Buying a Polish vehicle in the UK

Hi, I wonder if somebody could help. I am looking at purchasing a vehicle which was registered in Poland but hasn't been registered as of yet in the UK.

Does anybody know who to contact in Poland to find out whether or not this vehicle is OK (Hasn't got any finance on it, or been written off in an accident and repaired).

Many thanks for your help. Chris.

You can't.

Hi

Thanks for replying, how do you guys get on when buying vehicles???

Unless you are intending to live in Poland, it would be absolute insanity to buy a Polish registered car to drive in the UK. Are you one of these who post to ask stupid questions just for the sake of it??/ Buy a right hand drive car and be done with it.

Hi, No I am not stupid!!!! I work for a Toyota Dealer and we have somebody wanting to trade in their polish vehicle for a UK spec. but we obviously need to sell on polish vehicle and don't want any repercussions. I am seriously not trying to waste anybody' time.

Thanks

I honestly wouldn't touch it then. You have no way at all of knowing if it has been damaged and repaired or if it has finance owing on it (there should be something in the documents but do you even know that the documents are authentic?). You don't even know if the person claiming to own it legally owns it!

Just tell them that you'll give them a couple of free services, better wheels, a better interest rate and a goodie bag if they pay you cash. You could even offer to pay upfront for the cost of them advertising their car for sale.

I would suggest the whole reason they are trying to trade the vehicle in is because there is something wrong with it.

In terms of registering the car or being the owner, as a foreign entity (without all the appropriate Polish identity or company numbers), once you have the car in your name you will find it impossible to sell it again; certainly impossible as a valid road vehicle to be used in Poland. Unless the owner can present to you export papers proving it has been de-registered in Poland, I wouldn't go near it with a 10-foot kielbasa.

What car is it, out of an interest? A Toyota?

@chudgell
Still a bit weird as you wouldnt have a chance of selling it in UK and itd be alot of wk to sell it in Poland. I dont see why you are even considering it. Just tell this person theyll have to pay for the new car without part-ex

Every car has a vehicle identification number, sometimes referred to as a VIN number . If the car is a Honda for example contact Honda Uk and pay for a search on the car, they will be in a position to give you a history of the car. As far as knowing if the car has been in a accident, every dealer will be able to check the paintwork thickness to see if is still the factory coat.

It's a bit more complicated than here in the UK. In Poland, as in the UK, you have a registration certificate, but much smaller (which we have to carry every time we drive cars over there). The certificate states the name and address of the owner. If you take a loan on the vehicle, there are two scenarios how bank secures the car:

1. The bank is named as the owner and the driver is only entered on the back cover as the user.
2. The driver is named as the owner, but the bank is named as the co-owner on the back cover.
There's another issue which IMHO is a no go for buying a Polish car abroad. In Poland, all the car registrations are regionalised. When you buy a car from another region or even county (which often means a city 10 miles away), you have to change number plates to resemble your address. We don't get plates for life like in the UK. Also, a new owner need a contract with the previous owner (with national id details) regarding the sale. With those documents you go and register the car for yourself. I can't imagine buying the car in the UK and then driving it back to Poland to change the plates. Too much bother. You might need to have such a contract partially filled in by the guy (all in Polish) so the buyer can just fill in their details.

Could you perhaps explain how Honda UK can check to see if finance is owed to a Polish bank or leasing company? Factory paintwork means very little: there's not much stopping somebody here from buying a write-off, stealing an identical model, swapping the VIN plates and then claiming that the stolen car is actually the write-off after extensive repairs. You should stick to telling us lies about politicians: at least those are amusing.

I do not have to,Michelangelo has just informed you, so any check done on the car would establish who the owner is, I do not think that is so difficult. If you have a deceitful mind you will always think the worse of any scenario, lies about politicians - that is a new one for me. Maybe you are not quite as smart as you believe yourself to be, but I will say that I have read some of your comments and sometimes you make good points. But please stop with the big I am, remember you are an english teacher that makes 5,000PLN a month according to your post, and it is not quite being the big Poncho in town.

PNC check is first port of call and then HP / credit check, I would imagine these are quite hard to do if the car is foreign owned.


