# Buying car with foreign driver's licence



## BJ100 (Jun 6, 2011)

Hi all, 

I moved to JHB a few months ago and much to my disappointment I have come to the realization that I have to buy a car! I have a US driver’s licence and plan to apply for a SA licence (or an international driver’s licence) in the latter part of the year after I’m settled. I heard that car dealers in SA will refuse to sell me a car (even if I have my own financing) if I have a foreign driver’s licence and ditto for car insurance. Is this true? I’d appreciate any suggestions/tips from anyone who bought a car soon after moving to SA. 

Many thanks!


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

BJ100 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I moved to JHB a few months ago and much to my disappointment I have come to the realization that I have to buy a car! I have a US driver’s licence and plan to apply for a SA licence (or an international driver’s licence) in the latter part of the year after I’m settled. I heard that car dealers in SA will refuse to sell me a car (even if I have my own financing) if I have a foreign driver’s licence and ditto for car insurance. Is this true? I’d appreciate any suggestions/tips from anyone who bought a car soon after moving to SA.
> 
> Many thanks!


I'm not sure where you heard that you wouldn't be able to buy a car with a foreign drivers licences. I have bought two cars since I have been living in South Africa, and I have never had a problem. 

I also have never had an issue with my American drivers licence. I have used it for 5 years since I have been here. I have been stopped multiple times at roadblocks I show it and I am on my way. I also don't know how easy it is to get a SA licence if you don't have PR. (I'm not quite sure maybe someone know a little more I just remember I looked into it, and it was not as easy as I thought.)


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

BJ100 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I moved to JHB a few months ago and much to my disappointment I have come to the realization that I have to buy a car! I have a US driver’s licence and plan to apply for a SA licence (or an international driver’s licence) in the latter part of the year after I’m settled. I heard that car dealers in SA will refuse to sell me a car (even if I have my own financing) if I have a foreign driver’s licence and ditto for car insurance. Is this true? I’d appreciate any suggestions/tips from anyone who bought a car soon after moving to SA.
> 
> Many thanks!


We have also had no problems. We have bought two cars with our UK drivers licenses. Wesbank is pretty good when it comes to foreigners buying cars so try them. You can only exchange to an SA license once you have Permanent Residency.


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## BJ100 (Jun 6, 2011)

Hi Saartjie and Poopsie,

Many thanks for your responses! I'm not yet ready to change my driver's licence so it's a relief to know that I don't have to have a SA licence to purchase a car.


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## martinaloeb (May 12, 2011)

We also don't have an SA license, we have our UK licenses, and paid £7 each for an international permit. You have to go through additional paperwork to buy a car as a foreigner, and it is the financing that can be difficult, but you will be fine. You have to apply for a traffic register number before you can own a car and it took us a day at the office and 2 weeks for it to come through, so I suggest that you apply for that as soon as you can and then you will be sorted. Our garage sorted out the financing through us, through FNB in the end

I wrote two blog posts about our experience if you would like to read? Just search for buying a car on there. Good luck!


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## Johanna (Apr 13, 2009)

Hi good people, please do not forget that the non SA license is not valid for always and a day...


If you have been granted South African permanent residence, you must convert your foreign driving licence to a South African one within a year of receiving your permanent residence permit. 

If you fail to convert your licence within one year, it will be regarded as invalid.

You can also apply to convert your driving licence to a South African one if you hold a diplomatic permit but don’t have a permanent residence permit.


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## BJ100 (Jun 6, 2011)

martinaloeb said:


> We also don't have an SA license, we have our UK licenses, and paid £7 each for an international permit. You have to go through additional paperwork to buy a car as a foreigner, and it is the financing that can be difficult, but you will be fine. You have to apply for a traffic register number before you can own a car and it took us a day at the office and 2 weeks for it to come through, so I suggest that you apply for that as soon as you can and then you will be sorted. Our garage sorted out the financing through us, through FNB in the end
> 
> I wrote two blog posts about our experience if you would like to read? Just search for buying a car on there. Good luck!


