Buying a car in Malta

1. as long as car already registered in Malta, no
2. from € 100 pa upwards depending on NCB, TPFT or fully comp, your age
3. annual road tax, dependent on age of car and how polluting

georgeingozo wrote:

1. as long as car already registered in Malta, no
2. from € 100 pa upwards depending on NCB, TPFT or fully comp, your age
3. annual road tax, dependent on age of car and how polluting

Thanks for the speedy reply!

"€ 100 pa upwards" = Per annum? (per year) That's pretty cheap. Is that for liability only?

If you hold a driving licence from the USA you will also be required to take a driving test after 12 months.
Not sure if this would increase any insurance premium.

My husband paid around 1000 euro this year for the full coverage. You might get a little discount if you haven`t been in a car accident in the last five years, should bring a letter from your former insurance company, I guess.

A letter from your previous insurance company, stating you were holding an active car insurance for at least the last 5 years and had no accident within this period will give you the full no-claim bonus (NCB Schedule 5) of about 60 to 65% - means you pay only 40% of the nominal premium (plus stamp duty and policy fee).

It is always advisable to ask several insurers, e.g. for my small car there was a difference of about 50% for third-party insurance !!!

For a used car with small engine (e.g. 1300cc) and eligible to the old road tax the "third-party only" insurance premium (for a foreigner ) with full discount and all fees is around 90,- p.a. and the road tax is 127,- p.a.
Note: old road scheme - prior to 2009 registration - depends on engine size and age, not on CO2 emissions.
For bigger cars like Land Rover, Hilux, Pajero etc. with commercial license the road tax is 185,- and for all classic cars older than 30 years it is only 8,- per year.
The premium goes up if you include fire and theft (depending on the car value) and of course for full comprehensive insurance.

The premium might sound quite cheap, also considering that it covers all European countries - but more than 90% of the vehicles never leave the country and the (huge number of ) accidents here are relatively cheap for the insurer since they are mainly material damages and not damages to persons (thanks to the low speed level here).

Other costs occur for VRT every 2 years which itself is cheap, but can be quite expensive for repairs if your car is in poor condition and/or you go to the "wrong person" for the check

Markus

Thank you all for the help. After reading everything, I think we will start with a monthly lease/rental, then look for a local car to buy. Any thoughts, cautions or comments on buying a local car?
Thanks and we hope to meet some of you after we arrive early Dec. We will be living on Gozo.
JackC

apart from the usual mechanical and electrical checks etc - just be sure that the be=vehicle doesnt have any unpaid fines penalties against it before you buy it.