advice needed

we are in the process of buying an apartment in condado de alhama and are wondering if we should bring our car over or sell it here and buy another over their. we will be using the car for about 8 weeks a yr and their is 6 of us so hire prices are quite high do we need to reregister the car or can we drive it back home and tax and mot it in the uk. any help advice or info is greatly appreciated.

Great question. Registering a car in Spain is expensive - at least 1500 euros and there may be some import tax to pay as well. Then there is Spanish car insurance on top which is also not cheap.

Used cars in Spain are also expensive when compared to what you can buy in the UK and usually ex rental and knackered.

I reckon the best way is to keep your car on UK plates and insure, MOT and tax it in the UK once a year which means bringing it back to the UK once a year to do it. Not such a problem if you are visiting regularly and the winter months provide cheaper ferry crossings.

The only downside I can see is the right hand drive issue which is only a problem at toll booths when you are on your own and the gate at CDA of course. Also you would have to watch what you say to your UK based Insurers who may have an issue and try and load your premium.

Jon Faulkner

Hi,

We are considering bringing our RHD petrol Mondeo over in the summer and was wondering if there are any legally registered companies on Condado that offer to handle the process of getting the car registered onto Spanish plates, taxed etc...

I was under the impression that after a certain time period of a car being in Spain it had to be registered onto Spanish plates even if it is fully insured, MOTd and UK taxed otherwise you run the risk of it being impounded by the Police and receiving a fine?

Thanks.

Andrew

As far as I am aware, if it is legal in the host country then it is legal in Spain. However it will need to go home at least once a year. What you will see knocking around - especially on Camposol - are UK cars that have no tax or insurance and have been here years. Not such a problem on the Camposol campus as the Police don't patrol it, but I wouldn't like to take one on the motoway.

JF

Hi

The cost of transferring a car to spanish varies

If you can do some of the work before coming over ie converting the headlights etc it will reduce the cost.

You also need to consdier if it is being used just as a 'car to be used for holidays' or if you are goingto live here as there are rules around residents driving foreign registered cars.

If you havethe car you are looking to bring over then approach http://p-pservices.com/living-and-driving-in-spain.html and they will advise you and will be able to give you an indication of cost and procedure etc

As an idea I have a friend who transferred a fiat over and it was about €800 including lights but if you have a modifiedcar for instance like a converted van to motorhome or a very old classic car then the costs rise considerably

Paul

Hi Paul

Thanks for the link, very useful. I was going to do the tires, service and fog lights before we bring the car over but will look into getting the headlights changed at the same time.

Thanks

Andrew