I'm an European student living and studying as an undergraduate in the UK, my question is how can I buy myself a car, what is the procedure, what type of taxes I have to pay.

Where I should register the car?

  • 1
    Are you living on a continent while you're studying in the UK? – Karlson Sep 19 '15 at 15:09
  • Im living in the UK – user8236 Sep 19 '15 at 19:56

To buy a UK car in the United Kingdom you need:

  • A valid UK address. This is so both the DVLA and the Insurance company you chose will know where you live. This should be permanent, as any time you move you have to update this record with both of them.
  • Money. To buy the car, vehicle tax and insurance.
  • Valid driving licence. Otherwise you won't be able to drive it.

You can buy your car from either a private seller (e.g. someone selling his/her own car), or from a dealer. Most of the steps are the same, but in case you are buying from a dealer they will most likely be able to help with the registration of the car.

In any case, once you buy a car you have to make sure it is:

  • Re-registered in your name. This is either done by the dealer, or if you bought it from a private seller by filling out the appropriate rows in the registration certificate, and sending it to the DVLA. You will get your own certificate by post, but you can already drive the car.
  • Taxed. You have to pay tax every year (unless it's CO2 emission is under 100g/km as of 2015), and you can pay the tax online. You have to pay it before you can legally use it on the road.
  • Insured. You can shop around with insurance companies, and you have to pay the premium every year usually. If you are from the EU, and you had a car in your home country you might be able to move your No Claims Bonus as well.

Once these are done you can use and drive it. There might be additional costs involved, especially if you live in an area where you need to get a parking permit to actually park your car. Also the car needs to be checked every year for roadworthyness (called MOT), so if there isn't much time left on the car's MOT, you will have to probably get it as well.


You don't strictly need a driving license in order to buy a car. A friend or family member could drive it for you as long as they have your permission, a driving license, and adequate insurance.

  • Do you have a link to support this statement? – Mark Mayo Oct 3 '15 at 0:42
  • while true, it's usually much harder to insure it, if the owner can't drive it. And of course no one would be able to drive it, if it's generally uninsured – SztupY Oct 3 '15 at 21:08

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