# Car imports to spain



## CLIVE (Dec 18, 2008)

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


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

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.


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

*6 months*

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??


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## CLIVE (Dec 18, 2008)

SteveHall said:


> 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


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Chica said:


> 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


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## Seb* (Mar 22, 2009)

Chica said:


> 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.


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

Thanks Jo for putting me right.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Chica said:


> 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


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## Chica (Mar 23, 2009)

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.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

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.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

SteveHall said:


> 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.


Well you know you and I disagree on this. My take is that you have to have a really good reason to import one. I bought my sports car over because its a cherished car and Ive owned it for 11 years. Granted its fairly powerful when power is needed, but I've never felt in danger or felt a danger to others whilst having been here. Its the driver that makes it a dangerous car by making stupid manoeuvers, not the fact that its RHD. I've felt much more in danger from Spanish drivers whilst driving my LHD car


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## decgraham (Apr 24, 2008)

CLIVE said:


> 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


I was looking at importing my car into Spain from Kuwait (it's LHD) but after reading all the posts on here and other forums I decided against it. It seems it is a bit of a minefield out there. Good luck if you do but as Steve says its best to use a Gestor. There is a uk company that I looked at while I was in Spain (Denia) last year called "Plate Mate" they were in the local paper, try “Googleing” them they might be able to give you some advice.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> Well you know you and I disagree on this.


Yes, we do. That said, we can disagree in a civilised manner, reason our corners and behave like adults. 

One thing we will not disagree on is that drinking and driving is a KILLER. It is NOT compulsory to be over the limit when you drive here despite what many expats think.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

SteveHall said:


> Yes, we do. That said, we can disagree in a civilised manner, reason our corners and behave like adults.
> 
> One thing we will not disagree on is that drinking and driving is a KILLER. It is NOT compulsory to be over the limit when you drive here despite what many expats think.


I know I´m probably a "typical" woman driver, but I personally wouldnt feel safe driving a right hand drive car over here... its the simple fact that I´m sitting on the left that keeps me focused on which side of the road I should be on . I´d get very confused if I were in a RHD!!!

Jo


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

SteveHall said:


> Yes, we do. That said, we can disagree in a civilised manner, reason our corners and behave like adults.
> 
> One thing we will not disagree on is that drinking and driving is a KILLER. It is NOT compulsory to be over the limit when you drive here despite what many expats think.



Errrrr .... I dont remember that I said it was acceptable to drink and drive Steve


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## Tallulah (Feb 16, 2009)

Stravinsky said:


> Errrrr .... I dont remember that I said it was acceptable to drink and drive Steve



He didn't - he put it in the double negative (won't disagree = agree)!!


We have both LHD and RHD cars here - I tend to use the RHD myself - guess I'm just used to it from the UK and actually feel more in control - tend to stick more to the side of the road as well, whereas on driving the LHD I feel more "out in the middle" of the road! Little country lanes round here too - so anyone sitting on the passenger side of the LHD with their window open tends to get a mouthful of greenery as I go round the corner LOL!!


Tallulah.x


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## smithy45 (Apr 15, 2009)

Used car prices do appear to be coming down a bit in Spain now though with the recession I have noticed, its still not quite as cheap as the UK but I have seen several spanish plate cars around where I live at 600-700 Euros recently, small old hatchbacks mainly like Ford 
Fiestas etc.


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## CLIVE (Dec 18, 2008)

Well, thanks for all the info....plus other stuff..!!
Still not clear on the so called import or registration tax. I've had the car over a year; and am not yet 'resident'... ie not applied for residencia yet. Is it the case that, because I'm not a resident AND I've had the car over 6 months, I can simply bring it into Spain as a personal import and not pay the tax???
As far as driving on the 'wrong' side of the road... ie righthand side..... I find it a doddle, and have no problems at all... dead easy.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

CLIVE said:


> Well, thanks for all the info....plus other stuff..!!
> Still not clear on the so called import or registration tax. I've had the car over a year; and am not yet 'resident'... ie not applied for residencia yet. Is it the case that, because I'm not a resident AND I've had the car over 6 months, I can simply bring it into Spain as a personal import and not pay the tax???
> As far as driving on the 'wrong' side of the road... ie righthand side..... I find it a doddle, and have no problems at all... dead easy.


