Importing Vehicles

Following your post ... We also thinking to bring our car with us:-)

This is the link to the TM information for importing vehicles..

http://www.transport.gov.mt/land-transp … individual

Terry

I've looked on all the websites and found nothing for non EU vehicles.  And all of the documents needed are for things we don't have in the US. I don't even know what a "log book" is! I guess I will have to call.

Have a look  at this pdf file it details importing non EU vehicles.

http://www.transport.gov.mt/admin/uploa … 2002.1.pdf

Terry

Thanks for that. ..it looks like it would be easier to just sell everything!  That looks really complicated.

for you a "log book" is a pink slip lol but yeah sell it roads here are narrow not really suitable for a redneck truck lol also cost of "gas" here (eu in general) will be a bit of a shock to you. at current exchange rates it is around 5.67 us dollars per US gallon (1.51 usd per litre x 3.75 litres per US gallon) imperial (uk) gallon is bigger (4.25 litres)

Well I didn't mention it so how did you guess that I drive a redneck truck I do have a big lifted 4wd lol.  But no I did not plan on bringing that!  I was more thinking to bring dirt bikes and a quad. I also have a 1972 Z28 Camaro that I hate to leave but it only gets like 8mpg so looks like I'll be selling that too.

Also I've never driven on the left hand side so that should be an adventure.  I'm thinking I need one of those little smart cars or I'll just be walking everywhere

Jasminej wrote:

Well I didn't mention it so how did you guess that I drive a redneck truck I do have a big lifted 4wd lol.  But no I did not plan on bringing that!  I was more thinking to bring dirt bikes and a quad. I also have a 1972 Z28 Camaro that I hate to leave but it only gets like 8mpg so looks like I'll be selling that too.

good guess eh lol a Camaro yeah gas guzzler be way too expensive outside usa to fill up. quad bike there are a few here but I would strongly suggest you have a while here before you even consider a bike. I have a full motorbike licence but use the bus. If I had a bike here I think my life expectancy would be about 2 weeks (without driving on left/right to worry about)

My husband races dirt bikes here.  And no definitely not wanting him to ride in traffic but I'm sure he would do it anyways!  Is there not any off road areas to ride quads? I saw a few websites that do daily rentals.  I'd like to buy a jeep or something similar when we get there but I guess there's not much point in owning a 4wd.

Jasminej wrote:

My husband races dirt bikes here.  And no definitely not wanting him to ride in traffic but I'm sure he would do it anyways!  Is there not any off road areas to ride quads? I saw a few websites that do daily rentals.  I'd like to buy a jeep or something similar when we get there but I guess there's not much point in owning a 4wd.

some here use quads to drive in traffic. offroad areas here? not sure really other than the old RAF runway which is a drag racing thing with lots of people driving all sorts of things around. yes there are quad bike rentals I seen some in gozo. as for dirt bikes there isn't any dirt areas here to speak of

Best to sell everything and get a bike/car from here if you determine that you can use it.

People just drive quads around town in traffic? ? I knew  the traffic was bad there but that bad?? That can't be legal!  Maybe I will stick to taking busses and not driving!

Jasminej wrote:

People just drive quads around town in traffic? ? I knew  the traffic was bad there but that bad?? That can't be legal!  Maybe I will stick to taking busses and not driving!

yes quad bikes are legal onroad as long as you have a car licence (UK) not sure about what licence you need in malta to drive one. yep buses is where its at so y'all mosey on over and git a bus pass lol gitterdun

I imported a scooter from Sydney Australia It took 2 years & endless visits to TM to get a maltese license plate .They kept asking for documents that don't exist in NSW.

Just start afresh when you get here. There is off road jeeps on Gozo but its a touristy thing I think. the whole import your  vehicles is a nightmare more than its worth doing.

After looking into bring our Fiat 500 over from the UK & the fact that after two years ownership there is no import duty
I think we are going to give it a try
I hear that your good for six months before needing a Malta plate
So as we will have some time on our hands for a few months we are going to risk it....
& after seeing the price of replacing our little motor it's worth a bash
though if it's anything like our DVLA you will hear my screams in Gozo

audioclanger wrote:

After looking into bring our Fiat 500 over from the UK & the fact that after two years ownership there is no import duty
I think we are going to give it a try
I hear that your good for six months before needing a Malta plate
So as we will have some time on our hands for a few months we are going to risk it....
& after seeing the price of replacing our little motor it's worth a bash
though if it's anything like our DVLA you will hear my screams in Gozo

If your intending to take residency here you need to be registering your car as soon as possible

You only get up to six months as a tourist
https://www.gov.mt/en/Life%20Events/Mov … sport.asps

Audioclanger
Heres what Ive learned.... theres a lot of people that tell you different things. You are best to ring Malta transport and speak directly.

