fidobsa

It might be worth seeing if anyone else replies as you can't do anything until Monday anyway. I'm just going on my own experience but I certainly don't claim to be any kind of expert on these matters. You have to remember that it is not a road fund licence like we have in UK but a sort of crude means test. The idea is that the poorer people who can't afford to run a motor vehicle pay less council tax than the richer ones who can. The actual pot of money is all used for the upkeep of the village / town. I've never been stopped by the Police in my Hungarian reg car but I know you have to keep the stub from your yellow "cheque" for the car insurance with your other car documents in case you have to produce them. I also carry the one for local tax (5700 Ft in my case) but it does not state what dates it covers, whereas the insurance one does. I just receive bills and pay them.

Rural Hungary

It's like a village road tax Richard and the mayor bills you so might be worth popping into have a word with them if you don't want to wait for the invoice you come through. In the meantime, if you get stopped, just show them the paperwork for transferring the car over and you shouldn't have any problems.

PaulinEger

I've been stopped on numerous occasions and never produced (or been asked for) either my insurance cheque stub or my local village tax stub. I guess they have all the information available on computer when they call your details in so they know what's been paid and what's not.

mikelincs

No, if you read that document, you can only have a driving licence issued in the country YOU ARE RESIDENT.




quote<

If you lose your driving licence or have it stolen, you need to apply for a new one in the country where you are resident..
Renewing a licence

You can only have a driving licence issued by the authorities in the country where you are resident. unquote>

This means that if you are in Hungary, then you must renew your license in Hungary, This is because although the licenses will all look the same, they are only valid if you have had the medicals etc required by the country you are living in.

Peter_in_Hungary

Yes - But - this part of the regulation is talking about renewing


The regulation also says

and

So from this I would understand that a UK licence would be valid until it expired - I don't know if notifying a change of address to a non-UK one would cause the licence to expire

mikelincs

For the UK, it's only the photocard part that expires, if you have a paper counterpart, that remains valid until it's expiry, which is age 70, the photocard expires after 10 years and MUST be renewed, this is where the address bit becomes problematic, you need to get a local license at that time, some countries seem to operate differently and take your old license, but if you still keep the paper part then your UK license is still valid, but does have a wrong address on. The EU is working to integrate things so that each police force will be able to check licenses of any country in the EU. Eventually, when everyone has a real EU license that doesn't need to be changed if you move countries, then fines and points will be able to be actioned against everyone in all countries.
The DVLA still will not send to anywhere but a UK address, so it's either a case of lying and getting it sent to a relative or friend, or doing the correct thing and changing your license. It's easier for UK people to do this than many other countries as the UK doesn't require regular medicals till you are 70, many other EU countries require them every 5 or 10 years, BUT if you do keep using your UK license in another country, you do need to comply with the medical requirements of the country you are resident in.

richardmc

Thank you all

duztee

I just popped into my local Test Centre to ask about importing my pick-up.
Very helpful chap behind the counter gave me a 'simplified form' to fill in, which got even simpler when I had to ask what one question meant, the answer was 'Oh just put Make, Model, Engine and VIN number and sign it'

He then came outside and looked at the car, told me I need to change the headlights and come back next week if I only want to register it, but since MoT expires in 3 months he suggested I have Hungarian MoT done at the same time, made sense, so he booked me a slot for 2 weeks time.

So far it all sounds TOO simple!
Watch this space.

fidobsa

I would have done it on the UK MoT. That way the next MoT is done at an ordinary garage whereas the one for registration has to be done at a government test centre.

duztee

I knew it was sounding too simple

Well car is only 4 years old so guess they will not find anything wrong.

Peter_in_Hungary

Famous last words..... The aesthetic condition counts for as much as the mechanical condition and I've see cars fail for a bit of surface rust around a side light

Are you having the pick-up registered as a private car or a commercial vehicle. There is no P/LG category here and there are differences of which I am not sure of the exact extent, however the import duty is different and I believe you still have to keep a journey log for commercial vehicles.

Also get a tow bar fitted beforehand if you haven't got one and you ever think you might need one as fitting later means it has to be an approved type and will need a new MOT and registration documentation showing tow-able weights.

Rural Hungary

Last I heard, commercial vehicles are exempt from import duty.

duztee

I beleive this to be true, the guy at the Test Centre confirmed that a pick-up is commercial, so I will post an acurate answer in a couple of weeks.

Peter_in_Hungary

Yes a pick-up CAN be commercial but can also be private. Against the lower cost on import is the pain of needing to keep a journey log every time you get in the car to drive somewhere and if you get stopped the plod will ask to see the log and if its not filled in then its fund raising time

BudapestBound

What's the deal with classic cars? I am intending to bring my Hillman Suoer Mix to Hungary, which is LHD. On the calculator, it doesn't take account of the fact it doesn't have a cat fitted, or tha age of the car. Are classic vehicles classes differently?