If you´ve owned the car for more than 6 months you can bring it over as a personal import and not pay VAT, but you do have to pay an import charge, registering it and ITV. If you´re a resident then you´re allowed to have the car here for 30 days, if you´re a non resident its 6 months. If you take no notice of the law and the guardia catch you they will sieze the car - end of! 

They do very regular checks where I live and I wouldnt dare risk it, but your choice. Ask yourself if you have a prang, would your insurance cover it? 

Apparently a good guide is "motoring in Spain" by Brian Deller. The rules change frequently, but this guy seems to be fairly "on top of things" Try googling it

Jo


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## CLIVE (Dec 18, 2008)

Thanks for this..... all helpful. Any idea what the rate of import charge is..??


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

CLIVE said:


> Thanks for this..... all helpful. Any idea what the rate of import charge is..??



As far as I know its a sliding scale, depending on age, condition, value and engine size. I think you can roughly say its about 10% of the cars value, but I really cant be sure. Apparently when you sell a car in spain you have to pay a transfer tax, well its the same ammount/rule when you import. 

It something we toyed with when we were moving over here.... we decided to sell our car and buy here in the end... easier!!!!!!!. Again Brian Dellers information will help, but the rules and regs seem to change on a daily basis, I´m not sure even the Spanish authorities know whats going on lol!!

Jo


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## CLIVE (Dec 18, 2008)

*Car import.....*



jojo said:


> As far as I know its a sliding scale, depending on age, condition, value and engine size. I think you can roughly say its about 10% of the cars value, but I really cant be sure. Apparently when you sell a car in spain you have to pay a transfer tax, well its the same ammount/rule when you import.
> 
> It something we toyed with when we were moving over here.... we decided to sell our car and buy here in the end... easier!!!!!!!. Again Brian Dellers information will help, but the rules and regs seem to change on a daily basis, I´m not sure even the Spanish authorities know whats going on lol!!
> 
> Jo


Thanks for the info. I'm getting a bit depressed with it all. I think I'm going to give up, take the present car back to the UK, and try and buy similar lhd one here....!!
My thanks to all who have replied.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

CLIVE said:


> Thanks for the info. I'm getting a bit depressed with it all. I think I'm going to give up, take the present car back to the UK, and try and buy similar lhd one here....!!
> My thanks to all who have replied.


Yep!!! thats about where we got to when planning our move over here!! Hence we sold the UK car... that I loved and was my best friend and bought our heap the"spanish donkey" here

Jo xxx


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## marylandwoman (Nov 14, 2009)

Hello -

What about folks coming from the US? Hubby is Brit, I am American - we are planning to arrive around 2012 with a 02 Toyota Highlander. Love the car and plan to do quite a bit of travelling by car around Europe.

Are the rules the same - 6 mos with US plates and then what? If we are only staying max 2 years in Spain?

Advice, please!

Thx -

Jane


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

marylandwoman said:


> Hello -
> 
> What about folks coming from the US? Hubby is Brit, I am American - we are planning to arrive around 2012 with a 02 Toyota Highlander. Love the car and plan to do quite a bit of travelling by car around Europe.
> 
> ...


Legally, if you're a tourist you can stay on "foreign" plates for 6 months and you can be a tourist for 6 months I believe. If you live in Spain (which technically you will be?) then you only have 30 days to change the plates. In 2 years time, your car will be a bit older, will you still love it and want to bring it over?? Maybe plan to get another one when you arrive over here??? I'm assuming you'll be bringing it from USA, which will cost you???

Jo xxx


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