Car prices (Bil priser)

Car prices are among the highest in Europe, principally because of taxes that account for about half the price of a car. The tax on a car consists of registration tax (engangsavgift) and an end-of-life vehicle deposit, as well as VAT (MVA) on the sum of the import price, one-time tax and end-of-life vehicle deposit. In turn, the registration tax consists of three parts: weight tax, engine displacement tax and engine power tax. All are progressive: a heavier, higher-powered car pays a higher overall tax rate than a lighter, lower-powered car. Used cars are subject to the same tax schedule, with a reduction bruksfradrag) of the one-time tax for the age of the car.

Car registration (Registrering)

If you buy a new car, the dealer will complete the registration for you. Likewise, most used car dealers will complete registration. But in most cases, you will have to complete registration of a used car bought on the open market; see cars, used.

Car rental (Bilutleie)

Car rental, also called self-drive car hire, is commonplace and readily available across the country. Cars (personbiler), vans (varebiler), minibuses (minibusser) and trucks (lastebiler) are rented out. There are four major types of car rental companies, listed under bilutleie in the Yellow Pages:

• International companies renting out new vehicles, including Avis, Budget, Europcar, and Hertz, with broad rental services, including counters at international airports.
• The international new vehicle rental and leasing divisions of car manufacturers, including Ford, Mitsubishi, Volvo and VW/Audi, and petrol station operators, including Esso and Statoil.
• Local companies renting out new vehicles, including car dealers offering rental and leasing.
• Local companies renting out used cars, sometimes under an international franchise, such as Rent-A-Wreck.

As elsewhere, the international companies offer booking and discount schemes. The local companies renting out new vehicles usually offer more uniform and often lower listed rates with fewer or no discounts. Most of the international companies and some local companies offer vehicles for one-way and city drop-off trips, but otherwise you should return a vehicle to the agency where it was rented. Enquire upon renting if you need a one-way vehicle. The car rental market is competitive, so it pays to call several rental agencies and compare prices.

The conditions for car rental are similar to those in most other countries. You must have a valid driving licence for the type of vehicle rented. Most rental agencies prefer that you have an international credit card (kreditkort) or Norwegian bank debit card (bankkort) as identification and means of payment. The standard and additional insurance offered upon renting are according to the national norms for motor insurance (Chapter 2). The Norwegian Association of Car Rental Companies (Norges Bilutleieforbund) recommends renting new vehicles, as according to road laws, the driver is responsible for the condition and safety of the vehicle. For further details, contact the Association at its head office, Parkveien 9, 0350 Oslo, Tel: 22598962, Fax: 22567575, www.bilutleieforbund.no, lynboe@online.no. For chauffeur-driven car hire, look for the word privatsjåfør (”private chauffeur”) or look under Limousineutleie in the Yellow Pages.

Car repair (Bilverksted)

There are more than 4,000 car workshops in the country; look for them under Bilverksteder in the Yellow Pages. New car dealers (bilforretninger) also have workshops specialising in the marques of cars that they sell (merkeverksted). Some workshops offer a fixed price “menu” of common repairs, such as brake, clutch, electric, exhaust and suspension works. They are called menyverksteder (”menu workshops”). The specialist workshops, listed separately in the Yellow Pages, include body repairs (biloppretting), brakes (bremseservice, bilbremseverksteder), cleaning (bilpleie), diesel (bildieselverksteder), electrics (bilelektriske verksteder), instruments (bilinstrumenter), motors (motoroverhaling), painting (billakkering), tyres (bilgummiverksteder), undercoating (bilunderstellsbehandling) and windscreens (bilglass).

Cars (Biler)

There are nearly 2.4 million cars in the country, which compared to its population ranks it 19th in the world – 411 cars per 1,000 people. The average age of all cars is 10.3 years, among the oldest in Europe. Each year, some 98,000 cars are delivered to vehicle dismantlers for recycling and destruction, and owners are refunded an end-of-life vehicle deposit. The average end-of-life age varies from 12.0 years for Skoda to 20.7 years for Mercedes and averages 18.0 years for all cars.

