Vehicle registration and re-registration
 

Is it possible to drive a vehicle registered in one country to another country, and then register the vehicle locally?

I'm planning a trip from Japan to the UK with a JPN registered car and hope to re-register the vehicle with UK plates once I get there.

I suppose I'd have to import it - are there companies in the UK that will handle the paperwork, and is it possible once the vehicle is actually in the country?

Any advice appreciated...

Cheers,

GL

The short answer is Yes,you can arrive in UK with a foreign registered vehicle and get it re-registered.The UK Customs are very adept at sorting genuine travellers from foreign car dealers and my own experience(twice) is that they are 100% helpful.
BUT,getting into UK is the easy bit!!!The first series of questions you may wish to ask is can u export Jap car/plates on an a)temp basis assuming u will return or,b)on a permanent basis where u have to deregister in Japan and travel on export plates.

To do the latter would almost certainly be more trouble than its worth because even though u will have a Carnet(impractical
without this),most countries have wierd and massively frustrating travel requirements for vehicles with export plates(fixed convoys etc).No fun at all.

I have got around this in the past by sending a letter to the registration dept.of the base country saying that I am travelling on leave and will be back within x months and then,on rereg in UK,returning the plates by couriering them to the Carnet office who then return them to the registry office and then release the Carnet Bond.

Vital u check requirements of countries u will pass thro.Local Carnet office usually know about adjacent countries and keep talking to travellers thro webs like this one.
Complicated but well worth while at the end.Good luck!!

Thanks Tony...

What I can tell, no carnet is required from Japan to Russia, Mongolia, and Europe.

So, my plan is to travel on Japanese plates and then deregister everything once I get there. Might involve a lot of faxes and paperwork, but it sounds doable.

Cheers,

GL