Car with foreign plates.
Discussion
Just wondered what the law is here.
Everyday on my way to work I see a foreign registered Audi TT and I've seen it for over a year now. It displays 'LT' plates which I believe do be Lithuania, should the owner not have registered it in the UK by now?
I feel I should report it (if this is illigal) as I'm paying over £400 a year in RFL to drive in the UK while this chump doesn't pay a penny.
What would you do?
Everyday on my way to work I see a foreign registered Audi TT and I've seen it for over a year now. It displays 'LT' plates which I believe do be Lithuania, should the owner not have registered it in the UK by now?
I feel I should report it (if this is illigal) as I'm paying over £400 a year in RFL to drive in the UK while this chump doesn't pay a penny.
What would you do?
I drive a car on foreign plates here in Spain. Will you report me?
My neighbours have UK plate cars in Spain. Many have Gibraltarian registered cars and there are also Russian, Lithuania, Hungarian, French, and a lot of Germans.
I pay my insurance, tax and get my car MOT'd as required by law.
Are you going to report all of us?
As the second poster mentioned. Mind your own business.
My neighbours have UK plate cars in Spain. Many have Gibraltarian registered cars and there are also Russian, Lithuania, Hungarian, French, and a lot of Germans.
I pay my insurance, tax and get my car MOT'd as required by law.
Are you going to report all of us?
As the second poster mentioned. Mind your own business.
beanbag said:
rehab71 said:
Should it not be registered in the UK after such a long period of time a the owner clearly lives in the UK?
If you have a property in the country of origin, you are legally allowed to drive freely in the EU so long as your insurance permits and is valid.Thanks
beanbag said:
If you have a property in the country of origin, you are legally allowed to drive freely in the EU so long as your insurance permits and is valid.
i don't think this is correct, maybe someone with correct legal knowledge will be along to clarify. Yes, you are allowed to travel freely from your eu country of residence to anywhere else, but once you've moved - which by virtue of staying more than 183 days you have - then you should re-register yourself and car... Your UK insurance will most likely stipulate you should be a uk resident too.normally you could rest assured that he'd be paying road tax is his home country, but sadly for you there is no car tax in Lithuania 
if it's any comfort, my old Merc would have cost a ridiculous sum to tax in Germany if I'd ever imported it officially, but I never did, so there is that
if it's any comfort, my old Merc would have cost a ridiculous sum to tax in Germany if I'd ever imported it officially, but I never did, so there is that
beanbag said:
If you have a property in the country of origin, you are legally allowed to drive freely in the EU so long as your insurance permits and is valid.
Not really sure why people so often just guess when it's quite easy to look up the answer:"You can usually use a vehicle displaying non-UK number plates, and not have to tax or register it in the UK, if:
- you’re visiting the UK and don’t plan to live here
- you only use the vehicle up to 6 months in a 12-month period (1 single visit, or several shorter visits adding up to a 6-month period)
- the vehicle is registered and taxed in its home country
If you become a resident in the UK, you must tax and register your vehicle in the UK straight away."
https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/...
As a matter of principle, if the person is living and working here, using UK roads, the car should be registered here and tax should be paid to our government like the rest of us have to.
Whether or not there are plenty of other illegal cars on the UK roads is irrelevant. And, if said person can afford an Audi TT, they can afford to legally keep the car here.
That said, I'd probably have better things to do with my time than report it...
Edited by boz1 on Wednesday 29th January 16:23
Edited by boz1 on Wednesday 29th January 16:24
Edited by boz1 on Wednesday 29th January 16:24
I fear this topic may be full of hearsay and rumour, and with no actual experience of having long term use of car registered in another country I am about to add to it.
I drove a UK registered car in the Republic of Ireland while I was working there for a few months. I was there less than 6 months but I was under the impression that Irish residents couldn't own and use a car in Ireland that was registered elsewhere. Also, I though EU rules (which rules, I have no idea) required a person living in a European country for more than 12 months to register cars in that country.
This is to stop people buying 'running' cars in cheap countries but using them in expensive countries, I know from experience that cars in Denmark and Ireland are more expensive to run than cars in UK. A colleague living in Denmark ran his car on German plates and was always nervous every time he saw the Danish Police, they were renowned for ceasing cars from Danes trying to skirt the high cost of buying/registering cars in Denmark.
I drove a UK registered car in the Republic of Ireland while I was working there for a few months. I was there less than 6 months but I was under the impression that Irish residents couldn't own and use a car in Ireland that was registered elsewhere. Also, I though EU rules (which rules, I have no idea) required a person living in a European country for more than 12 months to register cars in that country.
This is to stop people buying 'running' cars in cheap countries but using them in expensive countries, I know from experience that cars in Denmark and Ireland are more expensive to run than cars in UK. A colleague living in Denmark ran his car on German plates and was always nervous every time he saw the Danish Police, they were renowned for ceasing cars from Danes trying to skirt the high cost of buying/registering cars in Denmark.
Impasse said:
Bloomin' foreigners coming over here stealing our speeding convictions.
Especially that Prawo Jazdy fellow!http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/789917...
GoodDoc said:
I fear this topic may be full of hearsay and rumour, and with no actual experience of having long term use of car registered in another country I am about to add to it.
