# Buying a LHD car in the uk



## haynesbob (Oct 9, 2012)

Hi all,

I'm thinking of buying a Spanish registered car in the uk and bringing it back to Spain when I move there full time.
Is there much paperwork involved with doing this and can it be sorted in the UK.
Are there any potential problems with doing this.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers 

Bob


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

A friend of mine did this and it wasnt particularly easy. She had to employ a gestor to matriculate it - eventho it had been a Spanish car and had Spanish plates. I think the whole process took about 3 months, I dont know how much it cost tho

Jo xxx


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## haynesbob (Oct 9, 2012)

Hi Jo,


Thanks for the update. I will probably wait until I move to Ontinyent before buying. I was just trying to look at all options.

Cheers

Bob


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

haynesbob said:


> Hi Jo,
> 
> 
> Thanks for the update. I will probably wait until I move to Ontinyent before buying. I was just trying to look at all options.
> ...


Hi Bob, I live in Ontinyent as well - were are you moving to and when?

Re the car, I wouldn't do it. The potential problems are too great. It's very hard to find out from UK if there are any fines or debts still associated with the car.

Also, you will still have to matriculate it when you get here which costs money.

For the amount you might save, I would want to have the peace of mind and buy here in town.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

haynesbob said:


> Hi Jo,
> 
> 
> Thanks for the update. I will probably wait until I move to Ontinyent before buying. I was just trying to look at all options.
> ...


Sent you pm


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## haynesbob (Oct 9, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Hi Bob, I live in Ontinyent as well - were are you moving to and when?
> 
> Re the car, I wouldn't do it. The potential problems are too great. It's very hard to find out from UK if there are any fines or debts still associated with the car.
> 
> ...


Hi

I won't be moving to Ontinyent full time for about 3 years just spending as much time as possible over there.

I have bought a villa close to my brother in the santa anna area on the avenue de san fransisco.

We will be over again in about 5 weeks and my wife Maria will be staying for a few months lucky her.

Cheers

Bob & Maria


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I bought a nearly new LandRover Discovery in the UK. It had belonged to the legendary 'one careful lady owner' who had driven it to the UK and sold it on Spanish plates. I bought it, asked for it to be kept on Spanish plates and had it delivered to my house in Prague where I lived before I came to Spain.

I then had the ownership changed which was a simple process as the very reputable garage from which I bought it in the UK supplied all the required paperwork. I think it cost around 160 euros, can't remember. It isn't hard to find out from the UK if the car has fines or debts outstanding: you can check online as you would in Spain. If the car is on Spanish plates there is no need to matriculate it: you merely change the ownership via a gestor.

I would recommend the garage we bought from. They were thoroughly professional. I would beware of private sales and there are some UK sellers of Spanish-plated LHD cars that have poor reputations.

Five years plus on and our LandRover is going strong...scratched with a few dents, filthy and perfumed with eau de chien mouille...but worth the quite substantial amount we paid for it.

If you want to know more, pm me.


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## haynesbob (Oct 9, 2012)

Thanks to everyone for your comments


Cheers

Bob


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## malagaman2005 (Apr 23, 2008)

snikpoh said:


> Hi Bob, I live in Ontinyent as well - were are you moving to and when?
> 
> Re the car, I wouldn't do it. The potential problems are too great. It's very hard to find out from UK if there are any fines or debts still associated with the car.
> 
> ...


I used this site online recently 14.35€ Informe de historial de vehculo en Trfico (DGT) | Matrculas | Embargos, deudas, cargas | Antecedentes | Precio and had the result back within the hour, well worth the €14.35 investment for peace of mind


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

malagaman2005 said:


> I used this site online recently 14.35€ Informe de historial de vehculo en Trfico (DGT) | Matrculas | Embargos, deudas, cargas | Antecedentes | Precio and had the result back within the hour, well worth the €14.35 investment for peace of mind


That's a great link, thanks.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Make sure the speedometer has mph as well as kph. It will obviously be illegal in the UK if it doesn't have mph and getting it converted to one with both mph and kph is not always as easy as you might first think (a friend has had exactly this problem taking his Spanish car back to the UK)


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Chopera said:


> Make sure the speedometer has mph as well as kph. It will obviously be illegal in the UK if it doesn't have mph and getting it converted to one with both mph and kph is not always as easy as you might first think (a friend has had exactly this problem taking his Spanish car back to the UK)


Every car I have owned in the Uk apart from one, a Japanese import,has had dual mph and kph speedos. No doubt this is because so many people drive to Europe these days.

Fitting a mph/kph insert is simple and cheap if you go to a good repairing garage.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Every car I have owned in the Uk apart from one, a Japanese import,has had dual mph and kph speedos. No doubt this is because so many people drive to Europe these days.
> 
> Fitting a mph/kph insert is simple and cheap if you go to a good repairing garage.


The op wants to buy a Spanish registered LHD car. Chances are it won't have mph on the speedo. You might be able to get an insert but don't take it for granted. It's worth checking out before purchasing a car.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Chopera said:


> The op wants to buy a Spanish registered LHD car. Chances are it won't have mph on the speedo. You might be able to get an insert but don't take it for granted. It's worth checking out before purchasing a car.


