Taking a car to Malta permanently possible hidden costs

Took me ages to type this lot  in and I Had to finish it very quickly as My dearest was calling me for the first Sunday Dinner for 2 weeks.
please email me at rod@arromax.co.uk if you wish to as my first attempt to register this car was shortly after It arrived in July and there were a few points I missed out of the first post.

RodBrown wrote:

'You can not do this if you are renting as far as I am aware, and that's after asking what if your renting here ? I don't think you can bring a car in ,you have to buy in Malta I think.'

Hundreds of expats who are resident here and rent property bring their cars over. As for the registering of same, it has been covered comprehensively on here many, many times already!

Ray

Thanks Rod for your advice, ive just bought a place in Malta and am driving there from the UK, been on the Malta websites and printed off most of the relevant documents, my car is 3 yrs old & although an mot is not needed in Malta for another 2 yrs,I intend getting one here, ive also heard that import duty is not required if you own the car for 3 yrs or more. Can't wait for the fun to begin

F0xgl0ve wrote:

RodBrown wrote:

'You can not do this if you are renting as far as I am aware, and that's after asking what if your renting here ? I don't think you can bring a car in ,you have to buy in Malta I think.'

Hundreds of expats who are resident here and rent property bring their cars over. As for the registering of same, it has been covered comprehensively on here many, many times already!

Ray

Agreed. Friends of ours brought their car over from Germany, and they don't own a property in Malta but only rent. It took them a few weeks to get all the paperwork done and get their Maltese number plates. Contrary to what they'd been told on the internet (by expats), it was not even a problem having the steering wheel on the "wrong" (or, as we "Europeans" say, the "correct") side of the car

Replies since my post.

On this subject I would usually bow to previous  correspondents. But , as I said in my second post i had missed a couple of things out.
The main one is that on my first aborted attempt to register in July 2016 a new law, passed in April of this year was stipulated at position 13 in Paola. That law .. passed in April according to staff now precludes registration of cars to non property owners who as I said earlier are presenting a UK passport. Not a Maltese id card. The difference between is that Maltese ID card holders have only a max of 30 days to register and not 7 months like me..non res..
I only have the clerks word for this as I can not find a thing on it where I looked.. but everyone at Transport Malta seemed to know about this when I went in last week, and they copied my contract.

So things may have changed recently.

And.
The replies are all talking about residents... which infers a Maltese ID card.
I am not  as I am not resident and do not hold a local ID.

RodBrown wrote:

And.
The replies are all talking about residents... which infers a Maltese ID card.
I am not  as I am not resident and do not hold a local ID.

If you are an expat from any EU country and resident here you do not hold a Maltese ID card, (only Maltese Nationals have those), you have an eResidence card!
They are totally different!

If you have either, you can register a car here and have to do so within 30 days, also you are not allowed to drive it here until registered!
You can still do as you have done, even if renting a property, as long as you are not a resident.
Property ownership does not come in to it, it is the difference between a resident and a tourist!

Ray

RodBrown wrote:

Hello ex pats ,on 20/10/16 I finally succeeded in getting my 2001 Toyota Yaris 1.5 tsport registered in Malta.
It's been a pain in the butt and looking back I would probably decide to continue hiring in my circumstances.
If you own property in Malta then you will have thought as I did it's about time I secured my own car there.
Looking on Maltapark the best site for that and most other things in Malta ,made me smile at prices.. very costly for anything that you would want, small or large.
I decided to source a car that was cost effective on the dreaded registration tax which you can find on the transport Malta website... source it in the UK and transport it over..... maybe even drive it over.
There are many reasons I picked the Yaris , reliability ,comfort, space.... yes these cars are spacious , air con being a biggie, economy..but mainly bargain prices in the UK..I paid just over £500 and bagged myself a superb little car. everything worked and has done since I purchased it off eBay in Feb 2016 and when I finally registered it only 660 euros on the Reg tax.

The last bit of this post covers the extra non published extra cost that I have emailed the transport minister about which is in my posts title.

Before that I will tell you about documents transport and Jevic certificates.

I am a Uk citizen who owns property in Malta who registered a car previously registered  in the UK in Malta.
what I experienced will be different for you if you have Maltese ID and not a uk passport.

Before you contemplate taking a car you should get a fresh MOT make sure it's taxed ,have the V5 and at least think about a Jevic certificate ( google it ) although with a fresh MOT I didn't bother. Go through the car and fix any niggles... discs pads tyres etc.

