Importing UK cars to Spain

[Gerald-S1]

Hi Guys

whats the craic with bringing cars in to Spain?
Could I start a business doing this? Is it limited to 1 car per household and on condition say that it was owned for x number of months prior etc etc? RHDers pose problems to register?

thanks for help

Gerald

[Kneetrembler]

Gerald-S1 said:

Hi Guys

whats the craic with bringing cars in to Spain?
Could I start a business doing this? Is it limited to 1 car per household and on condition say that it was owned for x number of months prior etc etc? RHDers pose problems to register?

thanks for help

Gerald

I don't think that there is a limit on how many you bring in, it will be how much you will be prepared to spend out for Gestors fees,which will include engineers fees, import duty,poss IVA, ITV,registration fees plus odds and sods.
Where it will cost you money is if you don't speak Spanish.

I have brought in 3 cars in a year and nobody has ever made any comments.

[Diag]

If you are asking about personal imports then you are supposed to own them for a period before import but there are ways around that. You can bring in 2 cars as personal imports. Other than that you can bring in as many as you like and pay the taxes.

[Kneetrembler]

Diag said:

If you are asking about personal imports then you are supposed to own them for a period before import but there are ways around that. You can bring in 2 cars as personal imports. Other than that you can bring in as many as you like and pay the taxes.

Well if that is the case then I have broken it on more than one occasion and never had any problems, the only question that I have been asked on more than one occasion, has been to see the ferry ticket from the U.K. to Spain to prove that it has only just entered the country and the bill of sale, which really rules out your answer.

[Rothgo Wooft]

Bill of sale could pose a problem for me... And how long is the "only just entered the country"?

I was under the beleif that I have six months as a tourist before I need to get things sorted? Tho I guess its different if you are already resident.

[Kneetrembler]

As I am a resident by law you should start the change over process once you enter the country, otherwise as you say you have 6 months.

Here on Ibiza they are pretty hot and hold regular checks on foreign plated cars, mainly U.K. and German

[johninspain]

here is the break down for my car note that the chap only charges €100 for the full service. All the other money goes to KEEPING SPANISH ROADS in GOOD condition ......................



Hi John,
Here is the pre-supuesto for the Range Rover Vogue SE TD V8 reg.08/08/2008:-

Vehicle Price New in Spain ........................................... 62500€

Fiscal Value ................................................................. 41875,00 euros

Co2 "Import Duty" 352g/km @ 14.75%.......................... 6176,56 euros
Ficha reducida and ITV ................................................ 230,00
Suma last trimestre.(approx)........................................ 80,00
Trafico........................................................................ 90,90
Borrador..................................................................... 20,00
Fees inc. Plates........................................................... 250,00

Total Admin costs....................................................... 6847,46 euros

NOT INCLUDED IS THE COST OF LIGHTS AND FITTING

If or when you are the title holder for the preceding 6 months and you have no antecedentes in Spain
you may be able to change residency of the vehicle by obtaining a Baja Consular.This is a sworn legal statement to a representative of the Crown that you have left the UK and are now Permanently living in Spain.Ensure that your declaration is true as Hacienda are double checking everything now as they have uncovered a few fraudulent statements. Do NOT send any part of the logbook off to Swansea nor ask for export Certificate.

If your baja consular is accepted by Hacienda you can expect to eliminate the Co2 Duty and replace it with approx 134€ ,the approx cost of the baja.

Note:-Because of the crisis,Hacienda are checking very carefully High valued vehicles mainly for the duty that can be obtained
Hope this of use to you

[Chordiant]

Also, if you do NOT pay the import tax, you are not allowed to sell the vehicle for 12 months after Spanish registration.

Around here, the Guardia are clamping down on UK-registered cars not displaying valid road tax. Cars & Vans have been impounded until they can get them taxed - which is impossible without a valid MOT.

Owners have been going back to the UK to get them MOT'd - and then getting their vehicle impounded at the point of entry, thanks to ANPR cameras.! The car in front of us fell victim last month at Folkestone.

[Chordiant]

Rothgo Wooft said:

Bill of sale could pose a problem for me... And how long is the "only just entered the country"?

I was under the beleif that I have six months as a tourist before I need to get things sorted? Tho I guess its different if you are already resident.

If non-resident (Spanish property owner) it is 60 days, if resident it is 30 days. Tourists are allowed a maximum of 183 days, before it has to be back in the country of registration.

Of course, there are many who flout the regulations - thare are also a number who have had their vehicles impounded, too.

And then there's that heart-stopping moment when the Guardia pull you over at a road block. Game over!!

