Does it make sense to bring a car from Europe to Bulgaria and how much does it cost?
- Registration of a car and obtaining permanent Bulgarian numbers for a car without registration in Burgas (For other cities + travel expenses 1 lev / km) - 200 BGN; Attention! - the engine number must be cleaned in advance + first aid kit / fire extinguisher + headlight check !!
- Accompaniment during registration and receipt of "blue" numbers in Police of Sofia only online - 50 BGN.
We have been engaged in auto-selection of cars in Bulgaria for more than 5 years, both for clients and for ourselves. And given our personal experience in servicing the same machines, as well as registration and further documentary management, we can confidently share our experience and advice with you.
Does it make sense to order from Europe?
This question can be answered yes and no, it depends on the request and the budget of the purchase.
First option. Suppose we had clients who wanted rare car models to make their "childhood dream" come true, so to speak, in this case, yes, in Bulgaria it is not always possible to be lucky, or the fortune is not worth the money, which the seller wants. Then it makes sense to look in Europe or beyond.
The second option is when the budget and requirements for the car are high, but there was no worthy offer on the Bulgarian market and should find in a shot time. And then, in this case, you can consider options from the salon, but again we return to the first point, and if you want a higher class or special.
In other cases, in 95%, you can find a good car on the Bulgarian market, perhaps not right now, you will have to wait, but in terms of time driving to Europe and searching there is not a quick matter, believe me. And where is the guarantee that you will come there and buy the perfect car "hand-held" the first time.
What difficulties in general can arise, small difficulties:
- You should take into account in a foreign country, as here, there is always a language barrier, because not everyone can speak Russian or English. But, if there is the Internet, it will probably make the task a little easier.
- Another factor is where you will live? If you have relatives or friends, this is of course ideal, but will there be a car in the same city. And if a hotel, they are several times more expensive than in Bulgaria, and the search procedure, with subsequent re-registration, can take not a single day, because you went so far not just to buy the "first available" one, but you want to find both cheap and "ideal" ...
But there is also a plus of air connections between Bulgaria and Europe, a large number of low-cost airlines fly regularly, you can fly cheaply, but not always to the city where you would like, but you can also quickly move around Europe by buses or by train.
And so, we come to the next question: how much will this trip to Europe cost you?
On average, it will cost you 500-800 euros +/- to drive a car from Europe by yourself. For example, our friend carefully wrote down everything and put together an approximate table of expenses for two, when he went to Belgium for his "dream" car, click here (we could not write everything down in such detail). As you can see, the main part of the costs is travel expenses - fuel, toll roads, housing.
On average, it will cost you 300-500 euros to go the same way by ordering the ferrymen who will be brought to you - service and plus travel costs for at least 500 euros.
The cheapest and easiest way is to order such cars and deliver them to Bulgaria, of course, by auto transporter. But in this case, you will not see and evaluate the car before buying, only online. You can, of course, just take a plane to take a look and decide yes / no, but this is an additional cost, again we return to the point on what budget the purchase of a car is intended for. So, delivery by car transporter can cost from 300 euros to 800 euros, if you take near Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Italy), if you take France or Spain, then we don't know how much but it more expensive. Plus, consider where you will be delivered, most often they deliver to Sofia and so it is cheaper, then you can take a tow truck or a platform in Bulgaria a little cheaper, but if you ordered in Burgas or Varna, you will have to pay a couple of hundred euros more.
Why sometimes, cars in Bulgaria are cheaper than in Europe? The first thing that we understood when talking with the sellers here is that all good and cheap options there quickly buy out outbids, so most of them have relatives or friends who help find and quickly pick up such cars. And take this into account by the way, that while you fly, the car you looked after may not be there, the good ones figure it out within a couple of hours. Second, this is wholesale delivery or your personal car transporter from the seller, who again comes to one or two places and simply picks up the prepared and assembled cars from someone close / acquaintance. So it turns out to save money and deliver the same cars from Europe here cheaper than they would cost in the car market from being bought out in Europe. And the third point, Bulgarians buy problem cars from Europe and restore them here, here these works are much cheaper than there, but you hardly want to bother with this).
One more moment with which we can share with you, these are real cases that happened with our friends, later we helped them to deal with these machines. I will not describe for a long time just the essence, the guys have long been engaged in driving various cars, they have experience in inspecting and assessing the condition of cars, but there are no guarantees anywhere, especially in road. And so, a used car is selected, bought, framed, you can go on a knurled one. At the time of purchase, everything is "ok", as you know, service in Europe is expensive, no one thinks to serve them there. And on the way, somewhere in Europe, their engine belt breaks, unpleasantly sad, but these are risks. A tow truck from Austria to the Bulgarian border takes from them a cheaper 1200 euros. Another case, a turbine is covered on the way, in principle, it was not scary to slowly reach the destination, but this is if you have a familiar craftsman or you yourself are a good craftsman and you know what to do while doing this. We can give you more examples, but we will not scare you off, because these are isolated cases and you understand what risks you are taking in financial terms and put a little on top for further service, registration, etc.
