new car
 

HI,
CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHAT THE COSTS OF RUNNING A CAR WOULD BE IN SPAIN.
WE ARE LOOKING TO BUY A NEW ONE WHEN WE GO OVER IN SEPTEMBER AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT TAX/MOT/DIESEL/SERVICE COSTS. ANY HELP VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.
ANNE :confused: :confused: :confused: :scared: :scared:

Re: new car
 

Generaly petrol/diesel and servicing in cheaper than in any major British town.

The best thing to do (as second hand and new vehicles are expensive to buy in Spain compared to the rest of western Europe) is to purchase a LHD (new or pre owned) now, reg it in the UK straight away and once you've owned it for six months and 1 day in the UK you can then import it without having to pay the hefty Spanish car tax or their VAT (totaling approx 30% on 1.6L or above vehicles)

Re: new car
 

i think that your advice is biased ZEL ! :D

If anne is moving to Spain as resident then it seems pointless to have to go through the entire process of re-registering the vehicle onto Spanish plates. If buying from new, then get a new car at a Spanish franchise dealer for the vehicle that you want.
running costs are lower than UK. fuel is lower - see fuel prices on http://www.iru.org/Services/FuelWel.E.html
Diesel is cheaper than petrol !
It is definitely worth investigating the insurance aspects and deciding on what to do before you jump.

Re: new car
 

I think you will find the UK is the dearest place to buy a (left hand drive ?)new car. ;) ;)

Re: new car
 

from what I hear the cheapest place is Belgium

Re: new car
 

Surely, if you buy a Spanish registered car in the UK then there is no tax to pay, I have found several companies that specialise in LHD vehicles, I would suggest they would be a good place to start, try a search in google for LHD cars, there is a company in Amersham that have been very helpful to me, they can supply new or nearly new.

Re: new car
 

I think if you buy a Spanish regd car in the Uk then of course you are fine (if you carry out the correct checks) but I think they were referring to buying a UK regd LHD car.

I've found a few sites also with LHD cars. I've been trying to source a LHD Pajero (Yes I know what that means in Spanish thank you) but to no avail

Re: new car
 

Mitzyboy have a look on this site majority are LHD some have accident damage but alot have none. Seem to be ex US forces private vehicles bought over here in UK then sold on


http://www.cutmaple.com/cgi-bin2/cutmaple/search.pl

Re: new car
 

Actually i'm not being biased I'm giving the years of experience in the vehicle import/export business throughout the world.

As mentioned the cheapest way to own any vehicle in Spain generaly is to purchase it outside of Spain, own it for 6 months then bring it with you.

Spanish second hand vehicles are on average 25% more expensive than say a German vehicle. Even a brand new Seat is by far cheaper to buy in Germany,Netherlands or Belgium than in Spain.

And as the majority of people who move abroad are doing it to a strict budget every euro counts thus why I gave the correct advice.

And as for the hassle factor of registering a vehicle in Spain a client of ours in Mallorca just converted his UK regged LHD vehicle to Spanish plates within 48hrs. Not a huge deal at all to save quite litterly 1000's of euros on the more expensive vehicles.

Re: new car
 

Just as a general warning to anyone as it can be a nightmae purchasing a LHD vehicle, any vehicle from 1998 onwards sold to outside of the EU can be very expensive (£1000's) to register in the UK or the rest of the EU.

The US forces get around this by their special scheme for the forces have throughout the world. If the vehicles have private UK registration already then it's not going to be a problem to use in the UK obviously, but this does not mean it's going to be a simple process to reg them in any other EU country. Although saying that if you've owned it for six months I believe it should be ok.

The EU has a car registration scheme called the COC scheme (Certificate of Conformity) which is only issued to vehicles sold to the EU (if it's made in EU then sold to outside of the EU, it will NOT come with the cert)

It's basicly a certficate to prove it conforms to all EU policies regarding noise, emissions, steering, crash data figures etc etc etc.

This is not to say that if you went over to Germany and purchased a LHD vehicle you would be 100% safe, you have to be 100% sure a COC is available for the vehicle, if it doesn't come with the car straight away, put a refundable deposit down and get them to order a COC for it and do not pay the balance until you have it in your hand.

I say this as there are a lot of ex American vehicles in Europe that people have imported themselves not knowing the hassle & expense factor to registering them (they did it when the USD was weak) and are now stuck with them and trying to sell them to other people who don't know the situation also.

There is a scheme to register a non EU car in the UK known as the SVA/ESVA route which can cost upto £3500 (not including any modifications needed) and I'm not sure if this scheme is recognized in Spain or if they have similar schemes.

