New Law about Registering a Car as a Foreigner

tmt0685 wrote:

Hi guys and ladies!
There's a new law recently about foreigner, specifically 3rd world citizens can not register a car without Hungarian Address card!...

It's always been like that as far as I know. 

To own a car in your name, you need the right local documents showing your address.   

Other countries (i.e. UK) don't care if you are resident of not.  You just need an address for communications (and you don't even have to prove you live there).  The actual owner and the person named on the registration document do not even need to be the same. Worth thinking about. Not sure about other countries (avoid Spain, that's really bad for paperwork in car ownership).

Sorry but if the car is reg. and license in country outside of Hungary and you have a driver license from there why world you need to reg here.   What would like find out if you have a Expat car can you write a note to give permission for some one from Hungary to uses

OUAT wrote:

Sorry but if the car is reg. and license in country outside of Hungary and you have a driver license from there why world you need to reg here

Because that's the law. 

One can drive on a foreign license a foreign registered car for 6 months so long as one is  not registered as a resident. Otherwise change of license and car registration.

Foreigners resident in Hungary can only drive foreign registered cars in Hungary for 30 days per year.

OK I understand now. yes i know it is 6 month is that in all of the Europe and if i remove or drive car to a different country and then back to Hungary or flight out and show passport  how does the 6 months work

OUAT wrote:

OK I understand now. yes i know it is 6 month is that in all of the Europe and if i remove or drive car to a different country and then back to Hungary or flight out and show passport  how does the 6 months work

Depends on your country of origin, the car registration and where you say you live.  It used to be the case that you could drive a car to the border and come back again and the 6 months would be reset.  However, that no longer works.  Basically it depends on where you live.

If you are are not registered in HU, have a foreign passport, drive a foreign registered car and have all the documents consistent with being a visitor, then you should be OK.  However, note that even at the Schengen borders, your car number plates are automatically scanned on entry.  In practice, I've never heard of anyone getting into trouble over their foreign registered cars under such circumstances.

You might wish to note that there is supposed to be a rule that EU nationals are not allowed to drive non-EU vehicles within the EU. However, I've never really looked for this law and I'm not entirely sure it's completely true.

There are still quite a few US and Canadian cars driving around here.  The most unusual number plates I've seen driving in Europe were Paraguay, Nigeria and Australia.  I've also seen some Vanuatu plates but I suspect these to be fakes or a scam.

The registration is never the problem, it's the insurance.

OK thank you for the info. yes i have full coverage insurance with Clements Worldwide

OUAT wrote:

...i have full coverage insurance with Clements Worldwide

Really?  Do they issue a green card for use in Europe?  Ever had a (successful) claim with them?

yes have green card and no. Do you know something about them as i was refer d buy my insurance in the USA they are out of DC

OUAT wrote:

yes have green card and no. Do you know something about them as i was refer d buy my insurance in the USA they are out of DC

Just wanted to know if they cough up when required. I don't know about them.

Will let you know if something should happen . I will be leaving Hungary for about 6 month so i am very interested with the law about Hungarian citizen with a paper from me authorizing it is OK to us the car. in reference to: there is supposed to be a rule that EU nationals are not allowed to drive non-EU vehicles within the EU. However, I've never really looked for this law and I'm not entirely sure it's completely true. If you know any to find out please let me know.

OUAT wrote:

Will let you know if something should happen . I will be leaving Hungary for about 6 month so i am very interested with the law about Hungarian citizen with a paper from me authorizing it is OK to us the car. in reference to: there is supposed to be a rule that EU nationals are not allowed to drive non-EU vehicles within the EU. However, I've never really looked for this law and I'm not entirely sure it's completely true. If you know any to find out please let me know.

I seem to recall these laws are applied by individual EU countries and are not within EU competence. The main idea of this rule is to stop tax evasion (i.e. being able to drive a car that is not tax paid). If the car is from an EU state, there is less interest from the authorities as presumably those are all tax paid.   

It's a bit stupid really because in my own country (UK), there are no special number plates to show if tax is paid or not (it used to be supposedly that tax unpaid plates had a red  line around the edges). It's not like here with V- and C- and P- plates etc.  You can give a paper to an EU citizen to drive another EU country's car but you have to do it every day (there's no "long term" paper authorisation solution). 

