Moving to Spain, Huercal Overa
Jan 29th 2018, 7:33 am
#16
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2017
Location: Alicante
Posts: 925
Re: Moving to Spain, Huercal Overa
Dealers in UK long ago realised that there was a big demand for LHD cars and that even charging a premium they could still heavily undercut local prices.
Having researched the market quite extensively as a rough rule of thumb and for most ordinary mainstream Euroboxes I would say that the premium you'll typically pay in UK will be reflected in a similar saving on buying locally.
Put another way, in LHD what would be a £10k car in UK could cost you £12k but in Spain (and France where prices are just as high) the same car might cost you the equivalent of £14k so you're splitting the difference or saving as much as the extra you'd be spending.
The biggest danger with buying in UK is in not understanding the registration process and what paperwork you need, you certainly can't rely on what a dealer tells you he just want's to sell the car.
Get it wrong though and it's not difficult to end up with a car which you can't register which in turn of course means that you can neither drive it nor even sell it, your only option then would be to have it transported to UK to get it registered there and then re-export it.
In fact my advice to anyone thinking of buying a French or Spanish registered car in UK would be to have it put on UK plates first because with a UK V5 in your hand registering elsewhere should be a doddle. Any reputable dealer should be willing and able to do that for you so you don't need to worry about not being UK resident.
Having researched the market quite extensively as a rough rule of thumb and for most ordinary mainstream Euroboxes I would say that the premium you'll typically pay in UK will be reflected in a similar saving on buying locally.
Put another way, in LHD what would be a £10k car in UK could cost you £12k but in Spain (and France where prices are just as high) the same car might cost you the equivalent of £14k so you're splitting the difference or saving as much as the extra you'd be spending.
The biggest danger with buying in UK is in not understanding the registration process and what paperwork you need, you certainly can't rely on what a dealer tells you he just want's to sell the car.
Get it wrong though and it's not difficult to end up with a car which you can't register which in turn of course means that you can neither drive it nor even sell it, your only option then would be to have it transported to UK to get it registered there and then re-export it.
In fact my advice to anyone thinking of buying a French or Spanish registered car in UK would be to have it put on UK plates first because with a UK V5 in your hand registering elsewhere should be a doddle. Any reputable dealer should be willing and able to do that for you so you don't need to worry about not being UK resident.
Jan 29th 2018, 11:31 am
#17
Forum Regular
Joined: Aug 2012
Location: Devon/Peniscola
Posts: 149
Re: Moving to Spain, Huercal Overa
Very informative Notdunroamin, thanks.
Just to reiterate the importance of research, research, research: Our car was sold as to us having a tow bar, an important feature for us. As a result of our research we knew about the problems of having non-type approved "add-ons". We insisted that the dealer replace the tow bar with a legal one, and get the ITV amended to include it, at their own cost. The tow bar alone cost them 750 euros - we checked the price at a couple of parts outlets. We could have bought the identical tow bar for a third of that in the UK, and my husband is more than capable of fitting one himself. The process cost the dealer over 1,000 euros in all.
We had a budget of 8,000 euros for the car we wanted (3k in the UK). The one we bought at 7,000 euros was the cheapest we could find. Most were over our budget.
Just to reiterate the importance of research, research, research: Our car was sold as to us having a tow bar, an important feature for us. As a result of our research we knew about the problems of having non-type approved "add-ons". We insisted that the dealer replace the tow bar with a legal one, and get the ITV amended to include it, at their own cost. The tow bar alone cost them 750 euros - we checked the price at a couple of parts outlets. We could have bought the identical tow bar for a third of that in the UK, and my husband is more than capable of fitting one himself. The process cost the dealer over 1,000 euros in all.
We had a budget of 8,000 euros for the car we wanted (3k in the UK). The one we bought at 7,000 euros was the cheapest we could find. Most were over our budget.
Jan 29th 2018, 11:58 am
#18
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2018
Location: winchester
Posts: 9
Re: Moving to Spain, Huercal Overa
Dealers in UK long ago realised that there was a big demand for LHD cars and that even charging a premium they could still heavily undercut local prices.
