Greece is about as far as you can go in the EU from the UK, and people expect that distance to show up in the time and the hassle. It shows up a little in the route, and hardly at all in the paperwork. As an EU country, Greece is one of the simpler places to bring a car from.
- Route
- Container, RoRo or road
- Price
- Priced per job
- Transit time
- Usually 1 to 4 weeks door to door
- Import tax
- 20% VAT, no duty if EU or UK-built
Sea or road
Greece gives you a genuine choice. The car can go by sea, in a container or on a RoRo ship, and land at Southampton, Felixstowe or Tilbury. Or it can come overland on a transporter, up through the Balkans and across central Europe to the Channel.
| Feature | By sea | By road |
|---|---|---|
| How | Container or RoRo | Car transporter |
| Typical transit | Container around 5 to 10 days | Depends on the transporter run |
| UK arrival | Southampton, Felixstowe or Tilbury | Channel crossing at Dover |
Either way the car is fully insured in transit. Door to door, once collection and customs are allowed for, European moves usually take 1 to 4 weeks. Our guide to container, RoRo or air compares the sea options, and we will recommend whichever suits your car and where it is.
Already driven it over
Plenty of Greek cars never need shipping at all. Most of the ones we register from Greece are already in the UK, driven here by their owners. If that is you, we can take it from there: customs clearance, testing and registration.
The sooner that starts, the better. A foreign-registered car cannot stay on its home plates indefinitely once you live here, and our guide to driving a foreign-registered car in the UK explains the limits.
Closing the Greek registration
A car leaving Greece for good has to come off the Greek register. Permanent deregistration for export is handled through the regional Transport and Communications Directorate, and the Greek government's gov.gr portal lists an online service for cars up to 3,500kg being exported. The owner deals with this on the Greek side.
The exact documents depend on the region and whether the car is sold, so ask the seller or the local Directorate early. We supply whatever proof of transport or UK registration they need from our end.
Import tax from Greece
Greece is in the EU, so a car coming from there pays 20% import VAT. There is no duty if the car was built in the EU or the UK. VAT is worked out on the price you paid plus the cost of transport, or on a recent valuation if the invoice is more than 3 months old.
A Greek-registered car built in Japan or the US, for example, would pay 10% duty on top. A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty. Our import tax calculator gives a rough figure, and the worked examples put the rates into pounds.
Moving to the UK
If you have lived outside the UK for more than 12 months and owned the car for more than 6, Transfer of Residence means no import tax at all. Apply to HMRC before the car moves. A car that was UK-registered before may also come back tax free with its UK purchase invoice and a copy of the old V5C. See bringing a UK car back home.
Customs and NOVA
We clear the car through UK customs ourselves as HMRC CDS authorised agents. HMRC needs to be told within 14 days that the car has arrived, through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA), and the DVLA will not register the car without it. We submit it for you as part of clearance.
Making it UK road legal
Greek cars are left-hand drive and set up for driving on the right, so expect:
- Headlight patterns adjusted so they do not dazzle oncoming traffic
- A speedometer that shows miles per hour
- A rear fog light, if the car's own one is not compliant
We do this work on our own site in Castle Donington. Our guide to speedometer and headlight conversions covers how it is done.
Testing and registration
- Under 10 years old: UK type approval, through mutual recognition or an IVA test
- Over 10 years old: an MOT, with changes generally coming down to the rear fog light
- Over 40 years old: no MOT needed, and the car can be delivered straight to your address
For an EU-built car, mutual recognition usually means a Certificate of Conformity, which we can help source. See our Certificate of Conformity guide. Where an IVA test is needed, we run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain and test on site every week. Our dealer-level DVLA account then lets us register imported cars within 10 working days.
Motorbikes come from Greece too. The same tax rules apply, and bikes usually share a container. Our motorbike guide covers the differences.
Your Greece paperwork
0 of 6 done
What it costs
We do not publish a guide price for Greece, because European routes are priced per job. Sea or road, where the car is and what it needs to pass its test all change the figure. The estimator gives you the tax side, and the shipping costs page explains what goes into a quote.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to ship a car from Greece?
In a container, around 5 to 10 days at sea. Door to door, allowing for collection and customs, European moves usually take 1 to 4 weeks.
Which UK port does a car from Greece arrive at?
By sea, usually Southampton, Felixstowe or Tilbury. By road it crosses the Channel at Dover. Either way we bring it on to our site.
Do I pay import tax on a car from Greece?
Usually 20% import VAT, with no duty if the car was built in the EU or UK. Cars over 30 years old pay 5% VAT, and Transfer of Residence can make it tax free if you are moving here.
I have already driven my Greek car to the UK. Can you register it?
Yes. Most Greek cars we register are already here. We clear them through customs, do the conversion and testing, and register them with the DVLA.
Can I ship a motorbike from Greece?
Yes. Send us the details on the quote form and we will price it.
Send us the car's details on the quote form and we will price the whole job.
