Rigsby1

Hi everyone
We are moving to Spain at the beginning of March. We know that we have a lot do but our biggest problem at the moment is what do we do about our car!

We have approached a few LHD places in UK and they have said that they would part PX our RHD car and sell us a LHD car but the price of the car is so much more than you would pay for the equivalent car on the UK market.

We have also been advised to drive our car over to Spain as we can keep it for 6 months and take our time to look for a LHD car.

My only problem is the Spanish bureacracy i am told it is complicated!

Any advice welcome.

Rosemary

Hi and a warm welcome to the Spanish forum on BE. Myself and Fred James are the moderators for the Spanish forums whilst myself and BEVS moderate Europe. Please read the Site Rules Site Rules | British Expatriate Community adhere to them so that the site runs smoothly. Moderators are there to ensure that the rules of BE are maintained. This is so that members gain the information that they are looking for and find their experiences on the forums to be friendly and worthwhile.

Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderator who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are usually friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge about the issues of living in Spain. I hope that you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

tebo53

Quite honestly, unless it's a car that means a lot to you for any reason it will be far easier to sell it in the UK and buy a Spanish registered vehicle here.

There has been several threads on this subject.

Steve

missile

When we moved to Spain we had a few personal things that we wanted to take and found it convenient to take our car. We were able to sell our RHD car to a dealer for a good price.

It may appear so, but in reality Spanish bureaucracy is no more complicated than UK would be for a Spaniard.

Keep an open mind, don't believe all you read. Treat the move as an adventure and enjoy :-)

FranE

The bureaucracy involved in buying a car in Spain is more complex that in the UK (where all you do is sign a bit of the V5 and send it off), but if you buy from a dealer they will do all the work for you. This is what we were advised, and it was certainly true in our case. Although they did take a hellava long time about it!


One thing we did find is that second hand cars are much more expensive than in the UK. We paid 7,000 euros for a car that would have cost about 3k in the UK. This wasn't just a question of the dealer seeing us coming - everyone we have spoken to (in our area anyway) agrees that's an issue. On the other hand, you get a good price for selling a second hand car too!


Another thing to think of is if you buy a LHD car in the UK, you will have to get it on Spanish plates at some stage, and although I have no experience I understand that can be a bit of a nightmare.

Rigsby1

Thank you very much for your comments.

We have found a car that is Spanish registered in UK they do all the documentation but they want a third more for the LHD than i would pay for the equivalent RHD.

I,m still struggling.

FranE

That sounds like a good deal to me, Rigsby, based on our experience. And you can communicate with the dealer in English, which would have been another plus for us. My Spanish is OK, but this chap had a local accent and muttered through his teeth; we eventually had to take a bi-lingual friend with us to sort out the final details.

missile

Be very careful. To be legal in Spain you need to register with Traffico, how will they do that? If you have an issue after purchase, how would you claim from Spain? You could be buying a lemon / stolen car / with outstanding debt / with outstanding traffic fines.

What car, year, miles, condition and how much? We will be able to advise how much you could buy similar in Spain.

FranE

You would have to make those financial checks on the car even if you bought in Spain. It MIGHT be possible to organise that from the UK using an agent/gestor.


HOWEVER, it's correct that the transfer to you would have to be registered, and I'm not aware this can be done on-line from the UK. Our dealer had to take all the documents to the Trafico which was 40 miles away, including the original passport and NIE certificate.


I think the original advice you were given is the best - and if you buy from a dealer there's no need to worry about the bureaucracy, although that said, it's a good idea to inform yourself about it so you can be sure you have all the right documents at the end ie


Permiso de circulacion (like a V5) in your name and address.


Current ITV (MOT)


Receipt for the current IVTM which is Road Tax.

Rigsby1

Thanks missile for that advice.

The car that is available is a 13 plate Nissan Qashkia suv 1.5 Dci, 48,000 miles.

They are taking my car Nissan Juke 1.5 petrol, Spoiler, black wheels, all the extras, detachable tow bar, 28,000 miles plus £7500 total cost £15,100.
They tell me i would have to pay a lot more for a car like this.

The car is Spanish registered, and they tell me all the paperwork would be in order plus they give 3 months wawarranty.

What do you think?

FranE

Do they have the papers? Ask to see the Permiso de circulacion, the ITV and the receipt for the road tax. Ask them how they will deal with the registration at Trafico.


Another thing to bear in mind is that you cannot just bung eg a tow bar or roof bars on a car in Spain like you can here. Everything has to be type approved, and fitted by a registered mechanic, or it won't get an ITV (unless you take them off and fit them again after the ITV. In which case the ITV will be technically invalid). Our tow bar is legal and documented on the ITV. The side steps aren't.

Rigsby1

Thanks for that, i appreciate your time to help.
There seems to be quite a few differences between UK and Spain.
I think i will drive my car over and sell it in Spain. I will hire a car for a couple of weeks or so then by a car in Spain even if i have to get an interpreter to help out with the language barrier. what do you think?

FranE

Personally, I think that's the best idea. Have a look around and see what you could get for your old car in Spain, perhaps by part exchanging it with the dealer - bearing in mind that there are similar bureaucratic hoops to jump through as a seller in Spain ! I know of someone who bought in Spain, drove their car back to the UK and sold it, then flew back to Spain. Just another thought, depending on the overall economics.

missile

That is what I did. Drive your old car until you get settled and find a good dealer. It is not too difficult just take a little extra care at junctions.

PS: I did not think that was a good deal.
You may want to check car online, e.g. Stocklist: LHD Spanish Cars For Sale Costa Blanca - Spain |
If you want to hire a Nissan, here

Rigsby1

Thanks for that, i will definitely follow up on that link