I think there is an exception if say, people are "moving" and using their cars temporarily.  I knew an EU expat who said he drove his Land Rover Discovery from Oman to the UK on Omani plates. He said he had no problems at all.  But the reality might be quite different.

There's also quite a lot of stories of Greek nationals living and working in Germany driving their German cars to Greece to visit family and their cars being seized by the Greek tax authorities on the grounds of tax evasion.  This is despite having jobs, papers and everything to show legitimate status from the German authorities.

fluffy2560 wrote:

OUAT wrote:

You might wish to note that there is supposed to be a rule that EU nationals are not allowed to drive non-EU vehicles within the EU. However, I've never really looked for this law and I'm not entirely sure it's completely true.

This is ALMOST true - the vehicle has to have 'E' marked lamps & seatbelts generally - the 'E' mark is an European standard - without these you will REALLY struggle to register a car over here. I did ... changed everything in the end [££££££ :-O]
Other countries ar not so strict, Germany for instance - I bought an US registered car in Germany, the German documents had a 'proviso' to say that although not 'E' marked, the US marking was equivalent or better, so the registration was fine, as were the export plates ... why not have a word with these vendors, to see how they keep the US lamps & get it registered!! : http://www.hasznaltauto.hu/auto/nissan/ … er-8231872
Cheers!!
Toby

Angolhapsi wrote:

....You might wish to note that there is supposed to be a rule that EU nationals are not allowed to drive non-EU vehicles within the EU. However, I've never really looked for this law and I'm not entirely sure it's completely true.

It was me who said that.

Angolhapsi wrote:

This is ALMOST true - the vehicle has to have 'E' marked lamps & seatbelts generally - the 'E' mark is an European standard - without these you will REALLY struggle to register a car over here. I did ... changed everything in the end [££££££ :-O]

What's almost true in this context? 

The E markings acceptability depends on the country. In the UK we have mutual recognition with US car parts.  The issue with the lamps is the pattern on low or high beams. Only some patterns are acceptable. If you bring a car from another country without those mutual recognitions, then it's anyone's guess what you need.  There's a really crazy rule that some internal lights have to be E marked as well (i.e. led replacements). Since they are not visible from outside, it makes one wonder why they bother about that.  But US cars have very odd light fittings and some really weird bulbs that are very difficult to buy in Europe. Worth having a few spares for those.

It's also possible to have particular tyres from the US which are acceptable as well.

If you have a standard type of car which has a European model equivalent, then it's not a big issue to get the replacement parts as they will almost always fit US models OK (headlight tilt exception).  However, getting actual US parts is almost impossible.  It could even be cheaper to fly to the US, collect them and fly back with them in your luggage!

If anyone wants to know where to get US car parts in the UK, I know some of the companies (having had several US cars).

We are Americans who emigrated to Hungary and brought a car with us. As non-EU members we had to get visa's to permit us to live here and renew them every 5 years.  The latest visa is now on a white card and is essentially the same things as the address card. My wife's passport expired so she had to go through the whole process again but this time got her visa in the form of the address card. Next year we are applying for permanent resident status and then will get a real address card. The previous address card we got originally was a flimsy white card to go along with the visa inserted into your passport. So, if you have the newer plastic white card visa now it is required to be shown when basically doing anything including registering a car.  The E markings are a huge pain and we ended up getting a lot of stickers made and applying them everywhere and changing out our halogen headlights which are illegal here. Basically, it is up to the inspector what he will accept.

Still not understand about legality of having car with working perimt ( The permit that allows non-EU citizens to work in Hungary is called Single Permit (which is a combined work and residency permit). )

Here is answer from Hungarian advisor:

To bring your cars over is not recommended. The current regulations do not allow non-EU citizens to get Hungarian plates and as a resident in Hungary you are not supposed to drive a Russian plate car.

The current regulations does allow you to owe a car, but the registered keeper has to be someone who has a Hungarian permanent address registration. (non-Eu citizens can only get a plastic address card after applying for a settlement permit which requires 3,5 years legal stay in the country)

I'm pretty surprised that working here i should wait 3.5 years to get  a car?

I'm not sure when the law came in, but when I bought my Hungarian-registered car in 2012, I registered myself as the owner and my Hungarian wife as the keeper/ driver.

