Being a petrolhead in Poland.

Well, since I’ve seen some texts on being a petrolhead in the UK, the US and now India, I thought I’d shed some light on being a petrolhead in Poland - its cons and its pros.

1. Pro: There is a huge variety of excellent cars in Poland

Polish people after the fall of communism really seem to like exclusivity. And rarity. I think Poland’s the only country in Europe with a GT3 SLS AMG Mercedes for sale.
It’s also not hard to find some incredibly rare classics like the BMW 850csi or Mercedes 450SEL 6.9.

2. Con: There is a huge variety of rubbish cars

While rarity is good, the quality of cars in Poland is far from great. When buying a car, it is nowadays expected to be cheated, with cars being clocked, post-accident write offs that were mended on the cheap and that are far from perfect.

3. Pro: Petrol and insurance are very cheap

A litre of petrol in Poland costs 91c / 71p. Insurance is very cheap also. I’m 22, and with no NCB, I was quoted about 500 quid a year to get insured on a 2012 BMW M5.

4. Con: Wages are very low for most.

Unfortunately, with the cheap petrol and insurance comes the price to pay: the low wages. While some people will indeed earn more than even 10000 euros per month, most people are earning anywhere from 300 to 500 euros a month. Cars are not cheaper in Poland at all, and while they are not outrageously expensive, it would take you about 3 years of savings to buy a Mk5 GTI Golf. And that’s if you’ve been really careful with your spending!

5. Pro: Motorways have a 140kph speed limit, and there is a 10% tolerance for speeding.

With the Polish coppers tolerance of 10%, you’re able to do 155kph on the motorway legally. While it’s not as fast as the German Autobahn, doing 97mph legally outside of Germany is the highest legal speed you can achieve on a road in Europe (except for Isle of Man) I think?

6. Con: Speed cameras and police everywhere!

It won’t take you long to get caught doing something stupid in Poland. There is plenty of speed cameras and police in unmarked vehicles. Unlike the UK, the police in Poland can be expected to drive anything. Most popular cars used by unmarked cops will be the Vectra C, Opel Insignia, Skoda Superb and Ford Mondeo, but sure, there is even an E38 750iL being used as an unmarked police car!

Well, this was a brief look at being a petrolhead over in Poland. I hope you enjoyed and I invite you all to comment and post what it’s like in your countries too!