Buying Spanish plated car in UK
Discussion
Anyone any experience of this?
We are relocating to sunny Spain later this year and will need a car. We have a dog so will be driving there from the UK. I understand that we can't drive our UK registered car there without going through the timely and costly route of registering it, so our only option seems to be to buy a Spanish car here and drive over to Spain, but not sure of the practicalities of this. Any thoughts?
We are relocating to sunny Spain later this year and will need a car. We have a dog so will be driving there from the UK. I understand that we can't drive our UK registered car there without going through the timely and costly route of registering it, so our only option seems to be to buy a Spanish car here and drive over to Spain, but not sure of the practicalities of this. Any thoughts?
Are you aware you can use your UK plated car for 6 months in Spain? Obviously insurance, MOT, tax need to be covering the period.
That gives you time to find something over there - if you aren't aware used cars in Spain typically have a lot more miles and are in worse condition than the UK, and far more expensive.
For us the most cost effective way when looking at 3 year+ ownership was a brand new Dacia / Kia / Hyundai on finance. Unfortunately the one in the family with TIE couldn't qualify for the finance.
That gives you time to find something over there - if you aren't aware used cars in Spain typically have a lot more miles and are in worse condition than the UK, and far more expensive.
For us the most cost effective way when looking at 3 year+ ownership was a brand new Dacia / Kia / Hyundai on finance. Unfortunately the one in the family with TIE couldn't qualify for the finance.
I looked at Spanish registered cars in the Uk, but they were mostly rubbish.
Buying a car in Spain is pretty painful unless you’re in a financial position to buy brand new. I bought a 1.0l focus when I moved here 3 years ago. 2015, 57k miles… cost me €9k from a Ford main dealer. The good news is you can get good back if you look after it… I’ve just sold mine with 65k miles for €8.5k.
There are some relative bargains out there… I’ve just bought a 2005 X5 to knock around in… 2 owners, 73k miles, original sale invoice, every mot and every service & repair bill… €6,500. But I looked multiple times a day for 2 months and bought this one less than 48 hours after it was advertised. 2005 X5’s are typically €7.5k with 130k+ miles.
There’s more choice and better prices if you’re based in Madrid/Barcelona.
Buying a car in Spain is pretty painful unless you’re in a financial position to buy brand new. I bought a 1.0l focus when I moved here 3 years ago. 2015, 57k miles… cost me €9k from a Ford main dealer. The good news is you can get good back if you look after it… I’ve just sold mine with 65k miles for €8.5k.
There are some relative bargains out there… I’ve just bought a 2005 X5 to knock around in… 2 owners, 73k miles, original sale invoice, every mot and every service & repair bill… €6,500. But I looked multiple times a day for 2 months and bought this one less than 48 hours after it was advertised. 2005 X5’s are typically €7.5k with 130k+ miles.
There’s more choice and better prices if you’re based in Madrid/Barcelona.
Old threat alert. As said earlier, the pain of buying a used car in Spain is high. In addition to what was mentioned, there is a transfer tax to pay, based on car’s value. Also any unpaid taxes or fines go with the car, so if not careful you could end up with these too. The only good thing is that, here in the south at any rate, cars do not rust. In 23 years here, with cars of all ages, I have never replaced one exhaust or part thereof. The downside is that every panel will be bashed and scraped and the paintwork, rubber and plastic trim will be degraded by the sun, on older examples.
Prices here are a little better than in France but not much...
I've just got my French Ducati registered here and the French regd X3 is getting there, but in the meantime we wanted a runaround for going into town etc
Picked up a super clean Audi A3 2.0 FSI with only 165K on the clock, interior is mint and the exterior is really good for a used car here and it only cost 3700€ including the transfer into my name.
I know its an old thread, but the poster who said you can run around in your UK car for 6 months is correct IF you're non resident, but as soon as you move here for residence purposes you have 1 month to start the import procedure.
I also love how as they can't apply an import duty for EU cars brought here, they then rename it a foreign vehicle registration fee!
You can allegedly get it back but I won't hold my breath on that one.
Oh, and don't mention bringing a car in with a tow bar......
Genuine BMW factory fitted bar, on the build sheet and still the ITV centre says " modification - not allowed "
Have to have it removed to get it in, then find an authorised workshop to refit it to allow it to then be added to the car's ficha técnica
I've just got my French Ducati registered here and the French regd X3 is getting there, but in the meantime we wanted a runaround for going into town etc
Picked up a super clean Audi A3 2.0 FSI with only 165K on the clock, interior is mint and the exterior is really good for a used car here and it only cost 3700€ including the transfer into my name.
I know its an old thread, but the poster who said you can run around in your UK car for 6 months is correct IF you're non resident, but as soon as you move here for residence purposes you have 1 month to start the import procedure.
I also love how as they can't apply an import duty for EU cars brought here, they then rename it a foreign vehicle registration fee!
You can allegedly get it back but I won't hold my breath on that one.
Oh, and don't mention bringing a car in with a tow bar......
Genuine BMW factory fitted bar, on the build sheet and still the ITV centre says " modification - not allowed "
Have to have it removed to get it in, then find an authorised workshop to refit it to allow it to then be added to the car's ficha técnica
In Spain tow bars have to have a manufacturers certificate attached to them, or a certificate from an authorised tow bar supplier/fitter.
Without that, genuine OEM or not, it will not pass an ITV, hence why you had to have yours removed then refitted.
I had a tow bar on my MGB when I brought it to Spain from France (no issues whatsoever there) but of course no way was any sort of certification possible for it in Spain so off it had to come.
Fortunately I had little use for it any more as the little Eriba Puck caravan I use to tow with it I'd sold before moving from France to Spain..
Without that, genuine OEM or not, it will not pass an ITV, hence why you had to have yours removed then refitted.
I had a tow bar on my MGB when I brought it to Spain from France (no issues whatsoever there) but of course no way was any sort of certification possible for it in Spain so off it had to come.
Fortunately I had little use for it any more as the little Eriba Puck caravan I use to tow with it I'd sold before moving from France to Spain..
Expatloon said:
In Spain tow bars have to have a manufacturers certificate attached to them, or a certificate from an authorised tow bar supplier/fitter.
Without that, genuine OEM or not, it will not pass an ITV, hence why you had to have yours removed then refitted.
I had a tow bar on my MGB when I brought it to Spain from France (no issues whatsoever there) but of course no way was any sort of certification possible for it in Spain so off it had to come.
Fortunately I had little use for it any more as the little Eriba Puck caravan I use to tow with it I'd sold before moving from France to Spain..
It had all of the documentation required to legalise it under the Spanish Import regs. Without that, genuine OEM or not, it will not pass an ITV, hence why you had to have yours removed then refitted.
I had a tow bar on my MGB when I brought it to Spain from France (no issues whatsoever there) but of course no way was any sort of certification possible for it in Spain so off it had to come.
Fortunately I had little use for it any more as the little Eriba Puck caravan I use to tow with it I'd sold before moving from France to Spain..
All of those you mentioned plus a few more too.
I have since found out that the "engineer" who said no did so from the comfort of his office in another city and never actually looked at either the car or the supplied documentation.
He thought that the car was a Series 3 ( and No s
t Sherlock an X3 towbar won't fit one of those! ) and will now not accept that he made a mistake. Gassing Station | Spain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff