Lady Zelda

Hi, we had the same problem. We wanted to bring our new car with us from the UK, but when we went to the Vamhivatal in Gyor we found out that we had to wait 6 months before we could bring the car here, and get new No plates and the rest of expenditure that comes with it. For some reason a new vehicle cost much more to be registered here than an older one. It was not worth it, so we went straight to the Ford Dealer and ordered a new Ford Focus Estate Echo Boost, which was manufactured in Germany and which was delivered to the Garage 6-7 weeks later. We had to fly here to collect it, tax it, insure it, etc ( all sorted by this great guy Enmar in just 2 days), as we needed to drive back to the Uk with it. We sold our other two cars back home, and drove back again with the Hungarian car when we moved to Otteveny last April.

It is much easier to purchase a Hungarian registered car, as you can save quite a lot on the journeys back home each year in order to MOT and tax your car. We have an expat friend in the village who has two english cars and he has no choice but drive home each year twice on both cars. It makes common sense by having a left hand drive car here than having all that trouble to register the car here. It is not cheap, and we were advised at the time of the enquiry not to pay so much for it as it was not worth it. That is why we bought a new one. It worked for us and we are very happy with it. At least one item that worked and still works well after a year and a half. So far so good!

LZ x

vorsman

Sorry to possibly rain on the party. The Serena was effectively discontinued in year 2000/01. As a result the only models sold in Europe were the 'old original' marque which had type approval as they were a Euro compliant factory import. The later models from 2001 were not sold in Europe at all. I would doubt therefore that the later model is on the database here - best to double check otherwise they probably will go to Japan to get all the tech specs etc. before they even look at it.

It would be far easier to do the SVA and reg in the UK first if you have any doubts. That would be my choice 110%.

vorsman

After this I will shut up!!

You ought to check whether the newer Serena was sold in any LHD markets. You will have to change the headlights to LHD to register here (or anywhere else in mainland Europe) you cannot get away with beam benders for registering like you can in the UK if over 10 years old.. I suggest asking Nissan or if no luck search on the internet for Asian countries who LHD and you should be able to see if the Serena was sold there. It may be you will have to import a pair from one of these sources.

I had the reverse taking a newer LHD into the UK which had not been sold there. I found that the model had been sold in Malaysia and bought the headlights from there.

If no luck then UK reg and take it back for an MOT every year would be the only option.

kohoutek

Thanks for the pointers, probably better off like you say taking the car back to Blighty every year for an MOT


Michael/Julie

PaulinEger

Hi,
I've started the ball rolling today re registering my Yamaha XT600 motorbike in Hungary. We went to the okmanyiroda and spoke to the same woman we always end up with who doesn't know her backside from her elbow. We then went to garage where we must take the bike for inspection and made an appointment for next Wednesday. We explained that the bike has a non-standard rear light and indicators without "E" marks and he said that he wouldn't bother with those so long as everything works. I may have one problem however, the non -standard exhaust. I've contacted the manufacturer and they say that the noise level is 92db. Does anyone know the maximum level to pass Hungarian scrutiny?
Also, what costs am I likely to incur during the whole process? I know the garage costs will be 27,500 huf and there'll be some kind of duty which amounts to about 18,000 huf due to the age and engine size of the bike. There will also be the costs of issuing the number plate and registration document at the okmanyiroda but is there anything else? Someone mentioned some other form of import duty. Is this correct?
Thanks,
Paul

Rural Hungary

Balazs said a Japanese import won't be a problem though as everybody will know, this is never a 100% certainty in Hungary though he is usually on the ball. Phoned him at home out of hours today so will phone him again in the morning to confirm there won't be an issue with the model

vorsman

The biggest problem as I see it is that the model has not been sold in Europe and thus it is possible LHD headlights do not exist. This has to be addressed first.

It is necessary to check with Nissan or look on line as per my previous post otherwise it cannot be registered. Also if it is trailered over and cannot be reg then it will have to be trailered back and still have to be SVA in the UK.

Rural Hungary

I have sent a PM M&J

vorsman

Hi,

Message blocked so cant see what it was.

Rural Hungary

Haha - had heard you didn't like me but didn't think it to the extent you blocked my messages No worries, wasn't anything important.

vorsman

First I think we may possibly have spoken once but I am not sure so certainly there is no basis on which I could have formed any opinion so I do not know where this comes from.

Second it was the computer that said a pop up programme or something had blocked your message. I would not have a clue where such a program or whatever it is lives in the computer in order to I assume switch it off. In any event when I thought I would have a look again the pop up message did not come up again and neither did your message. Hence I wrote back to you so at least you knew there was a problem if your message required a reply and you were not being ignored.

Rural Hungary

I can't remember meeting you though perhaps I did at a BB night - I know my husband met you once - the rest, well that's the expat rumour mill for you... I take much of it with a pinch of salt, life's too short and all that

Thought it might be a pop up blocker, "you blocking my messages" was just my humour which tends to be on the dry side.
You can bypass the pop up using the link at the top right of the page - it should take you directly to your messages page.