Your car and your driving licence in Turkey: the blue plate and the six months

Of all the destinations on this site, Turkey is the strangest when it comes to cars. The general price level is well over forty per cent below the European average — but cars are well over fifty per cent above it. Buying a car in Turkey is more expensive than in the Netherlands, in a country where almost everything else is cheaper. That is down to one tax, and it determines your whole transport plan.

Why importing your car is not an option

The ÖTV, the Turkish special consumption tax, is levied on the value of the car on permanent import — and the rates are no joke. For petrol and diesel cars it starts at 70 per cent for small engines, and above 1600 cc it jumps to 150 to 170 per cent. On top of that comes VAT, calculated on the value including the ÖTV.

Don't bother working it out: permanent import of your Dutch car is unaffordable in virtually every scenario. So the question isn't whether you import, but which of the two other routes suits you.

Route 1: on Dutch plates, temporarily

You may bring your car on Dutch plates under the scheme for temporary import. The main rule is 730 days — but with an important restriction: that period can never be longer than the period you yourself may stay in Turkey. Whoever has no residence permit and relies on the ninety visa-free days therefore effectively has ninety days, not two years.

Beforehand a residence test also applies: in the twelve months before entry you must have been outside Turkey for at least 185 days. And don't exceed the period — escalating fines apply, up to a fine of a quarter of the customs duties for more than three months overdue.

Route 2: the blue MA plate — and this is where the news is

For whoever has retired abroad there is a scheme of its own, and it is structurally misexplained on Dutch sites. So first what it is not: it is not a purchase scheme. You may not use it to buy a tax-free car from a Turkish dealer — that right is reserved for diplomatic staff.

What it is: you bring your own car, registered abroad in your name, into Turkey and have it registered there on an MA or MZ plate under the scheme for temporary import. The car doesn't enter free circulation, and that's why it remains exempt from import duty, VAT and ÖTV.

The exception that makes the scheme usable for emigrating pensioners is this one:

For the car you bring into the Turkish customs territory for the first time after your retirement, the requirement of 185 days' residence outside Turkey does not apply. Precisely what you need when you move permanently: you leave the Netherlands and take your car with you.

Who qualifies: a foreigner with a Turkish residence permit who has retired abroad. For that you hand in proof of pension showing that the pension was built up on the basis of work under that country's social security — with a Turkish translation certified by the embassy, consulate or noter. Since August 2026 that translation requirement has been tightened: the original alone is not enough.

How it goes: on entry you get a carnet through the guarantor organisation TURING and you provide security for the amount of the duties due (which you get back on export). Within thirty days of entry you apply to customs for the temporary registration certificate; the noter then assigns the MA or MZ number. The assignment is valid for a maximum of 24 months at a time and is renewable — but always tied to your residence permit.

That last point is the pitfall: your car hangs on your ikamet. If your residence permit expires or lapses, your car's registration lapses with it. Put the renewal of both in the same diary.

Three restrictions you need to know in advance

Whoever becomes a Turkish citizen loses the right. Holders of a Mavi Kart and people with Turkish nationality are excluded, with the official reasoning that they don't derive their residence from an ikamet. Whoever considers the route to citizenship via property therefore pays a price here too.

A Turk living in Turkey may not drive it. In your absence only your spouse, your parents or grandparents and your children or grandchildren may drive — and they must themselves be established outside the Turkish customs territory. Third parties may drive only if you yourself are in the car. That too was tightened in August 2026.

Selling is not possible. The registration certificate literally says "Satılamaz": may not be sold. Transfer is only possible if the transfer of ownership is documented in the country of main residence and the car comes under customs supervision. And if you leave Turkey without the car, you report that separately — otherwise a fine follows.

One point deserves an explanation rather than an amount: whether with an MA plate you also pay motor vehicle tax (MTV). Commercial sites say the opposite of one another here. The law does give the point of reference: the MTV hits vehicles that under the Road Traffic Act are entered and registered at a traffic office. An MA vehicle is temporarily imported and keeps its foreign registration — so it doesn't enter that register as a Turkish vehicle, and that is the reason various sources describe the plate as exempt.

What we do not do is present that reasoning as the outcome: there is no official publication that names MA vehicles in so many words. So put the question to the customs office where you register, and don't assume an amount you find on a forum.

Route 3: buying there

Possible, but know what you're buying: because of that same ÖTV you pay considerably more in Turkey for the same car than in the Netherlands, second-hand too — the tax is, after all, built into the whole market. The transfer runs through the noter, and since 2026, besides the service costs, a proportional levy of two per mille on the sale price or the insured value is added, with a minimum.

Insurance: count on the first year

Third-party insurance is legally compulsory for every vehicle registered in Turkey; without a policy the car may not go on the road. The maximum premiums are set nationally every month and differ per province and per no-claims step — and those steps are the point here. The discount runs up to fifty per cent, the surcharge up to two hundred.

As a newcomer you start without a Turkish claims history. So count on the top of the range in your first year, and work down after that. Comprehensive cover is voluntary and is calculated on a national value list that only covers vehicles up to fifteen years old.

Your driving licence: exchange within six months

This is the hardest clock in this article, and it's often missed. You may use a foreign driving licence in Turkey for a maximum of six months. After that you're driving without a valid licence — with a fine, but above all with the risk that your insurer refuses cover in an accident. That last one is the real danger.

The good news: no test is needed. The Netherlands is a party to the Road Traffic Convention, so the exchange is an administrative act at the Nüfus Müdürlüğü, by appointment. What you bring:

• your original licence plus a colour copy;
• a Turkish translation of it certified by the noter or the consulate;
• your passport and your residence permit;
• a medical examination certificate;
• a biometric passport photo no more than six months old;
• your blood group;
• your diploma, with a certified translation if it's a foreign diploma;
• proof of payment of the fees.

The costs are in the NVI's annual fee list. For 2026 category B is 8,869.60 lira in total — around € 185 — of which 1,690.00 lira for the document and 425.00 lira for the service. Watch one thing when looking it up: the NVI publishes no separate fee for tebdil, the exchange itself. So budget the B amount and have the counter confirm what is charged in your case. And bear in mind what happens next: your Dutch licence is taken in and sent back to the Netherlands. That's not a mistake by the counter but standing practice, so settle any Dutch matters that require a driving licence before you exchange.

For the broader picture of living in Turkey — renting, buying, the earthquake insurance — read living and buying in Turkey.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 4 of 5 of the route: the same steps, but applied to your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole route to Turkey.