Buying an Italian or UK car?

01/19/2010 - 12:25

  I'm due to buy a car that will be used to drive us (me/wife/collie dog) to/from Le Marche > East Sussex.  Q: Do I buy a car in the UK and use it in Italy.  Downside rhd and not looking very 'local'.  Or...buy an Italian car and also use it in the UK when we are there?  Does anyone know the problems/legislation involved in using/insuring/registering (?) an Italian car in the UK - apart from lhd of course. Looking local not an issue. Think cars more expensive in Italy, insurance ditto, which is part of the equation. Have asked the AA and RAC and they are looking into it. Mmmm.   Thanks

Topic
Location

Comment

A few other insurance choices for you: Clements International, www.ajinsurance.co.uk & Italsure do expat policies. There seem to be others with a good googling ;o) Saga used to do one but only if you have a U.K address. In here is an interesting post from an old forum member called liketheroman about insurance here:   http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/cost-living-utility-services/5638-car-i... in bocca al lupo

 If you do not have 'residence' in Italy - don't bother even trying to buy a car over there - a search of this and the old forums will throw up a myriad of postings on the problems.  And the insurance in Italy will be horrendous, even if you can buy one  If you are UK resident, you have two choices;- Either buy a RHD car in UK, or get a LHD one [there are companies listed on the Internet that do it at a reasonable cost] If you buy and insure in the UK - some companies do insure for more than the usual 90 days per year abroad - Saga and AA being just two [again search the old and this forums]   Good Luck - you'll probably need it!

 Bottom line is that you will spend circa £3,000 per annum (over say a five year period) due to the higher cost of the car itself (even a FIAT !!!), and you will pay extortionate insurance premiums EVERY year (of the suggested five). My 3rd party ONLY (note 3rd Party ONLY!), for a very sensible FIAT, I've never had a claim in 20 years and I am just the wrong side of 60............is..............................................circa....1,000 euros per annum. But if (luckily) you are not an Italian resident you can't do it anyway! Good luck whichever way you go! S

We buy all our cars in the UK and drive RHD here. Second hand cars are extortionately expensive here. Generally, you can get the same car in the UK for nearly half the price. It's not a problem registering and insuring a RHD car in Italy but obviously you wouldn't have many buyers if you wanted to sell it on. I have registered 3 cars here and it's not a problem. It costs about 500-600 euro. The insurance is more expensive here because the car is insured and not the driver. I have found Direct Line the cheapest. Things to watch out for are that if the car has a tow bar it must be a manufacturers fitted one or be on the Italian list of "approved" tow bars. That is not the same as the manufacturers list of approved towbars as we found out to our cost! I pay €650 a year to insure a 2005 Mercedes Vaneo which is third party fire & theft plus breakdown, windscreen and legal cover. It also covers me for natural incidents (e.g. a tree falling on it). Dearer  than the UK but still cheaper than some of the horror stories you hear. Remember to get your no claims bonus certified from your current insurer and it needs to be expressed in years and not %age. Italian Direct Line will honour this unlike a lot of other Italian insurers. If you're not going to be permanently based in Italy, I would stick to buying and insuring it in the UK - cheaper!

If you're in a position to bring the vehicle back to the UK anually to MoT it, then UK registration would be the far saner option. As long as it has said documentation, plus valid insurance, the plod, local or not, have no complaint to make. Some feel also that you're simply less likely to get pulled over in a foreign-registered car. I feel strongly that for cars, the lhd v rhd issue is serious. We're going out in May and doing so in the van we use for antique dealing. But I'll be adding a car to the fleet for my work as a journalist. While I'm happy for the van to be rhd as the driving position is high and I shan't be using it at high speeds, the car is a different prospect. You need lhd to overtake safely if you don't have a passenger as a spotter. What I'm thinking of doing is buying lhd in Germany, registering the car in the UK and then driving it to Italy. We'll be toing and froing, so can MoT it. tax can be done online. From what  research suggests, it wil actually take less time to do the trip to the UK than queue to do the paperwork for an Ital-registered vehicle. I am however, contemplating leaving the vehicles registered to the name and address of a relative in the UK, to further bolster me against any over-zealous local official trying to force one to register the damn thing in Italy. Belt and braces...