Re-registering a UK licensed car is a complicated and expensive process, and always has been. The licensing of foreign-registered cars is required after six months for 'visitors' and the authorities are keen to clamp down on this because of the number of Hungarians buying cars in neighbouring countries and keeping the Slovak or Austrian plate so they don't have to pay road tax (Hungarian-registered vehicles have to pay for compulsory 'insurance' or road tax by displaying an official sticker on their windscreen - the police can stop you and check this, and they do!) So, it's not worth importing a car into Hungary, especially a right-hand drive one, and buyers are naturally suspicious about the service history of imported cars (one of my Hungarian relatives was duped by a seemingly-reputable Hungarian vendor). There are many worse 'horror' stories about cars which have been in accidents.

My advice is to buy a used car in Hungary from a registered main dealer (VW, Nissan, Audi, etc.), have it thoroughly checked over by an independent mechanic known to a Hungarian friend you know well, and try to have enough cash not to have to use the dealer's finance offers, which can be very expensive over time, especially as interest rates are likely to go up significantly in the next few years in Hungary.

HungaryDragon wrote:

....So, it's not worth importing a car into Hungary, especially a right-hand drive one, and buyers are naturally suspicious about the service history of imported cars (one of my Hungarian relatives was duped by a seemingly-reputable Hungarian vendor). There are many worse 'horror' stories about cars which have been in accidents.

I agree with that. Avoid buying here. Right hand drive is uncommon.  It's easily possible to buy LHD car in the UK, complete with history and UK plates. Insurance is also much cheaper in GB for full insurance.  Over here, everything is extra.

HungaryDragon wrote:

My advice is to buy a used car in Hungary from a registered main dealer (VW, Nissan, Audi, etc.), have it thoroughly checked over by an independent mechanic known to a Hungarian friend you know well, .....

Another option is to buy a car in Germany from a dealer who will have "jahreswagen" which are cars bought/used by workers at the car factories, like Ford/Mercedes etc.  These are generally trustworthy and come with complete service history.   

If the car has the EU Certificate of Conformity, then it's not really difficult to register as they conform to all EU regulations. But better to get someone else to do it to avoid the hassle.

I've been looking myself to get another car but I'm really very disappointed with the market here. I am considering buying a "jahreswagen" vehicle from Germany and importing.  They are cheaper even with the importation issue.

I should clarify on LHD in the UK... Easy to buy new, though you sometimes need to collect it from the port of entry, register, tax and insure it the same day. Dealers will do this for you if you pay a premium. There is no market for used LHD cars in the UK, except for adaptation by certain disabled drivers, so unless you go to a specialist dealer it is NOT easy and there are pitfalls. Specialists are few and far between, so you may have to collect, which makes booking it in for a check with the AA/ RAC before buying more difficult. If it hasn't been registered in the EU (e.g. it's US/Canadian registered) you will need to do all this before driving it to Hungary, which could involve a customs certificate. Not to mention whether Hungary will still be in the EU when you want to sell it on, if you don't import it beforehand. If you sell it in the UK, you will get very little from a general dealer, so you'll need to find a specialist again, who will not give you what you would expect for a similar RHD.

So, think carefully. It's better to buy here in Hungary, or import yourself from Germany (NOT Slovakia). I live in Kecskemét, so I know the Mercedes workers, many of whom are Hungarian. When they work in Germany, they buy a German car, but they have to have a Hungarian-registered car for driving here. I haven't seen or heard of any of their workers selling their cars. Why would they? The German workers are entitled to drive their vehicles as guest-workers and need them for going home. They may buy a small Hungarian car for running around in, but they don't sell their original vehicles. The simple answer is - a reputable Hungarian dealership and a trustworthy, recommended local mechanic to advise. Plus, make sure you do get all the paperwork on the car's service history, details of accidents, etc. Both vendors and dealers have to supply this by law. I've had few problems with the market. You can do all the initial research online before you visit dealers. I visited two in Budapest and two in Kecskemét before buying my VW Touran, what we wanted in the first place. After three years, no problems. Touch wood!

HungaryDragon wrote:

I should clarify on LHD in the UK... Easy to buy new, though you sometimes need to collect it from the port of entry, register, tax and insure it the same day. Dealers will do this for you if you pay a premium. There is no market for used LHD cars in the UK, except for adaptation by certain disabled drivers, so unless you go to a specialist dealer it is NOT easy and there are pitfalls. Specialists are few and far between, so you may have to collect, which makes booking it in for a check with the AA/ RAC before buying more difficult. If it hasn't been registered in the EU (e.g. it's US/Canadian registered) you will need to do all this before driving it to Hungary, which could involve a customs certificate. Not to mention whether Hungary will still be in the EU when you want to sell it on, if you don't import it beforehand.