Wow! Two weeks is a long time to wait for registration! Will look into the required paperwork for registration when I start car shopping to ensure that I apply in good time. Looking forward to reading your blog. Thanks!


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## BJ100 (Jun 6, 2011)

Johanna said:


> Hi good people, please do not forget that the non SA license is not valid for always and a day...
> 
> 
> If you have been granted South African permanent residence, you must convert your foreign driving licence to a South African one within a year of receiving your permanent residence permit.
> ...


Johanna - 

Thanks for the clarification. I'll keep the requirement in mind for future reference. I'm a temporary resident but may decide to apply for permanent residency once I'm settled and have ascertained whether SA is a LT prospect for me.


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## Stevan (Jun 30, 2009)

Johanna said:


> Hi good people, please do not forget that the non SA license is not valid for always and a day...
> 
> 
> If you have been granted South African permanent residence, you must convert your foreign driving licence to a South African one within a year of receiving your permanent residence permit.
> ...


hi just a bit if background on changing your licence.

Johanna is correct about the year but we were late and they never checked or worried about it. I was ready for the fight as it was due to long delays in recieving our I.D books from home affairs. You will need a letter from the british embassy stating what your licence covers you to drive. I know it clearly states it on your uk licence but this is not good enough for them. I spent 2 weeks trying to get somebody in the embassy in pretoria to help with no luck. I then phoned the consular office in port elizabeth, the lady was smashing (and she is only an honoury consol). Paid my fee R500 and faxed all my docs to her she notorised them and wrote a letter for me and returned in next post, you need originals not copies. She didnt have a clue what i could drive in SA so i just gave her the codes i wanted and she put them in, my wife is now licenced to drive an articulated truck with extra trailer (never know when i might need to send her out for work again).

Up to your local licencing department with all this for eye test and you are sorted. top tip go to an optitian and get a certificate from them for driving saves you hours, i didnt find this out till after i had failed the first eye test and they sent me for glasses. he gave me the cert and didnt even charge for it. It states that you must surrender your UK licence on issue of SA one, they didnt ask for mine and i didnt offer it so still have it.


steve


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

Stevan said:


> hi just a bit if background on changing your licence.
> 
> Johanna is correct about the year but we were late and they never checked or worried about it. I was ready for the fight as it was due to long delays in recieving our I.D books from home affairs. You will need a letter from the british embassy stating what your licence covers you to drive. I know it clearly states it on your uk licence but this is not good enough for them. I spent 2 weeks trying to get somebody in the embassy in pretoria to help with no luck. I then phoned the consular office in port elizabeth, the lady was smashing (and she is only an honoury consol). Paid my fee R500 and faxed all my docs to her she notorised them and wrote a letter for me and returned in next post, you need originals not copies. She didnt have a clue what i could drive in SA so i just gave her the codes i wanted and she put them in, my wife is now licenced to drive an articulated truck with extra trailer (never know when i might need to send her out for work again).
> 
> ...


Thanks for this info. Once I get my PR I will need to sort my license out and was not sure how to go about it. One question though, the letter from the embassy (or as in your case the consular office) is this in place of the certificate that you can get from the DVLA to confirm your license? If so that would be great as I have tried to get that certificate from the DVLA for months but because I no longer have a bank account in the UK I cannot pay the 'massive' fee of 5 pounds and they therefore wont help me. Therefore if I can sort the letter out here in SA that would really help.


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## Stevan (Jun 30, 2009)

Saartjie said:


> Thanks for this info. Once I get my PR I will need to sort my license out and was not sure how to go about it. One question though, the letter from the embassy (or as in your case the consular office) is this in place of the certificate that you can get from the DVLA to confirm your license? If so that would be great as I have tried to get that certificate from the DVLA for months but because I no longer have a bank account in the UK I cannot pay the 'massive' fee of 5 pounds and they therefore wont help me. Therefore if I can sort the letter out here in SA that would really help.


yes 

I had no certificate from the dvla. just the letter copy of your licence stamped by embassy/consulor office and ID book. thats all you will need. Sorry and four pictures. It all went very smoothly apart from me failing the eye test the first time i went.


