# Expats can keep 2 cars, 1 in UK & the other in Spain



## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Apologies if this information has been mentioned in the past - but I'm not sure
whether wannabe Expats who are contemplating moving to Spain are aware
that you can hang onto your British car in the UK ( merely get it parked, garaged
and registered at say your British parents or relatives house )

Then move to Spain and buy a Spanish car in Spain for your new permanent life
in Spain.
The advantage being that you still have your old ( or newish ) British car available
as your - run around - for visiting friends and family in the UK and your Spanish
car, as your run around in Spain.
UK Car tax can be paid online or by phone call to the DVLA and since last year,
there's no tax disc to display on the windscreen anymore.
As for getting your British car serviced and MOTed - most good garages in the
UK can arrange to have your car collected for either the annual service or
MOT from home - although in this case its from your parents house. So long as
you left the car keys with them.

Of course this option might not be suitable for everyone but for those that can
afford it and for those who's stay in Spain is merely a long sojourn to get the
tan before returning to the UK. It's certainly an option.
As for car insurance, no doubt the ones which provide European wide insurance
might be your best port of call.

Anyway checked this out with DVLA over the phone this week and they say
it's ok. So long as the British cars registered at the place where it's going to be
garaged or kept in the UK and apparently there's nothing to stop a British Expat
in Spain buying a British Car and keeping it in the UK.

Unless - of course - the moderators know different, to what I found out from
the nice lady at the DVLA ?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

So no change in the laws then? Why did you put "NEW expats ... " in the title or did you mean "Now expats ..."?

I would say that is all OK but ONLY if you are a non-resident of Spain.

As soon as you trigger being resident in Spain, then you can no longer drive a UK plated vehicle (that you own) in UK. This is either 90 days in one chunk or a total of 183 days in a calendar year.

I suspect that if you had asked the nice lady at DVLA, what happens if I am a resident of Spain, then the answer would have been different.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> So no change in the laws then? Why did you put "NEW expats ... " in the title or did you mean "Now expats ..."?
> 
> I would say that is all OK but ONLY if you are a non-resident of Spain.
> 
> As soon as you trigger being resident in Spain, then you can no longer drive a UK plated vehicle (that you own) in UK. This is either 90 days in one chunk or a total of 183 days in a calendar year.


Not true.

I am resident in Spain, I shall be returning to the U.K. soon on business, whilst I am there I shall be quite legally driving a U.K. plated vehicle.

I also quite legally drove my own U.K. played vehicle when I was resident in the U.K. and also resident in Spain, providing the vehicle complies with the traffic legislation in respect of the driver and the said vehicle no offence is committed.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> So no change in the laws then? Why did you put "NEW expats ... " in the title or did you mean "Now expats ..."?
> 
> I would say that is all OK but ONLY if you are a non-resident of Spain.
> 
> ...


Well I did ask her categorically - is it possible for a British Expat who's resident in
Spain to own and keep a British car in the UK and the answer was that - so
long as it's registered to a UK address - a Non UK Resident who's a resdent of
Spain, can own and keep a British registered and UK plated car in Britain and
keep it as their Car in Britain.

Of course this is from the point of view that the British Expat has no intention
of moving the car to Spain and the car will be kept and garaged at their relatives or
parents house. While resident in Spain.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Hepa said:


> Not true.
> 
> I am resident in Spain, I shall be returning to the U.K. soon on business, whilst I am there I shall be quite legally driving a U.K. plated vehicle.
> 
> I also quite legally drove my own U.K. played vehicle when I was resident in the U.K. and also resident in Spain, providing the vehicle complies with the traffic legislation in respect of the driver and the said vehicle no offence is committed.


Yeah I think snikpoh is confused

What you can't do is drive a foreign plated car which you own, in your country of residence (after a short period of time - all of 2 weeks in the UK!) 

