Help about cars in Belgium.

[Gast]

No I'm not Turkish, however my last name is a Turkish word

Now I am curious haha. I'm sorry, I thought that, because of your nickname, you know... And I'd like to think the first person you quoted didn't mean it in a bad way...

[Namaz]

Now I am curious haha. I'm sorry, I thought that, because of your nickname, you know... And I'd like to think the first person you quoted didn't mean it in a bad way...

Read my nickname from the back to the front and you will know

[Gast]

Read my nickname from the back to the front and you will know

Haha that's some hidden way to describe it! 😄 Even Russians can't crack that code these days 😛 But you do know the meaning of your nickname, don't you? And how come you have a Turkish word as a last name? It would be too fantastic to think it's just a coincidence.

[Namaz]

Yeah I know what it means And my lastname is also a Flemish name, so yeah, it's coincidence.

[Gast]

Yeah I know what it means And my lastname is also a Flemish name, so yeah, it's coincidence.

When I type "zaman" in Google translate Dutch to English, it says "translate from: Turkish" Anyway, we have rambled way too much. Do you happen to have any opinion about my question(s)?

[Namaz]

My brother lives in Ghent, he has a car but only use it for meetings out of the city.
You're better of with a bike of public transport.

[Gast]

So, I don't know whether English is forbidden in the forum, but I have no other choice to find the answers to my questions. I hope it will be tolerated.

I am going to study in Belgium next year, and I feel like I will need a car while I'm living in Belgium. I searched through a second-hand car selling website and I saw that there are cars for as cheap as €500. Is this true? Those cars are of about 200.000 km mileage and they are around 2000 model. So are they really so cheap, or are people who sell them some kind of fraud?

I don't know about Belgium but in my country, using diesel is more economic than oil. Which one is cheaper in Belgium, gas or oil? And can you please state prices for both of them?

I don't really have much information about cars. What kind of features should it consist of? Of course, for such a cheap car I don't expect a great performance, but the economy is the first thing that concerns me here. For example if a car uses up 7.0/100 km in city is that considered good?

I know that it's a pain in the butt to read all this in a foreign language. But if anyone has any information about my questions, please let me know. Also I can make my questions shorter and simpler, I can even talk to a Dutch-speaking friend of mine to translate these into your language. I just hope someone will step up to answer my questions.

Groeten, vrienden!

For what period will you come to Ghent? Just 6 months/1 year of Erasmus or to do a PhD?

I don't really see the need to get a car in Ghent. Everything is close and they have a decent public transportation system. Parking your car is not free, so keep that in mind. For your travel to Antwerp, if you are not yet 26 years old it will take you 12 euro to go to Antwerp and back, actually 12 euro to go to every city in Belgium Driving a car might be cheaper, but once you get there and need to park it will be equal or more expensive.

My advice, if you don't need it, don't buy one. Your daily commute in Ghent is a lot easier by public transport, for your weekend trips you can use the train. Ghent has a connections with Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges that take less than 1 hour.

One thing you can do too is contact the Erasmus Student Netwerk branche in Ghent: http://www.esngent.org/ . Great organisation that makes trips and they can help you with your questions about public transportation in Ghent / Belgium

[Gast]

don't buy a car, better spend your money on having drinks with your fellow students ;-)

[Gast]

My brother lives in Ghent, he has a car but only use it for meetings out of the city.
You're better of with a bike of public transport.

I understand... It seems like a car will only be a financial load on shoulders and quite unnecessary for a student. Especially since I need to cover my own expenses, I'm going for bike and public transportation I guess.

[fcapri]

it has been more then 10years since i was in gent, but as i remember i payed something like 1,20€ for the tram en you can go whereever you want within the hour (so if you go to a store and use 10min tram, 20min in store you can take another tram back home with the same ticket.

for people that own a pre euro4 car, they cannot drive it in the city anymore and have to buy a younger car. i simply don't care, i just don't take my cars to those city's anymore

[Namaz]

I understand... It seems like a car will only be a financial load on shoulders and quite unnecessary for a student. Especially since I need to cover my own expenses, I'm going for bike and public transportation I guess.

Don't buy a bike, you can rent one!

You can send them an e-mail for more information: studentenmobiliteit@gent.be
It's only for students.

[Gast]

it has been more then 10years since i was in gent, but as i remember i payed something like 1,20€ for the tram en you can go whereever you want within the hour (so if you go to a store and use 10min tram, 20min in store you can take another tram back home with the same ticket.

for people that own a pre euro4 car, they cannot drive it in the city anymore and have to buy a younger car. i simply don't care, i just don't take my cars to those city's anymore

Just get a student year pass for public transport. You can use it in the whole country. You might even get a discount when you get it at esngent. Not sure about that, but anyway, you should get one as a student in Ghent

Ondertussen is het al 2.30 voor een kaartje, sterk af te raden dus als student. Beter een buzzypass

[Gast]

For what period will you come to Ghent? Just 6 months/1 year of Erasmus or to do a PhD?

I don't really see the need to get a car in Ghent. Everything is close and they have a decent public transportation system. Parking your car is not free, so keep that in mind. For your travel to Antwerp, if you are not yet 26 years old it will take you 12 euro to go to Antwerp and back, actually 12 euro to go to every city in Belgium Driving a car might be cheaper, but once you get there and need to park it will be equal or more expensive.

My advice, if you don't need it, don't buy one. Your daily commute in Ghent is a lot easier by public transport, for your weekend trips you can use the train. Ghent has a connections with Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges that take less than 1 hour.

