Buying a car

Anywhere and everywhere! There are so many dealers here it's madness. Most are ex German or Italian and are imported cheap because they had faults. So beware. Car here are rarely maintained properly they still thing they can treat everything like a Lada Niva. Which is what I drive, they are everywhere and parts are available in even the smallest towns. You will have to get a long term residence permit before you can buy a car or of course get a pet Bulgarian who will buy it for you as anyone can drive a car as long as its insured etc.
Car bg on the web is a good site and has every kind of car/vehicle you could think of. But be careful there is a lot of junk.

Hello Gerald,

You can buy a car from almost anywhere in Bulgaria, but probably Sofia will be most convenient, if you're landing here and will need the car to go to Veliko Tarnovo. Check these websites:

mobile
cars
car24

These are the biggest online car resellers and you can find almost anything there.
What you have to be careful for is to select a car in good mechanical condition - almost 99% of the cars there are imported from Italy, Germany, Austria and 100 % of the right wheeld from the UK. Mechanical condition is far from perfect, so plan an additional budget for repairs. Have also a good mechanic to check the car BEFORE you buy it.

After buying the car you'll have to change at least the belt and the oil, check the brakes, clutch, all fluids, tyres, lights, suspension, etc.

Have in mind that the mileage is never correct, almost all cars are coming here with faked documets, prepared for the delaers in Italy, UK, Germany, Austria, Spain ... etc. 90 % of the cars will show a figure between 130 000 and 170 000 km. You can calculate the actual mileage by multiplying the age of the car by 20 000 (roughly).

Good luck,

Dear captinktm,

Thank you very much for your input. I really appreciate it. And I am also pretty sure you know that good manners and good tone of speaking/writing are an important part of this website's policy.

So, if I ever see again anything like this:

"Car here are rarely maintained properly they still thing they can treat everything like a Lada Niva."

then I will either delete it my self or report it and insist on deletion. (I enjoyed the spelling by the way!)

Also, this piece :

"You will have to get a long term residence permit before you can buy a car" is absolutely wrong,

and this abstract:

"or of course get a pet Bulgarian who will buy it for you as anyone can drive a car as long as its insured etc."

is not only wrong, but also insulting and misleading. May I remind you, that just 3 weeks ago such a group of car owners was taken to court ? both in Bulgaria and in Romania.

You can drive your Niva, but generally it is only used in Bulgaria for hunting purposes. Or for farming. And I am pretty sure you know that it is not good for anything else. Besides fuel consumption is between 8 and 16 litres ).

Everything I have written is true weather you like it or not. I am speaking from experience, not making it up. I have had garages cause more damage to my vehicles than they were paid to repair. I have proof of this and photo's of the damage.
While looking for a car when I first moved here the majority of cars I looked at had faults which would mean they would need repairing before they could be used. Most if not all commercial sellers wanted money up front before they would fix the faults.
So I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say about these facts.

Hello,
Thank you for the  replies and taking the time to do so. I intend to rent a car for the short term and will investigate the suggested websites and bear in mind the possible pitfalls.
It sounds like it will be something of a challenge!
Cheers 

Hi, I agree with a lot of the points above. A large number of cars for sale in Bulgaria are junk, and when bought you buy a whole lot of problems with them. If I had a decent budget for a vehicle, i would go to Germany and get a decent left hand drive, and either drive it back or have it sent. To register a car in Bulgaria you need a residence permit, as you need to show this at KAT to get the documents.                          My advice to you is, rent a cheap run around for a few weeks when you arrive, get to immigration ASAP and register your residence, then look for a car. Some quality garages do offer a warranty these days, and alternatively give your local mechanic some cash to come with you for a day while viewing.