# Quicky car query



## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Just a quicky folks but it's doing my head in as I " think" I have a cunning plan but I bet it just can't be that simple!!!


Whilst still UK resident is it possible that I buy a brand new car in UK then when settled in Spain have it matriculated?????


(Basically would I fall foul of any import laws, residency issues etc)

As ever I do appreciate any replies


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Cost depends on car in relation to changing headlights etc. Some cars you don’t need to do it but to avoid spending hundreds on first registraron tax you’ll need to matriculate it within a certain time of registration on the padrón at the local town hall. You’ll also need to prove you were uk resident when you bought it and you’ll need to have owned it for six months. So the timing is the key.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

You're a star Dunpleecin, I do appreciate it

If I have owned it previously for 6 months as a non resident does that mean no import tax??????


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

Not necessarily. The key is doing it within the time period you signed on the padrón. For me it was 60 days. Other people report different periods. Depends on the province I think.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

Can't you not buy a car in the UK without paying tax? a vague memory tells me it is possible to buy for export but the law could well have been changed. 

If you can then is it possible to buy with the steering wheel, lights etc. continental? 

Just a thought 

Davexf


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> Can't you not buy a car in the UK without paying tax? a vague memory tells me it is possible to buy for export but the law could well have been changed.
> 
> ...


Brand new cars are actually quite a lot cheaper in Spain - and you can buy one as a non-resident!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Just been offered a second-hand car at a really good price - will probably take it.

However, when they say that there's x months left on the insurance, what happens? Do we transfer the insurance to our name? Do we not complete the transfer until the insurance expires?

Any thoughts welcome please.


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## Dunpleecin (Dec 20, 2012)

snikpoh said:


> Brand new cars are actually quite a lot cheaper in Spain - and you can buy one as a non-resident!




That all depends on the make. German cars are dearer. Seat are cheaper as are Hyundai and Kia. Not sure about others.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Rabbitcat said:


> Just a quicky folks but it's doing my head in as I " think" I have a cunning plan but I bet it just can't be that simple!!!
> 
> 
> *Whilst still UK resident is it possible that I buy a brand new car in UK then when settled in Spain have it matriculated?????*
> ...


I assume your going for the UK scrappage deals on a new car. Namely If your UK resident with a British car that's registered on or before the 31st December 2009, then of course you can look forward to some generous
trade in deals for your old banger.

Well the good news is that many UK Car dealers are extending these offers upto the 31st March or in some
cases upto 2nd April 2018.

Auto Express - With many car dealers extending their car scrappage schemes into 2018. We look at the biggest savings


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> Just been offered a second-hand car at a really good price - will probably take it.
> 
> However, when they say that there's x months left on the insurance, what happens? Do we transfer the insurance to our name? Do we not complete the transfer until the insurance expires?
> 
> Any thoughts welcome please.


It is the vehicle that is insured. Assuming you comply with minimum age requirement there is nothing stopping you driving it until it runs out & then taking it on. The insurance has nothing to do with the transfer.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

gus-lopez said:


> It is the vehicle that is insured. Assuming you comply with minimum age requirement there is nothing stopping you driving it until it runs out & then taking it on. The insurance has nothing to do with the transfer.


Well my Spanish motor insurance is linked to my name, with my NIE number & address, together with the
registration number of my Spanish plated car and no doubt - just as in the UK, future quotes for
motor insurance will be determined by how many 'my fault claims' are made on my motor insurance
policy over the past year or years. 

Can you please explain what sort of Motor Insurance policies in Spain are transferable with the vehicle
before expiry date - or am I missing something here - as I've never heard of existing Motor Insurance
policies being transferred with the vehicle, even under a new name ??

Although no doubt none expired Car Tax ( as well as ITV ) must be transferable, same as in UK.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Williams2 said:


> Although no doubt none expired Car Tax ( as well as ITV ) must be transferable, same as in UK.


Hola 

I think that UK law changed a while ago and any new owner of a car HAS to pay the road tax on day 1 - there is no carry over 

Anyone confirm or deny? 

