44 Buying a car

You do need to be residents but since you are EU citizens the whole process is a lot easier. Basically you need to first find out how the questura works for your area. If it goes by appointments as most do now, make one now for the day after you arrive. Here is a list of Questure online [url]http://www.poliziadistato.it/pds/chisiamo/questure/link.htm[/url] They should have a phone number for URP (ufficio relazione pubblici or something like that). Call and get an appointment and make sure you get a list of things you will need to bring. They speak English normally at this office. Okay, once you get to Italy and you go to the office you can normally get a Permessod di Soggiorno within a month or even less (I know two people from the UK who had theirs in less than a week). For US and other non EU countries it takes MUCH longer. Once you have your PdiS you go to the comune and request residency. BUT just so you know, you can sometimes skip the wait. Sometimes the comune will accept the cedolino (the receipt you get for the PdiS) and if you really need a car they could rush it for you. Otherwise it takes about a month to get official residency. So you are looking at a month or two total. I hope this helps.

Cristina

co0ngartulations firstly.... hope all goes well.....abruzzo is just a short drive away so when you do get your car you are always welcome to visit....

cars..... a minefield here..... when used to the convenience and ease of the uk.....

yes you will need your code fiscale..... when you buy your house you will declare your residency with the local commune.... tax reasons plus you are living here..... depending on the commune that can be quick or slow....but the local commune policeman will need to visit you in your house and you will fill out a form..... if he is a bit slow coming....politely go to the commune and ask if he can do it sooner because you have to have the bit of paper....

the permisso is an oddity.....i have never bothered with one....or at least i have tried....but they told me when i got to the head of the long queue not to bother....they are more worried about eastern europeans and seeing as i am a ec citizen why bother....this is either unusual to abruzzo or common...i dont know....

btu its code fiscale and residency which is important.... i would say your best bet...if your budget will run to it is to buy a new car.....the garage will be more helpful....try and do it locally and they might well help with the mayor getting your residency through....otherwise if you buy privately there are lots of costs and paperwork.....rather than attempt to visit all the various offices ....up to and including the natary....they organise everything if you go to a specialist agency.....

the worst part is the cost....around e500 to get a second hand car on top of the price.....and then insurance.....they operate a bonus/malus system....you will be lucky if you get no 9.....which means you are a new driver with no accidents....each year this will reduce by 1 point to reduce your premium....but not by much....if you happen to have an accident and it increases god help you..... average 1400 cc car about e800 for third party only.....which is what most people use...comprehensive hardly exists....you might as well triple the price...

however there are deals.... a lot of the foreign companies will offer you interest free credit when you buy and also insurance for three years....ok you most probably wont be able to get the credit....but bargain on the insurance....its worth it.....fiat...are also doing it.... but more so the korean type companies and even toyota....check out the ads in the local paper....

so yes this is one of the areas in italy where costs are much higher than the uk...... road tax depends on engine size ...so does insurance....go for a boring car.... that way no one will bother with it ...as regards stealing....they tend to steal to order and break the car up and then ship it off to eastern europe..... that sort of crime is higher....joy riding type is much lower....its the accident statistics that put the insuarnce up so high and i think why there is no real comprehensive option...

as regards car hire.....i know of one company that rents out for e21 per day all inclusive....i presume a monthly rate would be cheaper
[url]www.autoeuropa.it[/url] if you want to take a look....i know they opearate in pescara so presume they have a national presence...

anyway....dont worry too much....things have a way of working out...get down there...talk to a few people....maybe your agent can help......its all contacts that matter.....be polite to everyone....never mention that its easier in england...and you will most probably find that the sense of achievment in finally buying your first italian car will outweigh all the difficulties....

and finally toast it with a glass of good local wine whilst sitting in the sun.....most probably the best reason for moving here anyway

:(

Thanks for the input...John, we have already planned to pop up and see you in Abruzzo ( our old hunting ground!!!) if we can.

As we speak, Alex is chasing all over town trying to find someone to fix the clutch on our old banger which decided to pack up this morning...can you beleive...we only asked it to hang on until the end of April til he finishes work !!!!! Typical or what !!!!

We are intending to buy new or newish and have budgeted for a very boring easy to mantain jobby!!!

We aren't really 'into' cars anyway , so will only want a good economical runaround.

thanks again...anyone else with ideas greatly received.
Lyn

Just a few notes on my experience buying a new car in Sardegna.

Firstly like almost everything in Italy, it is who you know, not what you know that can save you a lot of time.

I received my Permisso in about a week but only because my partners father knows almost everyone in the area, so a quick word with a police friend got us to the beginning of the queue and a quick word to a friend in local government got our permisso rushed though.