Cars, new (Nybiler)

The leading marques of American, European, Japanese and Korean cars and trucks are sold by dealers (Bilforretninger in the Yellow Pages). Other marques not regularly marketed are imported by specialist dealers, usually identified by the word importør (importer) or megler (broker) in their corporate names. Should you fail to find a dealer for a specific marque, contact The Norwegian Automobile Importers’ Association (Bilimportørenes Landsforening), Økernveien 99, PO Box 71 Økern, 0508 Oslo, Tel: 22646455, Fax: 22648595, www.bilimportorenes-landsforening.no, firmapost@bilimportorenes-landsforening.no.

In shopping for a new car, first find the published list price (listepris) at any dealer and then compare dealer discounts (rabatt) and accessory packages (utstyrpakke) on the model of your choice. If you are shopping for one of the more popular cars, it may pay to consider a company version (businessutgave) with an accessory package, such as winter tyres, radio and air conditioner, at a total price lower than its list price. Company versions often are cheaper because company car taxation is based on delivered price in brackets of NOK 50,000. For instance, a car with a list price of NOK 267,000 may be offered as a well-equipped company car at NOK 249,900, just under the NOK 250,000 lower bound of the next highest company car tax bracket.

Cars, used (Bruktbil)

Used cars are sold both by car dealers and by private persons. Car dealers, listed under Bilforretninger in the Yellow Pages, include used car dealers, used car departments of new car dealers, used car importers (import in name), car auctioneers (bilauksjon in name) and brokers (megler in name) selling for others. Companies, as well as private persons selling cars, advertise in the classified sections of newspapers; the larger newspapers have A–Z listings by marque.

The leading specialist magazines are the weekly Autobørsen (”Auto Trader”) and its sibling, MC Børsen (”Bike Trader”) that list used vehicles, most with colour photographs, Østensjøveien 79, PO Box 67,0611 Oslo, Tel: 22757501, Fax: 22757500, www.autoborsen.no. The two magazines are 80% owned by the Guardian Media Group of the UK, so they are similar to its Auto Trader and Bike Trader magazines published in the UK and other countries.

The largest Internet-based advertiser is FINN.no, a company owned by the five leading regional newspapers – Aftenposten, Adressavisen, Bergens Tidende, Faedrelandsvennen and Stavanger Aftenblad – with its head office in Oslo, Grensen 5–7, PO Box 747 Sentrum, 0106 Oslo, Tel: 22864410, Fax: 22429697, www.finn.no, firmapost@finn.no. FINN.no usually has more than 35,000 used cars listed, and the website at www.finn.no has a search engine that locates cars by marque, area of the country and preferred purchase price.

The Norwegian Automobile Association provides extensive advice to car owners as consumers, and Dine Penger (Chapter 31) is a good starting point if you are shopping for a car, as it offers printed and online advice on car purchase, leasing and taxation. Before agreeing to buy a used car, you should ensure that it is:

• Roadworthy: ensure that the car has a valid periodic vehicle inspection certificate. If an inspection is imminent, within a few months, you should have an agreement with the seller as to who will pay for any repairs required should the car fail to pass.
• Free of encumbrance: like house mortgages, encumbrances on cars follow the car, not its owner. No law requires that outstanding debt be included in the description of a car put up for sale, so buyers can be deceived. All legal encumbrances on cars must be registered with the Brønnøysund Register Centre, so you can check there to ensure that the car is free of debt. You can visit the website at www.brreg.no and navigate to the “Heftelser i motorvogn” interactive window in which you key in the two letters and five numbers of the car’s registration to bring up a notice of any registered encumbrance. You can also check by sending an SMS message starting with REGNR followed by the two letters (no space) and five numbers to 2121.
• Licenced: ensure that the chassis number on the registration card (vognkort) agrees with that on the body of the car. If you consider buying a car before the number plate stickers are valid through the following year, ask the seller for a receipt to prove that the annual road tax has been paid. If the tax has not been paid, reach an agreement as to who shall pay it. If you buy a car later in the year, check the number plates to ensure that valid stickers are affixed. If they are not, ask why not, as you risk a fine and confiscation of the number plates for non-payment of the tax.