One thing you can do too is contact the Erasmus Student Netwerk branche in Ghent: http://www.esngent.org/ . Great organisation that makes trips and they can help you with your questions about public transportation in Ghent / Belgium

I will be coming for neither of those. I'm going to study a 3-year bachelor programme in the university and for the first 6 months they will teach us Dutch language, so I'll be in the city for about 4 years, at least. Having to pay for parking the car is a surprise for me actually and I didn't know about it (especially that it cost 20€ a day!) yes I am above 26 years old so that's a good advantage I guess. Like I said before I don't desperately need one, I wanted it more for my own comfort. But seeing as bus and will be enough and cheaper, I guess I'm going to have to wait to buy my own car, which is such a disappointment :/

Going to another city for less than an hour sounds so unbelievable to me, for the fact that I go to school here in Izmir in 70 minutes by public transportation 😄 And there's another university in the city even further from my house, it takes up to 2 hours...

I am not an Erasmus student but I'm sure they will welcome me in that community, I'm looking into it right away! Thank you very much indeed.

don't buy a car, better spend your money on having drinks with your fellow students ;-)

That's a great advice and what I had started thinking! Thanks a lot.

it has been more then 10years since i was in gent, but as i remember i payed something like 1,20€ for the tram en you can go whereever you want within the hour (so if you go to a store and use 10min tram, 20min in store you can take another tram back home with the same ticket.

for people that own a pre euro4 car, they cannot drive it in the city anymore and have to buy a younger car. i simply don't care, i just don't take my cars to those city's anymore

Can I use the same ticket again in 30 minutes or did I misunderstand you? And forgive me but, what did you mean by "pre euro4 car" and "those cities" ? Thanks a lot for your response.

[Namaz]

what did you mean by "pre euro4 car" and "those cities" ? Thanks a lot for your response.

You've got
EURO1
EURO2
EURO3
EURO4
EURO5
EURO6

All cars less then EURO4 will be banned in the city. They having to much c02

[Gast]

Don't buy a bike, you can rent one!

You can send them an e-mail for more information: studentenmobiliteit@gent.be
It's only for students.

Oh yeah I know about that. I have been told that I can rent a bike for one year for €50. I am going to mail them only when I learn Dutch

Just get a student year pass for public transport. You can use it in the whole country. You might even get a discount when you get it at esngent. Not sure about that, but anyway, you should get one as a student in Ghent

Ondertussen is het al 2.30 voor een kaartje, sterk af te raden dus als student. Beter een buzzypass

That first paragraph in English for me I guess. Thanks a lot for the tip! I haven't been to Belgium yet, so a pass that will take me everywhere in the country can be awesome for me to discover places. And it would certainly be cheaper. I tried to understand last paragraph with my tiny bit Dutch but I'm not sure what you said... 2.30 for each student, or something like that? 😁

[Gast]

You've got
EURO1
EURO2
EURO3
EURO4
EURO5
EURO6

All cars less then EURO4 will be banned in the city. They having to much c02

Oh, I get it. I should try more in order not to show all my ignorance off 😅

[Gast]

I will be coming for neither of those. I'm going to study a 3-year bachelor programme in the university and for the first 6 months they will teach us Dutch language, so I'll be in the city for about 4 years, at least. Having to pay for parking the car is a surprise for me actually and I didn't know about it (especially that it cost 20€ a day!) yes I am above 26 years old so that's a good advantage I guess. Like I said before I don't desperately need one, I wanted it more for my own comfort. But seeing as bus and will be enough and cheaper, I guess I'm going to have to wait to buy my own car, which is such a disappointment :/

Going to another city for less than an hour sounds so unbelievable to me, for the fact that I go to school here in Izmir in 70 minutes by public transportation  And there's another university in the city even further from my house, it takes up to 2 hours...

I am not an Erasmus student but I'm sure they will welcome me in that community, I'm looking into it right away! Thank you very much indeed.

When you are 26+, the public transportation will be more expensive. In that case you can try and find a car. But if you do, there are a lot of streets in Ghent that are part of a parking zone. In those zones you have to pay to park your car. You can try and find a house with free parking nearby. Or you should be able to get a residents card for parking, but I don't know what this costs and if this is possible.

Good luck anyway with your studies

[Gast]

When you are 26+, the public transportation will be more expensive. In that case you can try and find a car. But if you do, there are a lot of streets in Ghent that are part of a parking zone. In those zones you have to pay to park your car. You can try and find a house with free parking nearby. Or you should be able to get a residents card for parking, but I don't know what this costs and if this is possible.

Good luck anyway with your studies

Thank you for the informations! There's still a lot of time to be 26 years old... I'm not sure if it's good or bad

[Gast]

Oh, if per chance you end up needing a car occasionally, there's always a car sharing system called Cambio. You pay a deposit (which you get back when you cancel the contract) and then pay by how much you drive. They have 27 pickup/dropoff points in Ghent, and currently 70 cars. You can check the availabilities with an app (android/iOS) and book straight away when you need a car.

[Gast]

Oh, if per chance you end up needing a car occasionally, there's always a car sharing system called Cambio. You pay a deposit (which you get back when you cancel the contract) and then pay by how much you drive. They have 27 pickup/dropoff points in Ghent, and currently 70 cars. You can check the availabilities with an app (android/iOS) and book straight away when you need a car.

I can't find the Android app now but it sounds awesome, thank you very much!