english reg car

is there any problem with the police or customs if you were to bring an english reg car to spain long term.do you need to change the reg.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Officially the car is supposed to leave Spain every six months. On the Costa del Sol loads of UK reg cars (plus others). Need to be a bit careful with the law if they get used to seeing the car around wherever you are going to be. Not every insurer will insure UK reg cars permanently here and dont think you ucan insure it in the UK but you need to check. For any insurance to be valid the car needs to be MOT'd every 12 months if over three years old which means taking back to the UK once a year for the MOT otherwise the insurance is invalid. Guess you have to decide whether you will drive the car here illegally or take it back every 12 months.

In theory you could change the reg to Spanish but if its right hand drive it is likely to cause some complication as beam of headlights etc have to be changed for the Spanish MOT. Also can be costly subject to the value of the car.

Rgds

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

I thought right hand drive cars couldn't be registered on Spanish plates it had to be left hand drive, is this correct?

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

It is possible to register RHD cars on Spanish plates, but WHY???? would you want to? It's challenging enough driving here, without being on the wrong side of the car!

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

But as we know so many do it - I have a mate who has a UK registered Cherokee - for doing the tolls on the AP7 he has bought one of these telescopic handle type things - keeps dropping the change!!

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Only problem I have is getting through the tolls before the barrier comes down:

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

I have a 6-year-old Toyota Celica which we drove down from Santander when we moved to Spain to work in Gibraltar.  I have my residencia and I've been told that I should register my car in Spain within 6 months.  I've read some of the comments on the website and I've spoken to colleagues.  The opinions seem to vary from "Don't bother, nobody cares" to "Oh you must or they'll confiscate your car".  My car is top of the range but it is 6 years old with 145,000 miles on the clock and i would be lucky to get a couple of thousand for it in the UK.  I have just been told it will cost me about 1800 euros to register the car.  Why?  Is this some sort of import duty?  I bought this car from new.  It's mine bought and paid for why do I have to pay someone in Spain for the pleasure of owning my own car.  I don't have tp pay for bringing my furniture here, OR DO I?  I took the car to the ITV depot in Estepona and they gave me the equivalent of an MOT which consisted of a document that said the car was roadworthy.  My Insurance Company, Abbeygate, specialises in RHD cars for ex-pats.  What am I to do, and if I do register it ,is 1800 euros a fair price?  Sounds dear to me.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

HI Adrian who has told it is 1800€. Seems dear to me but might be wrong. Any car imported to Spain from another country is subject to import duty. The duty relates to the price of the car when brand new and then reduces gradually as it gets older. I dont know how quick the rate of reduction is but FYI hire companies benefit from a concession in that they pay no import duty as they are a benefit to tourism. After 4 years they can then sell the car without incurring the duty - if it is sold within 4 years they lose some (or maybe all) of their concession on that vehicle. Thus for a 6 year old Toyota Celica it seems a bit lumpy but then I dont know the price new - cars depreciate here much slower than UK so perhaps it is feasible a Celica of that age might cost that much.

Continuing the note about hire company imort duty - some of the companies will buy in more prestigious brand new cars for the high season. They only need them for the summer months until about Oct/Nov when all they can shift is Focus and Fiesta and Pug 307s etc. But of course during the summer there will always be people who want Mercs, Beemers, Cabriolets etc - so they buy them keep em 6 months and flog them on - they will sell them at a price reflecting the fact that they have not paid duty as they dont want them hanging around. It then remains on a vehicle hire contract to the buyer until 2 years has passed and then the Matricula can be transferred - can save quite a lot of dough this way - bit like buying ex demo in the UK - just make sure you know who youre dealing with - dont want the hassle of not being able to change the matricula if the company goes awol 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Thanks Smiley.  Even my solicitor thinks it is a bit dear and these are the people he usually deals with. He describes them as always on the reasonable side in most cases but I think I'm going to get another quote.  If I have any luck I'll post it as it might be of use to others.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Dont know if they still do but used to see quite a few ads for gestors in the Sur and Euro Weekly in the motoring sections plying their wares for re reg - dont know how dependable they are and might be worth the recommendation from your brief - on the other side might be worth running the risk of doing nowt but for you to decide

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Hi Orda,

Tempting not to do anything isn't it?

BUT, my Brother has an Englsih registered car in Spain, with an Irish number plate, which makes things more dificult!

Once the Spanish Policia Local have "clocked" you, they won't leave you alone.

He has been followed to his home now on two occasions and the last time was warned that if he didn't re-register, he would be heavily fined.

Once they have theri teeth in you, they won't let go!

Rgds,

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

English registered, but with Irish number plate? Huh? How does that work then?

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Shes been at the firewater again - either that or shes been ringing motors but then again she is a Chelsea supporter so what do you expect?

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Don't you worry about what she said, Smiley?

She is thinking over what to says or said  or tell another tale next.

This message was last edited by Neeraj on 4/10/2007.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

" She is thinking over what to says or said  or tell another tale next."

Our Fibby doesn't tell tales.  She does great embroidery (maybe)  

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Actually, I have been thinking about my response to this one!

Being a Chelsea supporter, I chewed it over on a stick of celery for a couple of days first............

Irish plates are often bought in England and put on English registered cars.

Reason?

They are cheap!

We had one once, needless to say it was a FIB plate!

And they come with a free pint of Guinness.

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Irish plates are often bought in England and put on English registered cars.

Reason?

They are cheap!

Still don't understand. How can that be legal? On the same basis, you could just buy some Spanish "plates" and stick them on your UK registered vehicle. Somehow I don't think the paperwork would tally (unless you know some dodgy dealers at DVLA / Trafico?)

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Rob dont bother mate Chelsea supporters dont worry if its legal or not

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

You reckon thrashing a quality team like Roma 7-1 is legal?

Since I'm on the Driving In Spain board, I'd just like to report that I got knocked up the backside while cruising on a Malaga industrial estate this afternoon, by a taxi driver (licence number 8231 BHD). That's yet another scrape on my rear end.

 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know

Roberto,

Quote:

Still don't understand. How can that be legal? On the same basis, you could just buy some Spanish "plates" and stick them on your UK registered vehicle. Somehow I don't think the paperwork would tally (unless you know some dodgy dealers at DVLA / Trafico?)

When you buy the Irish plates, you have to send back the car reg documents to DVLA

They then re-register your car with the Irish plates.

It is obviously legal, but I don't think DVLA would accept Spanish number plates!!

 

 Spam post or abuse? Please let us know