Im moving to spain in a month and will be needing to buy a car and get it insured etc, I wondered if there was anything I should be aware of and if there was anything specific I need before applying for insurance etc

You will need a NIE number and some will ask for one of the following:

• Residence Certificate
• Rental contract or title deeds to your proptery
• Padron certificate/evidence

You will also be liable for a transfer ownership fee which I believe is about 4% of what the gov says the car is worth, however if you're buying from a dealer you might want to haggle that into the deal.

If you take your own RHD/LHD car you will have to have owned it for upto six months to be able to bypass their 'import duty' more info can be found in the 'free beer' post/sticky at the top of the Spanish section.

As far as insurance is concerned you will need proof of residency and address and also a valid ITV (MOT) if applicable.

Hello, I've been told the cars are more expensive in Spain, than England, is that so? I thought it was the other way around. Not that I would take a car over, for one I don't fancy the 500 or so miles to Mijas after getting off the ferry and the other reason is I want a car with the left hand drive.

New cars may be cheaper here than the equivalent model in the UK Polly but second hand cars hold their value more here. As for the ferry and the drive down, it is a fantastic experience - done it a few times, but if you dont fancy it then so be it. There are plenty of second hand cars available but be careful if buying privately and use a gestor to do all the checks and paperwork for you. If the previous owner had any unpaid fine of bill, this can appear as an embargo against the car you buy and it could be seized against the dept. Also beware and try not to buy an ex taxi as they then require ITV (the equivalent of MoT) earlier than a private car.

About 15 years ago the UK was the most expensive place in Europe to purchase a car from (RHD) but due to a lot of pressure from joe public the manufacturers and the government had to take note and our prices fell in line with the rest of Europe. So the 'RHD Tax' as some people called it is no more.

Present day market as Brits love everything to be new a shiny and the fact that we're a tiny island means the second hand values are quite dire.

Pre-owned LHD cars are more expensive to buy in any part of Europe compared to the RHD versions, that's unfortunately a fact as LHD has a much bigger market than RHD.

If you're German say for example it's perfectly normal for people from 5+ countries to express interest in your vehicle. When was the last time you got interest from Cypress or some other RHD country when you've tried to sell your RHD car in the UK?

Sure there are some complete idiots who are trying their arm and day light robbing people on eBay for LHD vehicles (some are a good 8,000 quid more than what you would pay in the country it came from) but there are genuine people out there and well you would expect to pay a small premium ontop of their purchase price as you have to remember it's expensive to bring a car across Europe and then register it on UK plates.

But generally even taken that into effect you can still make a substantial saving buying a LHD car in the UK or anywhere else in Europe compared to prices in Spain and Portugal, especially if you're buying something near new or big and lumpy/expensive.

We've had clients in the past that have bought a car(s) from us and move to Spain to have a call a few weeks later asking us for 2-4 more as they want to sell them out there.

Hope this has helped explain the situation concerning price comparisons and the reasoning about it.

You've heard right I'm afraid, second hand cars for sure are more expensive and you have to pay re registration charges also. Not sure what deals are around for new though

And as for insurance, you can at least check out the company I use - Linea Directa - as they have an English speaking enquiry line and you can get the policy in English too. You can find them on the internet and a link to their English speaking phone centre.

All fully comp insurance here comes with European breakdown cover also

Just to point out that residence certificate or tarjeta de residencia, no longer exists for EU citizens, the only certificate you can now get is a NIE, which yes you will need for any taxable transaction such as registering a car in your name and of course you will need an address but not necessarily your own house (as you are just arriving).

Yup, I just needed my NIE number and my rental contract to purchase a used car from a Seat garage. I did purchase out right. Did a bank transfer and drove the car straight out. It was quite an easy process.

What i did find amusing was the lack of enthusiasm from the sales people here. Unlike England, where if you went into a car showroom they wanna bite your hand off and act like your best mates. Not here, they generally dont care hehe. I couldnt really haggle the price either.

But all in all, all good

Hi
thanks for the info, the only reason I don't fancy the drive is because I haven't mastered driving on the other side of the roads for one and not sure how long it would take me to drive such a long distance. Plus I will be traveling alone too.

Santander to Sevilla (my route) or to Malaga (your route) would be about 10 hrs drive. Possible in one go but make it 2 days for an easy trip. Are you saying that you have never driven on the right side of the road (as opposed to the correct side to the road)? To an extent, if your not used to driving on "our side", doing the drive down would be taking the bull by the veritable horn but could be a lot easier than starting out around Mijas where there is quite a lot of traffic.

Residencia card has gone but you still need a residencia certificate if you are here for more than 3 months.

Thank you, I'm going to print this off and take it with me when I move out in June! Karma on it's way, still new to this forum thing, never thought to send "karama".

Not sure now what you mean, I drive here in England (RHD) I have only driven round quiet avenues in Spain, so far, and been on the duel carriageway once for a couple of minutes at El FAro. I don't have the confidence yet I plan to work on my driving though as I was a "late starter" and have only been driving for 2 years here, I feel I have a lot of time to make up for. I was given a phone number for a "lady driving instructor" in Marbella, she deals with people who need confidence on the motorways etc. However her phone number is no longer in use, I do have a number for a similar type of service in Fuengirola and plan to contact them later. I'm over in Spain for 10 days in May before my move in June, hope to get some more driving practise in then. Can I use my driving license or do I need to have that altered?