In a way you are correct with the 6 months period   ( and I agree  Robs post above ) as a tourist if you are coming onto the island you do have 6 months with your vehicle and then your vehicle has to be exported off. You can not register it beyond that point. This is has been verified with me by Malta Transport. So if you do not intend on keeping it here then you will get 6 months use out of it. You must also keep your GB sticker on if you do not have EU recognised plates on the car.
However, if you plan to register for your Id card for residency you must do this within the 90 days of arriving therefore once you are in the system you are classed as becoming a resident. So  if you have brought the car with you it will also have to be registered ( as Rob points out)

This is the tricky bit though and all very topsy turvy to me and apparently against EU compliance as Malta loves to make things up of their own accord. Once you arrive on the Ferry your car is logged as entering Malta and you must keep the details of your boarding tickets as you will need these when you need to register the car. The car must be registered within 30 days of arrival, if it is not then you will be charged a daily fine of 30 euros ( all illegal of course but as I say they make the rules up as they go along) for every day you do not register the vehicle. So you could go to all that trouble within the first 30 days and decide that after 90 days you dont want to reside here because its not worked out for you, your car is now being registered to Malta.
If you havent owned the vehicle for two years or more then you will be liable for the importation tax on the car, again this does not meet with EU compliance. You can check how much this will cost for your vehicle buy logging onto their website and filling in a form, you can then make an informed decision as to whether its worth the hassle.
Buying a car on the island, do what the Maltese do and go to Gozo and purchase a car there apparenlty its a lot cheaper. Malta park is also a place to look but most websites tend to be out of date and the cars sell but forget to be taken off.

Thanks for your informative post roadtripper.  A friend of mine will be retiring to Malta and has a car that he's owned for less than two years. Do you know if it is possible to export the car to Sicily every few weeks until the two years have passed? Also will British insurance cover the vehicle while on the European mainland and in Malta, assuming it won't be possible to insure a car with foreign plates here!

xnu wrote:

Thanks for your informative post roadtripper.  A friend of mine will be retiring to Malta and has a car that he's owned for less than two years. Do you know if it is possible to export the car to Sicily every few weeks until the two years have passed? Also will British insurance cover the vehicle while on the European mainland and in Malta, assuming it won't be possible to insure a car with foreign plates here!

If your friend is taking up residency then he must register the car within  the 30 day rule.
Owning the car for more than two years to get exemption from the registration fee means he must have owned and be named as the registered keeper for two years prior to taking up residency in Malta.
He will need to prove that with bank statements, rent or mortgage agreements etc outside of Malta for the two years.

Taking the car to Sicily will not help and will prove very expensive at around €200 per trip, plus the import duty will have to be paid back if or when he latter sells the car.

Getting insurance will not be a problem but be aware that just because an insurance company issues insurance its your friends responsibility not to give them false information as doing so will invalidate any insurance issued.

I am sure some will read this and say its not a problem and plenty of people run around in foreign  registered cars and don't get caught but the authorities are clamping down and seizing cars.

He needs to ask himself if he wants to start a new life by breaking the law in Malta?

Terry

It's fine to insure foreign plated cars here, ours is foreign plated and we insured that the day after we brought it in. Like people have already said, you can apply for the tax exemption from the registration fee within 30 of bringing the car in, but you need to also proof you've owned the car for two years so taking it to Sicily won't work. Ours has just been approved with no hassle at all, but we sent all the proof in to show we had owned it for over two years.

tearnet wrote:

Taking the car to Sicily will not help and will prove very expensive at around €200 per trip, plus the import duty will have to be paid back if or when he latter sells the car.

Are you sure that's the case?  My husband phoned to query that when we brought our car in and was told that they recalculate it based on the value of the car when you come to sell it, not the value when you brought it in. If you scrap it, there's no charge.

I don't really trust everything we're told, so I'd rather take someones experience over it.  Did you sell your car on after being exempt from the tax?

Sam4321 wrote:

It's fine to insure foreign plated cars here, ours is foreign plated and we insured that the day after we brought it in. Like people have already said, you can apply for the tax exemption from the registration fee within 30 of bringing the car in, but you need to also proof you've owned the car for two years so taking it to Sicily won't work. Ours has just been approved with no hassle at all, but we sent all the proof in to show we had owned it for over two years.

tearnet wrote:

Taking the car to Sicily will not help and will prove very expensive at around €200 per trip, plus the import duty will have to be paid back if or when he latter sells the car.

Are you sure that's the case?  My husband phoned to query that when we brought our car in and was told that they recalculate it based on the value of the car when you come to sell it, not the value when you brought it in. If you scrap it, there's no charge.

I don't really trust everything we're told, so I'd rather take someones experience over it.  Did you sell your car on after being exempt from the tax?

Its is fine to insure a foreign  registered car provided you have started the registration process.

Yes we sold our car after three years and had to pay the (reduced) registration fee.
When I asked about how they calculated the reduced fee TM seemed unable to come up with any sort of specific answer.
"Enquire at the time of sale" was the stock answer but I think ours was reduced by about 50%.

What happens if you scrap the car I have no idea but when we inquired about trading it in under the government scrapage scheme the salesman said we would have to pay the duty first!

I had to go to TM once I had a buyer and they worked out the fee, it took  about 1 hour for them to come up with the figure.

Terry