Hi all, I know it has been said a lot about car imports, however my situation is somewhat different. My company has just relocated me to Madrid for 18 months. I wish to bring my Mazda RX8 with me. I am not planning to stay in Spain longer than 18 months and therefore will take my car back with me. I just got a new Road Tax and MOT for it hoping that I could insure it locally (in Spain).  I have read that I will have problems insuring my car once MOT and road tax expire (one year from now). Is this right? I don?t want to transfer it to Spanish plates or to import it. All I want is to drive it legally (fully insured) for 18 months and then take it back to the UK.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Regards, Alex

Hi;

Technically what you are hoping to do is not allowed…

You are permitted to drive your fully legal UK reg car for up to 182 days in Spain after which it must be either removed from the country for six months after which you can bring it back in for another six months. During the vehicles stay in Spain it must remain fully UK legal in respect of Road Tax and MOT. The other option is to re-register it onto Spanish plates; there is no third option…

Fully comp insurance is available for UK registered vehicles in Spain but will prove very expensive if purchased over here.
Better to look around some of the UK insurers that will include annual European coverage. They are few and far between but that way you can use your accrued no-claims bonuses as a discount. Many Spanish based insurers will not take account of accrued NCB’s from outside Spain.

A Mazda RX8 will definitely attract a high premium out here. I believe in the UK its around Group 16 /17 and anything in the least bit sporty is heavily penalised insurance wise over here.

(Just Third Party for my 10 year old Renault Scenic is 475 Euros, despite the fact that I am claim free in Spain for three years and for over ten years in the UK…)

Having said all that, a hell of a lot of UK registered cars are driven in Spain totally illegally with no UK tax or MOT; the drivers are taking a hell of a risk because even if they have insurance which many agencies are only too happy to supply, in the event of a prang their insurance is automatically void because of the lack of UK legal paperwork. Drivers of such vehicles involved in accidents are likely to have the vehicle confiscated and crushed, as well as being pursued by the Trafficos for traffic offences and by aggrieved third party vehicle drivers…

The Guardia Civil Trafficos do mount the occasional purge and to be perfectly honest something like an RX8 is going to attract a fair amount of attention both from the Trafficos and car thieves especially in Madrid… especially on English plates… Bear in mind that roadside vehicle checks are quite normal here and perfectly legal; there is no such thing as ‘reasonable suspicion’ or ‘due cause’ On the spot fines are normal too…

IMHO you would best be served by putting the car into long term storage in the UK and buying something cheap and cheerful over here.

fb

foxbat - 14 September 2009 04:41 AM

IMHO you would best be served by putting the car into long term storage in the UK and buying something cheap and cheerful over here.
fb

Yep, I would agree, but if you’re going to be living and working in Madrid, do you really need a car at all, or want to risk your pride and joy in one of the most congested cities in Europe (with some of the worst parking problems, and a pretty good, cheap public transport system)?  If you just want to get out to the countryside once in a while at the weekend, you could get by with short-term hire.

Thanks a lot for your prompt replies. Following your friendly advice I am leaving my car in the UK. However, as I work in Boadilla del Monte and prefer to live in Madrid, I will need a vehicle for commuting. What would you suggest? To buy a second hand? Or to Lease?  Any online resources? If you had a budget of up to 8K what would you buy? I need some car that would not depreciate much in value in 18 months and I will be able to sell it later without many problems.   

how difficults is it to bring a good car from Germany/France and then after 18 months sell it in Spain?

many thanks
Alex

found on the net

http://www.autoscout24.es/
http://www.autocasion.com/
http://www.segundamano.es/
http://www.vocasion.com/

Alex Hi,

Leaving the Mazda behind is probably the smartest move you could make under the circumstances.

Edit; So far as buying a car in France or Germany is concerned the same rules apply about re-registration after 182 days…it’s not just Brit reg cars!

2nd edit; check out member ‘pikey’s entry on this thread http://www.spainexpat.com/spain/forum/viewthread/1380/ to see what involved in re-registration…

As for whether you should buy second hand or lease I’m not sure because I have no experience of the leasing market out here.
If you are coming out here as an employee of a company the HR department would be able to help I would think. If however as I suspect is the case you are coming out here as a one-man band then it’s a bit more difficult!

So far as buying second hand is concerned you should be aware that the second hand market is about 50% more expensive here than in the UK, mainly because cars tend to last a lot longer due to the generally drier atmosphere. The good news is of course that you shouldn’t lose too much for further deterioration over 18 months. A reputable second hand car dealer will arrange the transfer of ownership for you as part of the deal as when he buys in a car for resale the price he pays for it includes the transfer fee and is included in the windscreen price.