Believe me, it's simple. We owned repairing garages in the Uk so I do know what I'm talking about.

Incidentally,a lot depends on the marque of the Spanish car. My Landrover Discovery was purchased originally in Spain, had Spanish plates when purchased second-hand by me in the UK and has dual speedos.

The changing process is really quite simple and if necessary shouldn't deter people from buying Spanish plated cars in the UK.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> Believe me, it's simple. We owned repairing garages in the Uk so I do know what I'm talking about.
> 
> Incidentally,a lot depends on the marque of the Spanish car. My Landrover Discovery was purchased originally in Spain, had Spanish plates when purchased second-hand by me in the UK and has dual speedos.
> 
> The changing process is really quite simple and if necessary shouldn't deter people from buying Spanish plated cars in the UK.


ok fair enough. I think the friend a referred to earlier was actually switching his car from LHD to RHD and ended up trying to fit a RHD speedo (with mph) into a LHD dashboard, or something along those lines, and either it didn't fit because of the way the fitting was was tapered or it couldn't be connected. Not sure why he couldn't use an insert though, if you say it's that easy. Maybe it wanted to convert the odometer as well.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Chopera said:


> ok fair enough. I think the friend a referred to earlier was actually switching his car from LHD to RHD and ended up trying to fit a RHD speedo (with mph) into a LHD dashboard, or something along those lines, and either it didn't fit because of the way the fitting was was tapered or it couldn't be connected. Not sure why he couldn't use an insert though, if you say it's that easy. Maybe it wanted to convert the odometer as well.


If I understand you correctly, your friend was trying to do this job himself....so I'm not surprised it was difficult. As for changing from LHD to RHD...I can only ask 'Why bother?' That's a big job for a qualified and experienced mechanic let alone an amateur, most likely without specialised tools and other equipment. 
Most repairing garages could make substantial profits merely by putting right botched kerbside or backyard repairs.
Better to sell and buy a car with the drive you require.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Unless there is a real need to drive a vehicle from UK to Spain when one moves, I can see no reason to buy a LHD in UK. It may surprise some people, who advocate this course of action, that they do actually sell LHD carrs here in Spain and it is much easier to take it back to the dealer (main or otherwise) who is just round the corner to get something sorted, just as we did yesterday when we found the the A/C wasn't working (it hadn't been warm enough to need it until last week).


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Unless there is a real need to drive a vehicle from UK to Spain when one moves, I can see no reason to buy a LHD in UK. It may surprise some people, who advocate this course of action, that they do actually sell LHD carrs here in Spain and it is much easier to take it back to the dealer (main or otherwise) who is just round the corner to get something sorted, just as we did yesterday when we found the the A/C wasn't working (it hadn't been warm enough to need it until last week).


It was convenient for us to buy LHD from the UK as we were driving to Spain from Prague and both our Czech-plated cars would have been difficult to get insured for the journey -it was difficult enough dealing with such companies in the CR let alone oputside, even for a short period - plus we would never have been able to sell those two fairly new Czech-plated cars in Spain.

So the best course for us was to do what we did: buy in the UK and have it delivered to Prague. 

But anyone buying a LHD car in the UK needs to exercise the utmost caution.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

mrypg9 said:


> If I understand you correctly, your friend was trying to do this job himself....so I'm not surprised it was difficult. As for changing from LHD to RHD...I can only ask 'Why bother?' That's a big job for a qualified and experienced mechanic let alone an amateur, most likely without specialised tools and other equipment.
> Most repairing garages could make substantial profits merely by putting right botched kerbside or backyard repairs.
> Better to sell and buy a car with the drive you require.


He told me he was trying to get it done professionaly, it's bugging me now because he told me over a few beers and I can't remember the details. I think it was a Ford Focus, so obviously a generic car, which he had bought in Spain and driven back to the UK. He'd been led to believe that switching from LHD to RHD was a surprisingly easy job (for a mechanic of course) only to find out that there was something about the RHD/mph speedometer that meant it couldn't fit in a LHD dashboard. At least I think that's what he had tried to do. I never understood why he wanted to do it - we're talking an oldish Ford Focus here, not some prized classic car. He could probably have ripped an old RHD dashboard from a breakers and got them to do the lot, but it probably would have cost him more than the car is worth.


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## pnwheels (Mar 3, 2013)

Converting any modern car to/from RHD is really not worth the grief. The steelwork in the pedalbox area and around the steering column would need cutting and re-welding - NOT adviseable as a lot of the strength and rigidity of a vehicle is in this area. Don't do it!!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Every car I have owned in the Uk apart from one, a Japanese import,has had dual mph and kph speedos. No doubt this is because so many people drive to Europe these days.
> 
> Fitting a mph/kph insert is simple and cheap if you go to a good repairing garage.


I only noticed recently that the vehicle that I have had 4 years , & was bought new in Germany, has mph on the inside of the speedo ! :lol:
I also had a jap import in the Uk that only had kph speedo. When it went for mot's they just used to write " kms" next to the figure.


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