# New car... any advice?



## Localizer (Jun 23, 2016)

We imported a small car (Toyota IQ), works well mostly, but now need something a little bigger and with a steering wheel on the correct side of the car!

We will buy new. 

So, quick question - which manufacturers come out cheapest in Spain... had thought Seat, but Ford looks to have good offers too. Any thoughts or tips?

Thanks.....
P.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

Stick with Toyota - just go up a model in size 

Davexf


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

By far and away Dacia are the cheapest, then you get Renault which are marginally cheaper than the other big brands.

To be fair though I would happily buy a Toyota but they certainly are not the cheapest and can't justify an extra 10 or so grand for a badge.


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## Juan C (Sep 4, 2017)

I had a couple of Toyota over a period of about 18 years. Always very satisfied

When I changed my car 5 years ago decided that a 1.2 Seat Ibiza automatic filled my list best, Very satisfied with it.

But, I would think that one man's meat is another man's poison ! So check around for what you require


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

I´ve heard the new Ford Fiesta offers great value for money. Seat is always good in Spain, because of spare parts.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

I would not recommend any particular car / manufacturer, but I would suggest that you keep an eye on the timing of your purchase.

The new ITV regulations come into force in May and they could be interpreted as being designed to get as many "older" cars off the road as possible.

Some people think this is great as in theory, forcing people to buy new cars is supposedly good for the environment, but it is also very good for car dealers.

Good deals on trade-ins, discounts, financing deals and other incentives are likely to be more difficult to obtain when the demand for new vehicles goes up (if the expected purge of "old" cars takes place as expected).


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Overandout said:


> I would not recommend any particular car / manufacturer, but I would suggest that you keep an eye on the timing of your purchase.
> 
> The new ITV regulations come into force in May and they could be interpreted as being designed to get as many "older" cars off the road as possible.
> 
> ...


The disadvantage is, of course, whereas at present a car dealer may resell a trade-in, if it is a potential ITV problem-car in the future, they won't so the availability of reasonably priced used vehicles will be less.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Overandout said:


> I would not recommend any particular car / manufacturer, but I would suggest that you keep an eye on the timing of your purchase.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




What are these?


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Juan C said:


> I had a couple of Toyota over a period of about 18 years. Always very satisfied
> 
> When I changed my car 5 years ago decided that a 1.2 Seat Ibiza automatic filled my list best, Very satisfied with it.
> 
> But, I would think that one man's meat is another man's poison ! So check around for what you require


That is certainly true. We had a Seat Ibiza and were not very happy with it. There were several weak points like the window motors going, not very good acceleration (at least compared to the car we had before) plus other things and it died completely and utterly at 10 years old wheras the previous one was 17 years old before we scrapped it
Now have a Kia Rio and it's doing well.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Overandout said:


> I would not recommend any particular car / manufacturer, but I would suggest that you keep an eye on the timing of your purchase.
> 
> The new ITV regulations come into force in May and they could be interpreted as being designed to get as many "older" cars off the road as possible.
> 
> ...


I agree. At least in the past few years (recession years) the deals have been well worth looking for. As for the theory behind it, I am sure that politicians are much more interested in gearing up the car industry rather than worrying about pollution levels, but at least the two propositions go hand in hand in this case


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Dunpleecin said:


> What are these?


What do you mean?

What are the sales incentive deals? Or what are the new regulations?

I posted a thread on the new regulations a while back.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Overandout said:


> What do you mean?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




The new itv regs


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Dunpleecin said:


> The new itv regs


Here you go!

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/la-tasca/1367545-new-itv-regulations.html


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Ah thanks. Very useful. My car is a 2005 Merc and my mechanic plugs his thingy in when he services it so hopefully next time the itv is due he’ll be up to speed and know what to look out for. Thanks for that!


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Dunpleecin said:


> Ah thanks. Very useful. My car is a 2005 Merc and my mechanic plugs his thingy in when he services it so hopefully next time the itv is due he’ll be up to speed and know what to look out for. Thanks for that!


Well, being prepared is easier said than done...

If your mechanic can find out exactly which categories of fault codes will be classed as minor or serious defects (and hence have an effect on passing / failing the ITV) can you please ask him to let the rest of the world know?

At the moment, the regulations are not clear on the pass / fail criteria, so it looks as if we will have another one of those famous Spanish situations where the consumer / member of the public is subject the sole discretion of a single person's arbitrary judgement....


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

Mine's had the fault light up several times - under guarantee they fitted a new dashboard, computer and particulate filter - but I have my car serviced by the manufacturer so I guess they will be able to do a pre-ITV test 

Davexf


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> Mine's had the fault light up several times - under guarantee they fitted a new dashboard, computer and particulate filter - but I have my car serviced by the manufacturer so I guess they will be able to do a pre-ITV test
> 
> Davexf


The only fully reliable "pre ITV" test that can be done currently is to ensure that zero codes are stored in the ECU.

That may seem obvious, but in reality virtually any car more than a few months old will have some fault code(s) stored. These faults remain stored until cleared, so of course the mechanics will do great business clearing codes at ITV time, but will a 10 year old car make it to the ITV station without registering a new fault or re-registering an old one?

There only needs to be a momentary glitch in a switch, sensor, wiring or whatever for a code to be registered or stored. I know of someone with a 2017 Ford with 6,000 kms on it. It has various fault codes stored (but of course it doesn't need an ITV until 2021).

A light on the dashboard (like the Engine Management Light) only comes on with persistent and continuous faults of a serious nature and that would have failed the ITV even under the old regs. 

As from May this year however, they can fail your car (theoretically) for just having one "insignificant" (according to the vehicle manufacturer) code stored.

The regulations do state that the faults to be checked are those relating to safety or emissions, but that is a fine line...

What if your car has a fault code for a faulty tyre pressure sensor? There is no obligation for cars to even have such sensors, but the ITV man could decide that it is safety related and fail the car.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Overandout said:


> The only fully reliable "pre ITV" test that can be done currently is to ensure that zero codes are stored in the ECU.
> 
> That may seem obvious, but in reality virtually any car more than a few months old will have some fault code(s) stored. These faults remain stored until cleared, so of course the mechanics will do great business clearing codes at ITV time, but will a 10 year old car make it to the ITV station without registering a new fault or re-registering an old one?
> 
> ...


Ours always has a pre-ITV at the place that normally services the car which is a Citroën dealer and since they always service our car, the Pre-ITV is free.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Ours always has a pre-ITV at the place that normally services the car which is a Citroën dealer and since they always service our car, the Pre-ITV is free.


That's very interesting. I too have a Citroen and recently went to an official dealership as my car has a reoccurring fault which makes the Engine Management Light come on from time to time. No mechanic to date has been able to trace the cause.

The Citroen dealership told me that diagnostic reading of the codes was a fixed fee of 50€.

I wonder if that means that your "pre ITV" check will now cost 50€, or will I be able to get my ECU codes read for free by calling it a "pre ITV" checkup??


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

By the way, MODERATORS!!!

I think we are spamming the OP's thread with ITV chat... maybe some of it can be moved to my original ITV regs thread?


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