Bringing car to Hungary

Hello, welcome, and feel free to revive old threads :-)

Hungarian vehicle inspection ("muszaki vizsga") is quite thorough too. It's probably cheaper to just fix the car and pass the Dutch inspection than to pay the import duty^W^W registration tax and bribe your way through inspection...

I don't know how common that model is around here, (77 hits on hasznaltauto.hu, the biggest used car site) but if parts can be scavenged, the labor costs of car repair are likely to be lower over here.

Disq wrote:

.....

It's a car that sucks Benzin (Euro95/98)
Holland doesn't use Emission, so I don't know.
Date of First Registration: 19-01-1990
Engine Displacement: 1124 cm3

Anyone can help me with that?

I wouldn't even try. The car is probably too old to be economically imported. Better if you can find a way to drive it around on Dutch plates until it dies, then scrap it and buy another one.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Disq wrote:

.....

It's a car that sucks Benzin (Euro95/98)
Holland doesn't use Emission, so I don't know.
Date of First Registration: 19-01-1990
Engine Displacement: 1124 cm3

Anyone can help me with that?

I wouldn't even try. The car is probably too old to be economically imported. Better if you can find a way to drive it around on Dutch plates until it dies, then scrap it and buy another one.

I don't know how common that model is around here, (77 hits on hasznaltauto.hu, the biggest used car site) but if parts can be scavenged, the labor costs of car repair are likely to be lower over here.

You would say, but, apart from the handbrake and horn (which I could fix myself, but I am a bit lazy to go under the car to fix that, I got the parts already), it's still a damn fine piece of robustic cold steel car.

szocske wrote:

It's probably cheaper to just fix the car and pass the Dutch inspection than to pay the import duty^W^W registration tax and bribe your way through inspection

You should not mention bribery, even as the less attractive option simply because it is not "cheaper". Bribery and corruption are crimes. Pure and simple. They should be avoided even being mentioned for that reason alone, especially to expats who may start to think it is something they should consider doing here.

There are significant world wide efforts from international, national and local efforts, including in Hungary, working to address this issue. I with emphasis ask you to stop suggesting bribery even as an option to avoid undermining local citizen efforts to combat the issue.

Bribing is not something I would not do something so easily, it bit me back before hard, so I rather avoid that.

But on the 17th september, it requires dutch inspection (which just too much in my defense).

Before we really scrap this, can anyone give me the information of:

-How much taxes a month (or 3 months or yearly) I will have to pay for it?
-How much insurance a month (or 3 months or yearly), I will have to pay for it?

Disq wrote:

can anyone give me the information

Taxes and the required insurance are not very much. A few hundred Euro a year for our car. So that is not really a major expense.

The below link is very old (from 2003 -- so some things may have changed, but probably not much), but I think it will give you an idea of the process, the paperwork, and the expense you might experience when importing a car:

http://www.hungarian-connections.com/Ar … Import.htm

klsallee wrote:

You should not mention bribery, even as the less attractive option simply because it is not "cheaper". Bribery and corruption are crimes.

Sooo we'll pretend it does not exist?
Yes, it exists in Hungary.
Even if you don't do it.
Not talking about it won't make it go away.
Not knowing about it will harm you in various ways:

The car you are stuck behind in traffic might be severely polluting, as drivers have the option to "add a little extra" to the inspection fee. Roll up the windows and set the ventilation to circulate in traffic jams.

The restaurant you eat at could be violating HAACP left and right, and inspectors might have been given "favors" to look the other way. Gauge the cleanliness and trustworthiness of the place, don't just say "It can't be too bad".

I pass a restaurant every day that's been forever on and off the US Embassy blacklist for kidnapping patrons until the exorbitant bill is paid. (Labirintus restaurant in Szentendre) The staff is all ex-law-enforcement so authorities "look the other way". Look for these signs: "waiters" look like bouncers, no price list outside, empty in mealtime, cash only (so you can't chargeback), ATM inside (so you can withdraw the ransom)

If you need medical attention, procedures with lines or waiting lists will have unpredictable wait times due to people paying "gratitude money" getting ahead. Bring something to read while you wait!

If you get an expensive drug prescribed, ask about generics, better yet, get a second opinion. Your physician might have just gotten back from a "conference" in the Caribbean.

The "Palinka" you see advertised on the street is concentrated hard liquor. The main component, ethanol is an addictive psychoactive "hard" drug with poisonous metabolites causing liver damage, mental degradation and death in addicts. Businesses behind it "lobbied" for public funds and laws to popularize it.

Tax-funded projects, public service jobs, grants, etc go to people with "connections", don't bother applying. Plenty of opportunities in the private sector where efficiency matters, so merit is considered.