We brought over a lhd Fiesta last year and re-registered it here at the end of last year. (We bought it in the UK as we had written our other car off and needed something quickly, we couldn't find an automatic here at the sort of price we wanted to pay and we were going to be in England for a planned holiday so it seemed the best way to be sure we had a car to use as soon as we got back here). We went into the local ACI office with the documents and they filled out the paperwork, told us it would take a week to get the new number plates (oh yes I said, I'll believe that when I see it) but exactly two weeks from our first visit that was the case. Still awaiting the ownership document to come back from the PRA (sort of equivalent to the DVLA) but it was all painless - apart from paying for it 8-)) The local ACI office to us (its a bit like the AA) is hooked up online to the relevant other offices so there is no need for a lot of tooing and froing. They took the car off to the regional place to have it's revisione (mot) done and it came back with a new set of plates.

New to this website and it's taken me some time to work my way round the topics & different threads.  However from reading your post you appear to be the only people who have actually suceeded in registering your UK plate car.    Your experience makes it seem pretty painless. Was yours a brand new car?  Would you say that the process is easier with a new car? We intend applying for our residency as soon as we complete on our apt.    Hopefully 6 months later will start the process of trying to get it registered.  In your experience do you think the process becomes simpler depending on where you live, i.e. town or friendly village and if profficient in the language? We intend to buy a new car with UK plates from a LHD dealer so any views on this topic will be much appreciated.

  Wo! Thank you all. Refining my needs:  For the next two years we will be 6 months Italy and ditto UK. We both have our residency.  Sounds like best to buy in the UK - whether lhd or rhd.  Is it better to keep UK number plates or re register in Italy?  Prepared to do this if not a nightmare scenario.  But if the former I've heard that you can't drive a UK registered car if living a fair proportion of the year in Italy. Likely to get pulled up by the village policeman.  But if that isn't the case then can I insure in the UK for a car used up to 6 months of the year in Italy?  An alternative is to have the main car UK registered and use for driving between countries/but have an Italian car in the garage in Le Marche.  Prob need piccolo or at least elderly 4wd as hill/comune road to la casa molto steep. Life is complicated, exagerated by buying in Le Marche.  But so far the peace/quite/beauty weighs in its favour. Hope I can return the favour when you post questions. Ciao M

In reply to by MJJ

  For the next two years we will be 6 months Italy and ditto UK. We both have our residency.  You therefore have options! Sounds like best to buy in the UK - whether lhd or rhd.  Is it better to keep UK number plates or re register in Italy?  Given the choice I'd DEFINITELY buy in the UK, Insure through 'Stuart Collins' (I think that's the broker! sorry) Prepared to do this if not a nightmare scenario.  It WILL be! But if the former I've heard that you can't drive a UK registered car if living a fair proportion of the year in Italy. Likely to get pulled up by the village policeman.  Technically correct, almost certain not to happen and will NOT be an issue! But if that isn't the case then can I insure in the UK for a car used up to 6 months of the year in Italy? Stuart Collins (I think in Cardif or Swansea??.......someone here will confirm!)  An alternative is to have the main car UK registered and use for driving between countries/but have an Italian car in the garage in Le Marche.  Prob need piccolo or at least elderly 4wd as hill/comune road to la casa molto steep. I wouldn't buy the Italian based car! Life is complicated, exagerated by buying in Le Marche.  But so far the peace/quite/beauty weighs in its favour Living in Le Marche (as we do), well worth some of the hassles! Don't buy an Italian car, insure through someone like SC (or others)...........I should have done ! Good Luck, S

Thanks Sprostoni for last posting. I will certainly follow up on your insurance company. Will also let you know if our very distinquished, seemingly cordial local policeman pays me an official visit! Very helpful indeed.  Appreciate all of the responses.  Some of us have neighbouring villages > so in the spring look out for a nearly new 4wd with UK number plates and a black & white border collie with commedia dell'arte face :( ) staring out of the back alert to potentiially interesting walks and best stops for prosecco. M ps For what it's worth: We were in residence for the Jan tremors.  Scary but certainly not permanently daunted.  But then I was in San Francisco last time around.  No! - not 1906.

