More advice needed! I am looking at changing my car here in Spain. I have a couple to look at in garages for part exchange. I know in the UK a car can be checked, can anyone tell me how I do this in Spain? Any advice would be appreciated. I would want to know about any debt etc tied to the car

thanks in advance

That is all done by the Gestor when they register the car for you.
In Spain you cannot tell what the history of the car is. You cannot see who the previous owners were (part from the lat one) or even if the car has been written off in an accident.

"all done by the gestor", sorry I'm lost!! Obviously not same as trading in UK. Lets say, for example, I go along to the garage an agree a trade-in (my car plus cash) who arranges the gestor? This might seem obvious to some, but this is the first time I have had to trade a car and hubby working away so I am on my own doing this

Generaly the garage should offer this included in the price of the car.

My experience is it depends on the deal, either the cost of registering the car is included or not. It is usual the dealer arranged everything, but he will use a Gestor.

Thanks for that. I take it I agree a deal and don't part with cash till I see a gestor has checked it out? Would it not have been checked out when the garage bought/traded it initially?

It's a buyers market insist it is included in the deal, I think it'd be highly unlikey a garage would risk loosing a sale if you told them you'd seen another car in another garage which included everything in the asking price.

No the garage will have to give the paperwork to the gestor so that the car can be registered. You have to show your intention to register the car, thus hand over the money. Only when the gestor has the paperwork do they find out if there are any fines etc on the car. What happens if they do is not clear, as I have never had it happen so far.

There is an equivalent to HPI which can be done through a Gestor at a cost of about 20-30 euros. This will tell if there are any fines/finance oustanding, any embargos on the vehicle and most importantly if it is stolen. I'm not sure if it gives any details of accident damage or the vehicle having been written off though. This service was offered to me by a car dealer but I presume he would have done it through a Gestor as opposed to having direct access to the system.

Apart from loans or debts which the gestor can check for you, the best thing is to find a car known to the dealer with a stamped service book.

Most Spanish don't look after their cars, only spending money when they no longer move forward.

Also - any cars under 10 years old are considered by many as 'semi-new'. Any car over 10 years is a collectable!!

Linda, the garage will handle this all for you, at least that is my experience when having part exchanged a couple of cars over the years in Spain, all fairly painless... after all, they are not going to take a car in part exchange if all is not in order.

When I sold my car prior to leaving Spain, I just had to take all the documents, including the SUMA receipt to the garage, I also included the paid fine receipt for my traffic violation so theat they knew there were no outstanding fines. The garage took over from there, I signed to say I was handing it to them, and they gave me the money, not too sure of the full legality of the transaction as half was a cheque, and half was cash, which the owner had to get from his house, so possibly a bit of black money there.

Black money, in Spain! I don't think so Mike....... anyway, I am sure it was all a painless process.

totally, went in one day, agreed a price, took it in the next day, and the owner drove me home after everything was signed.

Sorry, here I am again looking for answers!! I have arranged to go to a garage in Calpe tomorrow to look at a couple of cars. the man said if I have the relevent papers with me I can take the "new" car away with me, is this normal? I am sure he said the hacienda? can be dealt with straight away and that's it - is there anything else I should be doing? I know about checking ITV, and making sure I get a document to say the car is in my name, if I buy a car from this garage is there anything else I need to do when I bring it home? Thanks for the previous responses