# 4x4's in Spain - buying



## seattleite (Sep 30, 2009)

I'd like to buy a used Landrover to use in the country side in northern Spain. Why are they so expensive? As contrasted to load of high end personal cars? I thought it would not be so difficult to pick up a used farm -hunting-camping truck? Isn't there a crisis going on? Who are making the payment these days on this sort of vehicles? Have looked on many websites - they sure are pricey even if the are used with lots of miles????
Thanks
N


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Why are they so expensive ? I've no idea but all vehicles are in Spain but it does vary from region to region. 4x4's tend to maintain there price well ,as you say,regardless of the mileage. Personally , unless you are mechanically proficient, I wouldn't touch a 2nd hand spanish 4x4 unless I knew who had owned it from new. Depending on how old a vehicle you wish to buy it might be better looking at new ones ,or even a Santana , as that is more or less the same , although there is no tie up with LR anymore.

When I was looking 3 years ago I found that the farther I looked away from the south of spain, the cheaper they got. Madrid /Barcelona had the best cared for & cheapest 4x4's.

I raed somewhere a while back that the average spanish mileage is around 35,000kms a year !! I thought it was nonsense at the time but assessing it with my own kms & that of others , It's probably spoton. My neighbour , who is now retired & appears to go nowhere , averages 800kms a week. I know this as occcasionally I borrow the vehicle. I average 500kms going nowhere !!


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## jonmlb748 (Oct 30, 2011)

better off looking in uk ,plenty of choice and condition,both left hand or right hand drive and importing it.theres lots out there,good ,bad and ugly! so buyer beware.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

jonmlb748 said:


> better off looking in uk ,plenty of choice and condition,both left hand or right hand drive and importing it.theres lots out there,good ,bad and ugly! so buyer beware.


Very true . I did when I was looking but if you look in other eu counties you have to be aware of how the vehicle has been registered. many 4x4's & mpv's in registered in Holland have no rear seats to bypass the high new vehicle taxes & are registered as vans. If you bring them to spain they'll be registered the same. The only way to overcome this is to uk register 1st & then re-reg in spain.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I drive a LandRover Discovery. The reason they are more expensive than most 4x4s, many of which are really 'play' vehicles, not serious 4x4s, is that they are better in every respect if you need them for hard campo driving.
Sometimes you get what you pay for. We bought ours -already on Spanish plates - from a reputable UK LHD dealer.
All we had todo was get our gestor to complete the formalities required to put it in our name.


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## seattleite (Sep 30, 2009)

OK thanks for your comments. Compared to 4x4's in the US, they are incredibly pricey in Spain. Loads of cheap BMW is to be found here etc., must be the crisis, but not 4x4's? I am wondering which is the preferred vehicle on farms? And is it still all word of mouth in terms of deals?We are very proficient in terms of fixing/building and speak spanish (castellano). We have looked at many websites. I'm wondering how they keep their payments up? We live in Spain and prefer to purchase one here. Thanks again..


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

seattleite said:


> OK thanks for your comments. Compared to 4x4's in the US, they are incredibly pricey in Spain. Loads of cheap BMW is to be found here etc., must be the crisis, but not 4x4's? I am wondering which is the preferred vehicle on farms? And is it still all word of mouth in terms of deals?We are very proficient in terms of fixing/building and speak spanish (castellano). We have looked at many websites. I'm wondering how they keep their payments up? We live in Spain and prefer to purchase one here. Thanks again..


4x4 and big SUVs in general are not as popular over here. Mainly cause there is less need for 4x4s in everyday use and the costs of fuel is high compared to the US. so there is a already a relative low amount of 4x4s available. Then you have to take into consideration that second hand cars in Spain are more expensive than in other European countries.

So - why can people afford to keep those cars even in the crisis? Well if I would be cynical I would say it's cause they don't pay tax and insurance. Oh wait a minute ... yeah there are a lot of people who don't pay tax and insurance, which makes it not too expensive to run a car like that. DISCLAIMER: I am not generalising the Spanish motorist, most of them pay their taxes


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

seattleite said:


> OK thanks for your comments. Compared to 4x4's in the US, they are incredibly pricey in Spain. Loads of cheap BMW is to be found here etc., must be the crisis, but not 4x4's? I am wondering which is the preferred vehicle on farms? And is it still all word of mouth in terms of deals?We are very proficient in terms of fixing/building and speak spanish (castellano). We have looked at many websites. I'm wondering how they keep their payments up? We live in Spain and prefer to purchase one here. Thanks again..


Around here it's 2& 4 door.mitsubishi shoguns , mitsubishi pick ups, hyundai terracans ( especially if you want on road economy of up to 40mpg ) , tata loadbeaters ( they are robust , cheap & do the job but in the UK you couldn't give them away ! ) nissan patrols & pick-ups. that's about it for working vehicles although the posers , gang-master/bosses will use mercedes ml's , although these fell out of fashion as too many had them; VW Touaregs used to be popular, Porsche cayennes , audi q7's,& range-rovers , including the new evoque but most hardly see any dirt.
Never seen anyone using a discovery or land rover , which is a bit odd. The only people with them are normally brits .

Just remember that whatever you buy that all the extras are on the log book. I.e. bullbars, tow bar additional driving lights on the front & also if there's a roof mounted light bar. Side bars /steps are ok as long as they don't stick out past the furthest extremity of the base vehicle. i.e. the wing mirrors when closed. Pick up bed roll bars can't be above roof height without requiring homologation.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

gus-lopez said:


> Around here it's 2& 4 door.mitsubishi shoguns , mitsubishi pick ups, hyundai terracans ( especially if you want on road economy of up to 40mpg ) , tata loadbeaters ( they are robust , cheap & do the job but in the UK you couldn't give them away ! ) nissan patrols & pick-ups. that's about it for working vehicles although the posers , gang-master/bosses will use mercedes ml's , although these fell out of fashion as too many had them; VW Touaregs used to be popular, Porsche cayennes , audi q7's,& range-rovers , including the new evoque but most hardly see any dirt.
> Never seen anyone using a discovery or land rover , which is a bit odd. The only people with them are normally brits .
> 
> *Just remember that whatever you buy that all the extras are on the log book. I.e. bullbars, tow bar additional driving lights on the front & also if there's a roof mounted light bar. Side bars /steps are ok as long as they don't stick out past the furthest extremity of the base vehicle. i.e. the wing mirrors when closed. Pick up bed roll bars can't be above roof height without requiring homologation.*


if you don't want all that hassle...... buy a renault megane and stick to paved roads:eyebrows:


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## jonmlb748 (Oct 30, 2011)

hardly a farm vehicle tho


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

jonmlb748 said:


> hardly a farm vehicle tho


define "farm vehicle", what type of farming? what actual purpose do you want car to do?

I can drive my megane estate onto our olive terrace, collect all the picked olives and drive off again (unless it's wet, and in which case a toyata hilux would struggle... not exactly true.... it would dig four holes, alowing it to sink onto the axles and await a tractor to pull it out) 
Never did see the point of these massive 4x4 cars,unless you think there is a need for a suburban tank or you have a valid need for one.


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