Mad Matt

iTrader: (2)

Hi guys,

I am currently at school in switzerland and I plan to do a master program in the UK. I was wondering what do you need to drive with a UK-plated car there in the UK. Only an UK address or do you need anything else ? I know the car has to pass MOT test. Does the MOT test needs to be passed every year or how does it works ? Are the insurances expensive for a sapphire cosworth for example ?

Thanks in advance !

1.9 xr2 on 40's

every other foreigner just runs foreign plates and pays no attention to any uk laws

sposed to be a limit on how long you can have a non uk car here but i see the same LT cars for at least 5 years doing the same thing

Mad Matt

iTrader: (2)

Yea but I plan to buy a car in the UK and therefore I have to put UK plates on it. Most of the "interesting" cars have never been homologated in Switzerland, so that's one reason to get a car there. I'll turn 27 in some time, so I think insurance won't be THAT expensive :P

Rsmat

iTrader: (2)

Just turn up buy a car.... Insure it... Tax it.... And MOT.. Put some petrol in and away you go.... You could either register it from Switzerland home address or if your staying in the uk for a long time at one address then register the car from there.

tommytwotanks

i think you can drive a foreign registered car here as long as its insured with a company that is affiliated with the ABI, if you plan to drive here for more than 12 months you need to take a British driving test, not sure how long a foreign registered vehicle can stay here before it must be registered here, ie have uk plates, plus i guess it must have it's annual test for road worthiness

bj928

i'm going to run my american pick up on its american plate for as long as i can get away with it, might even get a duplicate american title (log book) for it so i can regester it as soon as it get to the uk so i can sell it as soon as i've owned it for 12 months in the uk (tax reasons to keep it 12 months), keeping it on the US plate means i can get away with loads, like parking and speeding , evem better as i'll be using my American licence as well, life is good

focusv8

Best of luck with that one, say goodbye to the truck when they catch up with you.

foreigneRS

yes matt, it's that easy. cars over 3 years old have to pass the mot every year. no big deal.

insurance will probably be expensive for you, unless you can persuade a uk insurance company to accept your swiss driving history for a no claims discount.

Mad Matt

iTrader: (2)

Thank you Nick, yes I have never had any accident there in switzerland, my driving license is now 6 years old. I would be interested in some Scooby RA models as we don't get those in my country, and I've always wanted to get one. What's the price range for basic insurance and plates for such car ? Are we looking for something around 1000£ or is that completely off range ?

I know its early, but that's just to know if getting a car in the UK for 1 year is a possible thing or not ! :P

foreigneRS

i would imagine that you could easily get insurance for less than that for a year with your age and record.

there is nothing to pay for plates. all cars in uk get assigned a registration number when first registered and they keep that for life (unless someone wants to pay extra for somethoing silly that is made up of a combination of numbers and letters that look nothing like a word).

as well as the mot for the year (a test costs around £50), you also have to pay road fund licence (commonly known as tax) for the year. this varies according to age and emmissions of the car, but for a scooby ra is probably <£300

Mad Matt

iTrader: (2)

Thank you mate for your help, so it sounds really possible with the budget I have ! The hardest part might be the RHD car which I'm really not used to !

S1MATT

I think he'll struggle to insure a scooby for a £1000. I did a quick quote about a month back as my insurance was up for a renewal and was thinking of getting one.
I'm 30, 5 years No Claims, and the quote was for a normal UK car. I think i put it as a Year 99 car and the value was £2500 and the best quote came back at £2400. The quote was from one of them "GoCompare" places and i know i could've contacted some specialist but i just wanted to know a ballpark figure.
Personally think with your circumstances i.e... 27, non Uk resident, possibly no no claims( depends if company will except your current history) without telling them some porkies your gonna find the insurance will be standing behind you with a glint in their eye!!!
Good luck though!

foreigneRS

you don't want them to except it, you want them to accept it

R5FORD

iTrader: (1)

Change your swiss license over to a UK one and insurance will be cheaper mate

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

Why don't you just come over underneath a 44ton arctic?that way you get between £3-4 grand for a car,a free house wherever you like,£300 a week on benefits and pretty much immunity from any law as your "special".
You generally get the better jobs as well as you can tick the right boxes on the immigration forms!!!
Makes sense to me?

Mad Matt

iTrader: (2)

Not at all mate, working conditions are better in Switzerland, more money, better life quality and so on, I would be mad to go to another country to work. Its just that for university in the domain I want to go there is just nothing in my country and it happens there are really good ones in the UK, so if that's where I have to go to get good education, then I will go there ! I'm not looking to settle in the UK, but just to get informations about how much and how difficult is it to buy and insure a car for a short time period !