I don't know of any rule that says you can't own & store a local plated car to drive whilst you are on holiday in a country which isn't your country of residence, as long as that car is road legal


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> Yeah I think snikpoh is confused
> 
> What you can't do is drive a foreign plated car which you own, in your country of residence (after a short period of time - all of 2 weeks in the UK!)
> 
> I don't know of any rule that says you can't own & store a local plated car to drive whilst you are on holiday in a country which isn't your country of residence, as long as that car is road legal


Well - I phoned DVLA back and this time spoke to a kind Gentleman who reassured me that,
being Non UK Resident makes no difference, as to whether I can own, keep or purchase a 
UK plated British car in the UK. 
In fact I am perfectly entitled to purchase or buy any vehicle in the UK and so long as the
vehicle is registered to a UK address - DVLA and all the relavent UK authorities are perfectly
happy for me to own, keep and drive the vehicle in the UK - naturally I explained to them that my
permanent address is in Spain but The Man from DVLA says it doesn't matter, so long
as I'm perfectly contactable from the registered UK address - DVLA and the rest of the authorities
are happy !!
Of course I have to tax and insure the British vehicle, like you would normally do but apparently
there's nothing to stop me buying and owning a British car in the UK so long as I can register it 
to a UK address.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Williams2 said:


> Well - I phoned DVLA back and this time spoke to a kind Gentleman who reassured me that,
> being Non UK Resident makes no difference to whether I can own, keep or purchase a
> UK plated British car in the UK.
> In fact I am perfectly entitled to purchase or buy any vehicle in the UK and so long as the
> ...


isn't that pretty much what I said? ..... you just used more words!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Williams2 said:


> Unless - of course - the moderators know different, to what I found out from
> the nice lady at the DVLA ?



What does it have to do with moderators? We just make sure you all stick to the rules - we aren't experts in anything


Some of us know a lot about some things - but so do a lot of our members. It has nothing to do with us being moderators, & that isn't why we are moderators.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> isn't that pretty much what I said? ..... you just used more words!


Ha, ha, ha !!!

No doubt the reverse must be true - that Traffico would accept a Non
Spanish resident owning and driving a Spanish registered car in Spain, so long
as it's registered to a Spanish address and your contactable from that
address in Spain.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> What does it have to do with moderators? We just make sure you all stick to the rules - we aren't experts in anything
> 
> 
> Some of us know a lot about some things - but so do a lot of our members. It has nothing to do with us being moderators, & that isn't why we are moderators.


Because of the back chat - of course, Lol !!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Williams2 said:


> Ha, ha, ha !!!
> 
> No doubt the reverse must be true - that Traffico would accept a Non
> Spanish resident owning and driving a Spanish registered car in Spain, so long
> ...


Of course - afaik that has always been the case


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> Of course - afaik that has always been the case


Thanks - you never know - this little tay ta tate might just double car sales figures
from the Expat community in both Britain and Spain, helping growth and
British & Spanish GDP figures, Lol.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

I stand corrected.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

Technically under the EU directive covering vehicles you are not allowed to register a vehicle in a country where you are not resident. However this is quite old legislation and changes have been under discussion for about 20 years, which should take into account how movement throughout the EU has changed the way that people live. Generally it is ignored.

*Wherever you live in the EU, you must register your car in the country where you normally live or have your permanent residence.

You are not usually allowed to register your car in a country where you have a secondary residence or holiday house.*


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> Of course - afaik that has always been the case


Ok glad to clear that one up - which brings me nicely onto the next question - as I've had my eyes on this rather
dashing & sporty Aston Martin DB10 - which is really nice and although very pricey, could fall within my price range,
if ever I should win the National Lottery !!

As you know when 'out in the field' it helps to maintain some form of anonymity, when crossing the Autobahns
of Europe and therefore I wondered whether anyone knows - whether you can register the same car in
three different countries ?


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

CapnBilly said:


> Technically under the EU directive covering vehicles you are not allowed to register a vehicle in a country where you are not resident. However this is quite old legislation and changes have been under discussion for about 20 years, which should take into account how movement throughout the EU has changed the way that people live. Generally it is ignored.
> 
> *Wherever you live in the EU, you must register your car in the country where you normally live or have your permanent residence.
> 
> You are not usually allowed to register your car in a country where you have a secondary residence or holiday house.*


Ah ha! 

Looks like I might have been correct after all.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

CapnBilly said:


> Technically under the EU directive covering vehicles you are not allowed to register a vehicle in a country where you are not resident. However this is quite old legislation and changes have been under discussion for about 20 years, which should take into account how movement throughout the EU has changed the way that people live. Generally it is ignored.
> 
> *Wherever you live in the EU, you must register your car in the country where you normally live or have your permanent residence.
> 
> You are not usually allowed to register your car in a country where you have a secondary residence or holiday house.*


Yes but at the end of the day, it's down to the British Parliament sitting in Westminster to determine which EU laws and
directives are ratified and passed as law in the UK.