In reply to by MJJ

 Hi M, Like you I was undecided - buy here or there.  In the end I decided to buy here, which seemed the better option overall, for the reasons others have highlighted on this thread, and I wanted an automatic, which narrowed the field even more.  I spoke to a few dealerships, but I bought a LHD Rav 4 in November 09 from The Left Hand Drive Place in Basingstoke.   http://www.lhdplace.co.uk/   I was very impressed with the service from them, and would certainly recommend them if you are looking for a good company to do business with.  The only insurer that will insure for UK cars full time abroad is Stuart Collins in Swansea  http://www.stuartcollins.com/, but given the fact you look to be dividing your time between UK and Italy, you may have more choice.  As a guide, I've paid just over £500 for my insurance with them and they offer a European breakdown cover for around £120 per year.  They have just introduced this in the summer of 2009 ( other residents who are looking for breakdown cover may be interested to know this). Best of luck with your search Montana

  Excellent and, ironically, we are considering getting a Rav 4.  Good for the hills and, on paper, better than average kilometres per litre for a 4wd. Montana > I'm assuming you spend most of your time in Italy.  Did you therefore re register your Rav to become Italian?  Or are you also running the gauntlet with UK number plates, without side effects? Appreciated.   M

In reply to by MJJ

Hi M,  Only recently got residency sorted, however in answer to your question, we have friends a couple of villages away who have a RHD English reqistered 4x4 (it was worth more to them than the amount they could sell it for to buy LHD car, so they kept it) and they have lived there for several years with no bother at all on their English plates. On this basis, and the fact that my boyfriend will be driving back to the UK in it regularly, I will not be looking to re-register for a while.

We are in the process of buying a new VW, LHD.   VW group cars are available new as UK spec with LHD if required.  No premium on purchase price.  This will save us about 7000 euro.  It will be insured with Stuart Collins as is our present car .   We have had our present car (RHD UK registered) here for nearly 3 years and no one has made any comment.  I think that now all Shengen countries have no restrictions on car registration and usage  I think that even though the UK has not signed up to the accord we are flying under the radar. We also have a very small italian registered car insured with Direct line which has the same insurance cost for third party as our UK car has for fully comp.  Hope this helps Steve      

We have residency, spending about 7 months Italy 5 months UK (+ or -) and normally drive to and fro. I like to use the big car (rhd) for the to and fro but my wife doesn't like to drive it on our narrow lake road, so I bought a lhd Panda to keep in Italy all the time (ish).  The main agent in UK said he could sell me one but it would be on 6 months delivery, so I found one with the help of 1st Car Imports via t'internet. It came from Belgium, pre-registered 09 but with zero kms and very competitively priced. Part of the service was to import it to UK (though it didn't leave Belgium) so it is on UK plates. It is insured with Saga for very low money; they have no problem with the car being lhd, nor for unlimited use in Europe. Road Tax is £35! I figure if I look like getting any bother re the 6 month rule, I can easily drive either of the cars out of Italy for a spell - it's only 40 mins to Switzerland. Terry

In reply to by SirTK

Regarding Saga insurance, if you return home and leave your insured car in Italy i think you will find that you are not covered,  you are covered for the 12months as long as you are with the . There has been lots of posts on this very subject worth having a read

I had followed the previous correspondence and was going to use Stuart Collins. However, while reinsuring my other car with Saga, I specifically asked them about this point. They replied that there were no such restrictions and quoted about £100 less than SC. When phoning back to go ahead with the policy I again made the point and they assured me there was no such issue, so I went ahead with them. So there are two recorded phone conversations to that effect if ever push came to shove. Terry

  Quite simply for the huge saving on insurance alone, I would NOT buy in Italy...I'm resident all the time so had to but it's definitely not worth it when compared to what people pay back home....and I'm in the top insurance group with only a small car!   Good luck whatever you decide to do!