Moreover, before you buy, it’s wise to check the costs of:

• Required insurance (trafikkforsikring), as you will be responsible for insurance as soon as you assume ownership; note the registration number on the number plate and call your car insurance company to check the insurance status of the car and the premium that you must pay to insure it.
• Re-registration fee (omregistreringsavgift), payable within three days of buying the car to the Oslo Customs House (Oslo Distriktstollsted). For a list of fees, contact the nearest customs office, or view the list online at www.toll.no. Motor Vehicle Stations also have detailed lists of fees, which vary by car weight and age, from NOK 1,367 for all cars more than 12 years old to NOK 19,536 for heavy (over 1,600 kg) new cars less than a year old.

If you doubt the overall condition of the car or feel unqualified to assess it, you can make an appointment to have it tested at a Norwegian Automobile Association test station by calling the nearest station listed under Norges Automobilforbund in the Pink Pages or by ordering a test online after navigating to “NAF Test” on the Association’s website at www.naf.no. There are two types of NAF tests: a thorough mechanical and value assessment for cars less than 12 years old that have been driven less than 200,000 km, and a buyer’s advice for older cars or cars that have been driven more than 200,000 km.

The formalities of buying start with filling out the transfer of vehicle ownership form (Melding om kjøretøy som skifter eier) in two copies, one that you deliver to the Motor Vehicle Station where you will register the car, and one that the seller will deliver to a Motor Vehicle Station to cancel ownership of the car. Once you have filled out the form and paid the seller, you are the legal owner of the car and consequently are liable for its car insurance, so you should check with your insurance company to verify that a notice of insurance has been sent to the Motor Vehicle Station where you re-registered the car. Within three business days, you should pay the re-registration fee (omregistreringsavgift) to the Oslo Customs House (Oslo Distriktstollsted) and keep a receipt of your payment, such as a giro form stamped at your bank. Take that receipt, the transfer of vehicle ownership form, a receipt for the paid annual road tax and the former owner’s vehicle registration card (vognkort) to a Motor Vehicle Station to register the car in your name. Upon submission, you must identify yourself, such as by showing your driving licence, passport or credit card with a photograph.

Council for Road Safety (Trygg Trafikk)

The simple name of the Norwegian Council for Road Safety – Trygg Trafikk, meaning “Safe traffic” – describes its goal. It is an umbrella organisation for voluntary road safety work and acts as a link between voluntary associations and governmental road safety authorities.

Trygg Trafikk is most visible in its public awareness campaigns, such as the Children’s Traffic Club (Barnas Trafikklubb) for children ages 3 to 6 plus and through acting as a central clearing house for all topics related to road and traffic safety. It publishes safety booklets, often in cooperation with the Public Roads Administration, as well as a regular professional periodical, Trafikken og Vi (”Traffic and Us”). It has local offices in all 19 counties and cooperates with sibling organisations in the other countries, such as the National Society for Road Safety (Nationalföreningen för Trafiksäkerhetens Främande) in Sweden and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the UK. Internationally, it is a member of the International Road Safety Organisation – PRI (La Prévention Routière Internationale). For further details and the addresses of local offices and member organisations, contact the head office, Wessels gt 8, PO Box 2610 St Hanshaugen, 0131 Oslo, Tel: 23219400, Fax: 22110195, www.tryggtrafikk.no, hovedkontoret@tryggtrafikk.no.

Diesel fuel (Diesel)

Most petrol stations sell diesel fuel for road use, which means that its price includes motor vehicle fuel tax. Engine-grade diesel for non-road uses, as in motorboats, tractors, forestry and construction machinery, power plants and the like, as well as for diplomatic vehicles is cheaper, as it is not taxed for road use. This low-tax (lavavgiftsbelagt) diesel has trace chemicals and is coloured green, to distinguish it from fully-taxed diesel, and it is sold by many petrol stations and by boat yards to qualified users. All diesel fuels and heating oils are now available in “environmental diesel” (miljødiesel) varieties that when burned release fewer particulates and nitrogen oxides than do the ordinary varieties.