When it comes to buying a car, (unless you are paying cash maybe) you will need residency to obtain any form of credit, residency can only be done after you have a permisso and can take a month or more to come though as the police have to visit you to make sure you are where you say you are etc, anyway again if you know someone in the local police is helps immensely.

I can't forget the look on the face of the clerk who had originally told us that it would take at least a month when we turned up at his desk a week later with everything done. :) It is always kinda satisfying to beat the system, especially the over bureaucratic Italian system.

Anyway, apart from that the car buying process is fairly easy, the only thing you have to look out for after that is the appalling roads and high insurance costs.

BTW anyone recommend a good cheap insurer, i'm currently with Direct Line Italy and they seem to be cheaper than the rest but still very high.

P.S. has anyone else noticed that the Italian dog and cat population seem to have a death wish, I have never seen so much roadkill before, almost every few hundred meters on some roads there seems to be an animal corpse lying at the side of the road (or even sometimes in the road), then again it could be because i'm from London and not used to the country ways, I don't know.

:D
Thanks everyone,
all this info is really useful,especially any decent insurance companies .

We will be paying cash...not 'cos we're that rich, just budgeted for a car out of the proceeds of the house as we knew our own had had it anyway !!!!!...does paying cash make a difference to buying the car quickly ??

Re: the animal situation...I'd better keep our mutt under lock and key then.......as it is she isn't that street wise.....she's only got to see a mate ( or a cat....she loves cats but naturally they hate her !!!)...and 'zoom' she's gone.......luckily the house we are buying has gates .....had hoped to have them open during the day tho'.......

Anymore input greatly appreciated.....i.e......what car would you recommend with the following.......cheap ! , economical to run and get fixed, air conditioned, preferabley hatch back for all my shopping !!take 4 adults comfortably ( most of the time just the 2 of us and the dog !!!!) last us for quite a few years........is there such a car !!!!!!!!???????

Type of car? I would go with a Fiat if you are looking for best bang for your buck.

A good online insurance company (best quotes I have found so far) is [url=http://www.genialloyd.it/homepage.jhtml;$sessionid$52A5AWUKTVTNLQFIA3DSGWY?&_requestid=695783]Genialloyd[/url]

Hope this helps,

Cristina

With regards to cars I am not one to recommend as I have only ever had 1 car (the one I have now) as I never found the need for one in London (and would never have been able to park it anyway) although I have driven a number of them for work etc.

But for what it is worth my new car (A fiat Stilo 3 door 1.9 JTD 2004 [url]http://www.fiatstilo.com[/url]) has given my no problems at all in 7 months (Only thing thats happened is the badge on the back came loose or might have been played with by kids and I stuck it back on) plus you can pick them up for very little and they are packed with nice features.

Some people say they are not very reliable but that was for the older versions, and top gear rate them very low but again more for reliability of the older models than the new one's, the only problem is that they depreciate quite rapidly.

If you do go for this model, don't get the 5 door (looks like a London Cab), get either the 3 door (if your sporty like me :) ) or estate versions for the space and other people rate the JTD 1.9 as the best of there engines for price and performance.

Hi sam
we were talking about Fiat perhaps being the best option, I had a second hand one as a runaround ...my eldest son bought if from me about 5 years ago and it's still going strong !!! a bit battered but goes like a dream !!!!! This is an H reg ( UK) registration and quite unbelievable really !!!!!

That web-site yougave won't come up , should it end in '.it' ?
thanks for all th help
Lyn

I think it is this forum trying to be cleaver and auto-creating a link but not recognising the () around it meaning its broke it.

the link should be

[url]http://www.fiatstilo.com[/url]

hopefully that one will work.

It's a slog getting this. You need a translated copy of your birth certificate (at least). When you make application, you will be given a receipt and told to come back with any missing docs, as it's a bit unlikely you will have all the necessary documents (nothing happens first time in Italy). If you have already selected your vehicle and convinced the salesman you have the necessary cash, get everything ready for your handover (it will take a few weeks for the logbook to be handed over) and then go back with your receipt from the Anagrafica in your hand. It worked for me.

I've just been reading the replies where people have got their permesso within a month, or even a week!

We applied at Sansepolcro and once we had filled in the form and handed over all the other required documents we were told to come back in 3 months. When we came back in 3 months we were told it still wasn't ready and to come back at the end of another month! Finally got our permesso's after 4 1/2 months.

We're now waiting for our residenza (a month so far).

Terry, I think it is outrageous that you had to wait that long, as I mentioned in my other post mine was fast as I had internal help but even without it I would have expected no more than a months wait for a permisso and considering the amount things you need a permisso for I think they are taking the P*ss.

I guess is can have something to do with the amount of applications they have to process, if your area has a lot of immigrants then it may well talk a lot longer?