Owning a car in Spain

Has anyone bought a car in England and brought it over to Spain?  We are sick of paying extremely high car hire costs (we come out nearly every 6-8 weeks).  We don't know whether or not it would be better to buy in Spain or to try and get a left hand drive car in the UK and bring it over.  If anyone has any experience, I would be very grateful.

Thanks

Jeanette

hi Janette

you pm'd me before, but i have extra piece of info for you. cheapholidaycar will have a car time share option, which means that you can purchase i.e 10 weeks worth of car hire and you will get set price regardless  of time of year. there just will be 4 weeks limit in june-sept period

get in touch.they will help you

good luck

Hi Janette,

Would you believe I am looking into this as well?

I have the chance of buying a LHD, Spanish registered Renaul Clio, with current ITV (MOT) and I am weighing up the options. I stand to be corrected by more experienced members of this forum, but here are the choices as I see them.

1. Buy a british registered car LHD or RHD and use it in Spain. Either drive it down and make a bit of a holiday of the journey, or get it transported down by a recognised company. I'm told officially you are only allowed to use a 'UK registered vehicle' for 6 months on Spanish roads before you need to have it registered in Spain, although several people I know stretch this law. One of the conditions for using a UK car in Spain is that it must have a valid MOT certificate. Unfortunately this might mean you have to get it back to the UK once a year to have the MOT done. That could turn out to be expensive and a pain.

2. Buy a Spanish vehicle and keep it in Spain. There are a few hurdles here as well though. I think to buy the car in the first place, you need an NIE, which most of us have these days, but to get it registered at the local office, in your name, you might need a Padron which in itself has further legal/taxation implications.

3. Storage. Hypothetically, do you pay to have the vehicle stored professionally in Spain and then when you arrive/depart someone brings/takes the car, or do you leave the car at CdA, with keys in your apartment and get a taxi to collect you/drop you off at the airport when you come and go?

4, I am also looking into the posibility of my family and friends using the car when they are staying at our apartment, but I'm guessing 'hiring' out the car would be a legal minefield.

I will keep you informed of what I find out.

Seeya later

WW

hi ww

you are 100% right, english car - too much hasle plus problems with guardia and mot, spanish car then, but.

1. purchase: around 3000-4000 euros to buy something descent including costs of transfers 

2. insurance 400-500 euros p/year

3. itv

4. tax

5. finnaly, if storage 350-400 euros p/year (where, alicante or murcia - you may get better deals for plane tickets), if car keept on cda than ask for a favour from neighbours every time you want to get to the resort (taxi is out of question as too expencive).

so, quite a lot to think of. would like to ask who would be interested in a car time share. you pay once and you have i.e. 10 weeks of usage of the car in a year including 3 weeks in the summer. i have solution. pm me if interested

regards