Re: new car
 

£3500 your having a laugh SVA cost nothing like that!!.A couple of hundred pounds only, & the above vehicles have been registered on Uk plates so no problems there, & no i dont work for the company & yes i have an a American vehicle & have had no problems with SVA & MOT that includes the newer version. Mods required lights & side lights & rear fog & reverse lighting again a few hundred pound or you could do it yourself.
As per people importing, think you will find its mainly the dealers that are stuck with stock

Re: new car
 

I thought that if you are coming to Spain to take up residency, then you are given a period of time to re-register your 'imported' car that is any age (new or over 6 months), for little cost. Is this correct?

I agree about cost of 2nd hand cars in Spain. In Andalucia, they seem to stay with the same owner for ever, so the market for 2nd hand is smaller. Uncertain about the differences in costs of purchase for the same model after local negotiations

I think that for a resident of Spain, the hassle factor may be a lot less than for someone arriving new to become resident. As far as I know, if you purchase a new car in Spain as a newcomer all you need to have is you NIE number, (which you normally need to buy a property), your passport, and an 'empadronamiento certificate' from the Town Hall to show that the buyer is registered on the electoral roll. Quite straightforward. And the original question was about costs of running a newly purchased car in Spain, not looking to purchase outside Spain.

Re: new car
 

It depends on what bracket the vehicle lands in, if it requires a SVA test then yes it's £190 (plus any changes needed) if the vehicle needs an ESVA test then a model report is needed, if one is not available to hire then you have to spend approx £1600-3500 depending on the vehicle and it's nature.

We used to put through quite litterly hundreds if jap imports a year through the ESVA, Not to mention in the early 80's we were the biggest importer of US classic Porsches in England. So I know the costs involved.

I have now looked into it and found out the ESVA/SVA procedure is not recognized in Spain, so you would have to look at an alternative route, but as mentioned before if you've owned it in the uk for six months then you can normaly import a car no matter what it is with just a basic MOT/TUV/ITV.

Infact one of these morning UK TV shows about moving to Spain showed just how hard it is to import US cars into Spain even when they have UK registration, A Limo firm bought 3 UK reg us imported limos for their new Spanish company and found they could not register them in Spain, so had to buy Spanish plated ones and take the others back to the UK to sell.

Re: new car
 

You can buy a LHD vehicle new in the UK from some main dealers. You will buy it VAT exempt and can drive it around the UK for a period of time. Not entirely sure what you then have to pay when you bring it into Spain, but I think this link gives some more info http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/export/index.asp

Note that these vehicles are sourced from main European dealers and it may take some time to get what you want. I was going to buy one myself, but ran out of time.

Re: new car
 

Basicly apon registering in Spain you have six months to then register your vehicle with Spanish plates (obviously many don't and just drive them around on UK plates but as far as i'm told the local Police forces are clamping down on that, especially in highly Brit populated areas like the Costas etc)

You still have to pay a small fee for new ownership as you would if you bought a vehicle in Spain and had to xfer to ownership. But you do bypass both the Spanish Car Tax & their VAT.

Infact from what I'm told quite a few people are using it as a small profitting scheme by buying a couple of LHD cars in the UK before they move, regging them in Spain then selling them as obviously the Spanish car market is more expensive so they make a few thousand euros.

Re: new car
 

I'm not sure if that's indeed correct for the general public, I know for a fact if a member of the public purchases a new vehicle (or a vehicle less than six months old and less than 6000 km) in Germany for use in the UK they have to pay the German VAT and once the UK VAT has been paid they then can reclaim the German VAT. Saying that I've heard people claiming they've bought a car net in Holland for export, but i've never had that confirmed.

I also know for a fact that unless you have a VAT qualifying company you can not purchase a vehicle within the European Union NET (ie no local tax added for export)

Re: new car
 

Hi Zel,

I have on three separate occasions purchased new cars in Holland without paying any taxes and registered them on a temporary export plates. Drove each one home registered them in Northampton paid taxes due Vat, first registration and excise and made big savings. Customs used to produce explanatory booklets on how to do this and I still have my last one from 2000. Only worth doing when the exchange rate is in your favour

Regards, ;)

John.

PS if you trailer the car home you do not need the temporary export plates.

Re: new car
 

Like I said, I almost bought one VAT net, as a private individual and you can be sure that the first thing I asked them was whether I was eligible for prices net of VAT as a private individual and as a UK citizen and for export within the EU, specifically Spain. I spoke to them on several occasions and the only thing that stopped me going through with an order was the fact that the model I wanted would not be available until the summer. How they square their own paperwork is not of interest to me - only what affects me.

I would say Mitsubishi UK are a reputable main dealer and if they don't know what they are talking about or doing, when it comes to selling cars, then what hope do I have?

