While planning to buy a car in Slovakia, your rights depend on a few factors like
1) Whether it is a new car or a used one
2) Whether the seller is a resident of the European Union or not
3) Whether the seller is a private individual or a Slovakian professional car company.
Difference between a new and used car
In Slovakia, a car is considered to be new under two conditions, the first being if the first registration date is not beyond 6 months. The second condition is if the mileage has not exceeded 600 km.
The best thing is that there is no VAT imposed if you are purchasing a new car within the policy of intra-EU transactions. There are lots of filtered out cars on the Slovak market that include family cars, sports cars, new SUV cars, diesel cars, and much more.
Used cars are sold with a one-time payment of 20% VAT if you are buying from a commercial Slovakian seller. You pay no VAT if it is bought from a private seller.
Legal rights while buying a new and used car
You enjoy the highest level of legal protection when you buy a new car from a Slovakian car manufacturing company. The European Union Consumer Rights gives you added advantage of imposing your legal rights while buying a new car from a professional seller.
However, your rights are not applicable if the purchase is made from a private seller. This is why you need to be very careful while buying a new car from a private seller.
Under the rules of the EU consumer rights, you get a minimum of two years of guarantee on the new car purchase if there is some kind of fault identified in the car or if the car does not turn out to be as advertised.
Read the contract carefully
While buying a new car in Slovakia, the contract should have these details.
- The name of the seller is the same given in the car registration document
- The seller has the power of attorney of selling the car in the registered owner’s name
If you are buying the car from a Slovakian car company:
- The contract should have the name of the company
- The VAT is mentioned clearly
Registration
Get your car registered in Slovakia even if it was registered earlier in another country. The technical controls of the car need to be executed before the registration along with mandatory contractual car insurance. It covers any liability for operational damage and optional accidental insurance.
Important documents
Make sure you receive these important documents from the seller.
1) The sale contract or the invoice
2) The registration certificates
3) The COC or the European Certificate of Conformity:
- If the seller does not provide you with the COC, you can contact the car manufacturer company in Slovakia.
- If the manufacturer is also not able to provide you with a COC, then get in touch with the Slovakian technical organization.
Make sure you get all the relevant and original documents of the purchased car from the seller that would be needed for registration.
