# Buying a car without NIE and residence



## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

We will hire a car when we arrive to Spain, while we search for a long term rental property. We also want to buy a car as soon as possible. We will stay in a holiday apartment for first 16 days.

I just read that in order to buy a car, we will need to have NIE and residency (rental contract). From what I gathered it may take a few weeks to get NIE and we will probably not find the house so soon either. I really thought we could buy a car on day 2 or 3 after our arrival but this now seems impossible. 

Is there a loophole - a possibility to buy a car without NIE and rental contract and transfer it after a few weeks, when I get all necessary documents?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

sadlybroke said:


> We will hire a car when we arrive to Spain, while we search for a long term rental property. We also want to buy a car as soon as possible. We will stay in a holiday apartment for first 16 days.
> 
> I just read that in order to buy a car, we will need to have NIE and residency (rental contract). From what I gathered it may take a few weeks to get NIE and we will probably not find the house so soon either. I really thought we could buy a car on day 2 or 3 after our arrival but this now seems impossible.
> 
> Is there a loophole - a possibility to buy a car without NIE and rental contract and transfer it after a few weeks, when I get all necessary documents?


I have never known anyone to be asked for 'residencia' in order to buy a car.

You have specified "(rental contract)" - this is normally required to get your padron which IS sometimes required to buy a car (perhaps you might be confusing the two).


Any way, I suspect you will NOT be able to get your residencia this side of Christmas.

Getting an NIE should only take a couple of days - likewise your padron.


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Getting an NIE should only take a couple of days - likewise your padron.


I will need a copy of long term rental agreement to get registered on padron, right? If yes, it means I won't be able to buy a car before we find a house... 

What I really wanted to know is if there is an option to buy a car and complete the transfer a couple of weeks later? I'll be buying from a car dealer, not privately.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

sadlybroke said:


> We will hire a car when we arrive to Spain, while we search for a long term rental property. We also want to buy a car as soon as possible. We will stay in a holiday apartment for first 16 days.
> 
> I just read that in order to buy a car, we will need to have NIE and residency (rental contract). From what I gathered it may take a few weeks to get NIE and we will probably not find the house so soon either. I really thought we could buy a car on day 2 or 3 after our arrival but this now seems impossible.
> 
> Is there a loophole - a possibility to buy a car without NIE and rental contract and transfer it after a few weeks, when I get all necessary documents?


you can't buy a car without a NIE, & in a lot of areas not without a resident cert (not the same as a rental contract :confused2

however - someone in my town reported a few weeks ago that she HAD bought a car with just her NIE cert. & a copy of her padrón

she has been here some years though, and like me was registered on the padrón before the rules changed & you needed the resident cert to register on the padrón

a poster here reported yesterday that she had registered on the padrón (just yesterday) without first getting a resident cert.................. so it _might_ be possible


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

> Any way, I suspect you will NOT be able to get your residencia this side of Christmas.





> you can't buy a car without a NIE, & in a lot of areas not without a resident cert


So, if I'm unlucky, I might not be able to buy a car for months???


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

sadlybroke said:


> So, if I'm unlucky, I might not be able to buy a car for months???


possibly

you don't necessarily need along term rental contract though to register on the padrón - we only had a 3 month contract when we did originally

but as I said - you might even need a resident cert for that.............


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

How soon after buying the car do you need to file the paperwork?


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> you don't necessarily need along term rental contract though to register on the padrón - we only had a 3 month contract when we did originally


I guess a 16 day holiday apartment rental will not be sufficient though!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

sadlybroke said:


> I guess a 16 day holiday apartment rental will not be sufficient though!


probably not..................


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

When we moved over, we took out a long term car hire agreement (3 months but I cant remember how much) , it worked out quite cheap tho.

Jo xxx


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

jojo said:


> When we moved over, we took out a long term car hire agreement (3 months but I cant remember how much) , it worked out quite cheap tho.
> 
> Jo xxx


Which company did you rent the car from?

I already had a look at long term rentals but 900€ per month for Ford Focus estate seems to be too much I think.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

sadlybroke said:


> Which company did you rent the car from?
> 
> I already had a look at long term rentals but 900€ per month for Ford Focus estate seems to be too much I think.


 I cant remember - Malagacar.com I think??? We negotiated a deal. I'm sure it wasnt anywhere near as much as 900€!!

Jo xxx


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

jojo said:


> When we moved over, we took out a long term car hire agreement (3 months but I cant remember how much) , it worked out quite cheap tho.
> 
> Jo xxx


That sounds like the best plan for Sadlybroke - or even a shorter-term rental on a car which could be changed to long term if required.

It does appear that some localities are now insisting upon residencia before allowing signing on the padron, but others are not. And until the OP finds out themselves, they wont know.

I would actually like to hear how Sadlybroke gets on with attempting to sign on the padron without residencia as there is so much conflicting info about it right now.
Used to be so easy. NIE, Padron and off you go to the car showroom. Not, it seems, any more....


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Solwriter said:


> That sounds like the best plan for Sadlybroke - or even a shorter-term rental on a car which could be changed to long term if required.
> 
> It does appear that some localities are now insisting upon residencia before allowing signing on the padron, but others are not. And until the OP finds out themselves, they wont know.
> 
> ...



Thats how it was when we arrived. We rented the house during a previous visit, Arrived on the day the rent started, picking up the hire car from the airport. We kept it for 3 months while we got NIEs, Padron etc. and then went and bought a car from a local dealership!! All very easy!

Jo xxx


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## sadlybroke (Jun 19, 2012)

Solwriter said:


> That sounds like the best plan for Sadlybroke - or even a shorter-term rental on a car which could be changed to long term if required.
> 
> It does appear that some localities are now insisting upon residencia before allowing signing on the padron, but others are not. And until the OP finds out themselves, they wont know.
> 
> ...


I am struggling to find a decent long term rental deal on a car big (wide) enough for 3 bulky car seats at the back. Honestly, right now it seems taking my UK car to Spain and hoping we won't be stopped by police is the best option!


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## jonmlb748 (Oct 30, 2011)

you can bring your own car as you are a tourist,you're allowed six months in one year.plenty of Germans,Brits do just that.only when you become a resident,you will not be allowed to drive your uk plated car.it will have to be sold or rematriculated on to the Spanish system.


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

We will be in a similar position when we arrive later this year. We have just booked a 5 door Renault Clio with DouYouSpain for a total of €369.90 for 4 weeks, plus a tank of fuel of course.

I thought that you just needed an NIE and an long term address so that all the paperwork can be sent on. I had also thought that a long term rental contract would suffice.

I suppose we will just have to suck it and see when we get there.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

stevesainty said:


> We will be in a similar position when we arrive later this year. We have just booked a 5 door Renault Clio with DouYouSpain for a total of €369.90 for 4 weeks, plus a tank of fuel of course.
> 
> I thought that you just needed an NIE and an long term address so that all the paperwork can be sent on. I had also thought that a long term rental contract would suffice.
> 
> I suppose we will just have to suck it and see when we get there.


Don't forget that everything changed on April 24th & everything is all in a state of confusion atm......


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