Be advised that as I mentioned earlier, insurance rates are quite high but do include one thing not normally available in the UK; roadside recovery. It is illegal over here to tow someone’s car in the event of a breakdown; the job must be carried out by a specialist recovery company called a grua. Bearing in mind that when I left the UK in 2006 I was paying nearly ?140 to the RAC, to have recovery included in the insurance is a bonus!

You will need your UK drivers licence, passport and proof of your address in Spain (a padron cert. is ideal for this purpose).

Back in 2006 when we first moved here we bought a s/h year 2000 Renault Megan Scenic 1.9Dci and it cost 8K euros; at the time the exchange rate was pretty good and 8K Euros equated to about ?6K. With the crap exchange rate we are now subject to, in real terms for a Brit prices are more expensive because our spending power has been reduced.

Under the circumstances I think I’d consider something along the lines of a Renault / Dacia, possibly new. The Dacia range are Romanian built Renaults with Renault engines and transmissions. Its the same sort of idea as Skoda / VW / Seat; like Fabia = Polo = Ibiza. (Dacia Cars are not as yet available in the UK). 

Try this link http://www.dacia.es/ most main Renault Agents carry the Dacia range of vehicles…The prices quoted on this site all include the discount for a 10 year old part exchange so the base price with no part ex is probably about 2K more…

Be advised that you will need to obtain an NIE certificate to buy a car in Spain but you will probably need this certificate anyway for other purposes. There is a wealth of information on obtaining this certificate on this site and other ex-pat forums. You can also find info on the padron (epadronimiento- its like the electoral role without the jury service commitment) elsewhere on this site.

I dont think there is much more I can add at this stage but please feel free to pm me if the need arises.

Hope some of this helps

fb

That is actually very interesting. Thanks to Expatriator for the explanation. I am also currently in a complicated situation. I am American but at the moment I am living in Germany and I have bought a car in Germany. Of course the car is insured in Germany. In February 2010 I will move to Spain because I will work there. I will only live there for 1 year and I want to take my car with me. Is it better now to let the car be insured in Germany with an European Coverage or is there another possibility which might be better?

If you’re “living” in Spain then the car will have to be insured here. If you maintain residence in Germany then I believe your insurance would still be valid. 😉

May I suggest an alternative:  You could buy a LHD car from one of the UK dealers, we used (Kilrush LHD Cars)  Lawrence was most helpful, did all the paperwork and was just allround very helpful.  You would have to re-register the car in Spain after around 6 months, and there are a couple of agents who perform all the forms for you for a cost of around 800E.
We have used a Mallorca(British run) insurance agent for many years and in this case they insured our 2004 BMW 320 D for 270 E third party
good luck
Ian

leshka_uk - 16 September 2009 03:39 AM

Thanks a lot for your prompt replies. Following your friendly advice I am leaving my car in the UK. However, as I work in Boadilla del Monte and prefer to live in Madrid, I will need a vehicle for commuting. What would you suggest? To buy a second hand? Or to Lease?  Any online resources? If you had a budget of up to 8K what would you buy? I need some car that would not depreciate much in value in 18 months and I will be able to sell it later without many problems.   

how difficults is it to bring a good car from Germany/France and then after 18 months sell it in Spain?

many thanks
Alex

found on the net

http://www.autoscout24.es/
http://www.autocasion.com/
http://www.segundamano.es/
http://www.vocasion.com/

Here is another option if you decide to buy in Spain,  You will need an NIE though.  Check out the links to that on this site.
this is a link to the San Sebastien area but Madrid is of course also connected ..http://sansebastian.loquo.com/ce/cars-motorbikes/cars/1400

GL
Ian

leshka_uk - 13 September 2009 03:31 AM

Hi all, I know it has been said a lot about car imports, however my situation is somewhat different. My company has just relocated me to Madrid for 18 months. I wish to bring my Mazda RX8 with me. I am not planning to stay in Spain longer than 18 months and therefore will take my car back with me. I just got a new Road Tax and MOT for it hoping that I could insure it locally (in Spain).  I have read that I will have problems insuring my car once MOT and road tax expire (one year from now). Is this right? I don?t want to transfer it to Spanish plates or to import it. All I want is to drive it legally (fully insured) for 18 months and then take it back to the UK.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Regards, Alex