will be a trailer hitch, parking sensors and a Parrot bluetooth car kit. This kit should be easy to install because I also ordered a wiring harnass for the Element SC.

Can't wait ....... !!!

Here are some pics of my next Honda ride.







 
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