Used car dealers?

You gotta be very careful buying a car here, people are notorious for rolling back the miles. Also most of the cars are salvaged cars imported from Western Europe and then repaired here as labour is cheap. Deff get the car checked by a mechanic before you buy it. Tax and mot vary depending on the cost of the car and age. But generally pretty cheap, for example I'm paying 400lv a year tax (for a 40k lv car), mot is 30lv and the stcker for road tax was around 100. Full coverage insurance is 2000lv a year. I would definately recommend you get full coverage insurance, you can file a claim for anything and get your car painted even if you scratch it yourself and best part is there is no deductible. As far as paperwork goes, if you buy it from a dealer they will handle all that for you. I bough mine from a private party and he filled out everything for me so either way ask whoever you are buying from to help you out. If you decide to buy a car from Sofia I know some people here that are reliable.

Another thing to be concerned about- make sure that the car has had its taxes paid by the previous owner and everything is current. We were looking for a car a while back and my brother-in-law went to check one out for us... after he said no way, the owner admitted that there were 7 years in back taxes that would have to be paid to get it registered.

I am not sure how you would check that, but it is worth mentioning and asking about.

You probably already know about cars.bg, which is the main listing of autos, from both personal sellers and used dealerships. However, no real way to know who to trust on there.

It's a bit dodgy never even heard of back taxes?
Anywhere else you would not get away with running up any outstanding tax, I think I'll have to consider the route of bringing over a car from the UK, or even looking at surrounding countries, Greece maybe?
But thanks for the advice offered from the forum, much appreciated.
Cheers Steve.

Bringing a car from a surrounding country is the same thing, still gonna have to deal with all that BS. A lot of people go to Germany and buy cars from there thinking it's better and some of the times it is if you get lucky but I know Bulgarians who export cars there to sell so you end up with the same car but you end up paying more and have to deal with the hassle of bringing it over. Best bet is to just have a mechanic that you trust give it a once over.

Ok that will be something I will have to look in to, cheers for your advice Kris.
(Hope you are keeping warm in BG!! ha-ha)
Regards Steve.

Hi the taxes he is on about is municipal / council taxes , you have to register your car with the local municipality and pay them tax for it each year, If the tax is not paid each year  it mounts up each year and stays with the car until it is sold and reregistered when all of the back taxes will have to be paid as the taxes stay with the car not the previous owner.
I bought a lovely Black BMW lhd in the UK before I went out there on UK plates, It was stolen within 2 months so don't buy a Beemer they steal them and strip them for parts.

                                                     Terry

Hi stepool1970,

buying a car in BG is probably the cheapest solution to your problem. You can get a decent car for under 3000 lv. /depends on what car you prefer/. Have it checked by a mechanic before buying it.
here you can check some options:

www.cars.bgwww.mobile.bgwww.olx.bg

there are many other websites too. Search wor "употребяван автомобил", "автокъща"

Normally, your mechanic will tell you what repairs nees the car you have selected, or even get the mechanic with you and select a car together. Much better idea.

Car insurance differs. Basic car insurance will cost you about 200 lv. per year. This is obligatory. Full car insurance is not obligatory and for a car  less than 5 000 lv. there's not much sense.

Transferring the ownership over the car will cost you about 400 lv. (number plates, ecotax, technical inspection, etc.)

Vignette costs about 70 lv. per year.

Car mileage is not important, it will definately be manipulated, but you can calculate approximate numers at a rate of 20 000 km. per year.  What is important is the technical condition of the car and the repairs it will need.

When transferring ownership, the previous owner will have to prove all taxes are paid. A notary will have to check this, if you buy a car from its owner in Bulgaria, If you are buying an imported car, that has no registration in Bulgaria then there's some risk - you have to check the engine number and schassis.

Basically, that's all. A good mechanic is the key!

Thanks for the information Kristiann, the difference between car insurance is crazy but like you say the cover starts from basic upwards so reflects on the price, I will however try and get a mechanic to check out anycar first, I recently heard about the taxes on the cars being paid up to date, again it is all helpfull information and good to know.
(I'll check out the websites too)
Thanks Steve.

