Hi all, I am battling against Spanish bureaucracy - surprise surprise - I am in the process of importing a ten-year-old Mercedes. I thought I'd jumped through a lot of hoops in my time in Spain but this latest one is a problem. My local ITV station will not carry out the test without a "Certificate of Conformity". Anybody have an idea how to obtain one?

I was advised by the ITV station to try the local Mercedes dealer. I was met with blank stares at first but eventually the penny dropped. I was confused by their answer - it will cost 100 or 500 Euros - we'll let you know! I am still awaiting a call back. I've looked online but prices are exorbitant. Has anyone had a similar experience and solved the problem at a reasonable cost.

Years ago I brought one over from the UK Vw charged me about 40stg. Why not try in the country of the vehicles origin

It is normally available from the dealer who originally supplied the car for the first time. Mine when I asked for it ( a BMW ) was issued free of charge.. I bought the car second-hand from the original dealer.
Next step is for you to go further up the chain eventually to the manufacturer.

Normally a COC is issued by the dealer in the country in which the vehicle was registered.It is a standard EU document
I have in the past got mine via EuroCoc and it went through OK(in France) but I know others have had problems using third party sites

I'm waiting for a reply from Mercedes. Ho hum. Thanks for the reply. I'll just go and bang my head against a brick wall while I'm waiting.

Autococ want nearly 300 Euros. I'm looking around for something more sensible. Thank for the response.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try them.

Will do. Thanks for the response.

That's a bit of a simplification.

A CoC is relevant to the country in which a car was originally sold and registered and while across the EU it should be more or less common and acceptable in the case of a UK car that may not always hold true. Although the document itself might be in a commonly understood format some parameters may lack entries and that's where it can fall down.
TBH I'm not sure that UK even issue CoC's because the necessary info is on the V5C, never bought a new car so can't say for sure.

A broad but not infallible yardstick is if the exact model can be found in the insurers database because that will mean that it was homologated and sold in Spain, albeit in LHD form. If you haven't already you might want to check on that aspect because if you cannot get insurance it's pretty much game over and the ITV becomes moot.

A price of €300 does not really surprise me.

Good luck!

Great reply. I'll give it a couple of days to see if any replies are forthcoming. Not holding my breath. Autococ(k) will be my last resort.

The CoC hadn't been thought about when my old bike was made, consequently when I imported it I had to take another route. The only option for me was an engineer's report. These can be completed by a member of the college of engineers, but I had one done by TUV Rheinland. It didn’t cost anywhere near €300 and was accepted without question.
Perhaps it would be an option for you
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Many thanks. Food for thought.

I'm a little surprised that you didn't ask the obvious question of "Pitfalls of importing a vehicle from UK or elsewhere from Europe?" being proceeding.
Having been through this in the past, fortunately I asked and was given some advise when importing a Spanish manufactured Renault to a neighbouring country. Obtaining the CoC from Renault Boulogne Billancourt near Paris was just one of many issues - and fortunately quite straight forward.
It became a pain to change vehicle components that did not conform such as headlights etc. and this alone can become a quite expensive excercise. And when D-Day arrived at the testing station the car failed because the windscreen glass did not conform to the new country's standards, although the vehicle was only 3 years old. This was a company supplied vehicle which I was reluctant to retain when the initial move was proposed, although our HR group assured me it was worthwhile and advisable to take with me and then re-register the car.
It was the time involved that was a major headache but at least I was able to make claims for all necessary expenses. I can guess that for yourself, replacing any Mercedes components that don't conform for Spain could turn into an expensive excercise. But I wish you the best of luck.

A state does not issue a COC. It is the manufacturer that is responsible for ensuring the model complies to EU standards and once it passes then each individual vehicle of that model can be issued with a COC. The document is in a standard EU format so no matter what language it is in it still complies as each section contains the same details.
The UK was notorious with their V5s missing or having incorrect info due the DVLA obsession with out sourcing the inputting of Data to a third world country.