Davexf


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

gus-lopez said:


> It is the vehicle that is insured. Assuming you comply with minimum age requirement there is nothing stopping you driving it until it runs out & then taking it on. The insurance has nothing to do with the transfer.


Other than, I presume, trafico needs to know that insurance is in place before they will allow the transfer (??)


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Williams2 said:


> Well my Spanish motor insurance is linked to my name, with my NIE number & address, together with the
> registration number of my Spanish plated car and no doubt - just as in the UK, future quotes for
> motor insurance will be determined by how many 'my fault claims' are made on my motor insurance
> policy over the past year or years.
> ...


In Spain, it is the car that is insured and not the driver. However, a number of 'Brit policies' now insure the driver instead.

If the car is insured then any remaining insurance can be transferred (subrogate in Spanish) to the new owner provided ....

Apparently this is quite common but many Brits don't know about it as it doesn't happen in the UK.

Yes, your insurance is 'linked' to you as you are the registered keeper/owner but it is still the car that is insured. 


It is not clear to me what happens if you make a number of claims - if the car is insured then does the price of insurance rise?? Surely it's the drivers fault and not the cars so as the driver isn't the one insured, why penalise them???


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> I think that UK law changed a while ago and any new owner of a car HAS to pay the road tax on day 1 - there is no carry over
> 
> ...


I believe that's true in UK.


In Spain, some town halls will give you a refund and then the appropriate town hall will charge the new owner from day one of them owning it. However, I'm not sure what happens if you sell outside the town and your new town hall does not offer refunds and therefore does not offer partial payments.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Other than, I presume, trafico needs to know that insurance is in place before they will allow the transfer (??)


Hola 

No actually - having helped many people with transfers, the insurance documents are not required (unless the law has changed in the last year) 

Also, road tax doesn't matter in the exchange of owners - only that the tax has been paid - Yes there is a tax to pay when you transfer the vehicle into another name - in my case - payable to the Junta de Andalucía. 

Davexf


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> In Spain, it is the car that is insured and not the driver. However, a number of 'Brit policies' now insure the driver instead.
> 
> If the car is insured then any remaining insurance can be transferred (subrogate in Spanish) to the new owner provided ....
> 
> ...


*So how does the 'car based' Spanish motor insurance policies work then ?*

For on face value - that is with the Spanish motor insurance keeping tabs on the number of times the car 
( rather than the driver ) has been involved in an accident and corresponding claims on the motor
insurance - the unsuspecting or naive new buyer could be entering into a purchase of what seemed
like a reasonably priced car, good condition and low mileage - only to be hit in the pocket by huge motor 
insurance quotes ( which could be astronomical in the case of young drivers ) leaving a very nasty
taste in the mouth - of what looked like a really good buy.
Therefore would the new buyer have to do due diligence on the second hand car, to ensure the
legal owners and drivers of the car are clearly stated during any periods in it's history when
insurance claims were made ?

Not forgetting any dreaded unpaid fines on the car !!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Williams2 said:


> *So how does the 'car based' Spanish motor insurance policies work then ?*
> 
> For on face value - that is with the Spanish motor insurance keeping tabs on the number of times the car
> ( rather than the driver ) has been involved in an accident and corresponding claims on the motor
> ...


So you're saying there is no way of finding out how many accidents the car has been in and so your insurance costs could be astronomical?

I still don't understand.


Unpaid fines are easy to locate.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> So you're saying there is no way of finding out how many accidents the car has been in and so your insurance costs could be astronomical?
> 
> I still don't understand.
> 
> ...


NO - it's like checking to ensure there are no unpaid fines on a second car - you find out - hence the phrase 
doing your due diligence !!!

Of course bear in mind that in this thread were trying to draw attention to those new British Expats who
might stumble on this thread and are no doubt unfamiliar with the pitfalls of buying a second hand car in Spain !!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Williams2 said:


> NO - it's like checking to ensure there are no unpaid fines on a second car - you find out - hence the phrase
> doing your due diligence !!!
> 
> Of course bear in mind that in this thread were trying to draw attention to those new British Expats who
> might stumble on this thread and are no doubt unfamiliar with the pitfalls of buying a second hand car in Spain !!