Good luck Steve

If you need a good mechanic I can recommend one, at least for Sofia.

Kristiann

Thanks for your reply if by chance you can sound him out then he may even know of sombody who is selling on a car?
I have looked through those websites you gave me I am not in any great rush yet just putting out some feelers at the moment mate.
Cheers Steve.

Actually you are right, he is selling occasionally cars - mainly cars of his clients and cars that he has maintained for them. But you can never know who's going to decide to sell his car and when. What kind of car are you looking for ?

I may be looking at a 4 x 4 jeep?
I have a changing terrain from my local town to the actual village and house, from tarmac, gravel, to clay and grass, so depending on weather conditions this is more suited to a 4 x 4 or maybe suv?
I am like mentioned in no great rush the hire car last week did ok except for a hill climb, it had rained a mixture of mud and cow pats halted that route, I do not want a top of the range car I'd stick out in the village its an "a to b" general shopping/diy goods etc...
Regards Steve.

In this case probably the cars that my mechanic maintains wil not sute you cos they are probably the so called asphalt jeeps
But if you re going to use the car only in the village and only for shopping, why don' you buy what  here's know as a hunting jeep ?  it is the old army jeeps - a russian UAZ. Very cheap and travels everywhere. No comfort of course, unless you deside to refubrish it. )

here' s a picture of it:
http://leon-esman.chat.ru/foto/p02.jpg

Ha ha well I'm up for one not sure what my missus would say tho!
I am quite into my cars like the obscure type seem's you got my style straight away.
Cheers I liked the post.
Steve.

Hey Chris, I saw your post in Expat.com on user car. Would it be okay with you if I contact you on mobile? Thanks.

Hey Kris, I saw your post in Expat.com on user car. Would it be okay with you if I contact you on mobile? Thanks.

Sent it on PM.

I, have mentioned about the back tax problem before on this forum and was told that this could not happen.But I, like you know different, and can add up to quite a substantial sum.

Yep alot of ppl don't pay thier taxes and when you are buying a car that's one of the things to look for. Dunno if you wanted to contact me or Kristian

Looks like it was me ...

i want to buy audi a3 1.9 tdi sportback 2005 year did you know some good car for me ?

Hi everyone,

@ speedy, please drop an advert in the Vehicles classifieds in Bulgaria section of the website. you might get some offers.

all the best,
Bhavna

As you have special requirements, you might look into a German portal for used cars, like mobile.de . Good choice there. And buy in Germany, as maintenance of the car there would have been better, I suspect. And less wear and tear because of better roads.

It is possible. My car mechanic sells some cars occasionally, and Audi A3 is one of the most popular cars here.
But you have to specify a lot of thing, like:
Petrol or Diesel  engine
Manual or automatic gearboox
Number of doors
equipment requirements
maximum mileage
max price

etc ....

If I have this information, then I can find a car.

Hi I'm coming to Sofia June 1 and looking to buy a used car for 2500Bg. Can you recommended good dealers and mechanics that can help me find a good reliable car

I mentioned this about the taxes on cars on this site some time back. And was told by someone, this could not happen as the tax has to be bought each year. But I know both you and me are correct, if you buy a car where the tax has not been paid you will be responsible for all back taxes.

I can help with a mechanic. Have you already selected brand and model of the car ?

I've followed this thread a bit and am interested to see if I can get some help. On Sunday (10/28/2018) my family and I are flying into Sofia. I want to buy a van that can accommodate us. There are 6 people total. So I'm looking for a VW transporter or an Opel vivaro or something similar. I'll need some help getting it registered, insured, etc.
I noticed the advice to have a good mechanic look at the vehicle first.
This is all great advice.
At this point I need help or advice on the whole process from finding the vehicle to getting it legal to drive.

Help, please.

Wes

Hi Kris,

I know this is an old thread but please could you help
We are driving from england through europe to sofia in a uk registered car in January and would like to sell it to a car dealer when we get there. We dont want much for the car, maybe 200 euros only so he can make a good profit. We just want to fly home but we need to make sure the documentation is correct. Can you recommend an honest dealer or mechanic we could sell to?
Kind regards,
Will