Buying a spanish car in Spain

Hi,

We are moving to costa del sol on 21st August this year, and are looking for advise on buying second hand Spanish care. Can anyone suggest web sites or decent garage to have a look at?

Barbie

Obviously you mean second hand Spanish car, not care?!

There are so many garages, but you could start by searching for make/model here: http://www.autoscout24.es/

You need to enter a postcode (C.P.) so enter 29000 for Malaga unless you know yours.

Can anyone advise how long it should take to arrange the purchase of a car? 

I move out at the end of April and am thinking of trying some of the larger dealers in Torrevieja for a 1 or 2 year old car, either VW or Seat.  I'm hoping that the bigger companies or main dealers will be easier to deal with, but I could be wrong!  I will need to hire a car until I can buy something - would 2 weeks give me enough time to complete all the formalities?  I already have my NIE and photographic licence.

If I decide to go for new - how long would that take?  I read in another forum that it can take 3 months to get cars delivered, fairly ordinary ones too, not fancy specs.

Any info would be appreciated.

Hi Claire

You need some sort of proof of where you live to buy a car. If you don't have the new residency certificate you need to be on the Padron and have a Certificado de Empadronamiento.  Doesn't take long to get this from the Ayuntamiento - you need to take your NIE and your escritura or rental contract. Most places you do the request and then go back a few days later to get it.

With new cars the delivery depends entirely on what you want and how picky you are about spec and colour.  Some are available virtually immediately and some do indeed take months.

Thanks Jane -  that was really helpful - I will be applying for my residencia as soon as I get there.

Does anyone have any advice on car dealerships in Torrevieja?  I know there are lots of small dealers but I tend to shy away from them here in the UK so think that I should do the same in Spain - are the big ones more reliable?

I hired a car from TorreCar recently and as the owner delivered it to my house I asked him how I could buy a car from him as a non-resident.

He said he would need the originals of my NIE, Copy Simplia and passport to register the transfer. 

As a non-resident I can't register on the padron, the law changed in January.  You must apply for residencia first.

I've read good reports about Framon Motors in Bigastro, if you buy one of their cars then they do free airport parking at Alicante and Murcia, ideal for anyone travelling back and forth to UK.

Don't know if this site will be of any use? Although a UK company, they specialise in bringing European LHD cars to the UK and registering them for you. I have emailed them about the possibility of them sourcing the car in Spain and being able to buy it through them, thus leaving it in the home country. I don't know if it would work though?

Mark

Thanks for the info - Mark, I did contact that company and they were very helpful.  What I had been researching was buying a new LHD through them, with a part-ex for my current car and then driving out in the new car.  They advised that since I wanted a fairly small car and I live in Glasgow, the delivery cost and fairly small discount would not make it worthwhile - I would also have to pay Spanish taxes on it and the cost of the trip over. 

All in all it seemed that it would be best to sell my car here, fly out and rent for a few weeks and then buy in Spain.  We didn't discuss them delivering a car to Spain but - as they have to get their commission from somewhere - I doubt if I wold be able to get a bargain that way. 

I think if you want something a bit flash and live in the south of England they would be worth a look.

I'll have a look at Framon Motors Semi - thanks for the recommendation. 

We are coming to spain in october and staying about 6 months renting a property. We intend to do this for the next few years or until we actually find the 'place' Then we will buy.Thought about coming here in our own car and using that whilst we are here but I'm not keen.

We are going to rent a car but the prices are astronomical for the 6 months so I wondered would we be able to buy a car whilst we are here. We have somewhere we can store it  in Spain when we go back to england. Alternatively does anyone know of a cheap/cheapish car hire firm, we dont want a big car just one to tootle about in (Renault Clio type). Any ideas will help

thanks.

Hi Laney

I am surprised when you say the long term rentals are expensive - we usually consider them very cheap, esp in winter.  have you looked at hirecarsinspain.com?

I have been coming to spain for about six years now and just recently I have found that car hire firms charge a lot for a full tank of petrol. Last time I was charged 66 euros for a full tank of fuel plus 14 euros a day because it was Diesel. You have to shop around. I think the best solution is to hire a car with a full tank of petrol and return it full that way you only pay for the fuel you use.

The cheapest car hire I have found so far is via the following website

http://www.arguscarhire.com/

Also if you are in spain for six months it may be cheaper to lease a car rather than hire one. Be careful when buying second hand cars though.