19 replies to this topic

[Wim]

O.K. I checked this topic by using the search button and there was no posting about this matter.

Is there any member with experience? And is there a site for expats where you can find any?

Am curious!

[lshall05]

Wim, as far as I'm aware you will need your tax number and residents permit.

I think the process is slightly different depending whether you are buying from a dealer (new or used) or privately (used). I do know someone who bought a car (privately) fairly recently and could probably find out for you but I'm not likely to get a response until nearer the end of the season.

I've not heard of any sites specifically for used cars but some of the other forums do allow members to advertise cars etc for sale so you could have a look at them - let me know if you need web addresses and I'll pm them to you. There are apparently a couple of papers with online classified ads but I can't remember the names.

[Retired in Crete]

Wim,

Since living in Crete I have purchased two new cars. One in May 2005 and another in Feb this year. (The first one was a bad choice and an expensive mistake!)

On both occasions I have been asked for my passport, my tax number and the cash. Others will tell you that you also need a residence permit. (I do not have one and have never been asked to produce one. I guess that some dealers just like to make spending your money as difficult as possible.) The important word is "cash". Crete is still a cash economy and they like to count the notes. Payment by cheque, card or bank transfer was not acceptable.

Having paid for the first car the dealer opened the showroom doors and invited me to drive it away despite the car having no number plates or insurance! When I queried this he said "Lots of cars have no number plates, just drive carefully untill you get insurance". I left the car at the dealers untill the number plates and insurance were in place!

Cretans tend to buy a new car and then drive it untill it falls apart. Hence there are few second hand car dealers, although most new car dealers will have, or know of, used cars for sale. Used car prices here are high by UK standards. A two or three year old popular car will often sell for only one or two thousand Euro below the new list price.

What was my expensive mistake? My first car here was a two door convertible which cost almost double the price of the four door saloon version. Cretans do not buy convertibles, you get sunstroke in the summer & freeze in the winter. Only tourists want convertibles and tourists don't buy cars. I ended up selling mine, in desparation, for the same price as a similar aged four door saloon would have made and lost eight thousand Euros!

If you plan on buying a second hand car from a private person ask to see the log book (documents) before you part with any cash because if he bought the car on HP (paying by installments over say two years) the documents will be stamped with this fact. If the car is fully paid for a new log book, without the stamp, would have been issued.

Wim, if you are looking to buy a car does this mean you are about to join us here?

John

[Wim]

Thank you Ishall05 (do you have a real name?) and John.

Yes John, this joining the bunch will take place if nobody forbids. The point is that you also run in a lot of troubles if you want to register your own car. Seems a hazzle and I even heard of bribery !
Some expat sites advise you not to do it.

So if second hand cars are that expansive one might as well try to do the register thing. Anybody on the forum has experience with this?

Thanks.
Wim

[Pam]

Yes, Wim - Dinny registered her car and if you read a couple of her earlier blogs, you'll find out exactly what a hassle it was! I certainly decided not to bother after reading her story. However, she is still happily driving her little car about, so if you like your car and understand the hassle you'll have, good luck to you.

Good news you'll be coming over to Crete - any dates yet?

All the best,

Pam & Bob

[lshall05]

Thank you Ishall05 (do you have a real name?)

I do Wim, it's Lynn.

[Assim]

Wim,
I bought my Motorbike over from the UK and re-registered it. The cost depends on the new value of the vehicle. As for the complexity, I can't help you there I just got my lawyer to sort it out.

It cost me 1,200€ and the bikes worth about 12,000€ (the equvilent new models are about 25'000€) so it worked out at about 5% of the price of a new one or 10% of its insured value. For me that was cheaper than selling it and trying to find something simular in Greece.

[Wim]

Thank you Lynn, I would like that.
My planning for relocating to Crete is somewhere in the first quarter of 2009. As you probably know I'll become a "pensionado". And what is a better place to get old and die than on Crete? I'm on myself, no children no wife only some friends who'd rather visit me there than here

Pam too, I'll check Din's blog, now that you mention it something rings a bell.

Thanks Assim too.
I've read some about that. So I'll think to get me old wheels and bones to Crete.



Wim

[yannis_s]

Dinny's story about importing her car to Greece: Importing my car to Greece

[Laid Back Lil]

Hi All - with the Euro as low as it is against the pound, just to give you an idea, a Kia Picanto (millions of them in Crete) costs around £8000 in Crete - while about £5500 in England!!! You could look into buying a 'used car' from the car hire people. I know they also get them serviced for you, and sort all the paperwork out for you as well into the deal. May be worth looking at. Also - new car??? have you seen dents in cars in Crete - get a second hand one and join the club!!!