Having researched the market quite extensively as a rough rule of thumb and for most ordinary mainstream Euroboxes I would say that the premium you'll typically pay in UK will be reflected in a similar saving on buying locally.
Put another way, in LHD what would be a £10k car in UK could cost you £12k but in Spain (and France where prices are just as high) the same car might cost you the equivalent of £14k so you're splitting the difference or saving as much as the extra you'd be spending.
The biggest danger with buying in UK is in not understanding the registration process and what paperwork you need, you certainly can't rely on what a dealer tells you he just want's to sell the car.
Get it wrong though and it's not difficult to end up with a car which you can't register which in turn of course means that you can neither drive it nor even sell it, your only option then would be to have it transported to UK to get it registered there and then re-export it.
In fact my advice to anyone thinking of buying a French or Spanish registered car in UK would be to have it put on UK plates first because with a UK V5 in your hand registering know that the deal else where should be a doddle. Any reputable dealer should be willing and able to do that for you so you don't need to worry about not being UK resident.
Having researched the market quite extensively as a rough rule of thumb and for most ordinary mainstream Euroboxes I would say that the premium you'll typically pay in UK will be reflected in a similar saving on buying locally.
Put another way, in LHD what would be a £10k car in UK could cost you £12k but in Spain (and France where prices are just as high) the same car might cost you the equivalent of £14k so you're splitting the difference or saving as much as the extra you'd be spending.
The biggest danger with buying in UK is in not understanding the registration process and what paperwork you need, you certainly can't rely on what a dealer tells you he just want's to sell the car.
Get it wrong though and it's not difficult to end up with a car which you can't register which in turn of course means that you can neither drive it nor even sell it, your only option then would be to have it transported to UK to get it registered there and then re-export it.
In fact my advice to anyone thinking of buying a French or Spanish registered car in UK would be to have it put on UK plates first because with a UK V5 in your hand registering know that the deal else where should be a doddle. Any reputable dealer should be willing and able to do that for you so you don't need to worry about not being UK resident.
Based on what you have said we are happier that we have decided to take our RHD car across to Spain.
We know that the price will be higher in Spain but we are more concerned that we have the correct paperwork and access to the seller should there be a problem.
thanks again
Jan 29th 2018, 12:03 pm
#19
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2018
Location: winchester
Posts: 9
Re: Moving to Spain, Huercal Overa
Very informative Notdunroamin, thanks.
Just to reiterate the importance of research, research, research: Our car was sold as to us having a tow bar, an important feature for us. As a result of our research we knew about the problems of having non-type approved "add-ons". We insisted that the dealer replace the tow bar with a legal one, and get the ITV amended to include it, at their own cost. The tow bar alone cost them 750 euros - we checked the price at a couple of parts outlets. We could have bought the identical tow bar for a third of that in the UK, and my husband is more than capable of fitting one himself. The process cost the dealer over 1,000 euros in all.
We had a budget of 8,000 euros for the car we wanted (3k in the UK). The one we bought at 7,000 euros was the cheapest we could find. Most were over our budget.
Just to reiterate the importance of research, research, research: Our car was sold as to us having a tow bar, an important feature for us. As a result of our research we knew about the problems of having non-type approved "add-ons". We insisted that the dealer replace the tow bar with a legal one, and get the ITV amended to include it, at their own cost. The tow bar alone cost them 750 euros - we checked the price at a couple of parts outlets. We could have bought the identical tow bar for a third of that in the UK, and my husband is more than capable of fitting one himself. The process cost the dealer over 1,000 euros in all.
We had a budget of 8,000 euros for the car we wanted (3k in the UK). The one we bought at 7,000 euros was the cheapest we could find. Most were over our budget.
We have a Tow Bar (detachable) put on our car in UK, does the same apply?
I suppose it would, i just never thought when having it done whether it was legal or not.
I am a bit concerned as to the high cost of Spanish cars but at least you can go back to the seller if things are not quite right!!