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## Saartjie (Mar 1, 2010)

Stevan said:


> yes
> 
> I had no certificate from the dvla. just the letter copy of your licence stamped by embassy/consulor office and ID book. thats all you will need. Sorry and four pictures. It all went very smoothly apart from me failing the eye test the first time i went.


Brilliant. Just love the info one can get on this forum. You just saved me a lot of time and hassle. Thank you!


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## BJ100 (Jun 6, 2011)

Stevan said:


> hi just a bit if background on changing your licence.
> 
> Johanna is correct about the year but we were late and they never checked or worried about it. I was ready for the fight as it was due to long delays in recieving our I.D books from home affairs. You will need a letter from the british embassy stating what your licence covers you to drive. I know it clearly states it on your uk licence but this is not good enough for them. I spent 2 weeks trying to get somebody in the embassy in pretoria to help with no luck. I then phoned the consular office in port elizabeth, the lady was smashing (and she is only an honoury consol). Paid my fee R500 and faxed all my docs to her she notorised them and wrote a letter for me and returned in next post, you need originals not copies. She didnt have a clue what i could drive in SA so i just gave her the codes i wanted and she put them in, my wife is now licenced to drive an articulated truck with extra trailer (never know when i might need to send her out for work again).
> 
> ...


Thanks a lot Stevan! This is what I like about this forum, there are so many shades of gray with respect to what individual officials in SA require to process what may initially seem like a straightforward procedure (which never turns out to be straightforward) so it's great to learn from others experiences. I will folllow up with the US embassy for a similar letter.


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## jamesjones (Oct 30, 2013)

Saartjie said:


> We have also had no problems. We have bought two cars with our UK drivers licenses. Wesbank is pretty good when it comes to foreigners buying cars so try them. You can only exchange to an SA license once you have Permanent Residency.



Hi Sarrtjie, when you bought your cars with your UK license, who insured you? I'm looking for an insurance company to insure me with a Uk license! =) Many thanks


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## 2fargone (Jun 14, 2011)

jamesjones said:


> Hi Sarrtjie, when you bought your cars with your UK license, who insured you? I'm looking for an insurance company to insure me with a Uk license! =) Many thanks


Unless it's changed I'm pretty sure most insurance companies will insure you with your UK license. I have a USA license and I have had insurance with 1st for Women and now I have Outsurance.

Check out this website http://www.hippo.co.za/ for insurance quotes.


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## gttn (Dec 9, 2015)

*Buying a car without a permit*

Hi

I have an international driving licence but I don't have a work permit or a permanent residence permit. My question is that can I buy a car without those documents.

Thanks in advance


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## IamT (Aug 4, 2014)

gttn said:


> Hi
> 
> I have an international driving licence but I don't have a work permit or a permanent residence permit. My question is that can I buy a car without those documents.
> 
> Thanks in advance


Buying Cash-yes most definitely you can, buying through applying for Vehicle Finance, your chances are very close to zero getting vehicle finance without a work visa.


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## Dominoman (Dec 10, 2015)

i work here as a Financial Advisor and it is fine to get short term insurance with a foriegn licence - same goes for medical aid.

In most cases if you have proof of no claims from the Uk or any other insurer worldwide this can be given to the SA company and you could get cheaper premiums

im happy to assist anyone if they need it


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## Eusoph (Dec 1, 2020)

*Good day. Anyone who has managed to convert their foreign driver's license during lockdown? Please share which station you used. I have been to Sandton and Edenvale and was told they are currently not providing that service. Thank you in advance.*


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## jollem (Nov 9, 2016)

Eusoph said:


> *Good day. Anyone who has managed to convert their foreign driver's license during lockdown? Please share which station you used. I have been to Sandton and Edenvale and was told they are currently not providing that service. Thank you in advance.*


 Try Laanglate


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## Eusoph (Dec 1, 2020)

Thank you


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