Buying & Registering a Spanish car in Spain

Can any of you good people help, we have owned a property in Spain for 6 years and are now thinking of buying a car rather than hiring as our stays are getting longer.

What documents should we ask the vendor for when purchasing a vehicle.
How long do we have before we need to register it in our names.
Where do we register it.
What documents will we need to provide in order to register it.
Car tax how do we obtain that and again what documents are required.
Thanks

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Buying a car in Spain is much easier if you buy from a main dealer or a reputable second hand car dealer, both of these should do the tansfer work for you. Private purchase can be a bit of a problem

You will need a pardon for car purchase, and I think residencia certificate now and possibly a passport.

We bought from a second hand dealer and had no problems at all.

Car tax is handled by your local authority via the SUMA office. Once the car is in your name, and I believe this has to be on Jan, 1st, you will receive a SUMA bill for the car tax through the post to the address you gave at the purchase. If you buy a car towards the end of the year and the documents show the previous owner on Jan 1st, then then have to pay the car tax for the next year. Car tax is usualy due around the 1st week in May.

Cars over 4 years old need ITV testing (MOT) and this has to be done every 2 years until the car is 10 years old then every year. 

Kev.

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Hi
We recently bought our car from a dealer and needed our NIE number to buy the car and the padron for the road tax.
Jacqui

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When we decided to buy a car in Spain, we needed
a) my Passport
b) my UK Drivers Licence
c) copy of Padron document as proof of address
d) copy of my NIE document.

We visited a few car dealers, found the car we wanted, paid 300 Euros as a test drive and reservation fee, (Non returnable but deductible from purchase price on completion)
The dealer then gave me a copy of the 'permiso de circulacion' to take to an Insurance company of my choice.
We arranged the insurance through a local broker who gave us a cover note. We then took the cover note back to the dealer along with the balance of a 10% cash deposit for the car.
The dealer then made all of the transfer of ownership arrangements and paid whatever taxes were due on the transfer.
The transfer took a couple of days; we then had a call from him  to let us know that upon receipt of the balance of the purchase price the car was legally ours.

One year later we had a letter from the local town hall requesting renewal of the Spanish equivalent of Annual Road Tax; for our car it was 78 Euros.
Two years after purchase we had a letter from the ITV agency letting us know that the car was due its next two year test.
Ignore this at your peril, just days after the renewal date, if you have not been to the ITV centre your details are forwarded to both te local  and National Trafficos.

Couple of things we have since learned; if you want fully comp insurance you have to ask for it otherwise you will get 3rd party fire and theft cover along with (generally) roadside recovery built in.
Fully comp insurance is not the same over here as it is in the UK, and you will need to study the small print very closely to find out exactly what is covered.
It is very doubtful that you will get the declared value or purchase price back in the case of a write off prang.
If you only have TPF&T insurance dont even contact your insurers unless you have all of the details of the second vehicle and its owner.

Always, but always carry the vehicle documentation in the car, including proof of payment for the road tax and insurance.
Ensure that you have Hi-Viz vests available for all occupants, spare bulbs (and the tools to change them), and if you need specs for driving, a second pair of glasses.

A couple of years ago during a particularly aggressive anti-speeding campaign along the CDS, the trafficos got a nice little earner by inviting offending drivers to leave their vehicle whilst some technicality was explained. Drivers who exited their cars without first putting on the vests were additionally charged with this offence too...

Hope all of this helps....


 

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thanks for the very usefull information. I didn't realise about the high viz vests.

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"You will need a padron for car purchase, and I think residencia certificate"

I think you will find that a car can be purchased without either of these if done correctly..otherwise those who spend some time over here but don't actually own a property would never be able to buy a car.


This message was last edited by freddy on 8/26/2008.

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In Costa Blanca you can not get registered on the Padron until you have a residencia.   Not very helpful for Non Residents.

Previously I heard that car dealers were organising Padron certificates for you.

I've also been told that you need to show your copy simpla, if you don't own a property then you would need to show your rental lease/contract.

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 We do not have residencia, but we registered on the Padron no problem.   Pat

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This year?

Regulations changed this year, in January?

Previously it was easy to register, especially because of the elections.

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We live for some months of the year at my daughters place so don't have either recidencia or Padron but I am on my second Spanish car now.
Both the cars were bought from dealers and other than Passport, NIE, the only other requisite was that I signed a declaration stating where I was living and produced a couple of utility bills, ( still in my daughters name). Obviously as I live there at nil cost, I was unable to provide a rental agreement. Incidently the car is registered in my name.

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Freddy - Have you ever been stopped by Trafico and hows your Spanish?  

I hire a car each time I come over.  I always read the English Language papers in Spain to keep up to date with what's going on and subscribe to a number of forums.  I'm still debating whether to buy a car so I take note of anything people say about the problems they incurr with a, having a UK (Euro) driving licence and having to have a Padron ( to prove address in Spain) + proof that you are insured.

I tried a couple of years ago to get a padron without success and I read that when you buy a car then the dealer can organisize it for you.  That was before the law changed in Jan 2008.

So it's interesting to read that you have been driving around without one for some years and haven't encountered any problems.

Did you have to get an NIE to buy the car?

Just when you think you understand something, you find out someone has been down a different route and it works for them.  It's no wonder I feel like this 

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I must admit I have never been stopped but I was quite pedantic when I bought the last car..I have even had to go and pay Suma on the car at Playa Flemenca without any problems...I had an NIE and the obvious Passport but I did have to prove where I was living ( although not owning ).

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Freddy you live in the same area as me so that's reassuring if I should decide to buy.

I know that anyone can pay the suma on a car, for the last 4 years I have received a suma bill in the previous owners name.

I ignored them at first but then I opened them and found that it was for the current year only.  So the previous years have been paid but the car is still registered in the previous owners name.  She has been living in Australia since before I bought the house and she asked the person who had power of attorney to sell the car.  Last I heard he still had car but hasn't changed over ownership.  

I wonder how he'll get on if he's stopped by police.

I might even throw a spanner in the works and take all the bills into Suma to see if I can get the account noted that she's emigrated to Australia.

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I would like to think that everything is above board. I was assured by the car dealer ( a very reputable one) that all was well....
Living here for a few months of the year made car rental too expensive so the obvious route was ownership... I undestand Residencia and Padron are only available to those staying longer than I do, so I had to seek advice as to just how I could have a car for more long term use, that just a couple if weeks holiday.

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Things do change over time and in all honesty it depends on who you are dealing with if you are stopped by Traffico.  Are they uptodate with the latest rules or are they going to insist that you abide by the ones they know.

This has always been a grey area and they one way of getting around it was having a padron, I've never seen one but I assume it has proof of your address in Spain.

Does your car insurance show your daughters address, if so then make sure you have a copy of it in the glove box plus proof that it is in date.

I understand that now they can access our driving licences on line so perhaps it's not so important that they have an address in Spain.  As long as everything else is in order and you are legally allowed to drive then there shouldn't be a problem.

I didn't mean to worry you, I just wanted to find our more information should I decide to buy a car.

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