I think you're overdoing it there HungaryDragon. 

I've had plenty of used LHD cars from within the EU and the USA, already registered on UK plates.  There is a considerable market for LHD cars in the UK mainly for EU expats.  Just look in Ebay.co.uk and Google for LHD cars - plenty on Gumtree too. It's really not very difficult.   And there's a lot of specialists as well.  I know most of them - LHD Place Basingstoke, LHD Car Centre Chesham, LHD Cars London, Transeuropean London. I could go on.   

If you buy an EU manufacturered car with CoC from a dealer, then it used to be (and maybe still is, been a while) that the dealer can self-certify the change of LHD headlights to RHD (even though many people keep the LHD headlights in the car).  American/Canadian cars are more problematic in that they need to be inspected for conformity but that's not a massive issue. 

Quite a few people simply drive their LHD UK cars to Spain and leave them at their holiday houses. I believe Ibiza is full of UK cars.  The place where I saw the most UK cars with LHD was actually Tirana, Albania (all stolen perhaps).

As far as I know even Hungarian citizens need an address of some sort to register a car.
The weird thing in HU is that you don't have to be the registered owner of a car to drive it. Some people leave the car in the name of the old owners with their permission of course.
Not sure how it works in that situation with the auto insurance. In HU who ever has the car papers on them can claim the car is theirs. I know in the US the papers stay with the car but here in HU the papers go with whoever is driving the car. Such a hassle at times to remember to bring the auto papers when we use our car.
People used to buy cars from out of HU and then change the plates but these days it isn't much worth it.Used to see allot of cars with German plates on them, not so much any longer.
I know we brought in 2 nice cars from Calif. in 1999 or there about's.
We had Calif. and NV plates on the cars and never got stopped. We did pay a ton for auto insurance because of the out of country plates on them.
Many HU citizens have some sort of business in countries such as SK where it is cheaper to register and keep a car.That's one reason you see so many foreign plates on cars in the city. They use the address of a friend or relation in another country or they use their business address.
in any case they are very good at making new rules here to collect more fees. Can't beat them most times.

You may be right about the market for LHD vehicles over the past few years, but the UK government is now putting a stop to cars not registered and taxed in the UK (I have Hungarian friends in the UK who have to buy a RHD UK-registered vehicle). So I don't think it's wise to advise people to use these changing and sometimes dubious avenues. Admittedly, some of my own experiences with UK LHDs were some years ago, but they were not issues about specification, but rather about registration and dealerships. For instance, I couldn't begin to advise somebody about the dealerships you mention (which, I note, are all in the SE of England). You might! There's no problem buying in Hungary if you get the right advice. Simple!

The owner/ keeper thing is the same in the UK and in many other countries. I bought a UK car last summer for my son and, since he can't yet drive, I'm the insured keeper of the vehicle. Here, my wife is the keeper of the vehicle, I am the owner (the only way we could finance it).

My friend is retiring in HU next year from the UK. She plans on bringing her car over and keeping it registered with UK plates.
I suppose she will have to drive it back to the UK every so often for checks and such.

The reason people buy a Slovakian-registered car is to avoid paying the compulsory insurance, or road tax (I know people who admit this). But the government has made it illegal for permanent Hungarian residents to drive foreign-registered cars, in order to put a stop to this. The UK government is making it illegal for UK residents to drive foreign-registered cars in the UK. They have to re-register and tax them, or buy a RHD UK-registered car. We need to be careful about the advice we give out here on legal questions, also because there is increasing local resentment over them, both in the UK and Hungary, as there is about tax-avoidance in general.

Marilyn, as a visiting pensioner, receiving her pension from the UK, she can keep the car here like a tourist for a maximum of six months. She must then drive to the UK or a third country before returning for another six months. However, she will need to insure the car with an annual green card for EU travel, or it may still be possible to get temporary insurance (renewable) in Hungary. This is not the same as the compulsory insurance which is only payable on Hungarian-registered vehicles. However, if she intends to gain settlement (permanent residence) in Hungary, she will need to re-register the vehicle (by law) as a Hungarian resident.