Cloning cars in the UK is on the rise, so its nothing to do with a deceiptful mind, its about looking out for your own insterests, cars are not cheap and if you pay that money to someone and then find out the car is a write-off (any decent mechanic will be able tell if its a cut 'n'shut) or if you get the lease purchase company at your door taking the car back because it has outstanding payments...Its the purchasers responsiblity to ensure that what they are buying is legal if its a private transaction....Many a Brit has ended up with a large debt and no car to polish on the driveway because they didnt do the necessary checks..

So you can't tell us how Honda UK can tell anyone whether finance is owed on a car. Fair enough.


Oh come now! You must be able to give us some more of your lies about PO or ****!


Please, tell us again how I'll pay normal income tax rates under PO.


Thanks, I'll say again that you're either a cretin or a liar or, more probably, both.


Dear boy, I haven't taught more than a couple of hours a week for the best part of five years now. And the last time I earned less than 5,000 a month was last millennium. But don't let facts creep into your bulllshit.

Very good point, It is always better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. At least some good safeguards and advice has been raised for the OP.


Harry, I will not be sucked into one of your games, find someone else to wind up.

There is a company in Basingstoke that will buy all left hand cars and give you an underwrite on it so you can get the deal done. Its called "left hand drive place". They are very good and will collect the car from you. I have traded a few cars to them in the past.

I'd be more concerned that it wasn't road worthy than the issue of credit :D

Hi guys.
is there any one who could help please I have very complicated case. I live in UK, I have British passport and I am also Croatian with Croatian passport. I have friends from Poland in UK who is willing to give me they car for free on Polish plates, car is insured. That car I would like to transfer to Croatia and register that car on Croatian plates. How I should do that, please let me know how much you know as I think that my case is very rear so what ever you know every information is helpful. Many thanks.

if you are resident in the UK, why not ask the DVLA - I am sure their information would be more reliable than people on a forum.

Because it probably won't interest the DVLA much how he get's a Polish registered car to Croatia, even if he resides in the UK :)

well if it is going via the UK it might be of interest to them - it would probably have to be imported and exported.

Besides at least they will have up to date information

Given that the car is a gift, i would find it hard to believe that anyone would want to go through the trouble and expenses of importing and exporting the car if you can just simply drive it out of the UK on the Polish plates :)

IKR...

@chudgell
hey I have a car to sell (it's in the uk but still registered in Poland)

Is it possible to buy a Polish registered car in the UK?

Hey there,

I have bought a Polish car in the UK but it depends on what your intentions are. I was able to do this as I was then going to travel to Poland and in Poland I registered it to my name at my Polish address. I since discovered though I drove the 1500 km on the old OC and if I had had an accident I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been covered as the OC stays with the car I think is just a myth. So it depend on your future intentions but I would say to do it completely above board would be difficult

@Richthecat
Thanks, i am looking into options of getting to Poland as moving there around September from London. Thinking to buy a car and drive there so ideally a Polish registered car so I can then use it in Poland. Don't feel too comfortable flying yet, can see how things are in a couple of months.

Ok so you will basically be in the same situation as I was. I bought a Polish registered car and then drove it to Poland and registered it there. I have now lived here for 5 years and I have discovered that the myth of OC (insurance) staying with the car is just a myth. Some things to know

1. You have 30 days from purchase to register the car all car purchases are done with a standard document with a date on it so be careful as if you don't register this car within the 30 days you will not be able to without redoing the paperwork.

2. The OC is supposed to stay with the car but in reality it doesn't you are required to register that you are the new owner with the existing insurance and you will always be charged a premium for change of ownership. This also cannot be done without a PESEL (Polish version of an NI number ) so if you haven't got one of these no chance here.

3. As I said before I drove to Poland on the old OC but if I had a crash I am sure that this would have been a living nightmare I believe the law says you can drive on the old OC whilst awaiting registration of the car in your name but this is designed for people who will drive their new car home in Poland and the next day go to the town hall and register it. So a crash would be a nightmare.

4. Also be careful who you buy from many polish owners get parking tickets and fines and think that they can just ignore it I heard a story of a guy buying a polish car and getting stopped at the border because of 2000 pounds worth of parking tickets or fines and ultimately loosing the car even though they had just bought it.

5. I get that the only way to get here now practically and safely is by car but better off doing this in an English car to be legal. you can register an English car here now if you don't mind the steering wheel being on the wrong side of the car which I don't recommend.

It all depends on your budget etc etc but One option could be an English Landrover freelander which can have the steering wheel swapped to LHD relatively inexpensively here.