hi just noticed you mentioned one way van hire? which company are you using?

Thanks for that Sam, the first things we need then are an NIE number and a residency certifcate.
Thank you for your best wishes we can't wait to get there now.
Carol

Hi, we are using this company http://j-hire.co.uk. Other people have used them and recommended them. This will be the first time we will have used them so can't give any feedback at this stage.

Carol

JFYI, If you decide to sell a car on then if it is not too much trouble for you it can be worth a trip to traffico with the buyer, it is a simple process to change the car documents to the new owners name (if not a boring one) and then you can rest assured that the car is no longer in your name and you no longer carry any liabilities for it. You can get a gestor to do this but it draws things out a little.

I sold a car about a year ago, the guy made an offer, I accepted, we drove to Trafico in Malaga and he dropped me off in Fuengirola about 2.5 hours later with the car in his name.

If you sell the car on and let the owner have it without all the papers having been changed then you will very likely be responsible for anything that the car is involved in, this is why the seller in the story above was being cautious, and wisely too.

Thank you for that useful information Econ
We'll definitely bear it in mind if we buy or sell another car.

We took a couple of Spanish friends along with us, to check all the paperwork.
Unfortunately, the seller couldn't find his certificate that proved he was exempt from paying road tax (as he is a disabled driver)
We all thought that it wouldn't really be a problem to the Trafico, seeing as we we are not exempt; and would be paying road tax.
Oh, we should have known better!!
(Unfortunately, it wasn't practical to go the Trafico with the seller, because it was a Sunday.........and he lived in Madrid - 3 hours away!)

Anyway, we went to Trafico the following day; filled in all the forms, paid the taxes, presented all the documents..............but guess which piece of paper they're insisting on!?!..............yep, the one that's missing!!

The seller has requested a copy of the certificate from his Ayuntamiento, but a fortnight has gone by without it appearing.
My friend who works in our Ayuntamiento, phoned them last week and asked if there was a way to speed the process up.
Typical Spanish reply................"well, it's going to take some time!!"
Apparently, because the certificate was issued in 1999, it's going to be "quite difficult" to find it in the archives!!
(In other words, it means someone getting off their backside, moving away from the heater and the newspaper, and actually doing some work for more that 5 minutes at a time!!)

So, goodness only knows how long this is all going to take, and I remain without a car to use while my O/H is away!

However, another friend recently informed me that her cousin works in Trafico, so she'll go with me and "see what we can sort out!"
Don't you just love Spain!?

Yes, the seller needs to provide the papers that show the road tax is paid up to date.

But look on the bright side, there are a lot of things here that can be done right away 'or within an hour or so' that can take an age 'weeks or months' in the UK! and generally cost a lot more there also.

It's a shame your so far away from the town hall, seems strange it is taking so long for something that should be on computer. Maybe I am spoiled by a small town hall like Fuengirola's where I can just walk into and ask for car tax and other papers over the counter, anyway...

Good luck with getting the tax doc.

Thanks very much

You're absolutely right about the cost angle of many things here; and my comments were pretty tongue in cheek really, just based on my experience of how things happen (or don't!) in our tiny Ayun!

My friend who works there, is only on a year's contract and then will sadly be returning to Barcelona
I really don't know how the Ayun is going to run without her, because she's the only one who appears to do any work!
The "secretary" has been there 30 years, and all he does is read the paper, and finds as many excuses as possible to "pop out for 10 minutes!!"

I went down there the other day, and the Mayoress called me into her office to look at funny e-mails on her computer!
We spent about 20 minutes doing that - and every time there was a phone call for her, she said "tell them I'm in a meeting!!"

I'm sure the paperwork will get sorted out, but I'm also rather surprised that an Ayun in Madrid can't sort it out with the flick of a cursor on a PC!?

Well she was, with you no?

A couple of years back I bought a plot of land in a small village up in the mountains behind Estepona, a girl my wife knew who was showing us where the land was worked in the town hall, it was 13.30 when we where done. She made a call on her mobile and asked 'is there enough for two more?', then invited us back for lunch. We arrived at this apartment overlooking the valley where all the workers from the town hall 'about 8' including the mayor where having lunch, Fina opened the door, introduced us to everyone as the new 'vecinos' and then we all sat down for a plate of Migas, it was a really good afternoon.

I can't honestly say we would see something similar to this happening in the UK.

Sorry for wandering off topic...