Any experience of cyprus?

[Philyc]

I may be being sent to cyprus for 2 years fairly soon. So will sell up vehicles herr and purchase a car for the family and maybe a little scooter for my occasional trips around the island for work.

 

Does anyone have any experience of cars and prices over there? Budget would be about 1500 ish quid for the family car. needs to hold bikes and/or small child paraphenalia etc.

 

Any ideas from you lot in general as to what to look for, bearing in mind itll be for two years max. Or if anyone is out there/ has lived there previously and has any advice.

 

Many thanks!

[DVee8]

I am sure Eddyramrod lived in Cyprus.

[Lacquer Peel]

When I was there on holiday a while ago I'd see ex-UK cars that might be worth £1k max here for 4000 euro bobs.

[Lukas]

https://www.bestcypruscar.com/

[Philyc]

Haha. Just the name of that website fills me with dread

[Philyc]

I have done a couple of searches online and found a few 90's cars within the shite bracket that might be suitable.

 

Was trying to see if anyone had experience of buying over there. Maybe most places dont advertise online or if they are easy to haggle with etc

[Lukas]

I´ve been on holiday in Cyprus twice, this year will be the third time. 

 

I am absolutely in love with this island. And I experienced the most relaxing driving there. 

Compared to Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy or other countries I have driven a car by now, driving in Cyprus was the

most relaxing experience. 

 

Many used JDM-cars and a huge amount of old Pajeros there too, so quite interesting. At least for me. 

[Philyc]

Yea seen alot of them online. Along with those 4x4 suzuki things. I am intrigued.

 

I recently went to tenerife and was amazed by the cheap old cars there. Cars which overe here would almost be considered classics and desirable were cheap and plentyful over there.

[Lukas]

Cars are in remarkable condition rustwise there, I was quite jealous when I saw all these really old Pajeros and L200 with next to no rust. 

 

Some pictures from my last holiday, just for your enjoyment: 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lacquer Peel]

 

I like this weird facelift Honda Concerto for 600 euros.

Japanese version unsullied by impure Rover front suspension?

[DodgeRover]

There's a fairly large British army base complete with families etc there, might be worth checking if anybody is flogging anything off before coming back.

No idea on car prices but I really liked Cyprus when we were there for a holiday. A friend who was posted to the base mentioned above with his family was less complementary however and I don't think the work situation is great. Photos of the demilitarised zone are interesting and there are plenty of them online now.

[Philyc]

Well thats the environment ill be thrown into. Its a military posting likely to be at akrotiri.

 

I have found a facebook group for forces families selling cars but they all seem to be cars which were bought new amd shipped out there.

 

For me its either going to be cyprus or brunei.... shouldnt be long until i find out either. But thought people here would be more familiar with cyprus then brunei.

[Zantimisfit]

For some reason this caught my eye as "Any experience of syphilis"

 

Sorry... as you were

 

(No, never been to Cyprus. Sorry again)

[Uncle Jimmy]

Plenty of chod there, or was recently. Couple of mk1 Escrotes fit in a C130 alright?

[Philyc]

Id say atleast 4. Possibly more if stacked!

 

If i find something nice i know it doesnt cost much to ship back through to the uk...paperwork on this side is another matter

[Junkman]

I may be being sent to cyprus for 2 years fairly soon.

 

I wouldn't.

They couldn't pay me enough.

[Philyc]

Its an extra 17k a year tax free. For two years im sure i could cope.

[Junkman]

I have long since traded greedyness for life quality.

[Philyc]

Completely understood. However at the age of 26 i can cope with two years to clear a mortgage and set my future career into a better stead in order to enjoy myself for the rest of it.

 

Plus, i didnt join the army to stay in england.

[oman5]

On a side note, I'm curiously waiting to see what will happen to that garage full of brand new, never registered 1974 Toyotas in the Varosha, Famagusta no man's land, should they ever sort out the unpleasantness between north/south.

[DodgeRover]

On a side note, I'm curiously waiting to see what will happen to that garage full of brand new, never registered 1974 Toyotas in the Varosha, Famagusta no man's land, should they ever sort out the unpleasantness between north/south.

Toyota want them for a museum.