I drove a UK registered car in the Republic of Ireland while I was working there for a few months. I was there less than 6 months but I was under the impression that Irish residents couldn't own and use a car in Ireland that was registered elsewhere. Also, I though EU rules (which rules, I have no idea) required a person living in a European country for more than 12 months to register cars in that country.
This is to stop people buying 'running' cars in cheap countries but using them in expensive countries, I know from experience that cars in Denmark and Ireland are more expensive to run than cars in UK. A colleague living in Denmark ran his car on German plates and was always nervous every time he saw the Danish Police, they were renowned for ceasing cars from Danes trying to skirt the high cost of buying/registering cars in Denmark.
this is all true. Spain, France and UK tend not to enforce the law so vigorously. Switzerland and Portugal do, as their car markets are very expensive.I drove a UK registered car in the Republic of Ireland while I was working there for a few months. I was there less than 6 months but I was under the impression that Irish residents couldn't own and use a car in Ireland that was registered elsewhere. Also, I though EU rules (which rules, I have no idea) required a person living in a European country for more than 12 months to register cars in that country.
This is to stop people buying 'running' cars in cheap countries but using them in expensive countries, I know from experience that cars in Denmark and Ireland are more expensive to run than cars in UK. A colleague living in Denmark ran his car on German plates and was always nervous every time he saw the Danish Police, they were renowned for ceasing cars from Danes trying to skirt the high cost of buying/registering cars in Denmark.
This thread has pissed me off royally somewhat....
Nobody is aware of the circumstances of said gentleman. He may have properties in Lithuania and may travel back there often. In which case, what he's doing is perfectly legal.
If he lives in the UK then it's up to him to sort himself out but for somebody to play vigilante without knowing the circumstances is (in my opinion), spiteful and out of order.
If the chap is breaking the law, the UK police will eventually catch up with him and he will have to sort his papers / car out.
On top of that, each country has its own laws regarding this but ultimately, nobody knows the circumstances and all this conversation is about is spiteful gossip.
Once again. Mind your own business.
Nobody is aware of the circumstances of said gentleman. He may have properties in Lithuania and may travel back there often. In which case, what he's doing is perfectly legal.
If he lives in the UK then it's up to him to sort himself out but for somebody to play vigilante without knowing the circumstances is (in my opinion), spiteful and out of order.
If the chap is breaking the law, the UK police will eventually catch up with him and he will have to sort his papers / car out.
On top of that, each country has its own laws regarding this but ultimately, nobody knows the circumstances and all this conversation is about is spiteful gossip.
Once again. Mind your own business.
It's time for EU to change the rules of cars. If I own a car, why would I have to register it in another EU country if I happen to get a job there, and after a while in another country and so on?
Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
ETA, the state run MOT "Bilprovningen" in Sweden even have staff in Spain during a couple of weeks a year to MOT Swedish registered cars there, cars that never get driven to Sweden for a MOT. Who is breaking the EU rules, the car owners or the Swedish state?
Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
ETA, the state run MOT "Bilprovningen" in Sweden even have staff in Spain during a couple of weeks a year to MOT Swedish registered cars there, cars that never get driven to Sweden for a MOT. Who is breaking the EU rules, the car owners or the Swedish state?
Edited by Finlandia on Wednesday 29th January 16:40
Finlandia said:
It's time foe EU to change the rules of cars. If I own a car, why would I have to register it in another EU country if I happen to get a job there, and after a while in another country and so on?
Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
:nod:Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
Spot on. What's the point of the EU.
More annoyingly, I bought my car brand new and paid all the relevant EU and local taxes in the EU country I purchased it in, yet if I move to a new country, I have to pay tax on it all over again!
How on earth is that fair?
I understand countries need to protect the industry, but if you've owned a car for more than 6 months, surely you shouldn't have to pay tax on it again?
Finlandia said:
It's time foe EU to change the rules of cars. If I own a car, why would I have to register it in another EU country if I happen to get a job there, and after a while in another country and so on?
Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
fair enough, although it's not so much eu law rather it's nations protecting their own interests and not opening up their market. MoTs (or local equivalent) are not standardised and typically northern eu countries don't want too many scruffy southern cars allowed in. For all it's faults the MoT isn't that bad a system. I know personally that in Portugal a few euros in cash will get a car through it's IPO (mot). Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
Robert Elise said:
Finlandia said:
It's time foe EU to change the rules of cars. If I own a car, why would I have to register it in another EU country if I happen to get a job there, and after a while in another country and so on?
Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
fair enough, although it's not so much eu law rather it's nations protecting their own interests and not opening up their market. MoTs (or local equivalent) are not standardised and typically northern eu countries don't want too many scruffy southern cars allowed in. For all it's faults the MoT isn't that bad a system. I know personally that in Portugal a few euros in cash will get a car through it's IPO (mot). Make a car registered in any EU country legal to use in any other EU country for any time, as long as it's legal and insured.
But you are right with countries protecting their own interests, however if person has owned a vehicle for 6 months or longer, they should be free to register their car in any EU country for just a nominal registration fee.
At the moment however, you have to pay tax which is completely unjust seeing as if you have purchased a car from new, you have already paid this!
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