Importing a car derived van into Spain

What's the letter from the British Embassy for? Never heard that before.

The original post said "car-derived van", the Combo being derived from the Corsa. Admittedly it's not strictly speaking a "turismo", and I couldn't find the data for it on the Agencia Tributaria website. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you can't "import" it - it just means it's not on the list! Neither was my petrol engined Landcruiser that I re-registered years ago. To overcome that particular hurdle, it just got registered as a diesel, and I had to hope & pray that nobody ever got suspicious about how quietly it ran!

I have imported various vehicles into Spain and it’s never easy. If they can find a way to class your vehicle in such a way that it costs you more to import it they will.

The last car I imported was done for me by Gestoria Sherif in San Pedro, Andalucia and I found that a Gestor can get things done much more quickly, as they know the system inside out and for the little he charged me, it was really worth it, but I agree with another post I saw also on this thread, that you are better off buying a Spanish vehicle, as it’s cheaper in the long run.

Good Luck!

Liz Fox wrote:   You can't change a van over to a Spanish vehicle.  We are the same as you and can't afford to replace our with a Spanish van because they cost so much.  The only vehicle that you can change to a Spanish vehicle is a "turismo" ie car.

I don't think that is correct.   I have been informed that it is only RHD vans that can't be registered on to Spanish plates.   LHD vans like my Belgian Opel Vivaro registered on UK plates are fine.

This rule is totally logical, as driving a van with the steering wheel on the wrong side can be very difficult at certain junctions, as I have found out using my LHD van in the UK.   On one particular local junction, I have to climb onto the passenger seat to see backwards out of the window and when the road is clear, jump back, release the handbrake, engage gear and pull out quickly before a car comes.  The seatbelt is re-fastened between 3rd and 4th gear.

I'll be glad when I have moved to Spain so I can relax on the roads !!!!!

Jon

...which is why I have oftened questioned the wisdom of "importing" a RHD vehicle to Spain at all - even a car. Apart from the hassle with the re-registerring, not to mention the registration tax (not Import duty) it's just not sensible to drive a RHD vehicle on the continent for any prolonged period. And as far as I'm concerned, there's little difference in prices, as long as you are prepared to shop around a bit for what you want. If like Jon, you have a LHD on foreign plates, don't mind the time & effort involved and have worked out that the cost won't be prohibitive, then of course, why not, but if it's a RHD, leave it behind.

As for relaxing on Spanish roads, Jon..............oh, boy, are you in for a wake-up call!

We don't want to import a car. We need it to drive down two dogs and us.

Then we were hoping to PX for a spanish car.

Laury

We don't want to import a car. We need it to drive down two dogs and us.

Then we were hoping to PX for a spanish car.

Laury

That's the question I asked further back in the thread.  lol.

We thought about the Santander ferry from Plymouth for our car and us and the dogs which means only a few hour's drive across Spain.

On arrival, we thought we could drive it for a while and then PX.

I don't see why not. Do you Bobaol?

Laury

Roberto wrote:  As for relaxing on Spanish roads, Jon..............oh, boy, are you in for a wake-up call!

Don't worry Roberto,   I have been driving all over Europe for the past 35 years and the Spanish drivers are far from being the worst.     The Portugese can be pretty bad, but the Italians are the most frightening with their 100mph+ tailgating and their inability to slow down in bad weather.    I always breathe a sigh of relief when I enter France as I feel more comfortable on the roads there than anywhere else, including the UK.

Jon

PS.  The cider-fuelled wurzels round here are much worse than any testosterone fuelled Spaniard and as for the geriatric drivers, well,  that's another story !!!!

I, too, have driven all over Europe (East & West). Personally, I find Germany one of the best places, with very courteous drivers, plenty of 150 mph autobahn drivers, but never tailgating - which is a big problem in Spain. True, the Italians are much the same. The best thing about driving in Spain is it's a big country with not many people in it, so there are some wonderfully empty main roads cross-country. Don't be deceived by distances though, LauryC. Santander is a bit more than "a few hours" across Spain (depends to where exactly, of course) To CDS it's a good 10 - 12 hours, CB can't be much different. However, the CDS in particular is not empty, and there are parts of the notorious N340 which I believe are statistically among the most dangerous stretches of road in Europe.

Good plan to drive down with all your worldly etc., then sell it after a few months once you're settled and sorted out all the other details, but remember that selling a RHD car here, you will be unlikely to get it's true value. Another possibilty is to sell it in UK and buy a LHD from one of the agents specialising in them, but choice will obviously be limited, and then you'll have the re-registration headache.

Bob, off topic, but you mentioned your cats. Are they / will they be house bound? Don't want to worry you , but Spain is awash with stray & feral cats, and sadly FIV is rife. Just something to bear in mind, it's so easy for them to become infected.

I don't have cats Roberto but 2 dogs who need to be brought down.

We were thinking that it's about 500 miles from Santander to Dolores and with an overnight ferry crossing, we would have the whole day to cover that. Isn't it motorway most of the way?

We will  get rid of our more valuable cars before leaving and use hubby's old 7 series for the trip. The mileage is horrendous anyway so we wouldn't expect much for it at the other end. It's big and comfy for the trip though.

Laury

No worry for dogs, but cats are very vulnerable.

Sorry, no idea who or where Dolores is, but yes, it's probably a good (long) days drive. If you take the motorway, I guess it will be motorway most of the way  Check out a route planner site such as Michelin, will tell you all you need to know.

Laury, according to the AA, Santander to Torrevieja is about 9 hours solid drive.

Roberto, thanks for the info on cats.  SWMBO, however, is insistent on taking her.  We'll have to make sure she doesn't go out too much.  With a bit of luck, I'll lose her on the motorway on the way down, anyway (the cat, not the wife.......hmmmm there's an idea).

Now I'll just wait for all the cat lovers to come on and shout me down.......She's 14, for goodness sakes, and has ruined all the carpets in my house, gets hairs all over the place and shoves me over in bed so she can get comfy (the cat again, not the wife, although apart from the 14 it could apply to either.)

When we finally move down to Sabinillas,  we intend to use the midday Poole-Cherbourg ferry, as our 2 dogs will only have about 41/2 hours in the car on the ferry.  We have tried this once before with our eldest dog and he was fast asleep when we returned to the car and was totally unaffected by the crossing.    It is then our intention to take 3-4 days on the journey down and detour via some beautiful scenery and have some good walks. 

Jon  

That sounds good. A very long drive though.

We thought about one overnight stop but don't know where would be best.

Laury

Guessing you'll be going via Madrid, then on via Albacete. Madrid looks about half way. If you're just looking for somewhere to get your heads down (rather than somewhere of touristic interest) there is an Etap - not sure how convenient it is to the route you'll be on, but they're cheap and accept pets. Look here: http://www.etaphotel.com/etaphotel/fichehotel/gb/etp/5100/fiche_hotel.shtml

Thanks for the information Roberto.

My hubby was working in Madrid for 3 months earlier this year and I went out for a while too.

It's a super place for a "city break".

We did the lot.

Not sure about staying there with the dogs though.

I know it's about 4 hours from Madrid to the Costa Blanca coast, which is probably a half day drive. Presumably the trip to Madrid from the ferry would be about the same?

I think we would like to stay somewhere more countrified where we can have a stroll with the dogs.

I'll have to do some serious research once we are ready for the off. The house here in the U.K. isn't on the market yet. I have been working my socks off to "neutralise" it for selling.   Boring beiges and cream everywhere and ornament removal etc.

Laury