AlanJD

Hi everyone,
we're thinking of moving to Spain this year and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of buying a camper van there? What are the pitfalls and is there a really good website like Autotrader to go to? Or would I be wiser to buy a camper van in the UK?

Thanks for any information.

Alan

mikelincs

Don't buy in the UK unless you buy a lhd van, you may have difficulty in re registering it if it's rhd.

iano

If a permanent move, I should buy in Spain.

Only going on previous experience when looking to buy a Spanish camper about 7 years ago, Spanish prices were keener than UK. As ever, it does depend on the exchange rate at the time.

Also might be worth considering buying a LHD van in Germany and re-registering in Spain as you can pick up a very reasonably priced German model the savings of which can often more than offset any transfer costs. It's whether you can cope with the hassle !

mobile.de - Germany's Biggest Vehicle Marketplace Online. Search, Buy and Sell Used and New Vehicles

ayseha

Thanks, Ian. That's really helpful. I'll check out the German site.

Dxf

Hola

I'd caution against buying a motorhome abroad without knowing about the possible first registration tax - campervans are expensive

Davexf

AlanJD

Thanks Mike. What's the difference between an ihd van and rhd? I'm not familiar with either term.

snikpoh

Left Hand Drive and Right Hand Drive. Steering wheel, headlights, rear fog lights and reversing lights are all potentially different.

Fredbargate

Plus access to the accommodation.

Retired in Euskadi

As others have said, I'd buy a lhd van. Our son had his rhd VW camper van (bought in England) here for many years. It was a bit of a hassle to register it.
His main problem was to find a reliable garage that understood the engine & other bits, as it was over 25 years old, even though VW air-cooled engines are not that technical.
Getting spares from England was no problem.
Best of luck

ayseha

Cheers. Thanks for those tips.

Fred James

RHD vans, pickups and camper vans cannot be re-registered in Spain. It's something to do with rear visibility and/or door opening. No doubt someone will have an example of an exception to that rule, but that's the general rule. Cars are fine.

olivia

We have recently traded our left hand drive Hymer Van in Seville. It was on English plates and had to go back to UK yearly for mot etc. We had it insured for fulltimeing abroad but even with this there is a max of 6 months in any country. It is also very expensive £900 per year. If you buy a Spanish vehicle you can drive it legaly in the UK unless you are no longer resident and have Spanish residency. This is a grey area in UK rules. Some say if you can prove it is for a holiday visit you will be OK??
Our van was 2007. We have been offered a fair trade in price €20,000 but €3.500 has been further deducted for rematriculation to Spanish plates. I understand this includes some import tax and the work of a Gestor
for doing it. I also understand this charge is also based on age and value.

AlanJD

Thanks so much for this info Olivia, it's certainly making me think I'd be wiser to buy in Spain. Is there a Spanish website similar to Autotrader or Gumtree for buying second hand vehicles?

AlanJD

Thanks so much for the info!

olivia

I think Auto Scout or something like that. We intended to rematriculate our van but never got round to it due to cost. I believe if the van is more than 10 years old there is no tax? Our new van is going to be on Spanish plates and is very competitively priced compared to UK equivalent. Burstner Travel Van. If we don't stay in Spain it is cheap to re register in UK. We have many countries in Europe we want to visit therefore LHD is for us. We wouldn't use much if we returned to UK and would probably sell, its too wet and not motorhome friendly like France and Germany. There is a very poor supply of second hand vans in Spain.