I could go on all day, but I made my point. I will not lie to visitors about the level and impact of corruption in Hungary: their safety before your feelings.
I am sorry this hurts you.
I do not intend to hurt you.
I can not avoid informing people about this even though I know it hurts you.

I remember you being upset with me before over a very similar situation, someone's safety versus being PC. You twisted my words around, made accusations about my intentions, got no response and got over it, no harm done. I expect the same this time around: In a week or so you'll forget about this too and it won't drive you (a valuable contributor!) away from this forum, so it's worth it.

We can even be friends, but let's never marry :-)

One other thing I may have forgot to mention, I don't know how it is in other countries, but for dutch cars, you have to get the car checked at a certified dutch garage every year for that inspection (and fork over at least €100 for the check only, pay more for repairs required).

so, even if it gets checked this year, next year will have the same issue then. if it doesn't get certified, I better prepare a ticket of €400 (which I can't really afford once I live in hungary easily) and then still get it checked again for €100 euro + the costo of bringing it to holland.

szocske wrote:

Sooo we'll pretend it does not exist?

My original comment was off topic, though I felt it needed to be said. So I will not "discuss" this to any length here. But I will clarify this:

Mentioning corruption at a forum ideally would include (and be limited mostly to) what and when to expect it, how to avoid it, and possibly how to report it or act against it.

Else expats seeking advice here may get the wrong impression that bribery is expected in Hungary and they should consider doing it. It isn't, and they shouldn't.

szocske wrote:

It's probably cheaper to just fix the car and pass the Dutch inspection than to pay the import duty^W^W registration tax and bribe your way through inspection...

klsallee wrote:

Mentioning corruption at a forum ideally would include...
...  It isn't, and they shouldn't.

Dear klsallee
I do hate, too, how this region is hindered by 'corruption', which, as a complex cultural treat, is extremely hard to change. But this is too long of a discussion for this place. It cries for an own thread...

However, I would like to express my opinion that  szocske's comment was fine in the given context. I even think, I mostly understand your point. If you disagree with a comment, you are welcome to say that - in a respectful way. Most simple, add the piece or colour, you feel is missing from a contribution.
But - not the first, nor the second time - I get the impression you want more - you are are inclined towards thinking you may set certain rules which you are not entitled to - this time telling off another forum member for stating a sentence in a slightly different way than dictated by your world view, if I may put it that way. Is this issue really important enough to frustrate a forum member like this, perhaps discouraging others to contribute in future? No fun - no contribution. There is a fine(?) line between friendly, at least respectful disagreement and telling somebody off. I personally perceive that you are practising the latter.
I also hope your valuable contributions were not, and will not be 'corrected' in this tone.
Well, this is my opinion or, should I say, feelings about the matter. Even though I expressed this already at a different occasion, I wanted to formulate it more carefully this time.

Back to topic :

Since the car is very old the registration tax is low :
(i think the car will have max Euro2 probably Euro1 emission class)

about 55-85.000 HUF according to :

http://kalkulatorlap.hu/regisztracios_a … _2012.html

about bribing... well if you do it wrong you will end up in jail so maybe skip it...

having said that adding some extra money to pass the MOT even if the car is not road legal is no problem in germany aswell if you know the right places... so should not be a big brainer here

TornadoHH wrote:

about bribing... well if you do it wrong you will end up in jail so maybe skip it...

having said that adding some extra money to pass the MOT [...]

That extra money is called "bribe" and the act of exchanging it is called "bribery" :-)
Same with "gratitude money" in healthcare, etc, please see the "Dark Side" thread...

Disq,we drive our car with British registration plates for 4 years and nobody stoped us to ask why we don't have Hungarian plates.

In my opionion the chances to be caught are slim to none in a country where half of the population has Austrian or Slovakian registration plates.

I hope other expats will share my opinion: one can drive foreign cars.

Girlie wrote:

Disq,we drive our car with British registration plates for 4 years and nobody stoped us to ask why we don't have Hungarian plates.

In my opionion the chances to be caught are slim to none in a country where half of the population has Austrian or Slovakian registration plates.

I hope other expats will share my opinion: one can drive foreign cars.

I've been stopped a few times driving foreign cars with all sorts of registrations - British, Canadian, Austrian, French, Dutch, Spanish etc. I get stopped maybe once every 2 years. Now, they put your passport number in their fancy radios and determine if you are a resident. If so, you are almost in trouble but not quite.

The rules changed a while back and Hungarians or permanent residents cannot drive a foreign car more than 30 days a year unless their either live abroad or they have a note from their employer - e.g they are lorry, bus or other professional drivers. I've never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it though. Dual nationals are the ones who have it mostly safe. Act stupid, don't speak Hungarian and show the foreign (non-registered) passport to the police, backed up with consistent documentation from the country of registration and the chances are probably quite good nothing will happen.

However, don't take my word for it!

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)!!