It wasn't long before costings  for driving it over and the risks  were less attractive than driving it to a uk site for a Maltese carrier to take it on its way which cost 850 euro plus Maltese vat... approx 1000 euro in total.
Fuel , Hotels, ferry or tunnel not to mention aggro and breakdowns mean forget driving it for me.
I used Attrans as the carrier who you will find very helpful.. they are a big outfit in Malta who pickup from 2 or 3 locations in the Uk.
On arrival You  can pick it up from their depot on the newish road between the airport and Mdina just past Lidl. Do not forget to get the arrival certificate as you will need it ,they are free from the carrier.

You have 7 months to register your car from the arrival date..... that is ,7 months if you are a UK citizen wanting to pay registration tax and own property in Malta. You can not do this if you are renting as far as I am aware, and that's after asking what if your renting here ? I don't think you can bring a car in ,you have to buy in Malta I think........ and I would do if doing it again. The prices on Maltapark are as far as I can make out a lot higher than the seller is prepared to accept.

If you are in tune so far then the next part is an experience to miss if you can.

By this time you should have a printed registration value and tax payable for your car choice.
Well you now have to go to Florianna to have it checked and stamped by the officials there..... I had been told it was  in Paola now ,but no, that part is still in Florianna you must take the car there.
When you have your stamped valuation, then you can go to Paola with :

UK V5
Arrival certificate
MOT or Jevic cert.
Registration forms , completed. there are 2.
Passport
Local Insurance with everything correct on it , sounds simple but it's not .
Contract of sale for your property.. the original or certified copy... certified by the purchasing notary.
UK plates , mine went on and off 4 or 5 times till I got it right.
The valuation from Florianna
Enough Money in whatever form you decide... no cheques over 750 euro I think ,I used a debit card.

Lastly....... no expectations.

You have to go to the central desk on arrival get a ticket from the stfaff on there, then, sit and wait for your ticket to come up .Up to 2 hours if it's busy... take water as it's quite hot in there. The air on works best on the left side as you go in. usually it's desk 13 of about 18 that deals with you.. you have no chance if you are like me over 55 and don't have perfect hearing there is a 2 inch gap at the bottom of the glass partition and if it's busy you can't hear anything.

So you have it all correct and the clerk dissapears in the back....you assume for photocopying.
Well that might be correct, but, expect this next.
" I am sorry I will have to stop the registration process as the police checks are not coming back immediately "
Its referred to as Police Punching and that was the first I had heard about it.
" we had 5 people yesterday they were able to come back earlier today and finish it off......." great.
To be fair the clerk took my UK mobile number and email address and promised to contact me to go in when the checks were done.  If your doing this whilst there on a week break, you arrive at the weekend or worse still a Friday then it's probably Tuesday or Wednesday by now and the thought of another visit to Malta transport  in your week away may fill you with dread.
The next day may arrive and go without contact..... customer services by phone are of no help as currently they are at different premesis and my 5 or 6 calls to them drew nothing other than the line going dead after 10 minutes being on hold, the staff talk the talk but can't do much for you other than forward emails on to Paola.
The necessity to attempt a completion urged me to drive in the following day and be a little more pushy with the reception staff, not taking no for an answer and being referred to a breath of fresh air Brian Farrugia.
He asked if I gave a UK mobile number and said the staff don't like calling them....
I said that I was departing the next day for the UK and that it may well be outside the 7 month limit when I come back... which if I had been completely truthful was wrong but I would end up coming over especially to register my car.... not really how it should be.

He said for me to go and have lunch come back in an hour and it would all be sorted.
The reason was that the offices were closed to the public by this point and he was making an effort on my behalf to sort it... I said yes I would be back in an hour.

On my return there was no long wait.. about 5 mins but I can live with that, No Brian Farrugia but I was soon called to get my plates pay the tax and annual circulation tax.. Job done.

There is a problem...... how much are you wanting.  ?
The breakdown of the payment was broadly as I was expecting  Reg tax correct, number plates, inspection fees, admin fees 93 euros ... rip off but.. it was the annual circulation tax that made wince 370 euros..
After checking what it would be right at the start of costing this exercise I was expecting 131 euros plus maybe 10 to 20. euros following budget increases so 370 is !!,!.

