Should we decide to remain in spain after 6 months we will obviously need to register our car. Our UK tax and MOT is also up in June of next year and so will that mean that we will have to go for an ITV so that we can pay the Spanish road tax?

We have heard that your car has to be of factory order? what exactly does that mean? does it have to have the same make of tyres that the car originally came with etc?

How much does an ITV cost and how much does road tax cost? We will be residing in Nerja?

Thanks

1. An ITV Test or Certificate is worthless on a UK registered car. It may give you confidence that the vehicle is Serviceable but has no legal standing on any vehicle not registered in Spain; it cannot be used as a replacement for an UK MOT.

2. Before the UK Tax and MOT expire you should return it to the UK for a new MOT and to renew your road tax.

3. Once the current MOT cert and / or road tax expires the vehicle becomes illegal throughout Europe. And you cannot make a SORN declaration if the vehicle is not in the UK

4. You cannot pay Spanish Road tax on an Brit reg vehicle.

5. The ‘factory order’ you refer to is a Certificate of Conformity which you can apply for via a UK main agent for your car or the UK headquarters of your vehicle manufacturer. You will need this certificate if you apply to re-register onto Spanish plates.

For ITV and re-registering purposes…
Tyres… not necessarily the same make but same size and speed rating as the original spec.
If you have an after market tow-bar fitted…  take it off before the test.
Headlight… must dip to the right. Beam deflectors are not acceptable so they will need replacing.
Rear lights… if you have a single rear fog light it must be on the left hand side of the vehicle as you face it from the rear so some rewiring may be necessary.(Or lamp cluster replacement or both…)

An ITV test costs around 35 Euros is valid for two years until the vehicle is 10 years old and yearly thereafter.
Road Tax is calculated on the manufacturers stated emissions value; for my 10 yer old Diesel Renault Scenic its 75 euros.

An ITV test and cert will be required as a part of the re-registration procedure but not all ITV Stations can carry out this version of the test.

Most people engage a gestor to look after re-registration matters. Its a tedious business…

Hope this helps…

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road tax gets done in April here in spain , you uk car is set for uk setting and need to change to Spanish setting ,
Vehicles are tested to ensure the following parts are in proper working order:

  * tyre tread
  * lights
  * emissions
  * shock absorbers
  * brakes
  * wheel alignment

Cars will also be checked for the condition of the bodywork , mirrors, windscreen and wipers. For example if a door cannot open it may be considered a safety violation .

better off selling you car back in the uk and get more money for it , then flight back two spain and buy Spanish reg car

Import dutyes are not cheap in spain

Lucky you getting an ITV for 35? - In the Alicante provide it is around 50? - funny how for the same test the amount varies across provinces - as does the road tax and the timing of collection as it is local and not national.

Rob Hi… Yes… gone up a bit since my last one so I was quoting from memory

However here’s a link to the Andalucia rates for 2011 Section 7 (Turismos) applies for most folks I guess… Still cheaper than Alicante but we dont have to support the likes of Pons and Camps….

http://www.foroempresarial.com/empresas/veiasa/tarifas-ITV-2011.pdf

and another link to what its all about! (In Spanish of course!)

http://www.veiasa.es/

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Thanks so far, its worth us thinking about seeing what car we can buy out there, coming back to the UK and selling ours and flying back to our new one in Spain, or do you think people moving back to the UK would be into swapping or partial swapping of similar cars so we get one with spanish plates and they get UK plates to go back on?

Ellie,
I dont want to sound negative on the matter but if you were to swap with a returning Brit the onus would be on you to comply with all of the legal niceties involved and as with all things Spanish this could be a bit of a nightmare especially if you don’t speak Spanish.

Buying a car from a private individual out here is covered under this link at dgt.es

http://dgt.es/portal/es/oficina_virtual/vehiculos/cambio_titularidad/. its in Spanish but,

http://translate.google.com/

does a pretty good job of translating to English. Copy and paste the dgt url into the left hand box of the enquiry panel, select Spanish to English and the same url will appear in the right hand box. Click on the url in the right hand box and Google will open a new page with the English translation.

When buying a car from a second hand dealer he should handle all of the transfer documentation. The procedure normally takes about a week.

You will however need an NIE number because a taxable transaction is involved. You will also need to produce a proof of address such as an empadronimiento certificate from your local town hall in Nerja. Also you will need to show a valid driving licence and your passport. The dealer will not allow the vehicle to be driven off the forecourt once you have agreed to purchase it until you produce an insurance document for the car. This action will be down to you.

Be aware that insurance out here is normally just basic, equivalent to the UK Third Party unless you specifically ask for Todo Riesgo (Comprehensive). Normally any no claims bonuses you may have accrued in the UK will not be applied to the Spanish policy.

Also on the subject of insurance, there is no equivalent to the AA or RAC out here so the Insurance Policy includes ‘asistencia para Viaje’ or breakdown cover. A call to your insurance company in the event of a breakdown will bring a Grua (tow truck) out at short order and he will take you home, to your destination or to a garage. Normally there is no additional charge (other than the cost of the repairs of course- you can’t have everything!).

Hope some of this helps…

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Links to a couple of car sales agencies… I have no connection with either one and so no vested interest.

http://www.coches.net
http://www.autoscout24.es

Esay to use just remember to select vehiculos de occasion for second hand…

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well we can communicate in spanish and indeed are learning spanish but i get your point. maybe a good thing would be to see how it goes. perhaps we find a good spanish car at a good price and takes ours back to the UK to sell?
right now my husband isnt into this as we have a fiat panda 1.2 dynamic 2005, the most economical car out there and so he is not wanting to get rid of it and would rather pay the 500 euros to register etc it than buy a car out there. it is a great car, 70 miles to the gallon and all we need, i.e. a small car with great mileage so we shall see what happens i guess???

Hi Foxbat, thanks for your replies. On the subject of insurance, we are thinking of switching to spanish insurance asap when we get there as otherwise we will have to pay over the odds for european breakdown cover and as insurance there covers breakdown we think it may be cheaper?
I have currently got a fully comp quote from Ibex who deal with UK plated cars and they quoted 516 euros, does that sound about right for spain? it seems pretty high compared to here?

Re the insurance quote; its probably about right… think about it for a moment… 516? at today’s rate equates to ?448; subtract from that the notional value of the roadside recovery package which equates to the RAC full package minus the at home facility and costs ?184 it gives a balance of ?264 which isn’t so bad… it also takes into consideration the fact that the steering wheel is on the wrong side… a point well worth remembering… even if you do re-register it, the steering wheel will always be on the wrong side!

The Spanish have very little or no respect for lane discipline, nor do they have a clue on how to handle roundabouts, so having the wheel on the wrong side can be a disadvantage sometimes.

I switched my insurer this year and from TPF&T to Todo Riesgo Comprehensive and for my yr 2000 1.9Dci Scenic I am paying 520?.

Just out of interest I had a quick look at the price of an equivalent Spanish reg Panda 1.2 Dynamic and came up with this… again I have no connection with the ad or the agency…

http://www.coches.net/fiat-panda-12-dynamic-5p-gasolina-2006-en-granada-26035647-covo.aspx

Not quite my cup of tea its true but each to his own!

Please feel free to throw anymore questions you may have; I’m stuck at home in Granada Province with nothing much else to do except look after the demands of our 9 rescued abandonados… long periods of peace and quiet followed by periods of absolute pandemonium…

http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/foxbat.aspx

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Hi Foxbat - yeah so suits don’t come cheap!

How right you are!