So maybe you'd like to reconsider your last statement?

It's also worth noting that list prices (net of VAT) for some types of vehicles are actually cheaper in the UK than in Spain, for the same and often better specifications.

Re: new car
 

Hey John & Kath!

Thanks for the infomation, it's always good to have something confirmed, I find it appauling that some EU countries will not allow you to purchase something net for import and some do! I hoped the EU was going to be all about a uniformed way of dealing with import/export, but alas not!

I know at least in Germany, France and Belgium they have tightened the purchasing of cars without vat for export up in the last year, normally as a company we just had to show them a headed note paper, give them your vat number and you walk away with a net sale vehicle, now you have to give much more infomation.

According to one dealer the reason why everything has been tightened up was that a lot of Italian and Spanish were buying cars using other peoples VAT numbers and not paying the vat when they sell the car!!

Learn something new everyday and thanks for the info once again!

Re: new car
 

Thanks for the info, it's good to know that our country at least makes it much easier to purchase something for export than a lot of the other original EU countries!

Re: new car
 

Hi anne c
You need a diesel because of air/con a lot cheaper to run. After reading the rest of this thread with the different views given,i would seriously give some thought to buying a BIKE.

Re: new car
 

I know this is an old thread, but I need more info please.
We have just bought a spanish registered car in the UK which we are taking to Spain end of Feb. Does any one know what (if any) the taxes will be? We have had so many different answers and are now:confused:
thanks

Re: new car
 

Have you got all the Spanish paperwork with it, if you have and it is all kosher then you should be alright.

Re: new car
 

definitely a diesel, much cheaper to run, and definitely a car with A/C or climate control, down here you will be using your a/c from about Feb to November. I've used my heater just on 4 days this winter, and those were days I was out BEFORE the sun got up. Tax is very cheap, probably between €40 and €100, MOT, over here ITV, starts when the car is 4 years old, and each ITV runs for 2 years,

Re: new car
 

Just make sure that there have been no alterations from the vehicles original spec, if there have, you will have to have them changed back.

Re: new car
 

would you be able to give me an idea of all the paperwork I should have got, just to make sure, the garage said it had FSH, but we only got copies of receipts, is this normal? We are still in touch with garage so can easily go back to them.
Thanks

Re: new car
 

Except if the car is 10 years old when it is annually.

Re: new car
 

You should have the original Spanish Log book, if not it will have to be re registered in full so the cost is likely to be the same as re registering a UK plated car. I asssume that by saying it is a Spanish registered car it still ahs the Spanish plates on it:unsure:

Re: new car
 

As mike says you should have the log book etc and the change of ownership paperwork. If this has been done kosher then its ok but debts stay with the car until paid.
Some guy who lived near us bought a Spanish reg car in UK, brought it to Spain and used it for a while, moved back to England and sold the car and found out there was a debt of 3000€ on it that he had to pay to clear the paperwork.

Re: new car
 

So, How can you find out if a car has any debt`s on it when you but it ?:confused:

Re: new car
 

The Gestor would check it out for you.
This is a handy SITE scroll to number 8 for the paperwork required for transfer, and all must be in order.

Re: new car
 

Unfortunately you've opened yourself up to lots of possible issues, possible not probable tho (which is good!)

As JDR has said the only way to find out if the vehicle is lost/stolen/finance owing is to employ the services of a Gestor.

But having said that why not ask the company who sold it to you to give you evidence there is no finance/vat payable on it? One would hope they did a search before they purchased it.

The problem is and this mainly happens on 0-4 year old vehicles is someone starts a new life abroad, gets a loan/finance secured on a vehicle, purchases it, their new life doesn't work out and they do a runner and sell the car in another country. This is not to say that a company who is selling you the vehicle is even aware of it. That's why it's a risk purchasing a car in one country that has registration from another.

EG if you were going to buy a LHD car in the UK it should always have UK registration then you're covered as the DVLA do their checks to make sure everything is legit.

I'm sure everything is just fine, but it doesn't hurt to check! good luck!

Re: new car
 

It is also worth noting that to be legal driving it you need the following ;

1> Have the vehicle registered in the drivers name
2> Valid ITV (if applicable)
3> Valid Road Tax
4> Valid Insurance.

You obviously have to have an N.I.E number to register the vehicle in your name and employ a Gestor to do the searches/paperwork for you.

The days of driving a foreign plated car around and local police forces not knowing how to check the validity of the vehicle are long gone, the possibilities of being stopped are very real.

You are also unable to get the DVLA to issue export plates for it so you can export it that way either as it doesn't have UK registration.

If you can not obtain the above and you don't want to 'risk it' then the only way is to have it transported out to Spain.