Has anyone who has previously re-registered their UK car onto Spanish plates then imported it back into the UK again? Apart from swopping the headlights back again I was just wondering how complicated and expensive it might be.
I've searched for quite a while and can find loads of info about importing to Spain or back from Australia etc but not Spain to UK.

I imported a car from Holland to Uk and it was quite straight forward. Easier than importing into spain as the vehicle was less than 3 years old there was no requirement for an MOT or any other checks. Just swop the headlights etc and pay the tax to customs and excise. The amount I paid was based on the market value of the vehicle at the time it was imported.

However that was a few years back and the rules have changed, see here> http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...yType=document

Some friends recently re-imported their car to the UK having put it on Spanish plates.

It was an easy procedure because the DVLA have all the records of its previous existence which makes it much easier than a straight import.

There are details of the basic procedures at

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...cle/DG_4022583

Thanks Fred, hopefully it will not cost very much either. We had hoped not to have to re-import it but it seems that you cannot be resident in the UK and drive a non UK registerd vehicle. We wanted to be able to decide how long to spend in Spain or the UK over the next few years but it looks like to be legal you have to make a decision which country to be resident in and not chop and change unless you have two cars.
The joys of this joined up EU.

As per my link, it should cost you nothing.

Thanks the link you gave is very useful indeed.
Yvonne

That raises an interesting question. if you have a car registered in UK and which is based in UK and another car in Spain which is registered to an address in Spain what do the authorities say. You may be normally resident in UK but visit Spain frequently. Or other way round. Joined up seamless borders.