Importing my WRX to Finland?

[petteriusa]

Hello!

Sorry for writing in English, my Finnish just isn't good enough (yet!). I'm thinking of relocating to Finland later this year and possibly bringing my WRX with me. I know about the car tax (ugh), but my main question is if it'll be difficult to get the car registered there. It seems that the WRX isn't sold in Finland, or Europe, at all. You, as far as I can tell, get the STI with the EJ257 motor, but here in the USA we have the WRX with the FA20F.

Does anyone happen to have any information about this or maybe even know someone who's imported one? I've seen a few reports from people who've imported them to Germany so I've got hope the car can pass European homologation.

Kiitos!!!

Peter
Miami, FL USA

[Shakal]

Importing will not be a problem. If the engine is somehow troublesome to the inspector (Katsastus), you can get all the proper paperwork for it from Subaru here in Finland. Here, you can get japan imports or almost any car if it's legal in some country, if it meets the inspection needs for that years safety regulations and other stuff, but in your case, that is not a problem.

First your car will be inspected, then you can drive it with "paper plates" for three months, within this time you must pay the tax and get the required documents (if needed) and modifications (if rhd, lights must be changed to lhd) for you to get actual plates.

Only thing that comes to mind is do you have a rear fog light in your subaru? If not, that must be installed within those 3 months.

Here you can click every years vehicle import taxes in pdf lists, so checking a few of em out should give you some feel of what the tax of your car would be. In the list, the last column "autovero" = import tax.

[petteriusa]

That's great news!! Thank you! Hopefully I'll be next asking for winter tire advice!

[Shakal]

No problem. We have alot of US imports here.

Cars are so high priced or we don't get the desired models, so importing is very common here.

My Subaru is imported from the UK, I'm the first registered owner.

[Shakal]

Oh right.. you are moving your car here, not just importing it so those list dont apply in your case. Here is the Finnish version:
https://www.vero.fi/fi-FI/Henkiloasiakk ... onti(41194)

Someone more wise can answer to that question. In 2015 there was changes to those laws, so I don't know the correct answer to your case.

Anyhow, you can move your car here without hassle.

[ximmo]

Another tip: If you have a stock WRX and you're planning on modifying it later, I suggest you do it before coming to Finland. You'll save loads of money. Many Finns buy aftermarket parts online from the US as they're cheaper there even after the custom duty that we have to pay when they arrive to Finland.

Hmm... Does anyone know what the law says about bringing a WRX full of aftermarket parts to Finland? If you have a car, of course it's ok to have also spare parts, right?

[Shakal]

https://www.vero.fi/en-US/Individuals/Car_tax

Here. Hope this helps.

[petteriusa]

Ha! That's true, I've been avoiding any real mods (Cobb accessport tune, etc.) as I don't want to void the warranty, but if I move I'll be throwing that away in anycase! That said I'm not sure I'd make a major engine mod as I don't want to risk not passing any inspection there. Do they do an emissions test as part of the annual inspections there?

If I do move I'll be bringing some "spare parts" for sure! I'll keep ya'll posted!

Again, thanks for all the quick replies!

[ximmo]

Ha! That's true, I've been avoiding any real mods (Cobb accessport tune, etc.) as I don't want to void the warranty, but if I move I'll be throwing that away in anycase! That said I'm not sure I'd make a major engine mod as I don't want to risk not passing any inspection there. Do they do an emissions test as part of the annual inspections there?

They check the emissions in the annual inspections which usually means that you need to have the numbers within the limits. I mean that you can pass the test with an aftermarket hi-flow cat and exhaust. Keep in mind that not only the engine performance parts are cheaper in the US, it's the same with brakes, coilovers, basically all parts. ECU tuning is maybe the only thing with a reasonable price over here.

[Konna]

In this case it is "muuttoauto" because owner and car moves to Finland and no taxes at all.
Right? Wrong? I'm not sure about this.

[petteriusa]

I think they got rid of the tax exemption, unfortunately.

[Shakal]

In this case it is "muuttoauto" because owner and car moves to Finland and no taxes at all.
Right? Wrong? I'm not sure about this.

Yeah that changed in 2015. Too many Finns kept their cars 3 years with someone else and then they moved them here to avoid taxes.
Immigration has also plummeted, so theres another reason.