Any Norwegian Phers?
Discussion
I'm thinking of making the move to Norway in the next couple of years, but am struggling to find out the situation there with classic cars and motorcycles and the cost of running them. I tried googling but would appreciate input from people living there.
What is the situation there with road tax, roadworthiness tests and insurance? Are classics and motorcycles affordable to own and run?
What is the situation there with road tax, roadworthiness tests and insurance? Are classics and motorcycles affordable to own and run?
New cars, except electric, are very expensive compared to the UK, but some classics are quite reasonable.
Running costs, not looked for a while, but I think petrol is almost the same as here, diesel may even be a bit cheaper, but of course that varies with the exchange rate.
Hourly rates for garages tend to be expensive, so best if you can do your own work.
Some cities have charges each time you enter/leave, although I think the electric cars are normally free. Norway has become very geared up towards electric.
You can search for cars, including classics, on here
https://www.finn.no/car/used/search.html?filters=
Running costs, not looked for a while, but I think petrol is almost the same as here, diesel may even be a bit cheaper, but of course that varies with the exchange rate.
Hourly rates for garages tend to be expensive, so best if you can do your own work.
Some cities have charges each time you enter/leave, although I think the electric cars are normally free. Norway has become very geared up towards electric.
You can search for cars, including classics, on here
https://www.finn.no/car/used/search.html?filters=
Norwegian here.
No import tax on imports older than 20 years. 25% vat upon import though...
Really cheap insurance for 30 year old cars , and road tax. ( like 50 quid each)
Road tax for newer than 20 year old cars about 300 Pounds pr year.
Insurance is cheaper than the UK. 400-500 quid for a normal car , 800-1200 for something with a bit of a bee in the bonnet.
Petrol is 1.50 P a litre for 98 V-Ron.
Lots of interest for both german metal and amcars everywhere.
Basically EU rules for road worthyness. bit stricter than the UK for exhausts / coilovers etc. you need TUV approval papers otherwise you risk being asked to put on original bits.
Old classic cars are more lenient when it comes to orginality etc
Independent workshops 60-70 quid an hour. not that bad, but probably a tad more expensive than the UK yeah.
No import tax on imports older than 20 years. 25% vat upon import though...
Really cheap insurance for 30 year old cars , and road tax. ( like 50 quid each)
Road tax for newer than 20 year old cars about 300 Pounds pr year.
Insurance is cheaper than the UK. 400-500 quid for a normal car , 800-1200 for something with a bit of a bee in the bonnet.
Petrol is 1.50 P a litre for 98 V-Ron.
Lots of interest for both german metal and amcars everywhere.
Basically EU rules for road worthyness. bit stricter than the UK for exhausts / coilovers etc. you need TUV approval papers otherwise you risk being asked to put on original bits.
Old classic cars are more lenient when it comes to orginality etc
Independent workshops 60-70 quid an hour. not that bad, but probably a tad more expensive than the UK yeah.
Edited by Mintbird on Friday 24th January 19:33
Edited by Mintbird on Friday 24th January 19:34
Edited by Mintbird on Friday 24th January 19:34
AceOfHearts said:
I'm thinking of making the move to Norway in the next couple of years, but am struggling to find out the situation there with classic cars and motorcycles and the cost of running them. I tried googling but would appreciate input from people living there.
What is the situation there with road tax, roadworthiness tests and insurance? Are classics and motorcycles affordable to own and run?
Norwegian PH here. What is the situation there with road tax, roadworthiness tests and insurance? Are classics and motorcycles affordable to own and run?
To my knowledge, road tax falls into two brackets, but as a private motorist it won't really matter too much as I believe one is for normal personal transport cars under 3500 kgs and then there's a class above with a higher fee. Road tax payment, new for last year, is now collected via your insurance company. The insurance company and the DVLA equivalent (statens vegvesen) speak to each other electronically so there's no way around this.
Road worthiness is per european standard, every 2 years, though I think new cars are exempt for their first 5 years, have to go through a test more or less similar to the UK MOT. There are of course the friendly MOT'er notion here as well, but they too run the risk of loosing their approval if found cheating their tests for favours as per the UK.
Insurance is similar to the UK, a myriad different companies with varying prices and discounts available. I managed to bring over my no claims bonus from when I moved back home to Norway after 5 years in Scotland and got a 50% bonus (No claim discount).
