Can you own and register a car to drive in a foreign country?
Yes.
For a more specific answer, though, you might consider posting more specifics.
I’m thinking let’s suppose one likes to go to Mexico or Canada on a regular or semi-regular basis for vacation. Would it be possible to buy a register a car in either country, and have it sitting for you, insured in some parking lot or yard until your next return? With the owner not being a citizen or having residency status of either country?
It’s going to depend entirely on the laws of the country in question.
It’s definitely possible for a non-resident to buy, register, and drive a car in Panama. However, although a tourist visa is good for six months, you can only use your foreign license to drive for three months after entry. So you might have to exit and return if you want to drive it for more than three months at a stretch.
A quick check shows that it is possible for a non-resident to buy a car in Mexico, although it takes a bunch of paperwork.
It may also depend on the laws of your home state. I believe that in some states it may be actually illegal for a resident to own a car not registered in his home state. Of course, this could never arise if the car never enters that state.
True for states, but another country in an entirely different manner since federal laws regarding interstate commerce do not apply. I’ve gotten tickets in Europe and my insurance company knows nothing about them (or cares).
If you are rich you can work around most things. Like hire an attorney to represent you as your agent and have the car titled, insured and registered with their firm or a limited company that represents your interest in said country.
Economically it is hard to see how this is going to be worth it unless you also have long term housing in that country. You should be able to rent a car on a longer basis instead of just daily and you don’t need to rent from the high priced well known international rental firms (Hertz, Avis…).
But if I routinely travel to Italy and want to drive “my” Maserati around from villa to villa and over to Geneva every so often instead of schlepping around in a rental Maserati I need a way to do it. Economics isn’t part of the equation.
I don’t believe that a nonresident can register a car in Japan. A quick check seems to confirm that.
I would expect that you need to own property first as the car has to be registered to a person and a location.
Exactly. Suppose you go to Italy each month or every other month for business, a conference, wine tasting, etc. An want to have your own car waiting there for you instead of shipping one over each time or renting one.
Not the case in Panama. The car is registered to a particular office of the Transport Authority, and that’s the “location.” AFAIK you don’t otherwise have to own property.
nvm
I’ve rented places and owned cars before. Perhaps a person could rent a garage for their car and call it there residence. Then apply for local driver’s license and proceed with the paperwork.
I know several non-citizen non-residents of the Cayman Islands who own vehicles which are licensed, registered, insured, and garaged there.
One year I rented an apartment attached to a Canadian man’s vacation home there. His Rolls Royce sat in the garage unused for 50 weeks until he came back for a visit.
And guests at a dive shop liked the diving so much after just a couple days there that they bought a vacation home with its own scuba air compressor by the end of the week. Over their next few visits to the island they bought their own dive boat and a vehicle large enough to tow the boat.
I don’t think any country would require you to own property there. Most short/mid term visitors don’t buy houses. They rent.
Japan does require proof of parking space in order to register a car. Rented parking spaces are OK.
Come to the UK and you would have few problems buying and registering a car in your name. You would need an address for correspondence (they need somewhere to send the speeding and parking fines) but the car doesn’t have to be garaged there. You could easily hop on a ferry and tour Europe too. You can use your American licence for 12 months but to drive after that, you would need to pass our driving test.
Without any European driving history, insurance might be expensive but a history of no claims from an American Insurance company might keep the cost down. The biggest cost would be fuel, with diesel costing not far short of £6 a gallon.
You would need a lot more than that to qualify for one of the various kinds of resident visas in Panama, generally including having a job offer, being an investor, or having retirement income. Merely renting a place doesn’t qualify you for residency, and you have to be a legal resident to get a Panamanian driver’s license. (I know, because I just had to change my residency status and go through a big legal process to get a new one and a Panamanian license.)
Back in the 80s when I was stationed at Woomera, South Australia, I had my car shipped by the military and I registered it (and got insurance) even though it was a left-hand drive vehicle. I had to have it shipped back as well (well the military did).
BUT–I knew a few GIs who didn’t do that, and instead purchased used cars in Australia and registered them and got insurance. And then they simply sold them when they returned stateside.