How to import and register a vehicle

Hello travelero,

Welcome to Expat.com

Thank you for starting this very detailed thread! 

I'm sure members will find it highly useful.

Cheers,

Diksha
Expat.com team

Happy to help.

I'll add the last detals now that I've finished the process and received the license plates. I simply went back to the government building on Prat de la Creu on the day they told me. When I arrived at 08:00 the lady said the plates weren't yet ready but they would be within a few hours, and she showed me how to check the status of the tramite on the andorra govt website, so I'd know exactly when the plates were ready to pickup.

A couple of hours later, after refreshing the page dozens of times, the status changed from "en curso" (or similar) to being ready. I went back, she gave me the stamped carta amarilla (registration paper) and had me pay 12 Euros. She said just go to the Automobil Club of Andorra to get the plates.

I went over there, walked in and told them I needed to pickup the plates. The lady verified my information in the computer, using only the carta amarilla, and then went to get the plates. Handed them to me, and that was it--done. No further visit to ITV.

Thanks for that Travelero. I'm also a Canadian, living in Toronto.

I was looking into this for a motorhome.

The hiccup I ran into was an omission in the new (September 2021) Llei del Codi de la circulació legislation.

Previously one could have the annual ITV/TÜV/MOT/APK done in any European country, without having to return to Andorra. This is not in the new rules and 1. it's not clear whether renewal is possible at all and 2. if it is possible, apparently one will likely have to return to Andorra for ITV every year.

I've pasted the relevant sections below.

It was confirmed by the ACA, who wrote to me September 16,2021:

"We agree with you, the new Llei de la Circulació from September 2, does not mention anything about the ability to renew annually,
Yesterday we have commented internally and approximately on the following 4 months, a new regulation will appear, we think with this matter.
Without this new regulation, we are not sure about this annually renewal"

So far they have not updated me on this. I did email them in December as I was driving right by Andorra, but no response.
Two brokers I contacted also confirmed this new dimension of the traffic code.

Here's the actual text from the two iterations of the Llei del Codi de la circulació :

1. The 2021 Llei del Codi de la circulació only says this in reference to Matrícula temporal (in Article 97 section1, h) :
“h) Andorran natural persons not resident in Andorra and foreign natural persons without a residence or residence and work permit may register vehicles with temporary registration.”

2. Whereas the 1998 Llei del Codi de la circulació is much more extensive in covering  Matrícula temporal, with several sections (153 – 159), but Article 158 specifically deals with renewals:

“Article 158: For when obtaining or renewing a temporary registration (MT), proxies or powers are admitted. Renewals of temporary registrations can also be carried out by post, through the Automobile Club of Andorra, as long as there is no alteration of the vehicle and owner data. The documents must be sent by certified mail, and in any case, the owner is responsible until the Automobile Club of Andorra has received the relevant documentation. The renewed documentation, when it is sent to its owner, is also not the responsibility of the Automobile Club d'An dorra or of the Government itself from the moment it is sent to it. Prior to the delivery of the documentation, the holder may be requested to pay the fees or arbitrations that have been incurred due to the renewal of the registration. The period of renewal of the registration does not automatically imply the maintenance of the administrative conditions of the registration that is intended to be renewed.”

@travelero

When buying the car in Germany, what did you use for your address?

@Flyer7717 I gave the dealership in Germany the address of an aparthotel where I planned to stay. They asked for something, anything with my Andorra address on it (driver license from Andorra, utility bill, lease agreement, mailed letter, etc). I believe I found a standard lease form online from Catalonia, typed in my details and the property address, signed it at the bottom, and used Adobe to remove the GenCat logo from the top, replacing it with the logo from the comu where the property was located.

https://www.gencat.cat/justicia/doc/doc_69431236_1.pdf

It just seemed like the dealership wanted something on file to show that they documented my address outside of the EU, they didn't even look at it other than to type my address into the sales invoice.

