Buying a car in Bulgaria: private owner vs dealer?

sfriggieri75 Member

Member since 23 February 2024

sfriggieri75Member26 December 2025 17:52:02

Hi everyone,

I鈥檓 planning to buy a car in Bulgaria and would like to understand the difference (financially and procedurally) between buying:

聽聽 1.聽聽 from a private owner (car already has plates), and

聽聽 2.聽聽 from a dealer (no plates).

Cost of vehicle is around 10K lev.

In short: who pays what, what are the main steps, and are there extra costs with dealers?

Also, does it matter if I鈥檓 from another EU country?

Thanks!

Zooldrool Active member

Member since 24 April 2020

ZooldroolActive member27 December 2025 00:38:09

I am also interested, also see a lot of "direct imports" for sale. What does these mean for registering etc.

JimJ ViP

Member since 07 December 2015

JimJViP27 December 2025 02:13:59

1433

There are agencies who handle the formalities of registration - or sometimes the seller will handle it for you, for a fee. Bear in mind that, as usual, you've got no recourse if the motor turns out to be a dud.

It's worth looking at dealer-maintained ex-lease vehicles, they'll have a reasonably kosher logbook. If you're after a high-end motor you'll have a good choice but you're likely to get the "foreigner price" and they're intrinsically expensive anyway; the upside is that the Bulgarians who can buy those kinds of vehicles aren't people you'd choose to mess with, so they're likely to be as described...馃槑

Horses for courses etc, but I prefer to buy a cheaper vehicle new from a main dealer; I've been happy with my now 11-years-old Duster, but avoid new Suzukis here...the main dealership is cr*p!