Guide · Romania

Driving a UK-registered car in Romania: how long you can keep UK plates, why it cannot be registered, and what to do instead

Romania is the hardest country in Europe to bring a UK car home to. Since Brexit, a right-hand-drive car last registered in Britain cannot be registered here at all, and residents get a strict 90-day window on foreign plates. Here is what the rules say and what your options are.

Last reviewed September 2026

How long can I keep it on UK plates?

A person resident in Romania may use a car registered abroad for a maximum of 90 consecutive days from the day it enters the country. After that the car must be registered in Romania; the penalty is a fine of over 4,000 lei and the car can be taken off the road. Visitors who are not resident may drive on foreign plates for the length of their legal stay.

Can a right-hand-drive car be registered?

The RAR registration rules require the steering wheel on the left. The only exception is a vehicle that was last registered in another EU member state, which the UK no longer is. In practice a right-hand-drive UK car must have its steering converted to the left by an authorised workshop, with RAR homologation, headlamp conversion and the workshop's documentation, before it can be registered — a job that usually costs more than the car is worth.

What registering it involves

Customs clearance as a non-EU import (declaration through a customs broker), paying duty and VAT.
Left-hand-drive conversion at an authorised workshop, with invoice and RAR approval of the modification.
RAR individual homologation (omologare individuală) and the CIV identity card.
ITP roadworthiness inspection.
Registration at the DRPCIV/SPCRPCIV office: plates, certificate, RCA insurance.

What it costs

Customs duty: 10% of the customs value unless UK origin can be proven under the EU–UK agreement.
VAT: 21% on the value plus duty (rate increased in August 2025).
Steering conversion: workshop-dependent, commonly several thousand euros.
RAR homologation, ITP, translations, plates and fees on top.

Moving home? Transfer-of-residence relief

If you lived in the UK for at least 12 months and owned and used the car for at least 6 months, you can normally import it free of customs duty and VAT as personal property when you move your residence to Romania (transfer-of-residence relief). That solves the tax but not the steering wheel: the car still cannot be registered unless it is converted to left-hand drive, and you cannot sell it for 12 months after relief is granted.

The alternative: sell it back to the UK

Selling the car back into the UK trade is the practical answer for most owners. We buy UK-registered, right-hand-drive cars in Romania exactly as they stand, collect free by transporter from any address, handle the export paperwork, and pay in pounds sterling on collection day — into your UK bank account if you still have one.

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Free collection anywhere in Romania, all export paperwork handled, paid in pounds sterling (£) on the day.

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Common questions

Is it true that UK cars cannot be registered in Romania at all?

Right-hand-drive cars that were last registered outside the EU cannot be registered as they are. A UK-registered left-hand-drive car (rare) can go through normal import homologation; a right-hand-drive car must be converted first.

What about registering it in Bulgaria and bringing it back?

Some people do this, but you still pay the import taxes there, need a Bulgarian address, and a Romanian resident using a Bulgarian-registered car faces the same 90-day rule.

My MOT and UK tax have run out. Does it matter?

Not to us. We buy cars with expired MOT or SORN and move them on a transporter, so the car does not need to be road-legal in either country.

Rules, rates and thresholds change. This guide is a general summary as of September 2026, not legal or tax advice — check the current position with the registration authority or a customs agent before relying on it.

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