# Can Tourists Own a Car/Motorcycle in Greece



## BrewerDad (Jan 2, 2022)

Good Evening All and Happy New Year, 

In a few years we plan to be retire to Crete seasonally: Winter, as Canadian winters are COLD! 

We plan to go over as Tourists for 3 months to look around and choose an area to live, then return the following year to arrange a long term rental or purchase a property. 

Question for the forum: Can Tourists own a vehicle? Perhaps we have to have a residence permit to register a vehicle. 

In case it helps to answer the question, I have Dual UK / Canadian Citizenship, while my wife is just Canadian. We currently reside in Canada. 

Thank you!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Presume you know you'll need a visa to live in Greece.
Don't see why tourists could not own a vehicle. You'd probably have to buy it outright and insurance might be expensive ... and while you are not there you'll have to store it.
Greece is not particularly warm in the winter - warmer than Canada yes, but don't expect sitting out in the sun (70+ degrees) for much of the time.


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## BrewerDad (Jan 2, 2022)

Evening Crawford and thanks for the reply,

Yep, well aware that we will need a visa when we get to the stage that we will be staying for over 90 days per 180 period. That won't be for a while, and I suspect that things might change a little for those (myself) with UK passports, although perhaps not. We're a few years away from that so not going to stress about it just yet. Appreciate the check though. 

I had read in several places that one cannot register a vehicle without a visa, or Greek ID card, but that seems strange to me. I also read that a rental agreement would also suffice. Not sure I believe everything I read on the Internet though... 

Definitely would need to have a spot to store it. My parents have a car in Portugal, and they pay a local guy to store it, and take it for a drive once a month. I'm sure I can find someone to do this for the right price. 

I don't expect that insurance would that pricey. I've had a look at standard Greek policies and they are super cheap compared to Canadian policies, or compared to €10 for rental car insurance. I'll certainly find out when it's time! 

Thank you!


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

From doing some more reading it DOES look as though you could buy a car in Greece but could not register nor insure it as you are not an EU citizen.


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