The Guardia now have PDA's which data-share with the DVLA - ohhhhh dearrrr.

[mickrick]

Chordiant said:

Rothgo Wooft said:

Bill of sale could pose a problem for me... And how long is the "only just entered the country"?

I was under the beleif that I have six months as a tourist before I need to get things sorted? Tho I guess its different if you are already resident.

If non-resident (Spanish property owner) it is 60 days, if resident it is 30 days. Tourists are allowed a maximum of 183 days, before it has to be back in the country of registration.

Of course, there are many who flout the regulations - thare are also a number who have had their vehicles impounded, too.

And then there's that heart-stopping moment when the Guardia pull you over at a road block. Game over!!

The Guardia now have PDA's which data-share with the DVLA - ohhhhh dearrrr.

I've never seen anything happen in Spain in 60 days!
I asume you mean this is how long you have, to get the tedious paper chasing/backhanders/sucking up started?

Rothgo Wooft, there's someone on the Island called Marquerite Tel.[phone]
e-mail [e-mail] they aparently specialise in difficult cases. The Classic Car Club Mallorca use them.

Can't wait to see the fun and games to get this registered!

I have a feeling I'm going to have a sore bum!

[Kneetrembler]

mickrick said:

I've never seen anything happen in Spain in 60 days!
I asume you mean this is how long you have, to get the tedious paper chasing/backhanders/sucking up started?

Rothgo Wooft, there's someone on the Island called Marquerite Tel.[phone]
e-mail [e-mail] they aparently specialise in difficult cases. The Classic Car Club Mallorca use them.

Can't wait to see the fun and games to get this registered!

I have a feeling I'm going to have a sore bum!

Sex on wheels, that looks very tasty

[mickrick]

Well Thank You!
I've a thread going on over on the Caterham section, with a few pictures http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Getting back to the OP, I can't see why anyone would be interested in buying a RHD car in Spain anyway.

[Kneetrembler]

mickrick said:

Well Thank You!
I've a thread going on over on the Caterham section, with a few pictures http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Getting back to the OP, I can't see why anyone would be interested in buying a RHD car in Spain anyway.

Exactly

[Diag]

Its surprising the number of RHD UK plated cars that are sold over here. Plenty of RHD Spanish plated ones as well. They tend to be sold cheap so certainly not worth bringing them in as a business.
My Elise is RHD but it’s not a problem. It’s so small I can lean over to the passenger side for tolls and car park tickets. I will probably convert it anyway, which is very easy compared to other cars or I might see if it sells it as it is.

[mickrick]

Going slightly OT again, where would you get the parts to convert the Elise?
I've always had an itch for an Exige, but at the time there wasn't a Spanish Lotus dealer, and lotus wouldn't sell me a LHD car direct.
If it could be done, and the parts are easily available, it may be an option for another project for me in the future! There seem to be a few nice second hand examples around now.

[Chordiant]

Hopefully, the saga of changing the Navigator from UK-registered to Spanish-registered, will be resolved this week. The ITV is now done - after FOUR visits - next stop (tomorrow) is Hacienda and then Trafico on Friday for the plates.

Despite it being LHD and everything setup for driving on the right (lights), there were additional problems with a 2nd VIN requirement (new laws for imported cars from 17.01.11), only ONE per side (amber) rear indicators - not the TWO per side (amber) which were fitted and no auxilary rear fogs (overlooked by the Engineer .!). RED rear indicators (as factory fitted) are an absolute no-no..!

Fingers crossed - almost there...

[mickrick]

"illegitimi non carborundum" seems apropriate here!

[Diag]

mickrick said:

Going slightly OT again, where would you get the parts to convert the Elise?
I've always had an itch for an Exige, but at the time there wasn't a Spanish Lotus dealer, and lotus wouldn't sell me a LHD car direct.
If it could be done, and the parts are easily available, it may be an option for another project for me in the future! There seem to be a few nice second hand examples around now.

All of the parts are available new except one piece of trim. That can be sourced from Italy. I have a complete list of part numbers.
In my case I would buy new because my car has less than 5k km on it and I would want to keep it in that condition but I have found a few LHD cars being dismantled on various Lotus forums. The one part I would buy new regardless is the rack.

[mickrick]

Thanks Diag. Any idea on cost, to do it with all new parts?

[Diag]

About 3.5k sterling for parts at list, but should be possible to better that. As far as I remember that figure includes head lamps but I don't need them as my type are easily modified. That figure I got from a Dutch guy who converted his Elise. It would be approx 2 days work I would think.

Something worth noting is that the CoC for my car states it to be "LHD/RHD" so if converted before being presented to the ITV they would not know any different.