# UK Plated cars in Spain



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Now here is a strange thing. In a Lidl car park yesterday I spotted a top of the range Audi, around 6 years old with UK plates. But. It had an ITV sticker which expires in May 2017. UK plates presumable means it hasn't been formally converted to Spanish etc so how did they get an ITV. Anyone??


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Anyone can get an ITV. It means absolutely nothing other than on a Spanish plated vehicle.

Complete waste of money in my opinion!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

So why would anyone do it? The car presumably remains illegal as with UK plates it requires a UK MoT, which I guess it doesn't have, so any insurance will be null and void. I wonder if they think that the Guardia or Trafico won't stop them as they have an ITV. I hung around for a bit in case the owners came out just to ask but I got bored... No doubt I'll see it again assuming it isn't impounded. There are literally hundreds of UK plated cars around at the moment and most of them are clearly not on holiday...

Incidentally, when we had our car converted to Spanish plates including lights etc, we were told it would not pass an ITV on UK plates....


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Anyone can get an ITV. It means absolutely nothing other than on a Spanish plated vehicle.
> 
> Complete waste of money in my opinion!


So you can put a UK plated car through an ITV, but it has no validity?
Seems a bit strange that the ITV station would accept the car for the test.


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

thrax said:


> Now here is a strange thing. In a Lidl car park yesterday I spotted a top of the range Audi, around 6 years old with UK plates. But. It had an ITV sticker which expires in May 2017. UK plates presumable means it hasn't been formally converted to Spanish etc so how did they get an ITV. Anyone??


I also own a car which has UK plates and an ITV sticker. In fact, not just the sticker but the associated paperwork which goes with it too. It has been like this for about 2 months now. My car was in the process of being matriculated over to Spanish. The ITV test was completed and I had returned home when the authorities discovered the chassis number on the car did not match the V5 document. A letter "S" had been mistakenly written as a "5". I finally now have an export certificate from DVLA with the correct number, so hoping that when I present this all will be resolved. Been a bit of a nightmare.
Maybe the Audi owner is in the same boat?


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Pesky Wesky said:


> So you can put a UK plated car through an ITV, but it has no validity?
> Seems a bit strange that the ITV station would accept the car for the test.


My UK car was ITV'ed and passed the test before being put onto Spanish plates. It was still legally
covered by my MOT which had another month to go following the ITV test.
Although - this was all part of the process of converting to Spanish plates a few
weeks later.
It's the matriculation along with the paper work & paper chase that accompanies it, that takes a time.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Pesky Wesky said:


> So you can put a UK plated car through an ITV, but it has no validity?
> Seems a bit strange that the ITV station would accept the car for the test.


It is a business. They will test anything as long as you pay. Normally if it isn't being re-registered they won't give a sticker but I know they used to up in Alicante.


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## SteveScot (Feb 11, 2013)

You can MOT a car in the UK on foreign plates, or even without any plates, using the VIN number instead. This is generally used when re-registering an imported car to UK plates. Probably similar arrangements in Spain.

There was talk from the DVSA about accepting other countries equivalent tests, so that if you were on holiday with your car in another member state and the MOT ran out, you could present it for an ITV for example, and on return to the UK, this would be acceptable in place of an MOT. It has not come to fruition though, as yet.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

SteveScot said:


> There was talk from the DVSA about accepting other countries equivalent tests, so that if you were on holiday with your car in another member state and the MOT ran out, you could present it for an ITV for example, and on return to the UK, this would be acceptable in place of an MOT. It has not come to fruition though, as yet.


Sounds a good idea - so long as such talks are not jeopardized by the UK's - In or Out referendum.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

gus-lopez said:


> It is a business. They will test anything as long as you pay. Normally if it isn't being re-registered they won't give a sticker but I know they used to up in Alicante.


I wonder where they put the white sticker as there's no 'fecha tecnica'?


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Our car is currently in the same situation but in France. All tests and paperwork completed except for one essential letter, in one box for the registration to be completed. The French need either a P or a CPU to complete the set, for this we have had to pay Citroen £80. Its on its way and in the meanwhile we have insurance running in both the UK and France.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

It's not true that someone resident in Spain running a UK plated car is bound to be uninsured.
When I was resident in Prague and for a while in Spain my UK plated car was insured for all year round non-UK residency. It cost an arm and a leg but it was valid, I think the policy was through Zurich. The company that specialises in this type of insurance is located in Swansea. I've passed on details to posters on this forum.
Local Spanish based companies will also insure UK plated vehicles with or without ITV/MOT. As the company has accepted the fee you have a valid contract.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Yes we had our car insured for 1 year from a UK based insurance company but they told us that the ITV system would not be acceptable as an alternative for the MoT. But by then we had converted it to the Spanish system so it didn't matter.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

thrax said:


> So why would anyone do it?


Presumably to check that their car is safe and roadworthy!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> Presumably to check that their car is safe and roadworthy!


... it would be far cheaper for a car mechanic to give it a 'once over'.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

I seriously doubt an ITV would prove a vehicle to be road worthy. A mechanic friend of mine down here told me that some of the cars he has seen get through should be scrapped they were so dangerous. The centre we use passes a high percentage but does fail some. For example, I know someone who had a car with a tow bar on the back. His vehicle book said it was Spanish but it was French so they failed it. Same manufacturer, same model, but one was made in France and the other in Spain - in other words identical, apart from two letters embossed underneath.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

thrax said:


> I seriously doubt an ITV would prove a vehicle to be road worthy. A mechanic friend of mine down here told me that some of the cars he has seen get through should be scrapped they were so dangerous. The centre we use passes a high percentage but does fail some. For example, I know someone who had a car with a tow bar on the back. His vehicle book said it was Spanish but it was French so they failed it. Same manufacturer, same model, but one was made in France and the other in Spain - in other words identical, apart from two letters embossed underneath.


I agree with you. In the CR it was common practice apparently to hand over a 200 Kcs note with your car docs to make sure you passed the STK, equivalent of ITV. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened here.
Anyway, an MOT Certificate states that the car has passed the inspection at the time and date of the test. A month later the vehicle could be decidedly unroadworthy.


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## el romeral (May 8, 2012)

The ITV is a far less strict test than the MOT. You see all kinds of smoking, polluting deathtraps on the roads in Spain with current ITVs which would never get near an MOT. 
However, make a slight visible modification to your car in Spain or not have required papers for something and it is a big fat FAIL.


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