Buying a car in UK on Spanish plates then driving over to Spain

I have trolled various threads on buying cars but cant seem to find an answer to my question, so sorry if I am repeating things but can someone help:

We have the opportunity to buy a good car here in the UK from a reliable source (friend of a friend) which is on Spanish plates.  Then we want to drive it over to Spain and leave it at our property to use on our visits. 

I have been on www.carimportinspain.com which lists all the documentation I need before buying this car.  But my question is, how and when do I get it registered in my name? 

If this is in Spain, then how do I manage to insure it and drive it legally if it is not in my name?

Any help greatly appreciated!

Firstly, you need to be more than 100% confident that the source is reliable, as any debts, fines etc., go with the car, not the owner. You can check a cars status with Tráfico, but from outside of Spain this may be difficult. Likewise, registering the new ownership details will be easier to do when you are in Spain, so the car may as well stay in the existing owners name while you drive down. I'm not sure what documentation you need from the seller (bill of sale?) so check carefully before departing for Spain. Most Spanish insurance policies cover any driver, so there shouldn't be a problem. Just check with the seller that they have it properly insured and get a copy of the documentation, and their agreement not to cancel it until you can re-register it.

Hope this helps, but get other opinions too before committing.

Whilst on the thread about driving ( in Spain, or anywhere else) particularly if you are in a car that is unfamiliar to you - say, a hire car.

Do you have a problem knowing  on which side of the car the fuel filler cap is located?

Look at the small fuel motif that is on the dash, next to the fuel level indicator. The location of the pump handle usually matches the side the of the car on which the filler cap is located. Just occasionally  it does not (I think the Kia is different)

Happy driving, and drive carefully.

Degato

It would be lovely if that were true, degato.  Unfortunately, this was posted some time ago so I checked.  My UK car has it on the right which is where the filler cap is.  I hired a Citroen in Spain and the hose was on the left, ditto the filler cap.  So far, so good.  Next time, I hired a Toyota.  Pump symbol on the right but the filler cap on the left.  Hmm.  Next time a Kia and again, opposite sides.  Finally a Renault and hose and filler cap on left.

So it looks like they stick the hose symbol on the offside and, if the car is made in a country that drives on the left (RHD) then the filler cap is correct ie UK, Japan, Korea (all driving on the left).  The problem comes when they change it to LHD for exports and it all goes awry.  Must be something to do with dashboards being made as a standard.  Same with LHD countries changing to RHD for selling to UK (or any of the other 82 countries in the world that drive on the left).

Nice try, though.