I asked the clerk to check it, her reply was little Britain ish... The computer works it out for us.

I still have no idea how they get to this figure, I can't find it published anywhere and consequently have emailed the Minister of transport.
The bill I was expecting was just under double what is viewable on the websites ..

THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE TAKING THAT CAR OVER THERE.

@RodBrown - Re: Excerpt from your comment – ‘…..think about a Jevic certificate ( google it ) although with a fresh MOT I didn't bother…..’

Question: Were you required to present a Jevic certificate (Odometer Certificate of Authenticity) to the Maltese authorities?

I didn't understand the part about vat, I thought you didn't pay tax within the EU when moving cars anymore?

No , I wasnt.

You can walk across this island in half a day.

Why would you go through all of that time, trouble, and expense to keep a car here?

kateblank wrote:

You can walk across this island in half a day.

Why would you go through all of that time, trouble, and expense to keep a car here?

Because you can? I've driven over 6k miles here in a year and work from home. Cars are convenient and can greatly enhance your quality of life. Breakfast in the south, lunch in the north, dinner in Gozo. Lovely time.

Besides practically speaking walking/cycling here is a death sentence outside of sliema/st Julian's etc

I'm close to finalising the registration of my UK car on Gozo.  The whole process has been easy so long as you don't mind having to make several trips to the transport office.  As stated elsewhere, you need to have an ID before you can register your car and then you have 30 days from the date you get your ID to register the car, or 30 days from when it arrives if you already have your ID, if you are seeking exemption from the registration tax.  Having applied to register my car I have an official receipt which allows me to drive it here on UK plates for 12 weeks, during which time the whole process should be completed.  Prior to getting my ID I could have kept my car on the island for up to 7 months as a tourist.

This island is becoming a disgusting, polluted, gridlock mess because of attitudes like yours. I have lived here two years without a car and have a fine quality of life. One can always rent a car for weekend trips, or even take a cab. Cycling is only dangerous because there is zero enforcement of proper driving behaviour. People are fed up, most of all the Maltese, and I'm beginning to understand their dislike of foreigners who simply contribute to the problem with lame statements like, 'because you can' rather than 'because I really need to commute across the island for work' or at least some decent need.

No offence, but 'Breakfast in the south, lunch in the north, dinner in Gozo. Lovely time.' ... Lol. Maybe eat a bit less and go for a bike ride in Gozo instead??! I've ridden there- very nice. Super easy to cover most of it in a day.

Living in Gozo you do not need a car, we hire a car once a month for a few days and the rest of the time use the very good bus service or walk.  Some of the locals would never consider not using their cars even for short distances and I mean short.

One thing that fascinates (or baffles) me is why the people on this site always seem to get so aggressive when the issue of cars comes up...

Personally, I try to avoid driving where I can also walk or cycle, but I'm not a big fan of public transport - not in Malta and not elsewhere - for a number of reasons, among them the fact that it takes much longer to get where you need to go, it's impractical with (small) children, or with the shopping, and I hate being pushed about in a bus/train full of people, not to mention the smell of sweat and other unpleasant odours... If you don't really need to get anywhere (by a certain time), it may be alright - but this September I worked in Mellieha in the mornings and then had to be in Mosta after lunchbreak to work there - and I don't see why I should go by bus, which would involve waiting for up to 15 minutes (because the buses in Mwellieha tend to not come when they should, or are full already), taking 2 or 3 buses, and spending a lot of time travelling and eating a cold snack on the bus, when I can also have lunch with my familyat home in Mellieha, then hop in my car asnd get to Mosta in 20 minutes (instead of spending a total of over an hour - including waiting times).
A friend of mine travelled for over 2 (!) hours every morning to get to work, then worked for 4 hours, and spent another 2 hours on the bus to get back home... That's the same amount of time spent on commuting as on actually working!!! (She used to live in Zebbug and worked at the same school I worked at in Mellieha). Thanks, but no thanks! I'll go for the car!

It all depends on your circumstances and wether you work or retired like us with all the time in the world!!

I think it really depends on your situation, but there is no denying the freedom that a car gives you. Even if you just want to take your dogs to the vet, if he isn't round the corner it's a hassle.

Now, I have lived within walking distance of my job for 4 years, I can tell you now, the quality of your life improves immensely, but I would still prefer to have a car for emergencies and things that taxis aren't good for.