natakiwamlimani

Hey guys,
A friend and I (both American) are thinking of flying into St. Petersburg and buying a car to drive down to Moscow, south through Volgograd and then along the Caspian Sea into Azerbaijan. Eventually we would like to go through Georgia into Turkey. We are thinking of selling the car there in Turkey, or paying to ferry it across to Bulgaria/Albania, and continue driving up through the Balkans. A couple questions:

1. How difficult would it be to purchase a car in St. Petersburg?
2. If we do somehow manage to buy a car, would it be possible to sell it in Turkey?
3. Anyone know of a ferry route from Turkey to Albania?
4. How about selling the car in the Balkans--more or less difficult than in Turkey?

Thanks!!

FrankS

I dont know to be more impressed that you are willing to go thru the hassle to buy a car there, or that you are willing to drive from St Petersburg to Turkey with all the potential hazards.

The buying part is easy, that just takes money. Its the registering part that is a pain. Unless you are buying through a major dealer that will help you with the forms, you probably need to hire an agency to help you. Here is one that helps foreign nationals

http://www.gibdd.ru/

couple of fyis for you, its a sellers market for cars in Russia when their currency is weak like it is now. Russians panic and spend their rubles before they drop further and cars are a favorite place to park cash. Your registration is only good as long as your visa is valid

nytraveler

Have no clue how this would work - but how would you get insurance to cover all of those countries?

Rubicund

I suspect that if you can buy a car in Russia, you won't be able to register it as you won't have an address in the country and you won't be able to insure it for the same reason. You'd have to tell the insurance company that you've no intention of returning to Russia and I'd be amazed if you could get cover.

I certainly wouldn't do such a trip without insurance or registration and I'd guess if you get stopped by the law it would be the last you'll see of the car.

janisj

Not doable.

You can't register a car in Russia. You can't insure it. And you can't sell it in Turkey.

thursdaysd

Right, the paperwork to get the car in and out of a whole slew of countries will probably be a pain. You might want to take a look at the Mongol Rally website, they have to deal with it.

I rather doubt there is a ferry from Turkey to Albania - you'd have to go all the way round Greece. Since you've driven that far you might as well keep driving. Northern Greece and Macedonia are quite scenic.

Odin

Foreigners buy cars and drive them in Russia all the time. Mostly they are expats though, not a tourist who has never been to Russia and has never driven outside of the US or who has limited foreign driving experience. It used to be that the best place to buy cars in that region was Kaliningrad. Here is an expat site which explains the process. So it is certainly possible to buy the car, but doing anything like this in Russia is extremely bureaucratic and there are lots of rules on everything. The roads are not great, the drivers beyond crazy, the police will stop you and fine you (cars bought by foreigners always used to have different number plates, not sure if that is still the case). And that's just in Russia.

http://russia.angloinfo.com/transpor...ng-a-used-car/

So it is certainly possible that you can buy a car in Russia and get it registered, but then you have the problem of getting it into the other countries & complying with the rules of each. Some borders are closed for foreigners, you need to read your government foreign advice. To sell the car in Turkey, it will have to be deregistered in Russia.

FrankS

Kaliningrad was the place where cars that got 'misplaced' in other countries ended up, with California & New York the vanity plates of choice. But I heard they clamped down on that

Like Odin said, if you are a foreigner, you will be pulled over. If you have the correct papers, they wont hassle you. My advice, dont look at police and certainly dont smile at them. Odin is also correct about the drivers, insane drivers have right of way. Also the roads are awful outside of cities. Once our lada got hopelessly stuck in a ditch in the middle of the road. We thought we were walking until we realized the car was so light we could pick it up and get it out on our own

Gretchen

Having driven with our Russian hosts in Moscow it was like a NASCAR driving experience with teenagers all around us. Dodge 'em or bumper cars, depending on abilities. I was relieved to be alive!!
But I can't speak for possibilities!! LOL

