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They are not illegal for visitors. They won't pass an IVA with them, though.
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Whoops! Silly me. Fell into the trap of copying the previous post. Of course, it will pass its value added tax (IVA) but it won't pass its MOT (ITV). So that's ITV for the MOT not IVA......
However, look at this thread which explains it better and scroll down to the ITV part.
http://www.idealspain.com/pages/information/DrivingSpain.htm
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Thanks for that
I had a read thru!! I didnt realise by the word converters they meant stickers.. i agree stickers is not acceptable. So would have to get the headlights altered or completely changed. I know all the advice points to dont take your car but if you have bought it from new like we did then you lose far too much money, in my case £8000 in just two years (thanks to new models already). We have no choice but to take ours. Ive asked solicitor to reccomend a gestor and will just have to hope we can get it sorted. Im sure a brand new car with no modifications will get thru. Renault Scenics are everywhere in Spain. Thanks for the advice.
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Ooops yes IVA is Spanish VAT, ITV is Spanish MOT, Its been a long day  . But yes it is all relative. To convert my car to Spanish plates would cost more than the car is worth, it got me here and has served me well for the past 6 months but I either have to sell or convert now before they take it off me and I think I will sell my Merc and get a Spanish one.
But like I said it all depends where you are in Spain on how the EU laws are interpreted or ignored. One good word of advice, never get stroppy with the Spanish police on motoring offences (or anything for that matter) because
1. They carry guns
2. They WILL take your car
3. They will arrest you
4. They carry guns
On the other hand if you are polite and respectful you may get away with a great deal.
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http://www.idealspain.com/pages/information/DrivingSpain.htm
OK I have read this and it makes good reading but even though that is how it should be, my experience over the last 6 months of living here in Spain tells me different.
I have been fined for no seatbelt (I moved the car 300mtrs) the fine I had to pay at the bank within 30 days, I got a parking ticket which I had to pay immediatley or they took the car. My friend was stopped and when asked if he was drunk he said yes, they told him to park the car, go back to the bar and have another drink then call a cab, no fine, no arrest.
Another friend got a parking ticket in Benidorm from one of the parking wardens and her abogado (lawyer) told her to rip it up and throw it away as they were not enforcable. Only if the police give you one do you need to pay. I queried this with another abogado friend and he confirmed it.
It's nuts here but I love it
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I recently purchased a left hand drive car in Germany and brought it back to UK. Got it registered on UK plates, a relatively painless experience. To pass the MOT all that was needed was to convert the headlamps to dip to the left, (which was easy on my car as you can do this by turning a knob on the headlamp) and fit a fog lamp on the offside rear, the fact that the speedo was in KPH didn't matter for the MOT but it is required to change this to MPH for the registration and you need proof that this has been done e.g. a garage receipt. The only downside was that before I bought the car DVLA customer services in Swansea advised me that the road tax would be £180 as the car was manufactured in 1999 and over 1600 cc & the old tax band system would apply however when I applied to get the car registered at my local DVLA office they told me that this was incorrect and that the tax rate would go according to the CO output as the car was 1st registered in the UK after 2003, which at 238 meant I had to pay £300 (now £400)!!!! If the DVLA customer services had given me the correct info I would not have bought this car! And a blatant rip off as original UK registered cars of the same make model and year are only paying £180!
I am now going to take the car to Spain not sure for exactly how long but possibly over 6 months. I have got a full years tax, MOT and insurance (obtained a 12 months green card extension on my comprehensive policy though my broker in UK). From info on various post some people say that it is necessary to register the car in Spain after 6 months. My question is can the car only be used in Spain for only 6 months of the year or is it Ok to say drive into Gibraltar for a day and come back into spain?
Also does anyone know how much Spanish road tax costs? If it is a fraction of the £400 it is going to cost me to tax it in the UK maybe I might be better off registering it on Spanish plates?
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Hi RG
The answers all depend on how long you are really going to be keeping your car in Spain and how long you intend keeping the car before you sell it.
Technically cars which are here for more than 6 months should be registered. However the reality is that provided you have a current road fund tax and a current MOT in the same country as the tax it is extremely unikely that anyone will ever trouble you. This means, for a UK registerede car more than 3 years old, taking it back to UK for its MOT and renewing the tax there. If you do not have either of these documents then technically your car is uninsured even if you have paid the premium. It used to be the case that the police did not do much about it but there is a serious drive on to make people conform and people are losing their cars if they are not legal. Also of course, if you have an accident your insurers will not pay up.
I am not sure what the tax would be as you do not say what the car is, but generally speaking it is quite a bit lower than in UK - I think I paid less than €100 last year for a Nissan X-trail although I believe that will go up quite a bit this year. However, changing the registration to Spanish is a real hassle and quite expensive, so even with a higher tax in UK, if you are in a position where you intend to return regularly with your car to the UK and can comply with the above it would probably only be worth your while do change it over if you planned to keep it for a long time and stay in Spain a great deal - don't forget that in UK too, there is a limit to how long you can keep a non UK registered car before you change it over and they are much hotter on it there than here.
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www.fincalaserenidad.com
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Hi Jane B, the car in question is a 1999 BMW 320 Coupe Auto (1991c.c.), do you know how much the Spanish road tax would be? with regards to changing it over to Spanish plates I don't think I will have to do any mods to the car as the I can easily change headlamp beam direction by turning the knob on the lamps and the speedo is still in KPH what it means is finding a gestor to do the transfer and paying around €1500 which equates to less then 3 years road tax in England, I should be able to bring it in tax free as I have owned it more then 6 months and I have yet to take up residencia. As you say though I guess it will depend on how long I intend on staying in Spain per year.
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On the subject of headlight change to a right hand drive car,I bought over from the UK my 1.9 deisel Citroen.I went to my local Spanish garage who supplied me with a secondhand set of headlights for 30 euros and charged me 20 euros to fit and adjust them.Cheap as chips! Alex from Polopos.
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