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Question about UK to BG car for permanent move

Jax Hammer

Hi all,


I spotted another thread about this but it wasn't quite a match for my query, so I hope someone can help.


I want to move permanently to Bulgaria. I understand that once I am granted temp residency I can take a UK vehicle for six months and will then need to register it to BG plates.


However, here's my dilemma:


UK is right hand drive, and ofc BG is left hand drive. I know it's possible to adapt and cope, but I don't know how comfortable I would feel. Has anyone done this, and what were your thoughts? Did you make any changes (e.g. mirrors etc) to make life easier?


Bit stuck. Car prices from reliable dealerships in BG are astronomical for really old cars.


Appreciate your thoughts :)

See also

Driving in BulgariaTravel from the uk by carBulgaria Schengen BordersCar rental which accept cash on the spotRegistering a RHD car in Bulgaria without changing headlamps
Vasilev

Hi, Jax,


Bulgaria is one of the very few countries in Europe which haven't banned yet the right-hand drive cars import. You can struggle somewhere in paid parking's where there are tickwt barrier, but most of them become automatic.

And yes, overtaking on the road is a challenge.

Mind up your safety!

Jax Hammer

What countries in Europe have banned it? I saw some countries have restrictions (e.g. need certain changes made to lights etc), but no bans?


I have to drive basically the width of Europe to get where I'm going to be living. It may be that the extra costs of bringing my own car are offset by just paying more for a car in BG.

Cynic

I recall that Poland and Germany made some moves in this direction, but the EU Commission said that as long as the vehicle had EU type approval, then it must be accepted ().  I'm not aware of any subsequent judgements.


Personally, I drove a right-hand drive car in Germany for 5 years without a problem.  As some have pointed out, overtaking can be a challenge and you will probably have to have your headlights changed  to ones that dip to the right if they cannot be altered from within the vehicle; using stick on filters will not be accepted.  Car parts may be problematic to get as the vehicles are configured differently; for this reason, car insurance can be more expensive.

gwynj

@Jax Hammer

You can take a UK vehicle to Bulgaria, and drive it here, as a tourist. You need to be a Bulgaria resident in order to get a local driving license or re-register the vehicle (in your own name). You should note that once you have been granted Bulgarian residence, you can apply for tax-exemption (of import duties and VAT) under ToR (Transfer of Residence). For non-EU vehicles this is about 30%, and applies to used vehicles you've owned for over 6 months.


Yes, LHD is more convenient. Most of the time it's no problem, and driving slower (and not overtaking as much) is probably a good thing. :-) At least, that's what I've found.


I had tried-and-trusted vehicles in the UK, all Ebay bargains (2 cars, 1 motorcycle, 1 trailer, couple of bikes) I was very happy with. I bought them all over, and financially it was a great deal (instead of selling them cheap in UK and buying expensive replacements here). I've been driving them for nearly 8 years here, so that's made them an even better deal! :-)


The re-registration itself is not very expensive (especially if you get the ToR exemption), but the LHD lights can be pricey. For my older car, Ebay had cheap LHD replacements... but for the newer one, I had to get brand new ones.