Drink-driving (Alkoholpåvirket kjøring)

Accident statistics indicate that some 40% of all drivers killed in accidents were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of death, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is estimated to be a contributing factor to more than a half of all traffic accidents involving personal injury. Consequently, the legal blood–alcohol limit (promillegrense) for driving is low, 20 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (20mg%), customarily written in Norwegian as 0,2 promille, the same limit as in some other continental European countries.

The law also sets a limit of 0.10 milligrams of alcohol in one litre of breath as equivalent to the 20mg% blood-alcohol limit. So, the breathalyser test (utandingsprøve) is most common. The police can require a breathalyser test:

• 1if there is reason to suspect drink-driving
• 2if a driver has violated other traffic laws so as to imply drink-driving
• 3of drivers involved in a traffic accident, regardless of who is at fault
• 4at spot checks.

Blood tests are taken only in certain circumstances, such as when there is reason to suspect intoxication due to drugs, and may be taken only by doctors or other health care professionals.

The minimum punishment for a driver found guilty of drink-driving is a fine, a jail sentence of 21 days or more and loss of driving licence for at least one year. The fine, jail sentence and duration of loss of licence go up with the severity of the conviction.

In step with the greater number of cars on the road, anti-drink-driving measures are being intensified.

Driver training (Førerkortrettet opplæring)

If you don’t have a valid driving licence, you must go through a course of driver training before you take the test for a licence. New regulations went into effect 1 January 2005, and training for all classes of driving licence now takes place in four stages:

• Level 1: basic course of vehicle and traffic fundamentals, 17 hours at a driving school.
• Level 2: basic driving skills, at a driving school or in practice driving, finishing with an advisory hour at a driving school.
• Level 3: advanced traffic training, at a driving school or in part in practice driving, with a 4-hour safety course on a track and finishing with an advisory hour at a driving school.
• Level 4: final skills, including a 13-hour mandatory driving safety course at a driving school.

You may take the driving test at one of the 80 Motor Vehicle Stations. It is in two parts. The first is a theoretical knowledge test taken on a desktop computer. The second, which may be taken after the first is passed, is a practical driving test with an examiner.

Driving licence (Førerkort)

The Public Roads Administration issues and is in charge of driving licences. The relevant regulations are summarised here; for full details, contact the nearest Motor Vehicle Station (Trafikkstasjon) at the address listed in the Pink Pages. The driving licence categories (førerkort klasse) are like those of EU and EEA countries:

Category A, A1 and B, S and T licences are valid for 100 years from date of birth. However, from age 70, you must have a doctor’s certificate that you are fit to drive, renew it once a year and carry it whenever driving. Category C, C1, D and D1 licences are valid for 10 years.

You may use a valid licence issued by an EEA country until it expires. You also may exchange it for a Norwegian licence at a Motor Vehicle Station. You may use a valid licence issued by a country outside the EEA – contact the nearest Motor Vehicle Station for a list of countries – to drive for up to one year of temporary residence and exchange a licence for a Norwegian licence upon successfully passing a driving test. If you exchange your foreign licence and wish to have it back upon leaving the country at some later date, ask that it be kept on file and not discarded. Category C, CE, D, DE, D1 and D1E licences from outside the EEA are not valid for driving Norwegian-registered vehicles.

Diplomats may use their national licences for the duration of their posting.

When you have been a permanent resident for six months and if you meet the age requirements, you may apply for a Norwegian licence just as can any citizen. Driving schools offer courses of driver training to prepare for the driving licence examinations. You also may prepare in part by practice driving privately, such as with one of your parents in the family car. The Norwegian Driving School Association has published a well-illustrated book on the regulations and how to prepare for the examination, in Norwegian and English editions. The latest English edition published in 2000 is How to Get Your Driver’s Licence, by K. Borch, D. Moe, J. Nermark and K. Torsmyr, ISBN 82-7310-115-0.

