GBMUD Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Just looking at a company website offering off-road tours in north Africa and I noticed an Eire registration on their guide vehicle. This made me consider the security advantage in NOT appearing to come from the UK - I suspect that there is probably a considerable advantage in some parts. This got me wondering, might it be possible to register the same car in more than one European country? I appreciate that it is probably not legal, the question is, is it possible? Any suggestion what European country other than the UK might be best from a north African security perspective? I guess that the car would probably be RHD though LHD a possibility. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatback90 Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 having an eire registration is not what its cracked up to be, my 2.5l diesel range rover costs me just under €1000 per year to tax for starters! the only problem i can see is that the authorities over here talk to yours.......dual would be a problem however if you want an irish one send me a pm with all your details and erm a small fee and you can register it here at my address in my name of course!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I think the big issue there Chris is most countries in Europe have at one point or the other, invaded/been involved in wars/fallen out with/taken advantage of most North African countries even Belgium!! So what would you pick France? German? Spain? Luxembourg may be a safe bet!! Jason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 AFAIK any vehicle must be registered in the home country of residence of the vehicles owner/registered keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 You could easily get Irish(or any other country) plates made up with your english reg on and just put them on once you are touring your country of choice ... mess with the spacing if you want to make them more obscure. If you got stopped and questioned just claim you broke/lost/had your plates stolen in whatever country your plates are now sporting and you had to have replacements made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Pretty sure most of the European countries at least would be sharing vehicle registration information on a regular basis, so it may get picked up that way. As regard to North African reception, I think just being from Europe would be as bad as any individual country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 When I registered my German cars in the UK I had to send off the original German registration documents before they would issue a V5C so I guess the answer is probably no..... unless you simply apply for a copy prior to the registration (say you lost old one and pay the fee) and then change the new one. Keep your old plates and you have a thoroughly illegal but authentic vehicle to try and cross foreign borders with! Hmm, you want to risk it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Pretty sure most of the European countries at least would be sharing vehicle registration information on a regular basis, so it may get picked up that way. As regard to North African reception, I think just being from Europe would be as bad as any individual country. In which case get plates made up in whatever country you are touring. Also I'm fairly certain when seeing peoples piccies who have done big overlanding trips they have had different reg plates on when in some of the more distant countries..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 In which case get plates made up in whatever country you are touring. Also I'm fairly certain when seeing peoples piccies who have done big overlanding trips they have had different reg plates on when in some of the more distant countries..... I think those plates are for temporarily imported vehicles transiting the country, only for use between the countries borders not for omwarrd travel, vehicle still has to be legally reg'd in it'd own home country, mmgemini might know as he has done lots of 'sandy' country travels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CwazyWabbit Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I think those plates are for temporarily imported vehicles transiting the country, only for use between the countries borders not for omwarrd travel, vehicle still has to be legally reg'd in it'd own home country, mmgemini might know as he has done lots of 'sandy' country travels. Ah, maybe I misunderstood... I interpreted the question as relating to atitudes/security once in the country, not getting into/out of the country. I remember family friends back in the 70's putting red plates on their cars while driving around southern Ireland as the felt it was safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haulie Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 If you had and address you could register you vehicle in Ireland at you would still have to hand up your v5 to get a Irish registration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveG Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Tint the windows and put some Libyan plates on. There's plenty of those driving around the deserts of North Africa at the moment! As for European, then probably Swiss plates are best. The Swiss never upset anyone and stay out of most wars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 You could easily get Irish(or any other country) plates made up with your english reg on and just put them on once you are touring your country of choice I like this idea very much! It is a lot better than breaking the law and paying taxes in two countries! Being obviously British (UK) might make one a target for Islamic extremists since it seems that in some parts people associate anyone British with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Appearing to be Irish, Swiss etc., at least from a distance, might be an advantage. We were advised that even in Morocco the Algerian border can be a dangerous area. Being French in Morocco seemed to be unpopular... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disco_al Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Being French anywhere seemed to be unpopular... corrected....... :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diablo Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 We were advised that even in Morocco the Algerian border can be a dangerous area. Chris They're hardly the best of friends though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UdderlyOffroad Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 At the end of the day this is a bit like camouflage - the idea is that the human eye doesn't look twice - not that everything will appear fine on closer inspection. I.e. you may put, say, Swiss plates on your truck, and may get left alone. But any roadblock, checkpoint, etc will immediately get suspicious if they pull over a Helvetic-registered Landie and find a load of British-passport-carrying people on board. And you could find yourself in far more trouble than if you had just travelled on UK plates. Incidentally, as a British/Swiss dual national myself, I could probably do this trick - assuming that is I was suitably masochistic enough to want to deal with the Swiss DVLA and go through the palaver of 'importing' a vehicle into Switzerland. Swiss plates are unique to the person, not the vehicle, and only available from the issuing authority. Therefore, fake Swiss plates wouldn't be much use to you either. My problem however, would be that although I could go through all this, I still have a 'British' sounding name (Matthew) - therefore even travelling on a Swiss passport I'd stick out like a sore Limey-thumb. Incidentally, despite all this (and I'm by no means a middle east/Africa expert), I'm given to understand that travelling on a British Passport and/or ina UK-registered vehicle is still far preferable to being American! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orgasmic Farmer Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Ask your self this... in the absence of a country identifier (GB, DE, F etc) do you really think the average joe will know your numberplates are British. If someone drove past you with an egyptian plate or an iranian or Pakistani number plate or one from Turkmenisatan or Georgia, would you instantly think they are evil foreign invaders? How many people here could tell the difference between a Czech, a Slovak or a Croatian plate in isolation? Very few I guess. Why would someone instantly assume you were British from your numberplate if they didn't know what it was? Better to leave the GB sticker off or have loads of different country sticker on the truck so no-one knows which is yours!!!....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 ^ ^ like he says ^ ^ - nobody is likely to recognise a UK plate, in Africa or even Europe. And fortunately, the majority of people outside of the UK tend to be a little more welcoming of foreign visitors, and the only thing liable to get you a negative response is a negative attitude. I've travelled through much of Africa and the middle east, and to date have not been targeted by Islamic militants, kidnapped or killed despite driving a very English car, with a union flag at front and back . I have been offered food, drink, put up in strangers homes and given the most extraordinary hospitality, because they saw my English car. So don't think on it too much Oh, and as already mentioned, you do need to put on temporary plates in some countries - Libya & Egypt for example. It shows you've paid import tax etc And putting plates on from another country may actually mean you pay higher temporary import duty, in a similar way to the difference with visa charges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headhunter Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I like this idea very much! It is a lot better than breaking the law and paying taxes in two countries! Being obviously British (UK) might make one a target for Islamic extremists since it seems that in some parts people associate anyone British with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Appearing to be Irish, Swiss etc., at least from a distance, might be an advantage. We were advised that even in Morocco the Algerian border can be a dangerous area. Being French in Morocco seemed to be unpopular... Chris Never thought we would see Chris contemplating passing himself off as a Paddy! The lengths people will go to, what the fek. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark-d Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 At the end of the day this is a bit like camouflage - the idea is that the human eye doesn't look twice - not that everything will appear fine on closer inspection. I.e. you may put, say, Swiss plates on your truck, and may get left alone. But any roadblock, checkpoint, etc will immediately get suspicious if they pull over a Helvetic-registered Landie and find a load of British-passport-carrying people on board. And you could find yourself in far more trouble than if you had just travelled on UK plates. This can still be a pain when your all legit. When i travel back to the uk in a dutch vehicle with a uk passport i always get interigated vehicle serched x-rayed etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.