valenciatim

I personally disagree with that statement! Maybe new cars are cheaper here than in the UK, but not all of us can afford a new car. The prices asked for second-hand cars I find extortionate compared to the prices in the rest of Europe. Granted there is no company car market in Spain, so cars hold their value for much longer, but the difference in price is still huge.
Tim

keithwalters

If you can´t afford a new car in Spain, then I still wouldn´t brink a UK car over here. No matter what you do you are always going to be on the wrong side. If you must buy second hand, then buy second hand in another european country and re-register here. But this is not ideal...too much hassle in my book.


Just thinking this one through further.....surely if you brought your (cheaper) UK car to Spain instead of buying second hand here it would be a false economy by the time you have factored in all the costs associated with transport, reregistering etc and then at the end of the day you are left with a car that is virtually unsellable?

battlezone123

I wrote back to the insurance company to try and get a straight yes or no whether they would pay out if I had an accident with an illegal car in Spain and they replied:

Yes - the insurance company will pay and cover is in place

rugbymatt

Its funny because mine said they wouldn't.

battlezone123

Well I am going to keep hold of this email from the insurance company until I get the car transferred over to Spanish plates.

valenciatim

What we need in a definitive guide to doing that!
I did bring a UK car here nearly four years ago, on the ground that it would save me having to hire a car whilst looking for a property. I used it for two and a half years, taxed, insured and mot'd in the UK, as at the time as far as I was concerned, it was fully legal. I had a couple of "meeting" with the local Guardia, Traffic Police and local police during that time, and at no point was any of my documentation queried. It wasn't until items like this started appearing on forums that I began to question the legality of the car. On looking into replacing the vehicle with a similar one, I would have to pay nearly 4 times what I paid in the UK. Enough of a difference I think to maybe buy another UK vehicle and import it!
As it stands, I am in the process of looking at sourcing a car in Germany for perhaps a third of the Spanish price!
Regards
Tim

keithwalters

Hmmm. I still say shop around. I can´t find anything where I am to support your 3 or 4 times as expensive claim.

rugbymatt

I have actually found some of the cars we are looking at considerably cheaper.

That surprised me a touch because all the books, media etc say that second hand cars are much more expensive, odd really.

scampicat

Not for second-hand, we'd have to pay much more than we did in the UK.

Anyway our car is matriculated now. Cost E500, plus the lights. We couldn't have bought another one for that.

We don't intend selling it anyway, so that doesn't apply.

valenciatim

Believe me, I have been looking to buy a car here for the last three years and I am still tempted by fleabay!
Last month I found a similar model to my UK car on coches.net, same age but lower spec and Spanish. It was three and a half times what I had paid for mine four years ago. I am talking about ten to twelve year old cars here. As a rough example, a £1000 rhd BMW in the UK will be a £2000 car in the UK if it is lhd and a €5000 car here as a Spanish vehicle.
Tim

rugbymatt

jdr is there any chance we could start a new sub-forum entitled "Your car in Spain"??

valenciatim

Good idea!
Sorry, I didn't intend to prolong the thread, it just gets my goat that there is so much conflicting advice and information around that you end up being drawn in!
Regards
Tim

rugbymatt

But it just goes to show how screwed up the whole situation is. My insurance company here in the uk told me that if the car was in Spain for any length of time it would not be insured, even though I am covered indefinitely in Europe, so long as I have cover, but the fact that local (in Europe sense) law dictates that it must be re plated in Spain after 30/60/90 days then it is no longer the car they insured as it now has Spanish plates.

I would have thought it was simple really.

Oh and in regard to the second hand cars we have seen a car that I so couldn't afford in the UK but it would be quite easy to buy in Spain, so go figure!

EsuriJohn

Hi valenciatim,

I have looked at doing just that but from Belgium. The trouble is if you do not first import to UK (with the need to change to RHD spec for lights and speedo) then as I understand it you have to pay the steep import duty that makes Spanish cars expensive anyway.

Regards,

John.

valenciatim

There is no import duty as we are all in the EU, the Spanish charge a "Registration" tax (deemed illegal by many and discussed on another thread) which works on a sliding scale dependent on the new Spanish price and age of the vehicle, there is none if the vehicle is over 10 years old. If you import to the UK first, you can use stickers for the speedo and tape on the lights if required (many newer vehicles have adjustable lights), have the mot done and then pay about £40 to register the car in the UK. I am still looking at both options.
Regards
Tim