oz,

thanks,

I now have my driving licence (via the consultate and german authorities).

oz, please read this UK government webpage about driving an imported car in the UK. You ar giving people very bad advice which could get them in serious trouble if they are stoppedby the police while driving around.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_4022583

XJR, I do not think Oz is giving very bad advice. Your link states: "if a car is imported permanently into the UK [...]".

So there are two issues with this statement:

1. If you drive a car from one EU country to another you do NOT IMPORT a car, according to the general definiton of Import.

2. "Permanently", unlikely if he is only here for PhD studies.

Apart from that: the police does not care and it's unlikely that a car will be stopped because of that.

Apollo, you are correct in thinking that if you drive a car from one EU country to another you do not have to register it initially (provided it is fully taxed and insured in its country of origin). However, after six months it will have to be registered by law (Blue has correctly mentioned this three times in previous posts). Since this is a forum about postgraduate studies (and a post about importing a car, not bringing it to the UK for a short while) I assume people who bring a car to the UK will be here for longer than six months, therefore they will have to register their car. This is not my opinion – it is UK law.

It’s not usually my type of thing to jump into a debate and correct people. However, the consequences of people not registering their car and making sure everything else is in order could be severe if they are stopped by the police – and, contrary to what you believe, if someone is driving illegally the police will care.

Most countries in the EU allow the car to remain for 180 days in any calender year. You must then re-register in that country.
Also your driving license must be changed if your are resident in that country.I had this in Portugal
An EU-registered motor vehicle (including light goods vehicles, trailers, caravans, motorhomes and motorcycles) may be kept in Portugal for a period of up to 180 days in any one calendar year, provided the following conditions are met:
The vehicle is registered in the name of a person who is not resident in Portugal;
The vehicle is brought into Portugal by its registered owner or keeper;
The vehicle is for private use only;
The vehicle is only driven by its registered owners or keepers provided they are neither established, resident nor employed in Portugal, and
The vehicle's owner or keeper is in possession of the vehicle registration documents for production when necessary to the competent authority.

hi everyone, as everybody seems to be so worried I had a look and it says: Licences issued in the European Community and European Economic Area make up two groups that are treated equally. The full list is:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

Therefore the liscense is no problem. Furthermore I did ask the police whether I have to register and the rule is only for "importing" vehicles. The rule about the six month does not apply either because as soon as you leave the country every approx six month you do not have it in the country for longer than this. The car is of course fully taxed, insured, MOT etc but other than that the police could not care less.
I think it is something everybody has to decide for themselves but as I am not going to sell the vehicle here I do not have to import it and thats that.

Oz is right. On a different note, why is this thread not in the Off-Topic section? It's not really PhD-related, is it?

Hi. I just came across your conversation and I' d like to let you know, that I was in troubel today, because I was driving my german car in the uk without registering it in uk.
i was stopped by a police man today and i couldn't prove an uk insurence. the result was that they impounded my car. he told me that it isn't allowed to drive a foreign car(even it is eu) more than 3 month - and it doesn't matter if you are a student, visitor or whatever - in the uk without registering in the uk.
I have worked in uk since may and have got my car here since october, what he couldn't believe. he said i have to prove that the car came later than me... you see, it was quite complicated! Anyway, now i got my car back, i paid 105 pounds and will register my car as soon as possible. which means: english number plate, english driving licence, english insurence, road taxes etc.
maybe it was just a bad day, but to be honest, i think the police is quite keen on checking foreign cars these days.

Thanks for this story, Astrid. Actually, I think you were EXTREMELY unlucky. I never heard of a similar case. First of all, I think the policeman was an Arsehole, what he did was not necessary, a formal warning would have been sufficient.

Secondly, you could have just said that you only entered with your car recently, it would have been a difficult task for him to prove otherwise. All I can say is: this story sounds to me like someone ignores the existence of the European Union and doesn't like Germans..sounds harsh, but might be true.

You got me all worried now. But it seems very strange as I asked (again) at the police station and they still said it is none of our business what you do with your car as long as it is insured and has MOT.
Astrid, did you have a green card (gruene Versicherungskarte)? Could you write some more details about for which offence you were charged?
Really sorry to hear it!
Oz

Astrid,
Just found this link:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_10014623

basically you are allowed to ahve the car for 6month in the UK without registering it and proof is eg ferry ticket. Therefore you should be able to claim back your £100.
I luckily always have a ferry ticket ready as we go over frequently.
Good luck

PART 2 OF 2 Continued
So my questions guys.
1. Can i transfer the car to my name in italy get the insurance tax (maybe excempt?? 1970) MOT etc then use my girlfriends home address for all this???
2. Do i have to take the car to a customs place or something to pay a tax ???? (i understand that i am not importing the car in a sense as who will know if i am keeping it over here permenantly or not!)
3. Someone mentioned the beam benders can be bought on the ferry, is this so????
4. would i have to make any change in the petrol, sorry i am not too hot on this subject, probably the italian unleaded is the same??? is this so???
Okay guys, any info and advice would be well appreciated
Thanks for your help

Hi everyone, PART 1 OF 2
i have just had a good read of these pages, which are very helpful, i think! Still sounds like a car has to be registered in UK at some point especially if you intend to sell it in uk one day.
Anyways, my story - i have fallen in love with an Alfa Romeo Spider 1300 Junior, that lives in my Italian Girlfriends house in Bologna (Italy) i live in the UK. Her dad has agreed to sell it to me for a really cheap price and i am smutten.
I was thinking about flying to Bologna then driving the car through France and then hop on the ferry to Dover (i think that would be the route??? Not looked into to much detail just yet)
I thought it would be an excellent adventure and my girl will be by my side the whole way and we would take the journey at our leisure stopping when where we feel like it to soak up the sites.
I was well happy to hear that you can get away without registering it in the UK, that would be awesome.

to be continued

So if I have a German car in Uk for 2 years
too whom would I pay road tax, as the DVLA have no mechanism for accepting tax on a car that is not registered in UK