Driving schools (Trafikkskoler)

Driving schools are private training centres that are authorised by the Public Roads Administration to teach driving and prepare pupils for taking the examinations for driving licences. There are about 600 driving schools in the country. Most offer a broad range of courses for the various categories of driving licences as well as programmes coordinated with practice driving, but some specialise, for example, in training for motorcycles or bus and truck drivers. In addition to Norwegian, most driving school instructors (trafikklœrere) will speak English, and many speak other languages.

You may find a driving school by looking under Trafikkskoler in the Yellow Pages, or, if the school is one of the some 350 that are members of the Norwegian Driving School Association (Autoriserte Trafikkskolers Landsforbund, ATL), by contacting the ATL or by viewing the interactive school locator map in its website, Ryensvingen 15, PO Box 144 Manglerud, 0612 Oslo, Tel: 22190520, Fax: 22673630, www.atl.no, atl@atl.no

As Norway is a high-cost country, driving schools are more expensive than those in lower-cost countries. So, if you are a resident of an EEA country, you may save money by taking driving instruction and qualifying for a licence before departing for Norway.

Electric cars (Elbiler)

Electric cars are promoted through governmental measures favouring them, including a minimal annual road tax. The initial letters EL on their car number plates permit toll-free driving on toll roads and free parking for the posted time limits in municipal car parks. At least five marques of electric car are now on the roads. Three are made by French car manufacturers, Citroen, Peugeot and Renault. Two are made by Norwegian electric car companies, Kewet and Pivco.

Kewet is the sales leader thus far, with two models originally developed and made in Denmark, but now made in Norway by Elbil, Sandakerveien 11OC, 0484 Oslo, Tel: 22223922, www.kewet.com, post@elbilnorge.no.

Pivco, owned 51% by Ford for four years, 1999–2003, offers the “Think”, featuring a moulded plastic body on an aluminium space frame. The car was developed and is made in Norway by Pivco, Think Nordic, 1930 Aurskog, Tel: 63854500, www.pivco.no.

For further information on electric vehicles in Norway, contact the Norwegian EV Association (Norstart), Skogfaret 54, 1344 Haslum, Tel: 40203010, www.elbil.no, lade@elbil.no.

End-of-life vehicle deposit (Vrakpant)

The price of a vehicle up to 3.5 tons weight, sold in 1977 or later includes a deposit of NOK 1,500 that is refunded when it is dismantled at the end of its life. The relevant regulation went into effect in 1978 and now is in compliance with an EU directive that went into effect in 2000.

Upon delivery to an authorised vehicle dismantler, a notice of dismantling (vrakmelding) is filled out with the vehicle’s registry number (kjennetegn) and chassis number (understellsnummer), provided that the car is whole with its entire frame or self-supporting body carrying the chassis number intact and not cut up, and that the top is not so severely dented or otherwise crushed down as to hinder removal of recyclable parts. However, before delivering a car, you may remove its doors, wings and motor, and after delivery, you may remove its wheels. Once you have shown an ID to prove that you are the owner or the owner’s representative, the vehicle dismantler will submit the notice of dismantling, which will result in the car being taken out of the Autosys register and in Norwegian Customs and Excise refunding the deposit by post.

Engine block heaters (Motorvarmere)

Engines are easier to start warm than cold, so if you park in an unheated garage, you may benefit by fitting an engine block heater, which is an electrical heating element that is fitted into the water jacket. When warmed, the engine will start faster, use less fuel and load the battery less. The typical heater has a capacity of about 400 watts and is fitted through a frost plug into the water-jacket. Models are available to fit most current marques and models of cars, vans and trucks. If you turn the heater on two hours before you intend to start your car – there are automatic timers for the purpose – you save about half a litre of petrol in starting and reduce the wear on the engine. Moreover, in starting on a cold winter morning, a warmed engine emits some 60% to 80% less carbon monoxide than if it were cold. Interior heaters (kupévarmere) and battery chargers (batteriladere) are also available and can be fitted with the engine block heater, so a car will be both comfortably warm and will start easily. All are made to operate from a standard household 220 volt, 50 Hz earth electrical outlet. Car dealers sell and fit engine block heaters, interior heaters and battery chargers, and car parts shops sell them for DIY installation. The leading brands are Bosch, Calix and Defa.