Keeping my UK car to Finland

Deb2015 · Post by **Deb2015** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 1:31 pm

Dear Finland Forum Users,

I was wondering whether there is anybody on this forum who can give me information about bringing my car to Helsinki to the UK. Will I need to modify my car in any way? Will I need to register it? How long can I keep it in Finland before registering it? Any advice, much appreciated.

**Sponsor:**

Hämeen Hitain · Post by **Hämeen Hitain** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:13 pm

Read the Customs website:

http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/car_tax/index.jsp

caster · Post by **caster** » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:10 pm

Deb2015 wrote:Dear Finland Forum Users,

I was wondering whether there is anybody on this forum who can give me information about bringing my car to Helsinki to the UK. Will I need to modify my car in any way? Will I need to register it? How long can I keep it in Finland before registering it? Any advice, much appreciated.

LH

RH - RH

LH

not a good idea

rinso · Post by **rinso** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 7:44 am

It is very difficult to sell a RH car in Finland. As a result its second hand price will be very low.
Better sell it in the UK and buy something here than spending money on transport and modifications.

FinnGuyHelsinki · Post by **FinnGuyHelsinki** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:55 am

There is a market - albeit a small one - for RHD cars, but it has to be a model which car enthusiasts might be interested in, e.g. Nissan Skyline (R34 and earlier), which haven't been produced as LHD models. People are also buying earlier model RHD Subaru Imprezas, Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, Toyota Supras,... from Japan and UK. Bringing in anything "normal" could make sense only if you plan to use the car yourself and then take it back to the UK afterwards.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 11:20 am

FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:Bringing in anything "normal" could make sense only if you plan to use the car yourself and then take it back to the UK afterwards.

Or driving it to the ground. It would be prudent to check Finnish prices and the changes that are needed to the LHD car. Lights, block heater, winter tyres at least.

Deb2015 · Post by **Deb2015** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 3:09 pm

Thanks for all your comments.

Deb2015 · Post by **Deb2015** » Wed Apr 22, 2015 3:16 pm

Hämeen Hitain wrote:Read the Customs website:

http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/car_tax/index.jsp

Thanks. This is a really useful source of information. It seems I won't have much trouble.

daveba · Post by **daveba** » Fri May 08, 2015 4:46 pm

I brought mine from the UK (and several other people have in the forum). It is not too difficult and prices of cars being so costly here it makes more sense (even if you have difficulty selling it later).

In general the workflow is:

0. Bring your car with UK insurance and valid registration.
1. Apply for registration as soon as you arrive.
2. Go to Katsastus for a checkup and make modifications as suggested
3. Get Finnish plates and insurance.
4. Revoke your British plates/registration by writing to DVLA.

If you search the forum there are many previous posts with a lot of useful information.

njmac · Post by **njmac** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:49 pm

The real benefit in bringing your car from another country to Finland is the tax saving. You can only do this if you have documentation showing that you had the vehicle insured for a period of time before the move (6 months or a year. i can't remember which just now). So if you don't mind driving a RHD car here you can save a lot of money. I did this with my car and have been driving it here for 5 years. If I had known at least 6 months in advance of the move i'd have bought a LHD car in the UK, insured it and then moved to Finland with the LHD car. So I would have been able to bring it in without paying tax (see "removal of goods" on the customs website) and then it would have had a much higher resale value here.

alphamusic · Post by **alphamusic** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 1:29 pm

njmac wrote:The real benefit in bringing your car from another country to Finland is the tax saving. You can only do this if you have documentation showing that you had the vehicle insured for a period of time before the move (6 months or a year. i can't remember which just now). So if you don't mind driving a RHD car here you can save a lot of money. I did this with my car and have been driving it here for 5 years. If I had known at least 6 months in advance of the move i'd have bought a LHD car in the UK, insured it and then moved to Finland with the LHD car. So I would have been able to bring it in without paying tax (see "removal of goods" on the customs website) and then it would have had a much higher resale value here.

LHD cars command a premium price in the UK, because Finland is not the only EU country with higher car costs. I weighed up buying a LHD car in the UK to import with me and I just couldn't justify the 30-50% higher price I would have to pay there over a RHD model. I'm sure there are situations where it could work out, but they are most likely at the luxury end of the market. By the time the winter wheels and tyres are purchased, block heater added, headlights and potentially foglight changed and the cost of driving/ shipping the car any savings were eroded. If you have driven your car RHD for 5 years in Finland I think you are getting good value out of it. I agree with the other posters, that if you import, plan on driving it until it dies. Then you can get some real savings.

My costs for bringing my T27 Avensis were: €200 for used headlights, (good deal on eBay.de, new from Toyota it could have been €700 or more if you have Xenon/HID), €100 to fit them, €160 for import inspection, Katsastus (MOT), and registration plates. I also found winter tyres for €300 and used smaller Toyota alloys for €200 from ebay.co.uk. I was lucky Katsastus didn't pick up my fog light on the wrong side or I would have paid €150 for a pair of used reverse/ fog lights from ebay.de plus electricians costs to change the wiring. It's petrol, but I will most likely buy an engine heater, which will cost around €300.

Total costs for conversion add up to €1260 with the block heater, but without a fog light switch. These costs could be much higher if you don't source your own parts for the conversion and go straight to the dealer. Tyre costs can also be much higher if you have a large wheel size, but I recommend buying the smallest wheels that fit your car as a second set for your winter tyres. A narrower contact patch is advantageous in snow and will generally save money.

Travel costs were €250 for petrol €60 for the Dover crossing, €80 for bridges, €40 from Stockholm to Turku plus 3 nights in a hotel.

The cost of the car in the UK was half what I would have paid in the Finland before I did the conversions.

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