i brought over & registered 2 cars, my van & my motorbike - all easily done - we got a local to help, as he does this for a living .... used my HU registration card / UK Passport / HU driving licence, and it took only 2 days for each - just trying to find the time to use them all, now 
the 2 cars are both LHD, one a Brazilian aircooled Beetle, the other an USA Nissan.... correct colour lamps on the USA car made a big difference!! - bought an LHD headlamp for the motorbike .... converted the RHD van lamps to LHD spec [20 minutse] ........sorted !!
buying LHD cars in the UK IS a very good solution, although with the influx of Eastern Europeans who have sussed that they can be twice the price back home, they tend to get snapped up now & taken 'home' ....
i have only been directly involved in 3 Hungary purchased cars - the dealers are EVEN worse than in the UK , if that is imaginable [it IS my line of work, so i see 'me' as a good judge / yardstick ...] 1 was very nice, but they charged him extra for winter tyres, then kept the summer tyres ... he never even test drove it before buying - both the others are riddled with problems - 1 of them was from Germany, and 2 from Italy - both imported, washed & sold as is, for a monster markup - no preparation, no care whatsoever ...... if you are buying over here, ALWAYS get someone you can trust to check it over & list all the faults first [i know, THAT is hard to find, but i'm here if you need ...] - use the list to knock a shedload off the asking price 

What if you are an USA person on a 1year residence permit? Can you buy a car and register it in Hungary? Assuming you have a valid address and insurance in Hungary.

We have a car here in Florida but we are going to sale it before we move and plan on buying a used one in Hungary. I would think that should not be an issue? But then i hear the laws have changed?

You're correct about us giving legal advice here when it is so complicated and it may cost someone more then money to get the wrong advice.
My HU husband often reads about new laws, rules, BS going on here in Hungary as he can read HU and loves to know what is going on.
We never take chances with rules here, everything is in order, all safety checks on our car, his driving papers in order, insurance paid up, don't need any hassles or surprises at this stage in our lives.
Anyone who doesn't know exactly what they are getting themselves into legally should either seek professional advice or get someone to help them read the many links written online in Hungarian to know what is expected of them here.
They may as well just forget everything they used to know from where they came from because it is a different "ball game" here.
We brought over 2 cars from the US in a container but this was back in 1989. it was more or less the wild west back then and we had no problems driving the cars with US plates and no registration on them.
One car a very nice hot red Mustang we sold to a "Gypsy King" in a small town in HU.
It was well worth the cost of shipping over because he was willing to pay a good price for the car, it was nice...
The other we used ourselves just part-time when we visited HU. We did put insurance on that car but the cost was allot higher then if we had just registered it in HU and changed whatever items on the car that the law asked for.
It was a very large engine Audi and took allot of petrol, glad we are not paying for that car any longer.
Once we noticed someone had tried to steal the Audi right in day light where we had parked in the 7th district. They got the door open and broke the steering  some trying to start the car. They couldn't start it up but we always wondered why they would want such a large car, an Audi 5000 model. Husband said back then there was a market for petrol, black market thieves put in dual gas tanks and brought petrol over from other countries where prices were lower, crazy stuff.

I have a Expat car here and is fully reg/title/license .and insured with world wide company As i am only here sometimes 2 month up to 6 month main use is Hy way uses .have read everything i can find and as long as not used longer then 6 month and fully insured and reg/title/licensed it is legal to drive in all of the EU nations and also all country in Europe. I am maybe looking to sell or lease as i well believing April 12th send me a post or contact and i well reply. Thank You Capt.John

I do know the you  can only use your valid US driving papers for up to one year within the EU.
You would have to get a HU one to replace your FL one.
From what I have heard it isn't very easy to pass the driving tests here in HU.
I know a few Hungarians that learned to drive in the US years ago and have moved back to HU to retire.
One guy has a car, all registered but in someone else's name because he is driving illegally in HU. He couldn't even drive all that well in the US. I know, I made the mistake with my sister of getting in the back seat of his car once, we BEGGED for him to pull over and let us out, he thought we were joking but we weren't.
He only uses he car once a month or so for big shopping otherwise they walk or use the bus.
he has asked my husband to drive him in the past because he can barely see, dangerous driver!
I would first look into replacing my driving papers if I were you before buying a car, see if it is possible to pass the test first or not.
I have little interest in getting a replacement for my US papers, doesn't look like allot of fun to drive in Hungary to me.
I should actually retract what I said about you being able to use US driving papers for one year in HU. I don't actually know this to be a fact or not. As an American going through Immigration etc. who knows what crazy rules they will toss your way. Seriously sorry to give advice without knowing all the facts.
I know in all US states they only give one a few months time to get local papers for cars and drivers, maybe the same here for ex pats?
Our HU "friend" who drives in HU illegally is a HU citizen so they can't exactly toss him out for breaking laws. Besides 3 of his wives relations are HU attorneys and they know allot of powerful people in HU, real jerks...
Some people can get away with murder and others get caught crossing the st. on a red light.
All the info you can gather before buying a car in HU is best for you.
Our neighbor( a HU guy) has 3 or 4 nice cars and knowing him they probably are all stolen cars, some people here do some really insane things, much worst then you find in the US, just a different way of being law breakers.
Our neighbor does not have a job, has many nice cars which he stores down the st. in a very expensive underground parking lot. Something ain't right if you ask me...
maybe a rental car would work out for you short term in HU.