But if you nevertheless decided to drive a car from Europe, maybe you were just lucky and your relatives gave it to you for almost nothing, or it is still a car of “your dreams”, in general it does not matter. Let's take a little look at what "pitfalls" can be, and what it will take to make fewer mistakes. And let's take, for example, why that is the most popular destination, the import of cars from Germany.
In Germany, the owner of a car is considered to be the one who has 2 registration certificates for the car (a big and a small "brief"). And no one is interested in what surname is inscribed in the data sheet. Everything is determined by insurance.
If a German sells a car to a German, then he simply gives the keys, documents for the car and that's it. No purchase agreement. Then he calls his insurance company, says that he sold the car and does nothing else. Or he himself removes from the register in the "Police department" (removes the license plates), but then the car has no right to stand on public land, and the new owner (German) comes to the "Police department" and gives 2 registration certificates and re-registrations the car for himself.
So what is required for registration of a car in a German "Police department" for a private person (for a company, we will explain a little below):
1. Large registration certificate (from the old owner).
2. Small registration certificate (from the old owner).
3. Certificate of technical inspection (TUV). It is a certificate, on a separate sheet of paper, issued by the service center. The old owner should have it. This can be a problem. Since, in addition to the certificate, a technical inspection stamp is put in a small technical passport. And when asked if the car has a technical inspection, the old owner says that there is and shows a stamp in a small brief, and he threw out a separate certificate. This reference is given on the VIN number. that is, without reference to the registration of the machine. Without this certificate, they may not be registered in Bulgaria.
4. Insurance - also known as a green card. It can be done right in the queue for registration in Germany. About 100 euros per month. Carefully check your personal data and machine data, as they do it quickly and often with errors, as elsewhere in Bulgaria)
5. Vehicle tax for 1 month (according to the insurance period). They accept tax ONLY with a bank card from a German bank. No checks, cash or anything. The seller may pay for you.
6. Document proving your identity (foreign passport, personal card).
As a result, you will be given red numbers for transit for 1 month.
Be sure to draw up a sales and purchase agreement! It is better to have a sample with you, it is simply filled in by hand, you do not need to certify anywhere, it is better to take the information about the owner (German) from the car insurance. By the way, there is no need to show the contract in the German traffic police, you will need it in Bulgaria for registration.
When buying for yourself, there is one subtlety, you must definitely have a registration certificate (brief) 2 pcs. from the old owner! They can simply issue a new one for you, it is suitable only for obtain of a "blue numbers" in Bulgaria. Be careful!
If you decide to buy not for yourself, but for a company, then be very careful, before buying, be sure to check this point with your company accountant. Since the company must work on VAT for the exchange of goods with Europe, so that you do not have problems later. Document for the company from the commercial register. With translation into German by a licensed translator in Bulgaria, do it in advance.
Let's clarify one more point in order to avoid mistakes when buying in Germany. If the car is without technical inspection (TUV). Earlier it was a practice to get “yellow numbers” on such cars, but you should know that firstly - their validity period is 5 days, and secondly, it is officially forbidden to drive on such numbers outside the territory of Germany. Most often, problems arise in Hungary or Romania up to placing your car on a fine area, and these are additional costs and problems.
When registering with the CAT in Bulgaria, through simple transformations with the purchase and sale agreement, it is possible to deliver the car to the company, bypassing the purchase and sale procedure with a notary from oneself to the company.
Of course, the ideal option would be less expensive in terms of registration if the car is on old license plates, but not every German will agree to this, since fines can come to him as a result. But note, and this option is possible if the car is, for example, relatives or friends, and they trust you. There is no need to get transit numbers.
The options to which you can be persuaded are stories from the Internet, perhaps you have heard about them, and perhaps someone did this from your friends, you should know about them and understand that this is not true and prohibited by law, we will omit the details of obtaining, we will list just briefly:
- Transit on transit numbers in Bulgaria
- Transit on branded transit numbers, the so-called "Dealer".
Summing up, we hope we have described most of the situations in detail and this will help you decide where it is better for you to buy a car and in what way. When choosing a car in the secondary market, you should understand that this is always a risk, so it is better to contact specialists - masters of their craft, who will help at least with inspecting the technical part of the car. This approach to buying will reduce additional costs, time, and most importantly your health.
Best regards, TRentMe team
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