  Everyone Your invaluable responses to this question ceratinly shows the benefits and comaraderie of this network.  Although I know it's important to integrate into the village society it is reassuring to have a simpathetic community that understands the nuances of the British psyche nearby, albeit electronically. Indebted M

 Certainly  a grey area the Saga insurance!! Thought i would give them another try!! just now, Told them my situation would be, with regard to leaving the car in Italy. Take the car out March time and bring back November, inbetween times i would expect to return to England 2/3 times leaving the car in Italy. There comment was they could not offer insurance as the car was being left for a longer period than they would be prepared to cover, short periods only. I asked what was there definition of short or long periods was, and was told they did not have that information, but whatever it was they could not insure me. Asked if i could have the underwriters contact to see if i can clear the confusion with Saga insurance, but Saga said they could not give me that information.       

Hi  We've been round the houses on this one too!  We just ordered a Panda in the UK which I'll drive over this year, as it's new it won't require an mot for 3 years.  I insured through this company which is very reasonable and covers all of Europe for 12 months.   STUART COLLINS & CO 114 WALTER RD SWANSEA SA1 5QQ PHONE 00 44 1792 655562 FAX      00 44 1792 651126 

This is the same company we have used for the last 5 years, Stuart Collins. We have found this is the only Company who will offer 12 months cover with the option of leaving the car for any  length of time in Italy when you are returning to the uk. Regarding Saga insurance the last time this was ongoing someone did mention they had contacted Saga with a view to put there son on for 2 weeks when they were going to vivit Italy.When Saga  found out that the insurer had returned to the uk leaving the car in Italy they withdrew their policy ( i think) As said, very grey area with the likes of Saga!! Going to get onto customer service this morning

 "recently got residency sorted, however in answer to your question, we have friends a couple of villages away who have a RHD English reqistered 4x4 (it was worth more to them than the amount they could sell it for to buy LHD car, so they kept it) and they have lived there for several years with no bother at all on their English plates." When reading the above I did wonder how the friends with the 4X4 coped when it came to the annual MOT.  Do they go back to England every year to have the MOT done to re-insure?  Or can they get an equivalent MOT done in Italy? We are debating whether or not to buy an Italian friend's Fiat Multipla.  He has had it from brand new, it is in immaculate condition and he has been obsessively careful with it in that he has had it serviced and mechanically looked after since he got it, has it valetted every 1000kms and even the slightest door dent from a knock from another car door in a car park was immediately sorted out.  He is selling because he has two cars and doesn't need two cars any more.  And the size would be ideal for us and our visiting family and friends. But I do wonder about the insurance and how to go about getting it.    Maralyn

Maralyn, Yes our friends do drive it back to the UK for an MOT each year, which they tie in with a visit to seeing their son and family, so a dual purpose visit.  On this basis I don't think they have looked into an equivalent in Italy.  Perhaps one of the other forum member will pick this up and help answer, or you could contact Collin Stewart (link in my first reply to MJJ) and ask if the Italian equivalent is accepted. M

 We had all the same dilema's last year and after looking at the cost of Italian cars and how much to insure them, we bought an old volvo 960 auto estate with all the gadgets,leather aircon and everything you need in a car for long comfortable journeys. It was in excellent condition, 85,000 mls full mot and cost only £750 pounds insurance from stuart collins and the car is insured to stay in Italy full comp( even when we are back in Uk without it) for the year. we filled it up to the brim with stuff we wanted to take( you can't get all that in hand luggage on ryanair) We cruised to Genoa and got the ferry to Sicily. We will drive the car back when the mot is due and fill it up again with stuff. Simple, stress free, and much cheaper than buying in Italy and insuring. And if it gets bashed, hey ho we have got our moneys worth. The car is there when we arrive, looked after by a local friend.no problem. Trust me its the best way. good luck David and Maria