I have driving in many country's from USA/C/S.America to EUROPE/ ASIA  and find driving here is not that bad except for the people here that always want to pass you and burn more petrol and get there at same time, this has happen in the later years as i have been coming to Hungary for over 20 years so sometimes have not gotten better. Being aggressive is OK but with common sense and politeness is better.

Oh goodness!

Ok so like what do people do that are in Hungary during the first year with the residence permit?

My father is disabled and having a car is a must. He walks with a cane and can drive and i drive him around also. So going without a car would be very very hard on him.

Are long term rental cars affordable?

We plan on buying a car when we get there. How do people go about getting a car and driving legally in your first year?

As long as you have registered the fact that you are living here, you can get a tax card, and transfer your licence to Hungarian, and buying / registering / insuring a car is easy - I did all of this when I got here, and getting & using a car has been easy .....

First off not everyone drives in HU that could.
It's crowded on the roads, people fly by a fast as possible and petrol costs allot.
In Budapest with all the one way streets, no left turns at major streets, you have to know the city well or your in for a stressful time.
Most people use public transportation.Even handicapped people.The buses and trans now have lowered steps.

I see people walking with canes a crutches on streets because most shops are not too far away from each other.
I was using first crutches then for a year a cane and i admit it wasn't easy.
Some people would move to let you by but there were enough who even went as far as to play around like they were knocking your cane away, rude and weird.It was not fun at all.
You could also take a taxi.
My husband looked on line for you, check out: autoberlesbudapest.huponthu

They listed car from as low as 3,000 to 5,500 a day for an economy car. Skoda, Opel or Suzuki models.
A 30,000 forint deposit was required.
That's on the reasonable side, there are big co. like Hertz here , you can look on line at their prices and terms.
Only basic auto coverage was offered at these low prices.

I face same issue. I drive my car from UK to Hungary in the spring, fly backwards and forwards, then take it back to UK in the autumn. It is problematic because breakdown company will only cover 180 days out of UK, and I dont love 4000 km of driving . It is 15 year old skoda, so I would like to leave it in Hungary. That is going to involve registering it in Hungary and insuring it here. I don't have a clue at the moment about either process, nor the status of my 60% no claims discount.

I'll try to have me husband  look into this for you.
I do know basic auto insurance in HU is really reasonable. We pay around $100. for 3 months of coverage on our Toyota which is 17 years old. Wow, didn't realize it was that old since it still looks good and runs alright, good enough for what we need it for at least.
We use Aegon for auto insurance.

Not really sure what your 60% discount is but it probably will not apply here in Hungary if you register your car here. We had good driver discounts in the US but of no use here.

davidpearce wrote:

I face same issue. I drive my car from UK to Hungary in the spring, fly backwards and forwards, then take it back to UK in the autumn. It is problematic because breakdown company will only cover 180 days out of UK, and I dont love 4000 km of driving . It is 15 year old skoda, so I would like to leave it in Hungary. That is going to involve registering it in Hungary and insuring it here. I don't have a clue at the moment about either process, nor the status of my 60% no claims discount.

Your no claims should be recognised here.

You can get breakdown cover all year from Stuart Collins in Swansea.  But you might have to buy their insurance as well and the costs may exceed the value of the car by a long way.  I do not like Stuart Collins as the owner is a total smart ass but since the AA stopped all year out of UK insurance, he's the only game in town.

If it's right hand drive, you could have difficulties registering it and you could be hit very hard for registration taxes given its age.  Better really to dispose of it and buy a local car.