The link above, if it does not come through, is to the gencat website and the filename is doc_69431236_1.pdf

@travelero

Thanks for your super quick reply.  I am with you so far.  How did things play out when you went to get export tags and insurance in Germany?  With doing these addresses how did it work for having any car paperwork mailed to you?  Did the dealership or tag office even need to mail anything to you?

They do not mail anything to you. So having access to mail that arrives at your Andorra address is not relevant. When you  do the import at the border, they hand all of the signed paperwork to you before you leave (which you need for the ITV). When you do your ITV / technical inspection, they hand all of the signed papers and the inspection certificate to you, which you need to get insurance and licence plates. When you get your insurance (in person) they hand you the full executed policy and also the insurance certificate to keep in the vehicle. When you request your registration, they tell you come back to retrieve the paperwork in person, which you will take to get your plates. And finally, when you go to pickup your new license plates, they simply hand them to you along with the finalized yellow registration card.

The registration does not expire, either. If the vehicle is less than 3 years old, I believe the ITV is valid for 5 years (mine is valid that long). So the ITV is the only thing you need to renew, and you have to do that in person in Andorra.

The German car dealer handled getting the export tags and insurance. They mounted the tags to the vehicle and confirmed that the export was registered in the EU customs computer system. I had to wait 3 days while they obtained the tags and insurance.

@travelero

I had a hoped a friend of my wife's family was going to help us with the registration and export plates.  I get the sense he may not want to help and your way may work better for us.  I still cannot view that gencat website link.  It is under review.

What kind of dealership did you buy from?    Was it a private dealer or large dealer like Volkswagen or the like?

I have sent an email to a dealership I may purchase from and asked if the can assist with the export plates.

A large dealer like Volkswagen or similar. If you google search the word 'gencat' and the filename above, it should return the link to the file

How did the return your VAT?  Did they wire back to your account.  Thanks, again.

Jason

We just registered our car in AD (using American passport).

The process is pretty much the same as described. One important thing: in 2022 the IGI for electric or hybrid cars is 4.5%, not 1% or 0% like some web sites do claim.

The car is a new EU-spec car, you can't register a new US-spec car in AD (maybe if the car is over 25 year old?)

@travelero I am sure, they also took care about your EU tax number, called "EORI" and filed the export paperwork electronically.

Not all car dealers are ready to do that - our wasn't, we had to do everything on our own: find an export agency, get the "EORI" number of the country where we bought the car (Hungary), take the car to the local customs office (they may want to take a look at the car, just in case). The biggest problem was the over-all incompetence. At my early age I learned Hungarian and perfected it - even that I am not a native Hungarian, my language is absolutely perfect. Regardless, I struggled for weeks - until I found an internet resource made by a senior Hungarian customs officer for Ukrainians of Hungarian background how to export cars from Hungary to Ukraine.

After that it was relatively simple - except that nine out of ten customs brokers had no idea, how to file the paperwork.

Ultimately I found one in Veszprém (ComPass is their name) and coincidently a car dealer in the same city who was willing to provide me with both export plates and also some discount. Due the currency fluctuation ultimately I bought the car for ca. $8000 - $10000  less, than what I would spend in the U.S. and than ship it in a container overseas. In addition, getting the European "green card" is always a headache if you have U.S. plates - with the plates from Andorra it was easy. We just got our "green card" from ACA (was around 400 Euro for a year). Other than the paperwork-war in Hungary, the process was exactly as you described.

After getting the "AND" plates and the car paperwork, I returned with the car and that paperwork to the car dealer and received my VAT back. A little detail: because of FATCA an American de-facto can't open a bank account in Hungary (banks will routinely refuse: to much paperwork). So the best is to open a bank account with Transferwise in local currency. One will need to transfer the money to Dollars  anyway. While all this may sound complicated (and it is!) the recent collapse of Hungarian currency + 27% Hungarian sales tax made car buying quite cheap. Sadly, price negotiating (like it is in the US) is quite uncommon, but we did ask and got a set of extra wheels and few hundred Dollars discount. One more thing: the line waiting for new cars (due chip shortage) is quite long, if buying in Hungary be prepared to wait up to one year. Exception are the Suzuki SUV-s made in Hungary. They look nice and drive nice, but don't hold the value as well as the usual two top "suspects" (Honda + Toyota).