As for classic motoring. Winters can be tough and most classics only gets driven outside the winter season. Salting is the norm and it's tough on the cars here. I believe there is a proposal out to lower the "classic" status now from 30 to 20 year old cars, the benefit being if you want to import a car you won't have to worry about import tax.
Speaking of tax, in general, for a new "any" car in the UK, you can usually roughly double the price and have the Norwegian price. Used cars you will usually have to triple the UK price to approach the norwegian equivalent, though this is just a general guideline and not the rule. A couple of years ago the new government made some changes to the taxation system so bizarrely the really expensive cars got (slightly) cheaper somehow, but they were still in the 3 million NOK + bracket so not really applicable to normal working people.
Politically, as has been mentioned, the government seems to be leading the electric change in Europe so for now there are a lot of exemptions for an EV here, hence their popularity, and for their price you can think of UK = NO, which gives you some idea how how crazy the pricing for cars (ICE especially) is here.
www.finn.no (finn = find) is the main web page for everything for sale in Norway and you shouldn't bother trying to look elsewhere (at least for online mediums, it's become the de-facto go to place for ads) if you are looking to buy a car or motorbike locally in Norway.
As for running a classic, as long as it isn't broken I wouldn't imagine it costing much more than in the UK. Petrol price is roughly on par but I think when norwegians think of classics the old am cars will probably spring first to mind, and I doubt those old V8's will be particularly frugal, your wallet won't be the home of many moth's put it that way.
Servicing on the other hand, parts availability etc. As mentioned, labour is MUCH more expensive here, parts are more expensive, and, reading these forums as well as watching british automotive youtubers, you don't know how well you have it as you always seem to have specialists for this and that readily at hand. Those things are on a completely different level compared to here so be warned. Welding stuff to a car for example, cost prohibitive in Norway as I can't really say I've ever seen a "rust repair shop/welding specialist". The times I've had welding done to my car it's always been "under the table" type stuff by people I know in the trade who know how to repair and weld but whose business really is accident repair, and most accidents requiring any sort of welding I imagine isn't economically viable to repair for the insurance company.
Regards
sparkythecat said:
Don't you need an extra set of wheels with studded tyres for winter use?
Depends on your definition of need. If you don't plan on driving in the winter season then no, you don't need them. Though I think you'll find that all cars for sale here, with perhaps the exception of obviously summer season cars and summer driven classics, are sold with 2 sets of wheels, one for each season. For getting a drivers license, part of the training is a mandatory day at the skid pan with an instructor. Having a set of winter tires for your car here, unlike the UK, is a given. Most kids growing up spend their youth either helping or watching dad do the tire tango twice a year. 2 sets of wheels isn't a big deal, it's just taken for granted I think.
And winter tires don't have to be studded, there are plenty of very viable options for tires without studs. Mine are without for example, though the general consensus is that for snow conditions, studded V non studded (just sipes I think the pattern in the tire thread is called) seems to be equally as good, studded only seems to be better once it gets rather icy. Locals usually buy the tire type that suits their typical climate as well as specific needs. Emergency services gets the option of monster studs not available to the public (or did when I served as a fireman ca 2002).
Some cities adds an additional seasonal tax similar to the congestion zone for driving with studded tires due to the extra wear and dust they create on dry asphalt, which sway some people towards studless.
Regards
Wow these are all fantastic replies, thankyou very much!
Sounds like that is all very favourable then, I have no interest in new cars so that is not much of an issue. I do all my own car work including welding so garage prices are also a non issue.
My TVR is now 25 years old so may be possible to take over, although will need turning back standard I suspect (no turbo).
It's good to hear that owning an old second car to tinker away with in the evenings is not out of the realms of possibility for normal people there. I half expected to hear that anything old and uneconomical would be taxed into submission, so glad to hear otherwise.
Sounds like that is all very favourable then, I have no interest in new cars so that is not much of an issue. I do all my own car work including welding so garage prices are also a non issue.
My TVR is now 25 years old so may be possible to take over, although will need turning back standard I suspect (no turbo).
It's good to hear that owning an old second car to tinker away with in the evenings is not out of the realms of possibility for normal people there. I half expected to hear that anything old and uneconomical would be taxed into submission, so glad to hear otherwise.
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