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Locost friendly countries (UK apart)
tajgreidotu - 5/9/13 at 09:17 AM

Just thinking would be nice if we all foreigners can keep information here for how friendly are laws of other countries to legalize and register locosts, so we can pass the inspection in other places if necessary.

Nowadays I m searching for Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian laws, and I hope Ill have some info soon.

As far as I know, in Spain is almost impossible.



Lets share!

[Edited on 5/9/13 by tajgreidotu]

loggyboy - 5/9/13 at 09:19 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tajgreidotu
Just thinking would be nice if we all foreigners can keep information here for how friendly are laws of other countries to legalize locosts, so we can pass the inspection in other places if necessary.

Nowadays I m searching for Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian laws, and I hope Ill have some info soon.

As far as I know, in Spain is almost impossible.



Lets share!


Didnt bobinspain take his MK - to spain funily enough?

Edit - http://locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=177310

[Edited on 5-9-13 by loggyboy]

tajgreidotu - 5/9/13 at 09:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by tajgreidotu
Just thinking would be nice if we all foreigners can keep information here for how friendly are laws of other countries to legalize locosts, so we can pass the inspection in other places if necessary.

Nowadays I m searching for Bulgarian, Greek and Romanian laws, and I hope Ill have some info soon.

As far as I know, in Spain is almost impossible.



Lets share!


Didnt bobinspain take his MK - to spain funily enough?

Edit - http://locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=177310

[Edited on 5-9-13 by loggyboy]


Yes, he did, but as far as I know he did the registration in UK and import the car to Spain. I can be wrong.......

loggyboy - 5/9/13 at 09:34 AM

Oh no, your right, but i didnt think you were querying how to build cars, just register them in foreign countries.
Sure if it is impossible in some countries, just build it, ship it to the UK, register it, then export it back!

tajgreidotu - 5/9/13 at 10:33 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Oh no, your right, but i didn't think you were querying how to build cars, just register them in foreign countries.
Sure if it is impossible in some countries, just build it, ship it to the UK, register it, then export it back!


Sorry for the misunderstood, I m still not familiar with law terms.
The shipping to UK tactic will always be a possibility, but as here in east Europe countries are closer one to the other, im sure it will be cheaper to do it here, we just have to find a good spot

I saw there's a forum in Greece, and another in Latvia.....I already wrote them.

Lets wait for the foreigners to answer

PS: Thank u for your help!

Slater - 5/9/13 at 02:01 PM

It's possible here is South Africa, I've not done it myself so no idea how easy/hard it is.

These guys will know more if you're interested.

Link to Locost SA website

tajgreidotu - 5/9/13 at 03:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slater
It's possible here is South Africa, I've not done it myself so no idea how easy/hard it is.

These guys will know more if you're interested.

Link to Locost SA website


I'm kind of far away from them but they have good resources. good to know there are locost's there too. Thanks!

luke2152 - 5/9/13 at 08:46 PM

Germany requires 15 tests at around 130,000 euros I believe. Not quite suited to 1 off production

tajgreidotu - 9/9/13 at 07:14 AM

quote:
Originally posted by luke2152
Germany requires 15 tests at around 130,000 euros I believe. Not quite suited to 1 off production


I hope not to pay that much

Thank you for your useful PM!

alfas - 12/9/13 at 06:03 AM

its possible in germany, but it needs a very kitcar friendly mot tester and the emission classification is not done by the engine age (as in UK), its done by the "date of 1st registration".
so anything imported from UK needs to go through the german type approval process, which isnt as detailed as the IVA. a valid british mot or IVA certificate does not remain valid over here nor brings any advantages.

emission classification are roughly like this:
Euro 1 from 1. Jan. 1993 Euro 2 from 1. Jan. 1997 Euro 3 from 1. Jan. 2001 Euro 4 from 1. Jan. 2006 Euro 5 from 1. Jan. 2011 Euro 6ab 1. Sep. 2015

so, anything registered after 1992 needs a controlled catalytic converter, whatever engine is fitted...which also means the engine needs to be equipped with an injection system.

the owner has to bring a prove that the car fullfills the emission classification according to the laws, valid for the specific reg-date. which means a rolling road session in a certified emission test lab....costs around 1500,-euro

anything after Euro3 is nearly impossible to fullfill..as there are also other things which need to meet the standards: like noise emission, OBD, electromagnet compatibility (EMC), brake certificate, durability approval of chassis etc..

so building a new kitcar is nearly impossible on a budget and register over here. the only solution is to buy one with a foreign (generally a UK-)registration for avoiding any re-registration problems best would be one with a reg.date before 1992.

[Edited on 12/9/13 by alfas]

swanny - 12/9/13 at 08:42 AM

very interesting, so is the 1993 cut off the major factor? is there any exemption for cars classed as 'classics' ?

alfas - 12/9/13 at 10:12 AM

in germany a car gets classified as "classic" or historic" with an age (registration date) of 30years.

classic cars are exempt from the limitation entering environmental zones (more or less every german city, medium size upwards has been declared as envoirnmental zone, where only "clean" cars are allowed )

for classic cars the tax rate is fix: 191,73 € / year for cars. 46,02 € for motor-bikes.

a car only gets the thought after historic status, after a special mot approval test which more or less checks that the car is in very good condition (patch welding floorpans and lots of underseal the car will not pass this test). tuning or modifications only allowed with contemporary parts. (e.g. modern alloys, low profile tyres, zetec engine in an escort mk2...wont pass)


back to the reg-dates in terms of emissions:

generalizing the whole thing: everything b4 1993 will be ok without a cat and could be re-registered without expecting too much trouble. 1993 onwards is more complicated, money consuming and the younger the cars get more or less impossible. always keeping in mind for all reg-dates: you need a very, very kitcar-friendly tester...