The officials dealing with enquiries at the DVLA are trained in all aspects of road traffic law as affects drivers and what
is legal in the UK and would be held to account, if any of their officials were found to be misleading the public.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Williams2 said:


> Yes but at the end of the day, it's down to the British Parliament sitting in Westminster to determine which EU laws and
> directives are ratified and passed as law in the UK.
> 
> The officials dealing with enquiries at the DVLA are trained in all aspects of road traffic law as affects drivers and what
> is legal in the UK and would be held to account, if any of their officials were found to be misleading the public.


Err , no it isn't, if the EU implement a directive as a rule then the UK parliament has no choice in whether to introduce it into UK law. Even if they don't EU rules take precedence.
At least being a member of the EU they get a say in the discussion about any new rules. Whereas if they leave the EU & become an EEA member like Norway, Denmark ,Etc, they just have to implement them without any input whatsoever.

I think with these last 2 paragraphs you've had to much sun. 
For run of the mill stuff, which is what you asked ,they have the basic idea but when it comes down to what also should be known to them they have to refer to 'specialists' .
I've dealt with them for years & have never ever had a correct reply to anything first time. On one occasion it took 8 attempts & had already been answered by the EU correctly before they got it right.

They aren't accountable & will basically tell you anything .


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Williams2 said:


> Yes but at the end of the day, it's down to the British Parliament sitting in Westminster to determine which EU laws and
> directives are ratified and passed as law in the UK.


I'm not sure that's how it works.

Anyway, to the Op. One thing to watch is insurance. You'll probably find that you can't insure online and will have to speak to the company involved to give full details of the circumstances. Most policies have some standard blurb when you sign-up and that will include conditions about being resident in the UK. One to watch out for.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Yet again my dodgey eyesight caused me to pick up wrongly on this thread title

Thought it was all about having a feline friend both home and abroad


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

gus-lopez said:


> They aren't accountable & will basically tell you anything .


Based on my experience in dealing with them, I agree. They're clueless and on some queries you get a different answer each time you speak to a different person.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Horlics said:


> Based on my experience in dealing with them, I agree. They're clueless and on some queries you get a different answer each time you speak to a different person.


So basically the management and helpdesk at DVLA are unfit for the job ??

If they are continually giving bad advice then this should be investigated - as its a disgrace, that should
be reported to the Government Minister responsible.


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## buble (Apr 29, 2011)

One thing that you must be very careful about, is that your insurance company (for the UK car), know that you are a Spanish resident, and do not live in the UK. Some don't allow this. So be safe and check with them, or you could be in big, big, trouble!!!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

buble said:


> One thing that you must be very careful about, is that your insurance company (for the UK car), know that you are a Spanish resident, and do not live in the UK. Some don't allow this. So be safe and check with them, or you could be in big, big, trouble!!!


If you find that then insure it here with a Spanish company that can legally insure a UK car & notifies the dvla/MID so that it is on the database.
Perfectly legal as long as they are authorised to provide services in that country & you'll get a yearly green card & recovery.

Car insurance validity in the EU - Your Europe


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

Williams2 said:


> So basically the management and helpdesk at DVLA are unfit for the job ??
> 
> If they are continually giving bad advice then this should be investigated - as its a disgrace, that should
> be reported to the Government Minister responsible.


Public Sector matey.... the talent goes elsewhere.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

gus-lopez said:


> If you find that then insure it here with a Spanish company that can legally insure a UK car & notifies the dvla/MID so that it is on the database.
> Perfectly legal as long as they are authorised to provide services in that country & you'll get a yearly green card & recovery.
> 
> Car insurance validity in the EU - Your Europe


Do you know of any? It might be simpler to keep my cars in the UK and Spain with one company, but I can't find one Spain-based insurance company that provides this service. Likewise, I can't find one UK company that will insure a car registered and kept in Spain.


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## Horlics (Sep 27, 2011)

buble said:


> One thing that you must be very careful about, is that your insurance company (for the UK car), know that you are a Spanish resident, and do not live in the UK. Some don't allow this. So be safe and check with them, or you could be in big, big, trouble!!!


When I was trying to insure a car kept in the UK and used by me only on my occasional return to the country (i was resident elsewhere), I couldn't insure it without talking to the companies. Maybe there are some that will do it simply and quickly online but I couldn't find one.

And, I ended-up paying 400+ pounds to insure a car I would drive for a maximum of 8 weeks of the year, whereas to insure the same car if resident was less than half that price.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Well its all very interesting and a moot point.


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