Basically I would like to know how it works. What is the procedure, from beginning to end. It's for permanent, immediate export outside of UK into another EU country.

Just some of the questions, more further down: does there have to be a mediator. Or CAN there be a mediator, like a used car dealer that then issues the Bill of Sale?

What about insurance? Does it stay with the car until it expires/for as long as it was paid?
Is it legally allowed for the seller to let the buyer use his insurance to drive the car back home (with his own copy of the contract and photocopies of all the documents the seller needs to keep temporarily to report the car as sold which would then be mailed to the buyer)? Would there be any problems with the cops in this case during some regular traffic check or on the ferry-customs or whatever?
If not, how and where can a foreigner get a temporary car insurance (1-2 weeks or a month), how much does it cost, etc.?

Just to illustrate how it's done in my country. There are two ways:
1. the seller and buyer go to a mediator (used car dealer) where they pay a small fee (commission or what's the word), usually around 10-20 euro, for the dealer to issue a Bill of Sale. The seller then either:
a) reports the car as sold and has the papers modified by the traffic authority if it's too late in the day or it's weekend so the buyer can immediately register it under his name or
b) leaves the car registered to his name for the day it takes the buyer to drive it home (buyer also gets a copy of the car registration papers in case of being stopped by cops), then the next day the seller goes to the correct authority, notifies them of sale, gets the car removed from his name in the computer civil database, they sort out the registration papers, he pays the sale tax, and then sends/gives the new owner the papers so that the buyer can get the car entered in the computer database under his name and then registers and insures it under his name.

2. seller and buyer fill out a sale contract, seller goes to the Notary to have the contract notarized (required by our authorities if there is no Bill of Sale by dealer), from then on the process is the same as the first one.

Okay, my questions are:
- how does the UK procedure compare to this
- do the plates stay with the car or have to be returned to the authorities
- can the seller sort out all the paperwork (with me paying the expenses), insurance and all that crap by himself, so that I can just show up, give the rest of the money (or even pay it all in advance - normally a bad idea, but if there was something wrong with the car that the seller didn't say I would be stranded in the UK, far away from home so I run a risk anyway) and drive home without any battling with UK bureaucracy
- how easy/hard it is to find a Notary
- is it possible to do the contract through a dealer to get that Bill of Sale (makes everything a whole lot easier when registering the car here)
- do you guys have to get the contract notarised if buying from private seller
- is it possible to get VAT back if you're buying/exporting from a private seller as well or only from a dealer? (okay, nitpicking, but every bit helps)

Thank you kindly!

 

First off where are you,? i'm sure you told me before but i cant remember, was it slovenia, reason i ask is maybe i'll drive one over for you if you want, i'm in croatia where i have a house and travel backwards and forwards all the time, and i have insurance for any car, but you pay all expenses of course, and i get to bring some stuff out for free.

I presume your system is the same as croatia, where you have insurance and technitski then the police issue you a plate related to you and the car, and anyone with a licence can drive the car as long as it has plates on it, and when it runs out you give the plates back to the police.

I think your biggest problem is going to be insurance, in uk it is based on the person as opposed to going with the car, so you won't be able to drive it on their plates like you can in your country, because it has nothing to do with the issuing of the plates.

depends if it's a private sale or from a dealer anyone can print a bill of sale off the computer, there are local DVLA offices that will transfer plates and tax disc's but not sure about v5,(ownership document) usually takes about 2 weeks when you send them off by post, but not having a uk address may also be an issue.

We don't use Notary for this kind of thing in uk, but they are easy to find in yellow pages,not sure what they would charge for this but it may make it easier for you on your side, i know they like to see documents notarized in croatia.

Plates stay with car unless it's a personal number plate then the dvla will issue an age related plate, but the seller should take care of this before the sale, when i bought my vw transporter from lithuania it had lithuanian plates then the dvla issued uk plates, i presume this will be the same in your country, but you will have to do technitski before.

I think the best thing you can do is find out the import procedure in your country and how much tax you will have to pay, in croatia they have a list of the value of cars and apply the tax according to their list, NOT how much you paid, and it is very expensive.

I would also contact the dvla here and see what the export procedure is, normally the new owner would just fill in the export section on the v5.

I would suggest you google and see what pops up as the procedure may vary dependant on country.

Sorry i can't be a bit more specific, i'm going to bee doing this myself soon though just waiting croatia joins the EU in july 2013, and not looking forward to it.

 

Im in Finland and have purchased a few cars from UK to bring over here for me or helped friends importing Caterhams.

Insurance:
Does NOT stay with the car, you need to get that yourself. At least here most company's will insure a foreign registered car based upon the VIN with the understanding that it will be registered locally soon.
If no company's locally to you will cover a foreign car, then you are a little stuck as I dont think UK based company's will insure a non-UK resident for short term insurance. Im not 100% sure as I usally come with a trailer or get a friend to take it to a RoRo cargo line Iv used a few times.
http://www.mannlines.com/

mediator:
not required in UK. And.,. I would expect that many dealers would not be interested in doing this without charging a LARGE fee £1000+, as any dealer touching the sale would be obliged to give warranty.

legal:
Private sales are common. Get a hand written bill of sale from seller with the VIN, reg number, V5c document number, his address (if private seller make sure you buy from same address printed on V5c, a few scams out there), a statement saying all outstanding dept is paid and wholly the responsibility of the seller, his name, signature and date of sale.
The best way to check if the car has debt or has had a crash in the past is to do a HPI check, but you need to pay, a few web pages do this usally about £15-25. google HPI check for other prices.
http://www.theaa.com/car-data-checks/index.html
I would never buy a car without doing this, but it cost me £0 as a relative is in the car trade and does it for me.

Documentation:
car keeper document in the UK its called the V5c.
This only states who is the 'keeper' of the car, NOT OWNER (see HPI check above). If there is debt on the car IT IS NOT SHOWN on this document and the debt FOLLOWS the car even when sold.!!!

There are several versions of the V5c as it has been updated over time to follow inline with EU regs. its split into sections, different sections for different uses.
Only a small piece of it is needed by the seller to return to DVLA (government office) to inform them car is sold and will be registered abroad. the seller might want a letter written by you to DVLA with your details etc, a good idea from their view and iv done it, but is actually not required.
you should get the 'technical' part with the VIN, reg number, engine number etc etc on it.

VAT:
No VAT charged on 2nd hand goods.. no money to claim back.

Vik

 

There's a LOT of good info here, I truly appreciate it, thanks, guys!