Car imports to spain

[CLIVE]

Well, I'm trying to find some accurate and up to date information on the costs / pros / cons re importing my car from the UK to Spain. I bought second hand in May 2008 in the UK. (Kia hatchback diesel). Presently got 20k on the clock. Will be living permanently in Spain from May 2009, so will be getting residencia etc. Does the car's age take it outside any fees / registrations / taxes...?

Anyone out there with any info..?
Thanks Clive

[SteveHall]

If you are going to be legal it's very simple. You have to register the car on Spanish plates etc

If you do not speak Spanish you are best to use an agent or gestor. Some are total cowboys and no less than me but think they can shuffle a living out of it.

[Chica]

I think you can drive on Brit plates for 6 months so you should have time to sort that out.

Am I correct can someone tell me please??

[CLIVE]

Originally Posted by SteveHall

If you are going to be legal it's very simple. You have to register the car on Spanish plates etc

If you do not speak Spanish you are best to use an agent or gestor. Some are total cowboys and no less than me but think they can shuffle a living out of it.

Hi Steve....Thks for reply. Area I'll be movin to is near Albondon... in the Alpujarras, south of the Sierra Nevada, about 20 mins from coast. One site I've been on has indicated I'll be needing to pay over 2500 €. This includes 1729€ 'Registraton tax'.......
Clive

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Chica

I think you can drive on Brit plates for 6 months so you should have time to sort that out.

Am I correct can someone tell me please??

If you´re resident (have NIE, padron etc) you can only drive on Uk plates for 30 days, if you´re just a visitor/tourist then its 6 months

Jo xxx

[Seb*]

Originally Posted by Chica

I think you can drive on Brit plates for 6 months so you should have time to sort that out.

Am I correct can someone tell me please??

Depends on the owner's status in Spain. As soon as you are resident, you have to re-register the car within 30 or 60 days. As a non-resident you can keep it on original plates up to 6 months, as long as it is legal on the roads of the country of origin aka MOT, insurance and tax.

Importing the car involves a spanish MOT (IVA), a change to the headlights, an engineer's report with details of the car, insurance and a special import tax, which gets defined vby what the car is worth (you can cheat a bit here afaik as long as you dont overdo it - they have lists). The usual way is to get a gestor to do all the administration for you. In most cases you probably won't get away under 1000 EUR. It all depends on the car and gestor tbh. In some cases an early import is worth the costs, cause you will save on insurance and possibly on tax as well.

Now to the point, is it worth importing a RHD car to spain. Number crunching can tell you if it pays out money wise. Used cars in spain are usually more expensive than in the UK from what I have seen so far. Another thing you have to take into account is, if you are willing to use a RHD car long term, while driving on the other side of the road. It has some disadvantages, especially on narrow rural roads, cause you often just can't see as much, I tend to get my fiancee to "look around the corner for me" in some cases. I'm used to drive on the right side, so I don't really mind driving a RHD car in spain, but still sometimes it makes me feel insecure in low-visibility situations and I genereally don't like driving in the dark in rural spain with my RHD Citroen. The other disadvantages are toll and car parks, all the machines are on the other side, which makes it difficult if you don't have a passenger, not saying it's impossible just not as easy. There are work arounds like toll tags etc - matter of personal taste.

[Chica]

Thanks Jo for putting me right.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Chica

Thanks Jo for putting me right.

err.... I literally asked the old man and typed down what he said!!! After the day we´ve had (daughter, schools, UK, housework, use of the phone, pc, visitors, the weather.... all my fault of course lol ), that was the first civil conversation we´ve had since yesterday I guess we all have days like these

Jo xx

[Chica]

Thanks to you as well Seb.

Blimey . Is it really worth all the hastle.

Clive, we have a car that we want to get rid of. It's a 13 year old Lancia...

I didn't think you would want it somehow.

[SteveHall]

If I ruled the world ............. I would BAN all RHD cars Punto, final

For once we have somebody who is being honest (Seb) and admitting how dangerous they are! Appreciate your honesty.