Before I get slaughtered for possibly yet another "Car in Spain" thread can I just say that this MAY be a different slant on it. I've tried the search function and looked into the wiki but doesn't seem to answer my points.

So I'm moving to Spain (assuming no last minute hitches). My car is a right hand drive so I need a left hand drive one. (I know this might be a matter of opinion to some so humour me if you disagree). At this moment I am looking at a used car.

As far as I can see I have a few options:

1. Buy a car in Spain which I believe are fairly dear, compared to the UK.

2. Buy a LHD car registered in the UK and re register it in Spain.

3. Buy a car somewhere else in Europe and register it in Spain.

4. Buy a foreign registered car (ie French) in the UK and register it in Spain.

5. Buy a Spanish registered car in the UK and register it in Spain.

If we take number one out of the equation for the moment, as value for money might be a big issue, conversely it may be the best option, so for both reasons we can set it aside for now. I think we can probably rule number 5 out too for all manner of reasons. Unless someone knows better...

As far as number 2 goes, will the cost of re registering in Spain be less if the vehicle is set for the continent, i.e. Kmh speedo, lights etc? If so, will it be a lot less? Will it matter if the vehicle was previously Spanish for example, even if currently on British plates? Would it's old history potentially come back to haunt me? Will it matter if it was previously registered elsewhere other than Spain?

Is Number 3 an option at all? If you need NIE to buy in Spain, do you need an equivalent kind of thing in, say, France or Belgium? If not, where is the cheapest place in Europe to buy a car within about 1000 miles of Southern Spain?

With regard to number 4, will the process to re register for, say, a French registered car be any different to a UK registered car given that it should be matriculated already?

The other variables are the cost of fuel from UK to Spain, around £500 so that might wipe out any advantage in buying a cheaper car, but it might not. The advantage of 2 and 4 is that I'm likely to get a relatively decent part ex price rather than the hassle of trying to sell privately or even worse, trying to sell a UK registered car in Spain.

All of these options are designed to give me the best possible deal on a fairly limited budget. If Spanish dealers (I'm not even considering buying privately) charge so much more than the UK then the admittedly awkward process or re registering might be more financially viable.

Unless you know exactly what paper work is required with French/German cars best forget them or it could end up very expensive ,if £500 for travel is a big part of your budget you are only going to get a banger where ever you buy it , Spanish dealers sell as much crap as privateers , buying private is fine so long as you use a gestor to oversee the purchase/transfer . Mechanical failure is always a possibility with any car , unless you are a mechanic or an engineer get it checked out by a professional.
The easiest option is buy a Spanish car in Spain , prices have dropped a lot in the last 2 years .

I never found there to be a huge difference in second hand prices. Check your local dealer in UK and compare that with dealer in Spain.
2007 Audi A3 2.0TDI at £12,000 in UK
2007 Audi A3 2.0TDI at 11,500€ in Spain

Buy from a reputable dealer WITH a warranty. Do not underestimate the cost and hassle you will have importing a vehicle to Spain.

Milage on the Uk one is about half that of the Spain one though. But then with currency conversion quite a bit cheaper

Just an example. I am sure one could find many comparable cars cheaper in UK or vice versa.

Unfortunately, OP did not say where in spain, what he was looking for or what his budget is?

My apologies. I didn't really think those specifics were particularly relevant as I was really only addressing the actual registering issues rather than being on a mission for a particular vehicle in a particular place. If the rules and regulations vary for each region and each vehicle I can be more specific, although it was just the logistics of each option I was considering for now thanks.

Sorry it wasn't a criticism Missile, I agree with your view. Just something I noticed from the links.

Thanks bobd.

You also need to take into account the cost of registering which, depending on the car, could be as high as 14.75% of the current value.

Buying a RHD car elsewhere and re registering might prove expensive as AFAIK, you will have to pay some sort of import tax as you will not have owned it for long enough, buying a Spanish reg car in the UK could well be fraught with dangers if the seller hadn't declared it correctly when it left Spain.
Bets bet is to sell your UK car, and buy when you get to Spain, BUT please use a reputable dealer, who should do all the legal work, and if you do do a private deal use a gestor to ensure that the transfer will be legal.

remember that second hand cars are more expensive in Spain, sometimes it can be cheaper to buy new, especially if you have an old banger to sell as they are running the PIVE scheme

also, generally Spanish car dealers do not put the price in the windscreen, so you have to go in and ask in your heathen badly formed and accented Spanish.
However, have started to see one or two with prices in the window - including the Ford and Seat dealers in Granada

Most of the advice given applies equally to buying a RHD car for use in the UK.
i.e. buy from a reputable dealer, get a warranty, get it checked by a mechanic etc.
But the UK has a huge private second-hand car market and most people that I know of buy privately and just take a knowledgeable mate along.
As long as you get it checked out by a gestor then what's so different about Spain?

Another thing...Is option 5 really a no-no?
If it is Spanish registered in the UK then the Spanish plates will still be on it.
Isn't there a Spanish database that a gestor can call up to check for any outstanding issues such as taxes due?
Option 5 might be the cheapest option for the OP. There are many Brits that have returned to the UK and taken their Spanish car with them. They now want to change it for a RHD one so they part-ex it at a local garage. The local garage doean't want the hassle of re-registering it so is looking to off-load it fairly quickly.

The other problem with option 5 (and really exists if one buys a car in Spain as well) is that there can be a debt against the car as well. This happened to a friend here in Spain and didn't come to light until she came to sell it - it had not been picked up when she first bought it even though she used a Gestor.

Also, has the paperwork been done when it left Spain, and when the original owner sold it, otherwise it would be a nightmare to find the original owner, get him/her to do the correct paperwork so it can be re registered.

How do you transfer ownership to a local garage in the UK?
I dunno.
Maybe ownership doesn't get transferred and the vehicle is still registered with the previous owners. Presumably any local garage would keep a retainer until the vehicle was sold so that all paperwork could be sorted out.
I dunno.

Buying any car, whether in the UK or Spain, can be risky. If you're buying a Spanish registered car then you need to have done your homework and have a competent gestor on board. But the same rules apply when buying in Spain. The same risks exist.

Chances are that the previous owners were a couple that did everything by the book and had a genuine Spanish vehicle, but circumstances changed and now they just want to rebuild their lives back home. Get rid of the car cheaply so that they can move on.

My argument still stands that option number 5 might well be the cheapest and best deal for the OP, simply because it requires a bit of forethought.