Poi

Good Evening from the UK,

My wife has recently accepted a job to work in an international school in Bucharest and we're both very excited about the move but of course we have a few questions.

We'd like to drive across before the school year starts and have been looking into left hand drive cars. From what we have read it seems the registration process of a foreign car in Romania is not too painful as long as the car meets the low emissions standards. Has anyone registered a foreign car before and can confirm this?

The school she's going to be working at is in sector 3, the North is mentioned a lot as the area to be living but commute times are a worry. Any advice on areas to consider for living would be greatly appreciated.

I know these questions are vague but we have to start somewhere.

Thanks in advance!

Azarel

Hi Poi,

The government often changes the laws on registering foreign cars because a lot of people go to other places in Europe and cheaply-priced second-hand cars back, either for personal use or for resale. As a result, the registration tax for a car's first registration on Romanian soil used to be pretty high, don't know if they've come down now. There are some sites, I believe, that allow you to put in the car, year, pollution output and so on and it'll give you the tax. I'll try to find one later.

If the school is the one I'm thinking of, it's quite a way to the east of Bucharest and you're right, it could be a bit of a long slog from the northern neighbourhoods. There are some areas in sectors 2 and 3 that aren't bad, for example Iancului in Sector 2, the areas around Vatra Luminoasa, Maior Coravu, and the national area. Titan could be a reasonable choice too, especially as it has a great park with a lake, cycle lanes and is popular with joggers. Titan would only be about 10-15 mins by car to the school (again, assuming it's the ISB on Catelu).

Poi

Thanks so much for this information.

We've recently found out that the school is helping with finding accommodation and will be arranging viewings based on our needs for when we arrive. One 'area option' is by a park and a short metro to school which sounds like it could be the Titan area. It's somewhere that has come up a few times while we've been researching and it sounds nice enough.

As as the car goes, from what we can see the regulations changed last year and as long as the emissions are low then it should be a minimal fee (compared to what it might have been previously anyway) to register the car.

Whats again thanks for the advice.

Poi

Azarel

You're welcome and best of luck with the move/transition!

PaulLungu

Hi Poi,

You could also check Timpuri Noi area (a bit further west than Titan, but closer to the center).

Same applies to Bulevardul Decebal/Piata Muncii.

Good luck!

Poi

Thanks for that, I'll have a look into those as well.