Hi all,

We'll be moving to Spain in June and I cant decide whether to buy a left hand drive, Spain registered car in the UK and drive it over, or wait till I get there and buy one there. Can anyone give me some advice. There is a car dealer in Chesham, UK that specialises in LHD cars and some are on Spanish plates. For example, he has a Ford Focus, 2003 with 27000 on the clock for 6K. Is this a good price or would I be able to find a cheaper one in Spain? thanks.

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

Hi Eva.

Not sure if it is a good price - I'll have a trawl through the local motoring pages and let you know.  However, you need to be sure that it has its proper Spanish documentation and a current Spanish MOT (called ITV here)

The documents are the Permiso de Circulación - white postcard size index card with car reg and name and address of registered keeper, stamped by the Jefatura de Trafico (usually a purple stamp)  The other is the technical card (Tarjeta  Inspección de Vehículos).  This is A5 size, white flimsy card weight with the word 'espana' written small in light green all over it.  The car reg no is stamped out in pin pricks.  On one side it has all the car's details, very much like our UK reg documents but no name of keeper, and on the other side it has boxes for the ITV stamps.  In your case there should be a stamp which is less than 4 years old (the first inspection is at 4 years, the next at 8 years and then I think it goes two- yearly and eventually annully). The ITV stamp of the Junta de Andalucia is green, don't know about others.  The car should also have an ITV sticker on the windshield which should say next inspection 09.

I would not even consider buying a car which is not already Spanish registered unless the deal is REALLY EXCEPTIONAL as the hassle involved is not worth it and it costs as well, particularly as you usually need someone to do it for you who knows the ropes.  If you don't register it before you get your residencia you even have to pay VAT on it.

Driving a UK registered car full time is no longer worth the risk - they are now getting very hot on this and there are many stories of cars that have been confiscated.  The law says you can only keep a non-Spanish registered car here for 6 months.   While your car bears a valid UK tax disc it is hard to prove that it has been here longer, but as soon as you no longer have a valid disc then you could be in trouble.  Of course you can't get a UK tax disc without a UK MOT.  Some people used to get voluntary Spanish ITVs and assume that they were covered, despite not paying their road fund tax either in Spain or UK, but this invalidates the insurance - no tax, technically no insurance even if you have paid for it  There was a recent instance near us where someone in that position had a bad accident which resulted in the write off of the other vechicle which was VERY expensive and the result was he had to sell his house to pay the other party.

Hope this is helpful.  See my  recent post about insurance for a good deal on Spanish car insurance.

Good luck

Jane

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

No problem Eva, - happy to help.  Have pm'd you with some prices from the paper, but posting this for other members' benefit.  Looks as though the second hand market is a buyers market and I am sure you can do better here - lots of choice and good prices.

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

Lots more really useful info Jane!

Looks like we've made the right decision to take our RHD over with all our stuff in and bring it back to sell in 6 months and buy 2 LHDs out there. (I'd already planned to sell mine). It's just reminded us we need to get the tax sorted before we go!

Thanks!

_______________________

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

Just to add to Jane's post - unless it's changed very recently, the first ITV is due at 4 years (except ex-rental cars - 2 years) and then it's every 2 years.

I would agree with Jane re: buying in UK v Spain. I think you're making the right choice.

BTW, another point to remember, even if you have fully comp., when you take your car abroad you are probably only covered third party. Worth checking to be sure.

Spam post? If so please click here to report it

Spam post? If so please click here to report it