@Flyer7717 Because of FATCA I wasn't able to open a bank account - but there is no need for that. Just open the one you desire in currency you may need via Transferwise. That's what I did. The account opened looks like a European account with IBAN number instead of routing number. So they (the car dealership) see it as a domestic account in local currency and you receive the VAT. Once the money is there you just transfer it to your regular account via Transferwise. Usually ACH transfers are the cheapest ones. It is really easy.

Anyone have experience buying or selling a car privately in Andorra?  Car is already imported and registered in Andorra with a MT.  Just want to transfer the ownership to another tourist.  Does the buyer have to pay any taxes or VAT?  Does the car have to go through a inspection again?  What is the process to register the car to the new buyer?  Can the buyer use the same plates or have to get new ones?

@ClayMan28 Hi, we're planning to buy a car in Andorra in February and register it for the year long tourist visa. Are you still selling? Any insight on how to transfer and restart that MT registration date?

hi,

Thanks for you very thorough description. I gather when you hit the boarder in Pasa da Casa, the Andorran Customs person did the import papers for you? You didn't have any import documents completed when you went in?

thanks

Greg

@gpr77 We had the AD tax ID, US passports / DL and the EU export paperwork.

First we went to the French office - they told us that the entire EU paperwork already was submitted on-line (by the Hungarian export-import broker).

They merely looked at the paperwork, took it, did some magic and told us to proceed to the office of the AD customs, which is in the same building.

The entire process on the French side took maybe 5 minutes, on the AD side it was close to an hour.

About 50 minutes was waiting for the customs to finish the work on other goods, than with us they spent 10 minutes.

They definitely need:

• the original invoice
• the car's technical documentation from the car manufacturer duly stating that the car does comply with EU norm (bizarre fact: based on the VIN it turned out that the car seem to comply with the US norm as well, it was found in the US system - but that's a very rare thing)
• all the registration paperwork (you will get it from the dealer anyway)
• the insurance (you will get it anyway, the car won't be able to leave the dealership without it)
• and of course the 4.5% sales tax, preferably in EUR cash.

The biggest wait and frustration was the technical inspection (why do they need it for a brand new car?)

Otherwise everything, including AND third-party insurance is done by the Automobile Club.

There you should ABSOLUTELY wait for the "Green Card". They may give you first the AND insurance certificates only - but that's not enough.

Ask them for the Green Card and don't come late, otherwise you may need to spend one more day in hotel.

The entire thing was actually much simpler in the reality than how I describe in writing.

The thing with the FR customs is important because THAT will be your last time in EU on the EU temporary plates!

If you miss reporting the car being taken out of EU on the EU temporary plates you may not get back the EU sales tax.

Which is 19% in Germany - but 27% in Hungary, 20% in France and 23% in Poland.

Under no circumstances buy a car in UK because you can't register it in AND.

Same about the car in US, Canada, Middle East or, say, Japan.

But countries like Switzerland, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine, Russia should be in theory fine...

as long as the car complies with the EU regulations and the manufacturer is willing to provide you

the corresponding documentation.

I think, Honda could be easier than Toyota. We tried to get a Toyota in the US and Toyota US refused to support

the dealer when they learned that the car *** could *** be exported out of the country.

Honda had no issues (but of course we would keep silent).

At the end the temporarily collapsing Hungarian currency was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, we got the car cheaper than in the US - even with the 27% sales tax.

When we claimed the tax back, the currency was stronger - as a result the saving was (compared with the US price) ca. $7000 or so.

But when I learned that the Hungarian version of the car has a crippled firmware and I can't change km into miles I was quite angry.

