Hi Guys,

I'm new to this forum (and also to Finland). I moved here in Januari from Holland and brought my car a couple of weeks ago here. Its a 1999 W210 E320CDI, in Holland i did allot of the work on my car myself as a hobby but now that i've moved here i don't have the place or the tools any more to do work on the car (also im missing some of the great help i had in Holland ).

So to make a long story short i'm looking for a Mercedes garage that can do some suspension/tire work on my car in the Espoo area. I've been trying to find some online but its very hard if you don't speak Finnish.

Thanks in advance

A photo of my baby:

Hey,

nice picture! Is it from Holland? (I suppose not... )

Well, anyways, as far as I've understood, Alppilan Autohuolto is quite respected place to get a Mercedes-Benz repaired. I don't have any experience of any garages in Helsinki area, but hopefully someone local can tell more here.

Alppilan Autohuolto has two garages with Mercedes-Benz authority, and neither of them are in Espoo, but quite close:
http://www.alppilanautohuolto.fi/yhteys ... itajanmaki
and
http://www.alppilanautohuolto.fi/yhteystiedot2/alppila

And when it's about suspension and tyres, for example Vianor should be able to help too:
http://vianor.fi/myyntipisteet/vianor-espoo-olari/

This one is in Espoo.

Welcome to the forum (and Finland)

you could also try Hort-Auto (http://www.mbenz.fi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) in Espoo. They are NOT an authorized Mercedes garage, but they do a lot of Mercs and know a lot about them.

They are a subsidiary of an Estonian company and at least last time the workers were Estonian, I don't know about their language skills.

Thanks guys

I'll give Hort-Auto a call as they are pretty close to where i am.

Nozki kirjoitti:nice picture! Is it from Holland? (I suppose not... )

Lol, nope that was on holliday in Switzerland.

Holland looks more like this:

I forgot to mention the official dealership Veho: https://www.veho.fi/huolto/merkkihuolto/mercedes-benz/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They do have locations in Espoo, too. However, they are not too liked on this forum, as many regard them expensive.

I've dropped my car of at Hort Auto, the guy seemed to know what he was talking about

Does anyone have experience with importing a car into Finland?

Bastian kirjoitti:I've dropped my car of at Hort Auto, the guy seemed to know what he was talking about

Does anyone have experience with importing a car into Finland?

I guess there are tens, possiby hundreds of users on this forum who have experience. What do you need to know?

Maybe a quick summary of how the process goes? I've been digging through the Tulli pages but it seems all the info i need is in Finnish

Check this first: http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/car_tax/index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (its in English).

Note, that you should do the declaration of use before using the car in Finland, if you live here permanently.

Also note, that if you have owned the car before 31.12.2014, you are entitled to a relief of car tax (up to 13 thousend something euros)

tj86430 kirjoitti:Check this first: http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/car_tax/index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (its in English)

Thanks, i must have missed that page Sorry

One question: Do i need the car to do the car tax declaration? As the car is currently at the shop and it might take some time before i get it back. It seems its just a bunch of forms?

Bastian kirjoitti:

tj86430 kirjoitti:Check this first: http://www.tulli.fi/en/persons/car_tax/index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (its in English)

Thanks, i must have missed that page Sorry

One question: Do i need the car to do the car tax declaration? As the car is currently at the shop and it might take some time before i get it back. It seems its just a bunch of forms?

You don't need the car for the tax declaration. In some rare cases they may want to see it before taxation, but usually not even then.

Ah nice, im going the get the process started then. Thanks for all your help

Bastian kirjoitti:Ah nice, im going the get the process started then. Thanks for all your help

I think it's best that you act like you just brought the car to Finland and don't mention to anyone that you have actually used it here a couple of weeks.

Just a few clarifications; are you moving here permanently? If you have The Netherlands citizenship why bother to register the car in Finland, until it is really necessary? I believe there is a period that you can drive with Dutch plates? But I am no expert in these things...

karra kirjoitti:Just a few clarifications; are you moving here permanently? If you have The Netherlands citizenship why bother to register the car in Finland, until it is really necessary? I believe there is a period that you can drive with Dutch plates? But I am no expert in these things...

I thought so too, but I couldn't find any evidence supporting that on customs pages

karra kirjoitti:Just a few clarifications; are you moving here permanently? If you have The Netherlands citizenship why bother to register the car in Finland, until it is really necessary?

Im a Dutch citizen but currently a 'permanent' resident of Finland.

karra kirjoitti:I believe there is a period that you can drive with Dutch plates? But I am no expert in these things...

I found some text in this PDF which seemed to suggest it was not allowed. (http://www.tulli.fi/en/finnish_customs/ ... 008_en.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

"As a rule, a person permanently resident in Finland is not allowed to use a foreign-registered vehicle in
traffic, not even temporarily, if car tax has not been paid for the vehicle."

Yeah, that's what I currently believe, too: if you reside here permanently you go by the same rules as locals.

So:
- act like you are just bringing the car here
- file declaration of use
- get temporary plates from vehicle inspection office ("katsastuskonttori")
- file tax declaration (within five days of declaration of use)
- pay taxes (if any) after you get the decision
- get final Finnish plates

They can also advice you on the inspection offices, I don't know about their language skills, though.

Note that you need to have a valid insurance for the car. I don't know if the Dutch insurance works after the car has Finnish (temporary or final) plates. I guess it's safest to get a Finnish insurance when you get the Finnish plates and then terminate the Dutch insurance. You can get the insurance from the inspection office as well, but that is probably not the cheapest option. Some Finnish insurance companies give the insurance based on VIN, but some require the Finnish plate ID

Tulli kirjoitti:The provisions for tax reduction for a removal vehicle are laid down in Sections 25-30 of the Car Tax Act.
The maximum amount of the tax reduction is 13 450 euros.
The tax reduction is granted, provided that:
• the immigrant has been abroad for an uninterrupted period of at least 1 year immediately before
moving to Finland,
• the vehicle has been under the ownership of the immigrant or his or her married spouse, or in
their possession under conditions leading to ownership, and in the use of the immigrant abroad
for a period of at least 6 months immediately before his or her moving to Finland

Have you owned the car for 6 months in the Netherlands? If yes you should get it tax free as Removal Vehicle.

Yeah I've owned for about 4 years so that should be good. Nice to know that there is a active and helpful mercedes community here

One correction: if you have valid Dutch plates, you probably wont need the temporary Finnish plates. The inspection office should be able to give advice on this, too.

Ah nice, my Dutch plates should still be valid as I'm still paying roadtax and insurance. Dutch roadtax on diesels has become quite insane btw, I'm currently paying 153 euro's a month just on roadtax.