Buy a car under a 1 year tourist registration

Hello kellsielou28,

Please note that I have created a new thread with your post for more visibility on the Andorra forum.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

@kellsielou28

Yes, we did this a few months ago.  We bought our car in Germany and exported to Andorra to get the tourist plates.

Hi thank you! We are going to be in the EU with our dog for about a year and are hoping to buy an inexpensive car under a 1 year tourist registration in Andorra. Has anyone done this before/is it still possible? Thank you!
-@kellsielou28

We did the same - but please be aware, there are limits what kind of car you may register in Andorra. If I recall, the car has to be 5 year old or newer.

Unless you going to stay in Europe for an infinite time you could be better off to bring your own car or even lease from Renault / Citroen a new one.

In the case if you bring your own car from, say, US or Canada the biggest headache is the insurance.

Polish Borderline insurance (will cost about the same, as the insurance in Andorra) is OK. Do not make a mistake to bring your car to Rotterdam or Hamburg!

The best entry port is Klaipeda in Lithuania. There are insurance brokers in Klaipeda, but the Polish Borderline Insurance is probably a safer deal.

Currently we drive both kind of cars (US versus Andorra). What is better depends on the situation and the market (and of course on the USD - EUR exchange rate).

Legally it's the same thing: driving a car with AND plates or driving a car with US plates means that you have to prepare (largely) the same paperwork and it could be extensive. Speaking at least one more language is very helpful and if driving a car with US plates be prepared for extensive police scrutiny: in many countries they are allowed to stop the car only because they are suspicious regarding the plates. I.e. your paperwork should be perfect.

The best companies to take the car out of US or Canada to Europe are the companies serving ex-USSR citizens of US, you can find them in LA or NY or so.

The best deal is to share a container, they put three cars in the container and the total transport used to be about $2K before the pandemic.

A third possibility is to (as a US tourist) lease a car from a French manufacturer for a year, than buy it back from them and register it in Andorra.