Taking a car to Spain

I see lots of UK reg cars on Terrazas which seem to be there everytime I visit so I guess they are based in Spain.

With the cost of hire cars potentially high this seems a good option, buy a run around and leave it in Spain.

What are the rules around this insurance/keeping it on UK plates/MOT or equivelent. Cost of converting to Spanish plates etc.

I hear cars are expensive in Spain, so bringing one across seems a good option on the face of it.

Hi,

We bought a left hand drive Spanish registered car from a company called Transeuropean in Kings Cross London info@transeuropean.co.uk 3 years ago.   We then had it transported over by a firm called Europa Vehicle Logistics for £550  info@europavehicleogistics.com at the moment we have it parked near Alicante airport with Plane Parking info@planeparking.es they also have a place at San Javier airport for 300 euros a year. Because we stay on Terrazas up a 3 to 4 weeks at a time this has saved us a lot of money that a higher car would have cost. The M.O.T in Spain is called I.T.V which has to be done every 2 years & costs roughly 70 euros. you cannot have this done on a uk car you would have to take your car back to the uk every time your M.O.T is due. The insurance depends on the type of size & vehicle you buy, we have a Peugeot Partner Rancho Plus our insurance is 535,00 euros a year, this price is because the vehicle is classed as commercial & not a standard car. The cost to change uk plates to Spanish is quit high & the police in Spain are now clamping down on uk cars that are being used in Spain for more than 3 months at a time they can make you change your uk plates to Spanish, if this is not done they will confiscate the car & have it crushed. If you only stay for only a short period of time this does not apply.

      Regards 

                          Clieve     

We have just had our UK car transferred to Spanish plates.  We used someone to do all the paperwork and the cost ranges between 450 - 650e which includes an ITV.  We then had to pay 50e for road tax and our insurance was 350e.  We have a 2 year old Ford Focus and because of the low emittions we did not have to pay any import tax.  To buy an equivalent left hand drive car here would have cost us 3000e more than what it is worth in the UK so for us keeping it and changing to spanish plates was a no brainer.  If we were starting from scratch we would but a small low emissions car in the IK and pay for it to be on spanish plates.  The UK plated cars you see left here on Terrazas are illegal if here more than 6 months and we have seen the spanish police stop and make note of the number plates - so might not be worth taking the risk

Could you let me know who handled your transfer to Spanish plates? Getting a car shipped and transferred seems the cheapest & safest option