Auto tax and inspection fee

Bollo auto e revisione auto

It seems that each time we see our friends Giorgio and Francesca from Roma that it costs us money related to our car. Giorgio and Francesca were gracious enough to help us obtain a car, or more exactly we located a car and gave them the cash to buy the car (see 08/13/2006 post).

They were here about a week ago and advised us there were some things we needed to attend to for the car. One of these was the bollo auto or car tax. This was easily done at the local tabaccheria where I showed them the title documents and they showed me the tax bill: 160 euros. According to Giorgio this just went up recently and is dependent on the age and engine size, the older or the bigger the higher the tax.

I was also instructed to obtain a revisione auto or car inspection. Giorgio was careful to tell me that I should do this at a meccanico that is trustworthy as they might try to take me the foreigner for unneeded repairs. It was suggested I ask our landlord, Guerrino, who is a car aficionado, who he would recommend. I asked Guerrino the other day about this and instead of telling me where to go, which I probably wouldn’t understand; he drove me there on Sunday morning. All I had to do was go back and have the car checked at my leisure.

I went back this afternoon for the revisione auto which is actually a combined emissions test and safety check. This was interesting to me since New Mexico, where we moved from, had no safety inspections and only the county where Albuquerque is located has emission controls. Fortunately our car passed easily and I handed over another 40 euros for this sticker to go on the title papers.

We love to see Giorgio and Francesca but hopefully next time there won’t be any new car related expenses.