# Car



## Taker13075 (May 17, 2016)

Is is better to sell my car in the UK and buy one in Spain or bring it to Spain and sell it before buying a new one.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Taker13075 said:


> Is is better to sell my car in the UK and buy one in Spain or bring it to Spain and sell it before buying a new one.


It really depends on your circumstances and at what stage you plan to buy a new car.

Suffice to say you wouldn't get any takers for a British right hand drive car in Spain regardless of whether its on
British or Spanish number plates.


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## Taker13075 (May 17, 2016)

Aren't there companies who buy right hand drive cars or maybe PX it towards another car.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

Having helped over 200 people to import their cars, I always had a couple of questions to ask to ensure they were importing it with full knowledge. 

Have you owned the car for the past couple of years without problems? If it has problems then it maybe you need to rethink. 

Do you intend to keep the car for the next couple of years as the import costs are around 1,000€ if you include headlights. This will help offset the costs. 

Is the car original as out of the manufacturer's works, not with "Dealer's Extras". 

Davexf


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

If I did things again, I would just sell my UK car and buy a Spanish one....less hassle, no registration fees etc.....generally, right hand drive cars are not worth much here.


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## Localizer (Jun 23, 2016)

Sell it and buy a Spanish car. 

Unless it is a classic, sit on the correct side of the vehicle.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

Im stuck on this too! Let me know what you decide to do! Ive heard soo many different pros and cons x


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Im stuck on this too! Let me know what you decide to do! Ive heard soo many different pros and cons x


I have seen this said but I will repeat it, RHD cars are a nightmare, parking machines, toll booths, overtaking etc. Unless it is irreplaceable I suggest sell and buy again.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Simon22 said:


> I have seen this said but I will repeat it, RHD cars are a nightmare, parking machines, toll booths, overtaking etc. Unless it is irreplaceable I suggest sell and buy again.


On the plus side RHD cars do have a bit of a novelty value - it can 'break the ice' as far as getting a few laughs from Spanish drivers. 

:car:

In fact, I get plenty of laughs myself, when taking my RHD car into the garage for a service and watching the mechanic nonchalantly
get into the left ( passenger side ) of my car to drive it into the garage. :lol: 
I always love that.


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## Taker13075 (May 17, 2016)

Thanks for the advice I am going to sell in the UK and buy in Spain.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

Williams2 said:


> Simon22 said:
> 
> 
> > I have seen this said but I will repeat it, RHD cars are a nightmare, parking machines, toll booths, overtaking etc. Unless it is irreplaceable I suggest sell and buy again.
> ...


Hahahahaha soooo funny williams22


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

The bottom line is money ( and of course ) reliability when considering whether to stick with your existing British car
and change it to Spanish plates or buy ( what most people tend to do ) the equivalent year and model in Spain.

In which case sell your car in UK before moving to Spain and with the proceeds of the sale, buy the equivalent ( used ) 
car in Spain. Although saying that - you will no doubt find your equivalent ( in LHD ) has retained more value in Spain, 
than it would be worth with the same spec and mileage, etc in the UK, therefore costs more but might work out
the same when taking into account exchange rates.

Some people swear by LHD car dealers in the UK, particularly those that cater for the wannabe Expat customer and sell
Spanish and French licence plate cars with the intention that the buyer will register ( their new ownership of the car )
in France or Spain upon moving there. Although never having done this myself, I'm still rather mystified as to how it all 
works out ??

Hopefully these British LHD Car dealers might also give you a good price on your RHD car against any used Spanish 
or French LHD car your trading it in for.

A Google Search on 'buy spanish or french lhd drive cars in the uk' will give you a list of plenty of British LHD Car 
dealers in the UK, doing this sort of trade.

Finally there are those wannabe British Expats who reckon they wouldn't get much for their British car anyway due to
high mileage, etc, etc and perhaps hope to move some or all of their stuff over on the Car Ferry to Spain anyway 
using their Estate Car. Assuming they sold all their furniture and intend to buy new in Spain, of course.

For them converting their UK car Spanish plates is an idea, particularly if they are happy with their existing car
and the difference in buying the equivalent ( reliable ) Spanish used Car is anywhere from 6,500 to 8,000 Euros
whereas the conversion job, including headlights only works out between 1,000 to 1,200 Euro's at the worst,
for going to Spanish plates.

For them there's no loss, for if they expected to get little or nothing for their old car in the UK, then there's
nothing to lose converting to Spanish plates ( provided it's mechanically sound & reliable of course ) as
they will no doubt get rid of it anyway, some years later when buying a Spanish car.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

To be honest im tempted to stick with my little car. Im very fond of it and its been good and reliable to me so far. Plus i am a girl and buying a new car on my own would just be a nightmare, i normally get my dad to sort all that for me but weve fallen out lol.
Whats all this about changing the headlights? 
And someone said something about needing a number to register it? Where do i get the number from?


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Miss_Marbella said:


> To be honest im tempted to stick with my little car. Im very fond of it and its been good and reliable to me so far. Plus i am a girl and buying a new car on my own would just be a nightmare, i normally get my dad to sort all that for me but weve fallen out lol.
> Whats all this about changing the headlights?
> And someone said something about needing a number to register it? Where do i get the number from?


