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Car ownership in Iceland

Last activity 04 November 2013 by Madouc

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Mishabear

Hey people, I am sorry to abuse of your patience, but your help has been great!

I will need to get a car once in Iceland (probably a small used one at first, something like a Toyota Yaris), and I was browsing the ads on websites like cars4sale.is.

Anyhow, I have difficulty finding information about costs involved with car ownership in Iceland. Can anybody give me some hint on the subject or a link to a website where I can get more information?

Thanks!

ECS

insurance:
http://www.tm.is/english/insurance/motorvehicle/

Gas is currently around 190ish ISK per liter and constantly rising. Rvk is pretty small so if you're just looking at the costs of daily activity fuel-wise it's a relatively easy place to live. I've used a quarter tank in 3 weeks in a slightly larger car than a Yaris, for example. That's driving to and from work daily as well as some additional errand and grocery trips. I rarely drive longer than 10 minutes at a time since everything's so close.

Most people use studded tires in winter and generally have 2 sets of tires for their cars as a result (you can't drive with the studded tires in the summer, but you probably want them in the winter given the conditions of many roads here). This website has a link to a price list that doesn't seem to load for me: http://www.n1.is/bilathjonusta/hjolbardathjonusta/ ("sjá vörulista hjólbarða hér" is the link that's failing to open for me)

Parking is generally a negligible cost. Most residential neighborhoods either have free on-street parking or their own parking lot, or you can get a parking permit if you live in the places that aren't (pretty much only in the downtown parts of 101). If you want to park downtown during the day as a non-resident it'll cost you a few hundred isk on a meter. I never do this though, since it's easy to park in a free spot and just walk a bit further.

Oil changes.. I've only paid for one oil change and it was for a fancy car that hadn't been changed in a while so it was kind of expensive, at 14000isk.

car wash... I generally do it myself. Most gas stations have scrub-brush things that they put out as long as the weather's above freezing. They're free to use so I just bring my own soap and sponge.

whiterose138

Hi!

My boyfriend has a UK driving license - will he need to take any additional tests to be able to drive in Iceland?

Thanks

ECS

here is information on license validity in Iceland:

http://new.ahus.is/?page_id=231&lang=en

Toni Budiawan

Hey friends

The tiny country is rich, which probably accounts for its motor-mania. Car ownership is also high in wealthy countries with remote rural populations, such as Iceland and New Zealand. Surprisingly, America, home of the motor vehicle, has fewer cars per person than either Australia or Canada.

Thanks and regards
Toni Budiawan

Madouc

What would be average insurance costs/ road tax be of a yaris sized car?

i can only seem to get quote's if i have a vehicle registration number.

i'm trying to determine how far my Icelandic income would stretch :)

ECS

do you just need a license plate number or some other number? I can PM you the license plate # of a VW Polo if that'd help.

Madouc

sjova.is/):s/):s/):lly scavenged a license plate off the internet already (love holiday pictures showing cars :)

just not sure about the resulting numbers (sjova.is/):
(google translated)
The calculation results
Toyota Yaris, Year 2005
Liability    125,680 kr.
Windshield    8,032 kr.
Insurance    39,850 kr.
Stem discounts    -17 356 kr.
Possible Stem rebate    -15 621 kr.
Whole premium with a refund    140,585 kr.

i would assume these are yearly numbers?
the liability and insurance are mandatory i think, windshield is optional.

and then there seems to be something like road tax, but i can not find any numbers on that.

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