Hello all!

Have spent about 40 hours browsing through the posts on this site,"doing my research".

Fascinating and very informative.

Wife and I planning to move to Spain ,probably Costa Blanca,next year ,[lock stock and barrel],when I reach pension age.

Roll on.

See ya!

Patrick (call me Pat).

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Hi Pat (and Mrs Pat)

Good to hear from  you ... me and my one and only are also hoping to find a wee place in the sun (CB) in the next year, but unfortunately not to move to permanently, just for long long holidays!

I am a novice but the folks on here know masses of stuff and are really helpful, so if you have any questions just ask away and peeps will give you an honest opinion.

Good luck

Auntie Em x

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Hi Pat

we will try to help if we can.

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Hi! Auntie and Candyfloss.

Most of my queries  have been answered by my "trawling" the posts on this site.

There is however one question that I have not found a satisfactory answer to on ANY site so far.

If buying a second hand car in the U.K. you can go round the garage forecourts etc and "browse" through what they have to offer. You can assess the condition of a car and compare this with its age by reading the number plate. If you are happy with your assessment you then can go to the salesman and start negotiating etc.

In Spain however, the number plate shows the letters denoting the province in which it was registered , [ at least that is what I think they are] , followed by a number which seems to have no connection of the cars age.

Do you have to contact the salesman straight away to find out the basic info. - and subject yourself to an unwanted "sales pitch? " or is there another method employed by ex-pats 'in the know' which allows you to browse without any commitment or involvment with salesmen as we do in the U.K.

It just occurs to me that the Spaniards probably look forward to the salespitch and probably expect it as part of the browsing/buying experience. Whereas we Brits dont want to be pestered with any approach until we have made up our mind re: a particular car.

?Any answers out there?

Pat

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         Pat,

Hope you'll enjoy our company but you need to have a SOH as many regulars are nuts. Seems my hubby & I are in the same position as you as he retires in March aged 60 & wants to relocate to Spain. We already have a house on the CB, we completed over two years ago.

                              Nope, not about what you ask.

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_______________________

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Welcome to EOS Doonhamer

We own on CB too, would like to semi retire there also, maybe within the year, Daughters willing!

Kind regards,

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Hi Pat

Welcome to eyeonspain...

Buying a car - second hand in spain can be a bit daunting. You have to remember that unlike UK the transfer of the car from one owner to another has quite a cost involved. Dependant on the value of the car as it is percentage of the 'official' value that is charged.  For an average family car the cost of the transfer could be in the region of 600 euros. Getting the transfer done correctly also means that any prior unpaid taxes or road fines associated with that car are not landed in your lap latter.

To get some idea of the values you can, as in the UK, buy magazines with values for all the differing makes, models and years of cars. Obviously all in Spanish but a Ford Focus is a Ford Focus in any language and these days a lot of the models, engine sizes etc are the same the world over.

Maybe the safest, and not necessarily the most expensive way is to buy from a larger dealer that also have the franchise to sell the new models from the manufacture - little bit of safety there as they should have guaranteed standards to meet in their franchise agreement with the manufacturer and this generally covers the used car side too.

In this case the price you see on the car would also include the all the transfer costs - BUT as with everything always ask the question.

When l relocated to spain the first car l bought was second hand - through a dealer with a 'high street' presence and had no problems or nasty suprises - nice car too!

Hope the above helps

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FibbyUK and Morerosado.       Nice to hear from you.  -  When you purchased your properties in Spain  - how much research did you do and were their any particular aspects of buying that you were very careful with?. How did you approach these. Did you have a strategy / plan of action.

Did you go through the cycle of "determination to go come what may"  - through to "sheer terror at the thought of doing something so crazy?"

The pundits tell their horror stories and then reassure you that it only affects less than 1% of those buying. Are you both part of the other 99% that sailed through the entire process? As you can probably tell, I am a little jittery at this stage and crave any reassurance while I am sucking my thumb!!

By the way Morerosado - re: "the  regulars that are nuts" -see my profile /prior occupation - its just like coming home!!

Spiritofspain   [Margery]   Just the kind of advice I am looking for. Good idea about the magazines,seems obvious but I never thought of that. The " safety" aspect of the large dealer with the franchise also appeals especially to begin with, and until I get more comfortable with the different system over there.

Jason - you were right - there always seems to be someone willing to help on this site.

Thanks to all. Any other suggestions/advice welcome.

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Hi Pat ... we have a lot in common ...

 Im scottish too ..... and  I used to be a nurse ... until i found a more lucrative career (well its not hard is it!)  .......  my hubby hobbies include photograpy, fishing and he used to do a bit of metal detecting .....

     And we are looking for a house in Costa Blanca !!!

                                               how spooky is that?????

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AuntieEm    "I just cant believe it" - real spooky, but  It gets even spookier -

I have a digital camera and a hard disc camcorder.

My wife and I both love pussycats

........EEEK!!

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Hi Pat

Hubby & I also love 

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my goodness ... we could be twins! 

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oh Morerosado  .... i went out on a home vist on Wed to see a client and she had a handful of cats ... but she had the MOST ADORABLE little grey and white kitten ........  I SO wanted to take her home with me and she would have fitted into my little handbag ... i forgot just how gorgeous those little tiny fluffy things could be!

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