Hola 

The headlights in Spain dip to the right whereas the headlights in the UK dip to the left. Further. if you have only one reversing light, and one High Intensity read fog light, they also are the reverse way round and will have to be changed. 

The easiest way to think about the rear lights is that the rear fog light must light up the centre white line in the middle of the road, the reversing light must light up the kerb 

Davexf


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

Hi dave
I dont even know what ive got on this car lol. I just drive it. Ive never even opened the bonnet. So i can take it to the garage and they will fix it for me? How much does it usually cost?


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

Miss_Marbella said:


> To be honest im tempted to stick with my little car. Im very fond of it and its been good and reliable to me so far. Plus i am a girl and buying a new car on my own would just be a nightmare, i normally get my dad to sort all that for me but weve fallen out lol.
> Whats all this about changing the headlights?
> And someone said something about needing a number to register it? Where do i get the number from?


Marbs you say ? 
In that case just take your little car down there and carry on as normal as there are thousands of Brit plated cars in the area that have been there for years !
Illegal of course.


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## Miss_Marbella (Jul 10, 2017)

Illegal? How do u mean? Surely they would get spotted. I heard police there are ruthless with the spot checks, which worries me a bit.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Hi dave
> I dont even know what ive got on this car lol. I just drive it. Ive never even opened the bonnet. So i can take it to the garage and they will fix it for me? How much does it usually cost?


Hola 

Yes when you get here you can take it to a garage and get it done. In general labour costs in Spain are cheaper than the UK. Sorry but no idea of costs, I know in my area there are a number of good cheap garages that do excellent work. Marbella in general is more expensive than my area 

Davexf


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

Miss_Marbella said:


> Illegal? How do u mean? Surely they would get spotted. I heard police there are ruthless with the spot checks, which worries me a bit.


I think he was joking!! At least I hope he was....

I know a decent, honest mechanic I can recommend. 

You might also want to investigate whether the lights can be manually dipped to the other side....my Mercedes has a switch under the lights that allows you to change the direction of the dip.

Otherwise, new lights for a mini cooper could be expensive!!


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

danboy20 said:


> You might also want to investigate whether the lights can be manually dipped to the other side....my Mercedes has a switch under the lights that allows you to change the direction of the dip.
> 
> Otherwise, new lights for a mini cooper could be expensive!!


Hola 

I have never known a switch to be acceptable for a permanent import - as a temporary measure you might get away with it. There are specialist shops like my local Bosch that can do headlights at a reasonable price. 

Davexf


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## Localizer (Jun 23, 2016)

Permanent import - you'll need EU spec lights for Spain.... modded lights from the UK won't cut it.... you'll need a full set, front and rear. You may even have issues if, for example, the style/model of alloy wheel was not sold in Spain necessitating a new set of wheels - Minis can be enormously configured at point of sale and ITV centres can be rigorous in interpreting rules. 
Honestly, and I have imported a vehicle and re-registered one myself, I would not do it again.... even after you have jumped through all the hoops you'll still be living with the day 2 day issues of sitting on the wrong side of the car.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

I have never had a British car here, but I would say sell, sell, sell.
You are coming to a new country that you want to enjoy. The last thing I'd want is more hassle doing yet more paperwork, finding out where such and such office is, going to a garage, paying out quite a lot of money and all in temperatures of 30 - 40º degrees.
You can get a gestor to do the paperwork, but then you have to find one of those and pay out even more money. In the end what do you get? A RHD in a country set up for LHD. No thanks!


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

PS Please look at FAQ's number 4 for lots of details about cars (and lots of other stuff). Scroll through all of the thread links in number 4 as some are not pertinent.


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## Williams2 (Sep 15, 2013)

Localizer said:


> Permanent import - you'll need EU spec lights for Spain.... modded lights from the UK won't cut it.... you'll need a full set, front and rear. You may even have issues if, for example, the style/model of alloy wheel was not sold in Spain necessitating a new set of wheels - Minis can be enormously configured at point of sale and ITV centres can be rigorous in interpreting rules.
> Honestly, and I have imported a vehicle and re-registered one myself, I would not do it again.... even after you have jumped through all the hoops you'll still be living with the day 2 day issues of *sitting on the wrong side of the car.*


Sitting on the wrong side of my Spanish plated, british RHD car has never bothered me and I've been doing it for
over 4 years in Spain.
So I'm sure it will never bother Marbs if she would rather keep her 'pride & joy' from the UK.

Lastly I think too much is made about the 'perils of the paperwork' in converting your UK car to Spanish plates.
For me it's like taxes and everything else eg Modelo 720 - Let your Gestor take the strain.


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## danboy20 (Jul 10, 2017)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> I have never known a switch to be acceptable for a permanent import - as a temporary measure you might get away with it. There are specialist shops like my local Bosch that can do headlights at a reasonable price.
> 
> Davexf


Well it´s been legally registered, and passed 5 ITV tests.


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