[anonymous user]

On a side note, I'm curiously waiting to see what will happen to that garage full of brand new, never registered 1974 Toyotas in the Varosha, Famagusta no man's land, should they ever sort out the unpleasantness between north/south.

I suspect the garage will fall down on them before things ever get sorted out

[castros_bro]

Go there and enjoy it, spend as much time with the locals as possible and ask them about cars as what you want before you are there may be different to what you want when you are there, go to the North - get the ferry to Mersin , go fishing, boating and immerse yourself in the history. My dad was Army and my  parents lived in Famagusta boo hooo.

[eddyramrod]

I am sure Eddyramrod lived in Cyprus.

Only April 2009 to September 2012, immersed in both the job market and the classic-car movement.

 

The job market sucks.  Took me way too long to get something, by which time MrsR was seriously ill and the money had run out.  So we're back here.  If you're going with the military I would expect things to be significantly easier.

Akrotiri is between Limassol and Paphos on the south coast, much closer to Limassol than it is to Paphos.  It seems to be fairly well self-contained.  The advice about looking for servicemen selling cars upon their term ending might be helpful.

 

And now the meat, the used-car market.  Befriend the locals.  Seriously, that is top advice.  Get on it as soon as you can, and target those with garages serving small communities.  Especially if you can see hoards of old shite littering the surrounding land.  The open market is all over the place.  When we arrived we were ripped off bigtime for the first few cars; on the other hand as time went on I was actually given two for free, and bought two staggering bargains.  The family vehicle of choice is the Far-Eastern Double-cab pickup, always diesel, in either two- or four-wheel-drive.  Mine was an Isuzu wearing Vauxhall badges, as it had been a UK import; but they're all represented.  Cypriots will be delighted to sell to Brits, but be prepared to pay at least 6 times the value you'd expect here.  Your budget won't go very far!  Most of what's on offer will be Japanese, probably ex-JDM, and don't dismiss automatics because that will halve your choice. 

MoT comes in at 4 years from registration, and is due at two-year intervals.  Tax is grouped by engine size, and the steps are pretty big.  One reason the pickups are so popular is because commercials attract a reduced rate.  You won't see a 2.5 Mondeo, but there's plenty of 2.5 L200s knocking about.  Change of ownership needs to be conducted in person either at a Department of Transport office, or one of the one-stop service shops you'll find in the bigger towns.  You'll probably need to read Greek to recognise it though, so start your language course now.  Oh and there will be a small fee for every last one of these and other such services, payable immediately in cash.  When I say small, I mean sub-ten-euros.

 

If you really wanted to be a Shite hero, though, I do know the owner of this...

It's in Paphos....

[Tamworthbay]

Forget anything soft top, make sure it has working aircon, in fact fuck checking the engine, if the air con works buy it. I love the heat and we were there in a heatwave that hit the mid to high 40s (even the locals were complaining) and the posh twat who was posing in about his Suzuki jeep wasn't so cocky when he couldn't even sit on the seat! Our shitty 206 was at least liveable with the air con on full.

[eddyramrod]

Further point: assess where you need to go, and the standard of driving on exactly those roads, before you buy a scooter.  I don't want to read that you've been found at the bottom of a ravine three years later...  Most especially do NOT ever ride a scooter anywhere near Paphos Airport, I have experience of those taxi drivers in their "invincible" E-Klasses.

 

 

Oh and, good luck.

[Philyc]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. I dont get a language course for cyprus but will do my best to learn a bit... always helps making local friends.

 

Interesting to know that mot is every two years, could potentially mean buying a car then not really having to worry about an mot.

 

I have located a facebook group for forces people selling cars. A lot of them look to be cars brought in from the uk and going for silly money.

 

Our budget really depends on how much we can sell our current shite for so may be flexible.

 

I find out on thursday with regards to my next job so ive got a few days before potential panic starts.

[Philyc]

The scooter is purely for commuting incase ive got a house in episkopi and have to commute to akrotiri. But ideally id like to cycle but need to see the state of the roads and other drivers first.

[Cavcraft]

When the ship goes down, you better get ready.

[eddyramrod]

Cycle?  Who are you, Bradley Wiggins?  You will need to be seriously fit and seriously dedicated, those roads are narrow, winding and steep.  Oh and don't underestimate the time it may take (and the loss you will make) selling whatever you've bought, when you're due to come home.  Just a thought!