Nope, still confused. 

How can you possibly find out how many claims have previously been made for a particular vehicle (given it could have had many owners). I don't know how to get hold of the database that insurance companies use.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> Nope, still confused.
> 
> How can you possibly find out how many claims have previously been made for a particular vehicle (given it could have had many owners). I don't know how to get hold of the database that insurance companies use.


Which brings me nicely back to my original question -
So how does the 'car based' Spanish motor insurance policies really work then ?

So I prefer the British system all the time with the Motor insurance companies keeping tabs on how
many times the policy holder has made a ( my fault ) claim on his motor insurance.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Williams2 said:


> Which brings me nicely back to my original question -
> So how does the 'car based' Spanish motor insurance policies really work then ?
> 
> So I prefer the British system all the time with the Motor insurance companies keeping tabs on how
> many times the policy holder has made a ( my fault ) claim on his motor insurance.


It's really very simple, they have a database accessed by all Spanish insurers.

It's EXACTLY the same as in UK but here it's the car and not the driver that is tracked.


Which takes me to my point that you didn't answer - how can a private buyer do their "due diligence" and get access to this information?


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> It's really very simple, they have a database accessed by all Spanish insurers.
> 
> It's EXACTLY the same as in UK but here it's the car and not the driver that is tracked.
> 
> ...


No I disagree - they should go for the British method of keeping tabs on the drivers track record.

As for .....

_Which takes me to my point that you didn't answer - how can a private buyer do their "due diligence" and
get access to this information?_

_As for Which takes me to my point that you didn't answer - how can a private buyer do their "due diligence" and get access to this information?_

Due diligence on second hand cars can take many forms like for example, getting a expert to look over
the car to see whether any part of the cars bodywork has been molded together, following a car
accident it might have had in the past.
Surely you know that one ????

Anyway I'm not responding to any more - I don't understand due diligence questions because the answer
I've just given above is a perfect example in my opinion.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Although it is normal for "cars" to be insured rather thah the drivers, it is also normal that the price is lower when the policy holder is also the owner of the vehicle.

Recently thaere have been cases where a car has been sold (paperwork done correctly and tax paid) and the new owner has taken over the old owners's vehicle policy. However in the event of a claim, the insurance companies detect that the policy hoder is still the previous owner, abd the vehicle owner is the buyer. This makes the policy invalid and they will not pay out. Don't do it.

The last time a vehicle seller sold me his car he said it had 9 months insurance left, and it was included in the price. So, infront of him, I called the insurer, explained that I wanted to take over this existing policy as the new owner, and was told that the policy was not transferable. They offered instead to refund the seller his unused premium value as he was selling the car to me, so I insisted that this amount was taken of the sale price of the car. So instead of an invalid policy, I got a few hundred Euros discount.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

We are with Allianz and the policy is on the owner not the car. When we changed cars recently, we just popped into the local Allianz office and changed the vehicle on our policy. We may change to Mapfre which is the same (owner rather than vehicle) when this policy runs out.

w.r.t. Car tax. - it is the person who is the owner at the 1st of January who is responsible for paying the car tax for that year and most local authorities do not make refunds if the car is sold during the year.

Buying a car via a reputable dealer is usually the best way since she/he will have all the mechanisms (including a competent gestor) for making the entire process simple and cost-effective.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

baldilocks said:


> We are with Allianz and the policy is on the owner not the car. When we changed cars recently, we just popped into the local Allianz office and changed the vehicle on our policy. We may change to Mapfre which is the same (owner rather than vehicle) when this policy runs out.
> 
> w.r.t. Car tax. - it is the person who is the owner at the 1st of January who is responsible for paying the car tax for that year and most local authorities do not make refunds if the car is sold during the year.
> 
> Buying a car via a reputable dealer is usually the best way since she/he will have all the mechanisms (including a competent gestor) for making the entire process simple and cost-effective.


We have insurances with Mapfre (with three children we now have multiple vehicles to insure) and it most definitely the vehicles that are insured and not the person. However, they may do what you suggest as well and insure the individual - I've never asked .

Our town hall certainly does give rebates on car tax.


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