# My Car Matriculation Experience



## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

There are loads of posts about car matriculation on here but I thought I'd post my experience as there are quite a few variables which may potentially help someone in deciding what to do with their car. I can only refer to my experience so if someone is in disagreement with any points then perhaps there are some local differences. Obviously the question of driving a right hand drive car is a matter for the individual but I find no problems whatsoever. My car is a Mercedes E Class estate. 

I did it mainly by myself but at certain points with the help of a translator. This meant I was able to see each element in action.

Before deciding whether to go through the process or not I had to find out whether I needed to pay the dreaded import tax. This tax is calculated on the cars new value, it's emissions and it's current value according to the tax office. As it turned out I was able to avoid the import tax because I could prove that A) I purchased the car in the UK, B) that I lived in the UK when I purchased it and C) that I was matriculating the car within 60 days of registering on the padron at the local town hall. I produced tax documents and a credit expert printout to prove my previous UK residence. This saved me over 600€. 

The next stage was to ITV the car and to prove its type approval to be registered in Spain. Again I was lucky in this respect. My car has its type approval number on the vin plate so the ITV people were able to use this. Also, the cars headlights are able to be switched to a flat beam so again they passed this test without any modifications needed. The only other point was the rear fog light but as the car had 2 fog lights on the rear again I was ok. The ITV process cost 230 € but won't need an ITV for 2 years. 

Once I'd received the paperwork from the ITV I had to get road tax for the local town hall. They calculate this with a calculation based on the power of the car and the emissions I believe. The cost for a year here comes to 82€ although I only had to pay 3 months worth owing to the time of year. As my car costs £250 to tax in the UK this is far cheaper. I was given the documents and had to pay the money at the bank. 

Once I had the ITV forms and the road tax I took them along with the V5 and the 06 form ( which for some reason you get from the tobacconist) to the tax office to be processed. This didn't take too long at all and it was duly sorted out and stamped without any import tax due. 

It was then round to the DGT office which was a lot busier but once I'd paid the 93€ at the cash desk I had to wait my turn. A bit like being in the local DVLA office I suppose. Once this was sorted out they kept my V5 to send to Swansea and I received my green card so I could get the plates. In Spain you will just get the latest number rather than one which refers to the year of the car which is fun because it looks like a new car now with a bit of a clean. The plates cost me 18€ and there I was fully legal with my car. 

A quick call to Linea Directa made my insurance £100 cheaper than the UK so in fact with what I will save in tax and insurance the matriculation expense will pay for itself.

So altogether it cost me around 500€ which was a lot cheaper than I thought. That said if you've been on the padron for a while I suspect you're not going to avoid import tax. Also, depending on your car you might have to fork out for headlight mods and other physical changes. You might also need to get a type approval certificate I'm not sure. I would therefore say that if you get the timing right when you come over and you have the right car you might find its cheaper the you think. My fellow Spanish class student, for example, brought a 3 year old Ford Mondeo and it all cost him 2000€. 

Hope this info helps anyone interested in the subject. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Yes it is straight forward , just time consuming. Don't move here as your car tax will double. :lol:


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Just a bump for the poster below


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