# Car Import Car France - UK - Spain



## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

I have seen a car which would be suitable for us, as my wife won't drive a big car but we would likely need 4x4 so it's a bit like rocking horse you know what. However the car is on French plates being sold in the UK by a dealer and I want to bring it to Spain next year. The dealer has said it will take about fifty days to transfer it to UK plates then I would need to own it for six months before transferring it onto Spanish plates to avoid having to pay an import tax or whatever it is. Could I buy it here (UK) , keep it for six months then drive it down to Spain. I could garage it over here until it went to Spain?


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Roy C said:


> I have seen a car which would be suitable for us, as my wife won't drive a big car but we would likely need 4x4 so it's a bit like rocking horse you know what. However the car is on French plates being sold in the UK by a dealer and I want to bring it to Spain next year. The dealer has said it will take about fifty days to transfer it to UK plates then I would need to own it for six months before transferring it onto Spanish plates to avoid having to pay an import tax or whatever it is. Could I buy it here (UK) , keep it for six months then drive it down to Spain. I could garage it over here until it went to Spain?


Hola 
I don't understand why you want to buy a French car and import it to Spain; there are many cars for sale in Spain. 

But to answer your question, the Spanish import rules say that you can import a car as part of your "goods & chattels" without paying "import tax" (correctly first registration tax). To qualify you have to have owned the car for six months. PLUS you must rematricuate the car within 60 days of arriving in Spain, the date will normally be taken fron the Padron. 

Even without the tax, allow 600€ for importing the car plus possible changes to lights and the car must be as it was originally specified 

Davexf


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Thanks Dave, maybe I will just check out Spanish dealers when I'm over next month but small 4x4s are hard to find.


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## peedee (Aug 30, 2015)

Roy C said:


> I have seen a car which would be suitable for us, as my wife won't drive a big car but we would likely need 4x4 so it's a bit like rocking horse you know what. However the car is on French plates being sold in the UK by a dealer and I want to bring it to Spain next year. The dealer has said it will take about fifty days to transfer it to UK plates then I would need to own it for six months before transferring it onto Spanish plates to avoid having to pay an import tax or whatever it is. Could I buy it here (UK) , keep it for six months then drive it down to Spain. I could garage it over here until it went to Spain?


We bought a french registered car from a uk dealer (LHD Centre Basingstoke) to drive down here in Spain and have just registered on Spanish plates.
No Problems, cost 700€ through a gestor. Being french the lights etc were already the LHD version. Took around a month to move from french reg to uk reg. You need to own for 6 months before reg in spain, we were slightly over but as it's a low emission diesel the import tax is very low. We also only bought it just before we moved hence the problem with owning for 6 months and sorting out our residency before registering the vehicle. Make sure you get the certificate of conformity from the UK dealer. No problem with driving a LHD UK reg vehicle in the UK so if you have the time you should be sorted.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

peedee said:


> We bought a french registered car from a uk dealer (LHD Centre Basingstoke) to drive down here in Spain and have just registered on Spanish plates.
> No Problems, cost 700€ through a gestor. Being french the lights etc were already the LHD version. Took around a month to move from french reg to uk reg. You need to own for 6 months before reg in spain, we were slightly over but as it's a low emission diesel the import tax is very low. We also only bought it just before we moved hence the problem with owning for 6 months and sorting out our residency before registering the vehicle. Make sure you get the certificate of conformity from the UK dealer. No problem with driving a LHD UK reg vehicle in the UK so if you have the time you should be sorted.


Thanks peedee, it's the exact same dealer selling an SX4, I might call him tomorrow to enquire more about it. Did the dealer get the plates changed to UK or did you do it yourself. Also was it hard to get it insured in the UK? Sorry for all the questions but it's a grand little car.


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## peedee (Aug 30, 2015)

Roy C said:


> Thanks peedee, it's the exact same dealer selling an SX4, I might call him tomorrow to enquire more about it. Did the dealer get the plates changed to UK or did you do it yourself. Also was it hard to get it insured in the UK? Sorry for all the questions but it's a grand little car.


The dealer did everything and they were very helpful. Insurance in the uk was through direct line no problem but as we were relocating to Spain we had to re-insure here when we got here. Direct line would only cover us for a month as we were no longer resident in UK.
We insured through Abbeygate in Spain as having a spanish address byt with a UK plated car - no problem. They also refunded the balance against the new insurance when we had to re-insure when we changed to Spanish plates.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Roy C said:


> Thanks peedee, it's the exact same dealer selling an SX4, I might call him tomorrow to enquire more about it. Did the dealer get the plates changed to UK or did you do it yourself. Also was it hard to get it insured in the UK? Sorry for all the questions but it's a grand little car.


Go for it. I bought my Discovery from the Basingstoke crew. Super service. 
The Discovery was on Spanish plates when I bought it from the LHD people as the previous owner drove it over from Mallorca a few days before I saw it on sale...As Colin at the LHD place had all the relevant papers plus recent ITV all I had to do was change ownership here. .
Ask them about insurance, they will most likely recommend you use a company in Swansea that specialises in that type of insurance. Colin delivered my vehicle to where I was living in Prague for a very reasonable fee and I drove it to Spain. 
People exaggerate the problems that can arise with this kind of transaction. As with any purchase of that type, you need all the paperwork and the LHD people are very helpful with that.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

mrypg9 said:


> Go for it. I bought my Discovery from the Basingstoke crew. Super service.
> The Discovery was on Spanish plates when I bought it from the LHD people as the previous owner drove it over from Mallorca a few days before I saw it on sale...As Colin at the LHD place had all the relevant papers plus recent ITV all I had to do was change ownership here. .
> Ask them about insurance, they will most likely recommend you use a company in Swansea that specialises in that type of insurance. Colin delivered my vehicle to where I was living in Prague for a very reasonable fee and I drove it to Spain.
> People exaggerate the problems that can arise with this kind of transaction. As with any purchase of that type, you need all the paperwork and the LHD people are very helpful with that.


Thanks Mary, I remember you singing their praises previously, that is one of the reasons I looked up their website to see what they had in stock. Your's would have been fairly straight forward as it was already on Spanish plates but I'm going to give them a ring today to see what they can do, I was up there last Thursday and was impressed with the condition of their cars.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Problem solved, the car sold today


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## The slow walkers (Nov 10, 2015)

Roy C said:


> Problem solved, the car sold today


Pity about that but maybe worth trying these sites for cars....

Coches de segunda mano y de ocasión | Coches.net

MIL ANUNCIOS.COM - Venta de coches de segunda mano - Vehículos de ocasión de todas las marcas: BMW, Mercedes, Audi,...

Some are private and some are professional. I don't have any links with either, except having trawled through them to get an idea of prices etc. Good luck and glad you like Caro Emerald.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Second hand cars are more expensive here....the Disco I bought from Basingstoke would have been a couple of thousand more here. A couple of locals wanted to buy it off me.
No way. Eight years later, still less than 160k km on the clock, low maintenance, dusty, dented and scratched but still going strong. It will probably outlive me.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

I do miss my Defender 90 and would have another but then there would be only one driver instead of two


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