Now the car manufacturer's representative (not the dealership) tries to sell us some BS about some "special" Hungarian firmware, mandatory for EU.

I told him that the previous model had the km/miles switch and at that time Hungary was already 10 years in EU. They repeated the same BS...

One more thing.... NEVER take the export-car out of EU and take it back.

For instance if you buy the car in Austria you may get the silly idea to drive to Andorra via Switzerland.

Switzerland is not in the EU, so you will need extra paperwork to take it out and back again.

Driving via Italy turned out to be a VERY bad idea: the coastal freeways towards (or from) Andorra are under construction and the toll is very-very high.

A much better idea is to go just via Germany - France. Than you won't leave EU.

At this moment new cars in Hungary are still quite cheap - if not the cheapest in EU, even with 27% sales tax. Without it I would say: an absolute bargain. The biggest problem is this:

getblend.com/blog/hungarian-difficult-to-learn

And 99.99% of the car dealers speaks only one language... guess, which one.

@Somewhere In Europe Thanks for your very informative answers.

I'm an Andorra resident- so I have the address and tax ID- this should simplify things.

I know the car docs to bring, part of the deal with the dealer.

2 more questions:

1. So as I understand it- the Andorra customs person did all the Andorra import forms for you at the border- your didn't need a customs agent for this or have the form filled out when you arrived?
2. I think you said you paid the VAT by credit card? gathering this much cash would be a real pain. I could also do an online payment via my Andorra bank- but not sure if they are good with this.

Thanks again

g

I can  answer only what was our experience. If you are local - you are in much better situation than we.

Just go to Pas de la Casa timely and ask the customs in person. We did the same: first went to Andorra for few days without a car (more exactly: with a rental car from Toulouse), stayed few days, dot the tax ID, went to the Automobile Club, than went to Pas de la Casa office of both AD and FR customs. Things could change, but that's what we experienced:

1. Correct. We did bring the "usual" documents + tax ID + cash. No agent in AD.
2. We paid by cash. There are some reports that it is possible to pay by c/c, but we wanted to be sure. My bad, I forgot to ask about c/c when we were first time in AD. Of course when with the "real" car - we wanted to be sure and had cash. If you are currently in AD, you are in much better situation than us. I was uneasy to have that much cash - but the car wasn't THAT expensive either. A very nice (by all American standards) car in HU is about $35K at max. Remember: you pay the AD sales tax based on the net price, not based on the sale + 27%. If 1$ = 1 EUR (just an approximation) the $35K would mean ca. $1600 cash which is not that bad.  Of course a more luxury car would mean more. We paid ca. $27K for a car which would be ca. $33K in the States and it's a large, powerful and quite common (parts!) car everywhere in the world. That EUR/USD 1100 - 1700 amount one can take out within three days or just calling the bank in the States and asking to temporarily raise the daily withdraw limit. This is what we did. It is important to have a bank in the States without ATM and ForEx fees. If your bank is in AD, not sure which one is the best.

@Somewhere In Europe

Thanks for that- gives me a bit more triangulation on this project. In Switzerland, I'm an expert and was easy and long as you were prepared.

Just a comment on you post above. Most export plates and insurance in Europe allow you to go anywhere in Europe- No idea on the UK any more. So you can transit Switzerland if you are a non resident on zoll plates- at least that's my experience.

thanks again

g

@gpr77 I was warned by the export-import agent in Hu that if we would go via CH, we need extra paperwork.

In addition to that the paperwork they electronically submitted to the French side of the Casa had an estimated route of the car from HU to AD.

We had the same paperwork, but in paper form. The French asked for that paperwork, compared it with what they got electronically and that was it.

UK would be the same, i.e. if one would buy a car in IRL with export plates and transit via UK - than it would require an extra paperwork.

But since cars with the steering wheel on the right side can't be registered in AD under any circumstances - this is of course moot.