[Wim]

Thanks all, for your interests.

But, what do you know? Right; The Dutch Embassy in Athens has this formidable info about all I wanted to know etc..
If you are able to read Dutch there is a lot of good information on it.

It is also in English avaible. This is the link to the site But that's info for if you go the other way around and actually for Grecians moving to Holland...

[Retired in Crete]

It is extreemly difficult to compare car prices in Crete to those in the UK because the models and optional choices are often not the same.

For example, the last car I bought in Crete was a Citroen C4. Mine is a metalic golden sand colour, not available in the UK. Mine has climate control which is also not available on my model in the UK.

From the Citroen UK site the closest model to mine, which does not even have air con let alone climate control, costs £13,990 on the road. I paid 14,665 Euros for mine in Crete. (If 1 Euro = 79p I paid £11,585.35). I am aware that you can haggle more over new car prices in the UK but I think that you would be lucky to get almost £2,500 off!

It is almost impossible to buy a new car in Crete without air conditioning. Laid Back Lil quotes a Kia Picanto costing only £5,500 in the UK, and so it does, but if you want air con in it you have to buy the Chilli version which costs £6990! As Lil says they seem expensive here because the pound is at an all time low but as Wims money is already in Euros he will not suffer from this.

Hope this helps to put things into perspective.

John

[Ros21]

Hi Wim,

In the last week I have just bought, registered & insured a secondhand car here on Crete. I bought the car privately. It was a relatively painless process. I was taken by the seller of the car to an office in the back of a shop in Heraklion to change over the papers, the woman does the paperwork for you at the registration office. I had to show my AFM (tax number paper), passport & she also wanted to see my resident permit. This I've applied for & am waiting to collect. That she accepted. I handed over my euros & was given a copy of the papers so that I could insure the car. It's 135 euros tax to change the registration papers & she charged for her time & making the papers. 2 days later I went back to collect my registration documents.

Ros.

[Wim]

Thanks Ros,

For your info. That sounds like a nice peace of cake.

The site of the Dutch embassy in Athens mentions that civilians of the EU, when settling in Greece, have the right to import their household goods and one car free of duty. All you have to do is request the Greek embassy or consulate to obtain the proper documents.

Does anybody know if the Greeks know this too

[binclintonusa]

Thank a lot, I would like that.



pret auto

[nemesis]

Registering your own car is a huge pain ... mountains of paperwork .... and it will cost you an arm and a leg. Even though free movement of vehicles within the EU should be easy - unfortunately Greece is being dragged kicking and screaming into the EU .... so they tend to make up their own rules.

If you try to sneak your vehicle in on their "6-month stay" rule, they will come knocking on your door the day immediately after your "stay" expires .... trust me .... I know!!!!!

After spending a lot of time looking at second-hand cars .... and believe me I couldn't believe the prices they were asking simply because I am not Greek! ...... I took an ex-pat's advice and went to a car hire company. They sell their cars every 4 years .... and you know you're getting a decent vehicle because, by law, they have to have their vehicles serviced regularly and they are always well maintained. I will definitely buy my next car from the same car hire company. BUT, before you part with your money (and this applies to wherever you buy it from) make sure the car has paperwork to prove that it has been MOT'd on a regular basis. If you are stopped by the police, and your paperwork does not show that your vehicle has been MOT'd when it should have been, there is a 400 euro fine!!!!!! (even if you did not own the car at the time the MOT should have taken place), I had this problem (even when buying from a reputable car hire company). DO check all your paperwork before handing over money.

You will not be allowed to buy a car unless you can provide a tax number and a residency permit ...... although under the EU regulations you should not need a residency permit to live in Greece ..... but, like I said, Greece makes up its own rules and regulations !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck my friend!
Nemesis

[Athena]

We bought a used car a month ago and only needed passport and tax number. This was in Agios Nikolaos.

[David and Glenda]

Anybody looked into buying a car on the Greek mainland and then bringing it into Crete?
Just wondering out loud as I noticed Items over there ( TVs etc, were a lot cheaper than on the Island.
regards
David

[crete09]

Hoping anyone who wrote on this subject previously is still out there!!! I need to get an M.O.T on my Uk registered car, can anyone please help and advise on where I go to get my car tested

Your help would be greatly appreciated

xxx

[Ros21]

MOT's in Greece are done at the KTEO stations. Some are government owned but a lot of them are now private. They are advertised on signposts/posters. I use the one around 9km from Heraklion on the main road from Heraklion to Moires.
I don't know if they will MOT a UK registered car. Also I don't think the UK will accept a Greek MOT!!!

Ros.