Import a car or buy in Malta????

cars here are expensive but you can find good ones at reasonable prices.....

try this link
http://britishexpat.com/expatforum/malt … 15&start=0

but please dont trust the idt website for car valuation here as its not too reliable for valuation as a friend of mine brought his car over and was quoted 300 euros in reg tax but when he got it here it was more like 1000euros.

you can make tremendous savings but be wary and do you your homework thoroughly

E

lindseyb wrote:

Hi all,
I did have a quick look whilst there but didn't see anything for sale!!! Thanks

LOL! You couldn't have been looking very closely.

There are car dealers everywhere and cars for sale everywhere (even on roundabouts!) As you drive past a parked car if it has an 8 digit number on a piece of paper in the window then the car is for sale and that's the phone number to call about it - usually it won't have a price in the window as that isn't the way they do business here, if you call they'll be trying to find out what you can afford, not telling you what they want for the car! Good luck!

Also, my Maltese co-workers mostly refuse to buy Maltese used cars because they'be been on these roads all their lifetime which has taken it's toll (so they say) and they prefer to buy UK imports that have supposedly led a comfier life.

Tim

i agree with hammersfan 100%...they dont advertise prices at all even online...they want you to go into their dealership or to their homes and then they have you - to work out what you can afford then they will tell you what they want to rip you off for....so caveat emptor - let the buyer beware.

I can personally vouch for Jason at JM Motors in Qormi....

I didn't see anything but then I was looking for prices not phone numbers. Think we´re going to look into this Arriva bus service for the time being and see how that goes x

Its illegal to have a sign in a car says both "for sale" and a telephone number - you have to have one or the other only

if i recall correctly the sign must also only be in a side window.....

If we do decide to buy I know what to look for. I was just looking for big price signs like you have in the UK and Spain x

you wont find that in any showroom or garage here....

toonarmy9752 wrote:

you wont find that in any showroom or garage here....

I woulnd't go that far (because I have seen prices advertised) but it is definitely the exception to the rule.

Tim

cars are quite expensive in malta when compared to england, the difference is quite significant!! Even with shipping and registration and everything included, it still turns out to be cheaper to get a car from UK. though registration is the most expensive part of bringing a car over. I hope this helps. I found this website to be good and helpful, does a lot of the work for you so you can have peace of mind when bringing a car over reviewthecar.com .

Enjoy the sunshine!!

Hi, I recently went through exactly the same process... Buy a car in Malta? Bring over my big inappropriate car that I had owned for over 2 years? or buy a car in the UK and ship it here!...

Candidly, having lived here for a while, an expensive and smart car was not really the way to go so having decided I wanted something roomy but smaller I decided to sell my faithfull Discovery in the UK and buy a replacement there for shipping to Malta...

Selling the Land Rover ended up being another story but regardless, I found a quite nice condition 1.6l Renault Scenic on a 2004 plate that had reasonable mileage at a good price. I checked the online valuation which told me I would have to pay circa 950€ duty. I then checked transportation and contracted UKtoMalta to collect the car from my house in Brighton and deliver it to Malta. This they did (and very efficiently) by car transporter with delivery time, from collection in Brighton to my collection in Hamrun from them, taking just over a week.

Whilst the car was in shipment, I arranged for the insurance and mileage verification certificate so that when the car arrived... straight into a garage in Gzira for its VRT test, then round to ADT for formal valuation and pictures of VIN etc and then into the registration office for re-registration... all pretty straightforward and a couple of days after the car arriving, it was on Maltese plates...

Cost of a similar car over here around 7000€ plus ... my gross cost including all taxes, shipping, insurance and purchase... 5000€ max...

Hi All is this possible

Visit the island with your car on a tourist visa. When you arrive at the port of Valletta, ask for a six-month pass for your car. You are legally allowed to keep it on the island for six months. Keep this piece of paper with you to show if you are stopped by the police. Make sure your insurance papers are in order, and that the road tax from your country of origin is up to date. Your car can be legally impounded if these are out of date, and you will have to pay a daily fee. When your six months are up, you will have to take your car out of the country for at least another six months or pay the required import duties.

2


Get a working visa if you are planning to work in Malta and want to keep your foreign car legally on the road. You are then entitled to use your car for the length of your work visa. Work visas are usually renewed annually. Take a copy of your passport, your signed work contract and work visa, the car's registration papers, a copy of your car insurance and road tax disc to the Department of Transport in Floriana. They will give you papers to fill out and issue you with a disc to put on the windscreen, showing you are legally allowed to drive your foreign vehicle on the island. Bear in mind you are not allowed to lend your car to anyone else. You are the only allowed driver. You still have to make sure your own country's tax disc is up to date and your insurance is valid.

3


Apply for permanent residence. When this is accepted, you are allowed to bring in one foreign vehicle per person. This is tax-free, so you are allowed to change your foreign plates to Maltese ones without incurring import charges. However, when you sell the vehicle, you will be liable to pay the duty on it. Take your permanent residence papers, passport and car's papers to the Department of Transport in Floriana, and they will register it as a Maltese car with new papers and you will get a new Maltese license plate.



Read more: How to Import Cars to Malta | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7181399_impor … z1flo3r2sF

"Apply for permanent residence. When this is accepted, you are allowed to bring in one foreign vehicle per person. This is tax-free, so you are allowed to change your foreign plates to Maltese ones without incurring import charges." - this is no longer the case - there are also several other errors or omissions in the above post, which are too numerous to list, but for example, EU citizens no longer need a working visa

George

Many Thank,for information, for when i arrive in Malta with my UK Car, i can change the Plate without any Cost?

no, it will cost you something however you do it, unless you are a tourist and remain here for less than 3 months

Hi Jamesdean,

welcome to the forum.

As George already said there are too many errors and simplifications in your post to answer in a shorter post.

You should check out the procedures in previous posts ( residency, work , bringing a car to Malta and so on)on the forum. If you still have questions feel free to post.

I think the most basic answer to your question is no unless you abide by several conditions.

If you come as a tourist it would be yes for 3 months , after 3 months stay you are no longer a tourist.

If you become an ordinary resident ( you cannot become a permanent resident that easy) there are several tripping stones.

Regards
Ricky

ricky wrote:

I think the most basic answer to your question is no unless you abide by several conditions.

even then, its still not free

True ! -))) Unless as a tourist ! Or is there a charge at the harbour?

Cheers
Ricky

No Work Visa anymore for europeans, Charge for plates, 2 year rule on ownership...

Really is a lot more than the details on the howto website...

I would suggest you have a good read on other posts first...

Welcome to the forum

Julian

ricky wrote:

True ! -))) Unless as a tourist ! Or is there a charge at the harbour?

Cheers
Ricky

no charge for tourists

Hi lindseyb,

There are lots of older and cheaper cars for sale from private party on maltapark.com

Regards,
Irina

Thanks Irina, we are renting a car for the time being but always on the look out so we´ll have another look at there website this evening xxx