What I am not sure is how the customs in CH does handle it, i.e. what happens if you buy (an EU-compliant!) car in CH and take that car with CH export plates to AD via FR.

I assume, one will need the same paperwork made for transit, what the customs agent told me.

Hello, I don't know if this post is still running ........ but if so does anyone know if it is possible to drive your German purchased car with temporary export plates into Andorra apply for the Andorran NIA (National ID number) and then drive back out to the French border and start the import vehicle process into Andorra at the Pas de la Casa.  Or do we have to leave our car in the EU somewhere go and get the Andorran NIA then come back in with the car and start the import process?

Many thanks.

@1770hut

I differ in opinion from what was told to Somewhere in Europe in Hungary.

German Zoll plates ( the car is legally registered but with special status for a limited time) should be good anywhere in europe- assuming you have green card insurance. I have done this with several vehicles in Switzerland and never had an issue.

g

@gpr77

Appreciate all the information I can get thank you so much.  Just wondered if anyone has maybe had experience in particular with entry into Andorra.

@1770hut- as long as you are not a resident of Andorra, you should be fine. Andorra rarely controls inbound car traffic, and if you come through Pas de Casa- there is a good chance there will be no one there.

Have a look at this- cars-help.com/en/how-to-buy-a-car-from-germany/ look at Transit plates- the insurance you get will cover Andorra- but just make sure. As a resident- you are suppose to declare it on 1st entry- but I don't think that applies to you.

@1770hut gpr77 is right: the controls are sparse and in the evening the border station / customs is closed, so people just drive past it. I have no idea what will happen in the future due this insane ETIAS regulation coming in 2024 (maybe?). Being paranoic ("just in case!") we prepared everything according what the customs told me: the risk (amount of money) was simply to big.If ETIAS will be in force I can imagine at Pas de la Casa miles of cars waiting in the line for entry / exit.See here: https://travel-europe.europa.eu/etias_en

Hey, so how would you sell the car with Andorra plates. Is there a dealership in Andorra who would take it?

@gpr77

Thank you for your help.

@Somewhere In Europe

Thanks for the advice.

@j_jo

just like selling anywhere else- you can sell private or to a dealer- but the market is much smaller. If you sell to a dealer, you will get a haircut, like anywhere else.

All depends on the desirability of what you are selling!

Was there any conclusion to whether or not the ITV has to be redone every year when renewing the MT plates, even if the ITV is valid for longer? I'm looking into buying a new camper van and traveling outside Europe, so having to get back to Andorra every year would be a pain.

Hi, you can drive with german plates in Andorra. And you can pass the border without doing customs as long as you tell them that you are not entering the car for registration.

You can then do all the paperwork in Andorra (get NIA or whatever) and then go to the other custom (if you entered from France, go to the spanish one) and do the export-import papers there.

They may warn you and tell you cannot do this but you won't have any problems.

If you don't want to do it, you can also park your car in the border and go with the taxi to the center, get the NIA and then come back with the taxi to the border and finish the process.

Also, there's a new comany called [link moderated] now offering car import services in Andorra. You can search all cars available in Germany that can be imported and see the final price of the car imported to Andorra directly, with just a search. Not needing to talk to anyone. And they take care of everyhting. Transport, border, ITV, registration, everything.

@martigirocorcoll Hi can you please send the link the new company  offering car import services in Andorra.

@alx9160

I did re-new the plates this year in person, including the technical inspection.

I was told that the French, the Spanish and the Portuguese technical inspection does not require a translation / Apostile / whatever, the others do.

Everything is valid basically 11 months, not 12 months - unless you are lucky to "fit" into the proper time slot.

@theanthonysthe company is called importocotxe. if you google it you will find it.The link is importocotxe.ad.

Is anyone planning on doing this in the Nov/Dec 2024 timeframe?  I am planning on selling my car.  It has already been imported, registered and MT plated. Which makes your life a lot easier for sure. If you are interested let my know and we can talk specifics.