# Should we fetch our car



## dragon53 (Jun 12, 2014)

We are retiring soon and we intend to move to Paphos in October we are undicided as to fetch our six year old car filled with some small belongings in a container or use RORO and just fetch the car or sell in Uk and buy another in Cyprus.


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

dragon53 said:


> We are retiring soon and we intend to move to Paphos in October we are undicided as to fetch our six year old car filled with some small belongings in a container or use RORO and just fetch the car or sell in Uk and buy another in Cyprus.


If you are satiesfied with the car and it is one with not to big engine or high emmissions I would ship it over. You can take it in as personal property to avoid the excise duty, and used cars are high prices here. 
Container or RORO, the RORO is cheaper if you don't have space in a container that you will bring anyway


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## PeteandSylv (Sep 24, 2008)

This should probably be in the main forum and not the Mouflon.

Everybody seems to have different opinions when this question is asked. A lot depends on whether you particularly like your car and would prefer to keep it.  However there are cost and other issues for which it would be better for you to give some more information. For example some cars are considered (by me and possibly others) to be daft cars to have in Cyprus, so knowing what the car is would help. Also how you want to drive and where over here: will you go off-road or tend to stick only to the populated areas and amusements?

Pete


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

There are many factors to be taken into account, and I agree with Baywatch - if you are happy with the car, then it may be worth the effort of shipping it over - whether RO-RO or containerised. It would be helpful to know what make and model of car you have, as the duty payable will vary and some cars are better suited to the Cyprus terrain and poor road quality than others as Pete has pointed out. Here are some of the other factors to consider:

1. Second hand cars are generally more expensive here than the UK.

2. Because of 1 above, your trade in value here will be better than you will achieve in the UK if you brought your car over and eventually traded it in.

3. Notwithstanding 2 above, the Sterling to Euro exchange rate is currently excellent, and likely to rise even more. Selling your car in the UK and bringing over the cash in Euros may even out the extra cost of buying a second hand car here.

4. Buying a new car here, in my opinion, is not a good idea. The damage from poor roads, high temperatures on the paintwork and dodgy driving makes it a potential folly.

5. Generally speaking the cars here do not suffer from the rust problems in the UK (including UK cars shipped here). Mileages on second hand cars are also generally lower here due to the size of the island.

6. You may import your car duty free, but must pay duty if you dispose of it.

7. You must have owned a car for at least 6 months. Although you have probably had your car for over 6 months, depending on the date you move over you may have the ability to change it before coming over and still be within the 6 month window. Note that diesel fuel is cheaper here than unleaded, and diesel engines tend to last longer than unleaded.

8. Road tax here (as in UK) tends to punish high emission cars and large engines. This is also reflected in the duty payable when importing.

9. As with any car in any country - the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. If you have a reliable and economical car, suitable for Cyprus roads, then why change it?

10. The import process is simple, and you have 3 months to complete it (this may be extended for a further 3 months).

This list is not exhaustive - I'm sure that there are other factors that will come to me in due course. We brought our 5 year old car over with us last year, and have no regrets whatsoever! We had it from new, had it regularly serviced and most of the miles done were motorway miles, so easy on the engine.

Good luck with whatever you decide!


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

David_&_Letitia said:


> There are many factors to be taken into account, and I agree with Baywatch - if you are happy with the car, then it may be worth the effort of shipping it over - whether RO-RO or containerised. It would be helpful to know what make and model of car you have, as the duty payable will vary and some cars are better suited to the Cyprus terrain and poor road quality than others as Pete has pointed out. Here are some of the other factors to consider:
> 
> 1. Second hand cars are generally more expensive here than the UK.
> 
> ...


Hi!

Only one thing. As I read the post he does not have to pay any duty for the car. He has owned it for six years so it can go as personal property without duty.


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## David_&_Letitia (Jul 8, 2012)

Baywatch said:


> Hi!
> 
> Only one thing. As I read the post he does not have to pay any duty for the car. He has owned it for six years so it can go as personal property without duty.


Hi Anders,

The OP did not say that he has owned it for 6 years, but that it is a 6 year old car. I would assume, however, that he has owned it for at least 6 months which allows him to import as personal property and thus 'duty free'. However, this method will prevent him from disposing of the car (selling, trade-in etc) unless the duty is paid, so unless it is likely to last him a very long time, I would usually advise against the 'duty free' option. However, as you are aware, the duty payable may be minimal depending upon the emissions, engine size and amount of time he has actually owned the car. I paid €24.96 import duty last year on my car which allows me to sell it on if I wish.


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

I've moved this thread to the main forum.


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## Hudswell (May 14, 2010)

Having read David's experience in bringing his car over I must admit we sometimes wish we had bought our car over as well...we almost gave it away in the UK!! And has already been pointed out prices for second hand cars in Cyprus are generally expensive...and you would probably get a decent part exchange price in the future....


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

Hudswell said:


> Having read David's experience in bringing his car over I must admit we sometimes wish we had bought our car over as well...we almost gave it away in the UK!! And has already been pointed out prices for second hand cars in Cyprus are generally expensive...and you would probably get a decent part exchange price in the future....


I also brought mine over from Germany, the cost for duty were 60 €.


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## potamiou (Jan 10, 2010)

dragon53 said:


> We are retiring soon and we intend to move to Paphos in October we are undicided as to fetch our six year old car filled with some small belongings in a container or use RORO and just fetch the car or sell in Uk and buy another in Cyprus.


You mention personal belongings. If they are to be in the car, then you will want to use container. Anything that isn't welded to the car WILL disappear! When we shipped ours out, RoRo, we lost a tin of vaseline, half the key ring, and a box of tissues!


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

potamiou said:


> You mention personal belongings. If they are to be in the car, then you will want to use container. Anything that isn't welded to the car WILL disappear! When we shipped ours out, RoRo, we lost a tin of vaseline, half the key ring, and a box of tissues!


Our car went RO-RO and EVERYTHING was left there, and it was a lot


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

potamiou said:


> You mention personal belongings. If they are to be in the car, then you will want to use container. Anything that isn't welded to the car WILL disappear! When we shipped ours out, RoRo, we lost a tin of vaseline, half the key ring, and a box of tissues!


So not exactly the crown jewels then


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## potamiou (Jan 10, 2010)

No Veronica, not the crown jewels  . I was just making the point about anything that isn't welded on. Most shippers will tell you to remove absolutely everything before you leave it at the port.


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## bwfcwood (Jul 23, 2012)

Baywatch said:


> I also brought mine over from Germany, the cost for duty were 60 &#128;.


I'm sure this has been answered before but I don't currently have access to the full site. How much roughly does it cost to register the car on cypriot plates if the car had been shipped over as personal property?


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

bwfcwood said:


> I'm sure this has been answered before but I don't currently have access to the full site. How much roughly does it cost to register the car on cypriot plates if the car had been shipped over as personal property?


The registration is 150€
MOT 34 €

Other costs is the clearing fees in the harbour that can differ but we paid around 300 Euro


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