Gretchen

I would think that the ability to speak Russian and the other dialects/languages along the way to "negotiate" traffic tickets or even "passage" with local constables might be a necessity.

janisj

Odin: An expat living in Russia is ENTIRELY different than a tourist in Russia for a few weeks . . .

am_expat

It is certainly possible to buy a car here but why? They are a lot more expensive than in Germany for example. Buy one in Europe where used cars are much cheaper and arrange insurance for Russia before you cross the border with it. Be prepared for long wait and showing a lot of documents to prove insurance and registered ownership by the driver when entering the first time. Your car will get a visa at the border and its duration matches that of your own visa. The person listed as owner will be the only driver and not a passenger. Permission to drive with an out of country drivers license might be changed any time since there have been bills in the Duma which would require Russian drivers licenses to drive. It has not been made a law but it might. Carry a certified translation of your driver's license at all time when driving.
Driving is a passion for many and it is the largest car sales market in all of Europe so roads will be busy particularly in major cities. There is a toll bypass road around St Petersburg now, and Moscow has major traffic jams the closer you get into the center of the city but otherwise it is perfectly feasible to drive in Russia.
Driving is a lot safer than just 10 years ago and anyone who has driven in foreign countries will be able to manage. Getting out of the cities however means a lot fewer people speaking your language and reading signs becomes more difficult and a lot fewer repair parts for foreign cars. The driver and front passenger are required to wear seat belt now and any drinking before or during driving results in serious fines or arrest.
Roads in rural areas are not great, and many have not been kept up unless leading to new developments.
My suggestion is to hire a driver and car in each country so you do not have all the legal details to work out before crossing every border and you will be accompanied by someone who speaks the language and knows the driving regulations of each country.

Trains are better long distance transportation in Russia, with good connections to everywhere you want to go. The trains are clean, reliable and on time a 4 berth cabin is pretty comfortable and not expensive. By using the late night trains you save hotel costs because a 500+ mile leg gets you to a destination in the morning rested from sleeping the whole journey(unless you do what many do, have cabin parties).
As you travel south you might get some suspicious questions and in fact some areas would not be easy to access since there are still separatist rebels and Islamic militants to avoid.
As a expat for many years, I think it is not a great idea but doable if you are really adaptable, handle the unexpected with novel solutions, and have access to resources and assistance when needed.
You mentioned several countries to drive through which are not as safe as Russia, which by world standards is pretty safe.

massilia66

The trip should be nice and doable by car. But buying a car in Russia mean so much paper work in a country famous for corruption and to pay importing taxes in Turkey or Albania in order to sell it there.

The most easy would be to buy a car in European Union with a temporary plate for non-EU resident (usauly red registration plate), that way you save 20 % because you don't pay VAT tax. Most of major car company have special office dealing with such configuration, at least in France for sure, but in Poland it should exist too, many americans or french resident in USA do that when they want to stay in Europe between 2 and 6 mounth. Car companies even offer the option to buy you back the car once your trip is over. They can help you for the inssurance, it's standart for most of inssurance to covert most of the countries in Europe, north Africa and middle east, the only limitation is warzone, maybe Kosovo since that territory is not totaly reconized.You can even ship the car back to USA and sell it there especialy if it's rare model in north america, many forwarder agent are specialized for such transport and it's cheaper then you might think.

Once you get your car in European Union you can cross any border in you list, but don't try to sell it on the way or it will be a lot of papers and taxes.

Thee is no ferry to Bulgaria or Albania from Turkey, just normal road.

bilboburgler

Crossing the border into Russia will be a dogs breakfast, I used to have to arrange moving cars across the border for a company and actually ended up leaving one there as the cost of bribes was worth more than the car.

We found that Peugeot and Renault seemed to get least "tax" while the gangster favorites of BMW and LandRover were a nightmare.

janisj

The thread is nine months old and the OP hasn't been back . . .