Bringing a car to Spain.....

Given the cost of buying a second hand car in Spain I thought it would be a good idea to but a LHD Spanish registered car in the UK and then bringing it over when we move over in early Feb.

Is there any reason why we can't do this?

Would we have to pay any sort of import tax?

What would be th situation re registering the vehicle? We have an address in Spain but haven't yet signed the rental agreement  so could we register it as soon as we do and if so are we ok to drive the vehicle up to that point.

Could we drive it on english insurance until we get our Spanish insurance when we are living out there.

Oh my its complicated isn't it!!!

Many thanks in anticipation!

If you have a look at the thread below you will get all the info you need.

www.eyeonspain.com/Secure/ForumPostsDesc.aspx

You will need to read from the 1st post through to the end in order to understand what you may or may not have to do.

Hope this helps.

As for driving a UK registered car in Spain on your UK Insurance, check with your Insurance company that you are covered to do so, as many of the 'cheaper' policies offered by so called 'competitive' Insurance companies leave out valuable options such as driving in the EU.

If you have such Insurance cover, then as long as the UK registered car is FULLY legal in the country of registration, and that country is part of the EU, then you can drive that car on Spanish roads for as long as it is fully legal. However once you become a Spanish residence, then the car MUST be re-registered onto Spanish Plates, and in order to do this you must have an ITV (Spanish version of MOT) conducted on your car BEFORE you re-register the car.

In order to re-register the car, you must be on the local Padron (Council register) and you must have an ITV certificate for the car. You can do this all yourself by taking the car to the nearest ITV centre, mine is in Estepona, and then contact a local 'Gestor' (who is kind of like a lawyer and an accountant rolled into one) and they will re-register the car for you.

Doing it this way will save you a lot of money.

As for how much you will have to pay, well read all the posts in the thread I gave you the link in my last post, this will give you some very good pointers.

Also, it helps if you have owned the car for six months or more BEFORE you register on the Padron, as you can save paying all or most of the 'Matriculation' tax as mentioned in the other thread.

Phew! Hope all this helps and I will let you and everyone else know what happens when I re-register my car in a few weeks time.

So if the car has Spanish plates but it has been bought from the uk then it still has to be re-registered?

Thanks for the replies.......

Getting more confused by the moment!

No!

Sorry I just re-read your original post and realised you were enquiring about a LHD car purchased in UK that is ALREADY on Spanish plates.

In that case the car should have all the paperwork necessary to return to Spain. Just make sure that it does before you buy it.

Also you will need to find an Insurance agent that will Insure foreign registered cars on UK roads, or a Spanish Insurance agent that will Insure the car for you now in order to drive it in other EU countries, such as the UK, and then be able to drive the car into Spain.

Try Hamilton Insurance at www.hamilton-insure.com/

We purchased our house through their sister company Hamilton Homes and will be sorting out all our Insurance needs via them in the very near future, including Car Insurance.

Do you have your NIE number already? If not, you won't be able to register the car in your name.

Are you dealing with a reputable dealer? (have you seen this thread?) Do you understand the paperwork, and are confident the car is legit? Don't know if you can get an equivalent of an HPI check on Spanish reg cars? Maybe a gestor can do this for you.

For insurance, you may find Linea Directa useful, as they offer all their services in English via their website.