Hi David and Maria-where do you cruise to Genova from? I get fed up with the the long haul over France and would be interested in that option if it was financially feasible. Shas

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

  I think when they say they 'cruise' to Genoa, they mean that they drive at a 'leisurely' pace rather than 'blasting down' - nothing to do with boats. To cut out the drive you could use motorail services;-  http://www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm#Auto but the Calais motorail services have been [permanently?] discontinued on cost grounds, so you would need to travel from Holland or Germany.  The costs seem high, but once you take off the costs of hotels, tolls, petrol etc - they don't seem that bad.

Oh-der...good link ,thanks, fantastic service even if it does mean driving to somewhere in Holland but woh the prices !! Its a shame even taking off tolls,tunnel passes,diesel costs at around £800 one way to Livorno makes it about £500 more expensive,one way! Such a good idea but why so high the prices I dont know?shas

Oh-der...good link ,thanks, fantastic service even if it does mean driving to somewhere in Holland but woh the prices !! Its a shame even taking off tolls,tunnel passes,diesel costs at around £800 one way to Livorno makes it about £500 more expensive,one way! Such a good idea but why so high the prices I dont know?shas

 Badger.......... I assumed that the £750 was the cost of the car ? (and the extra £400 for the Insurance). I'm sure all will be revealed soon,. Sounds like a bargain! I must look into the 'cruise' to Genoa, hadn't thought of that. S

We have also taken a cruise ship from Genoa to Palermo when we were driving back. Saved the long, long drive down through the length of Italy and we had a couple of nights in Sicily and then a short hop across the Messina Strait  to the mainland and a couple of hours drive North to get home.  I don't recall it being particularly cheap but it saved on the stress of the very long drive and we got to see Sicily so killed two birds with one stone.

I have a LHD brit registered Landrover, brought from Nene Overland, they have lots of LHD landrovers, I to use Stuart Collins and recommend both. Its £550 fully comp. I have been driving it around the North for 4 years and stopped once for a document check. We go back once a year for MOT and tax, it cant be done in Italy. Go via Switzerland to avoid tolls and tunnel costs, big saving. We combine with a visit to the oldies and xmas presents. We also have a runaround 10 yr old Seat, 500 euros third party, it cost 2200 to buy last year, expensive. We did toy with getting the Landrover on to Italian plates but this was a task to far, we have been given the number of an agency but its 600 euros. My advice, get a LHD Brit car and save money. Just make sure MOT etc are needed when you want to be in the UK.      

Not been on here for a while, been back and forth bettween UK and Sicily over the last few months. To clarify my earlier post, on looking at the receipt I paid £650 not £750 for the volvo estate and £400 full comp insurance from stuart collins, and by cruise down to Genoa I meant driving eurotunnel, overnight stop in dijon (france) then a nice drive down and through the mont blonc tunnel into Italy and got to Genoa around 6pm for the 9pm ferry to Palermo. The car was full of stuff we wanted to bring from england. During the last year we have writen a list of things we want to bring next time that either we cant get in Sicily, or is much cheaper in UK. The insurance MOT and road tax all run out this month, and we decided as the value of the car was so little, and our first year experiment was a success, we will not return it to UK for mot etc as we want to bring over a newer and better car that we will return back and forth UK/Sicily  for the next 3 or 4 years. The volvo 960 estate although in great condition, will become redundant short of finding someone who wants it for parts, but it has been worth it against what Italian car plus insurance would have cost, let alone the exhorbitant car hire costs we used to pay. We reccomend buying a UK car and insuring with stuart collins (LHD sounds like a good idea) and make the yearly trip back and forth pay by bringing things in and out that you want. Dont forget to offset the cost of this trip against what your air fares would be. Hope our experience helps others. Regards David and Maria