Taking my LHD UK Plates car to Spain

Great! Did you handle the paperwork yourself, or use a gestor? Are you able to elaborate any further on which forms etc. are needed, did you have to go to Tráfico to register it, how did you obtain your Spanish plates and so on? Maybe we can finally get definitive answers on this one.

Hi

THESE ARE THE FACTS.

I re-plated my car in July/August this year.

I used a firm to assist me with the replating.

Stage 1)      I made certain that the car was fit to drive here, lights, tyres etc.

Stage 2)    I obtained a Padron

Stage 3)    I went to the British Consulate in Alicante to obtain a document  to state that I had just "imported" the car. This cost was158€

Stage 4)    The car was ITV'd at a special ITV centre. Not all ITV stations are equiped to do an imported car ITV. I understand that this first ITV cost between 100€ and 200€

Stage 5)     the firm took all original paperwork ( padron, cars papers, ITV paperwork, my passport, certificate from the British Consulate) to traffico and other places.

Stage 6)     a few days later the firm told me my new number and gave me everything back including my new plates.

Cost so far.     550€ to the firm to include ITV, number plates and all work. 158€ to British Consulate and remainder of the years "road fund tax".  This is all for an owner that has a padron under 60 days old.

Now IF my padron was over 60 days old I would need to matriculate my car and the formulae have been set out before. The calculation is done as follows: They look up the year of registration of car and find out what their cost of that particular model was. Then they use a formula of what percentge reduction against the suggested new price.(if a car is 5 years old it might be 50% of original value, or if it was 10 years old it might be 25% of original price)  if your car cost 20,000€ and the 'value' today is 50% of new price then you use this 10,000€ as the figure that the co2 percentge is based upon. If you go down this route then you dont need the certificate from the British Consulate.

The simple reason as to why they need a padron is that this is the only formal/official document that is up to date with your present address. One could have obtained  a resedencia 10 years ago and might not have informed the authorities of your new address. It is simple and FREE to update a padron. Be warned most  but not all traffico, or whichever office they use, will look at the original date of the padron and also the current date. There are a few offices that will only look at the current date.

Another point to inform you is that your car insurance is normally voided when you change your "english" car to a "spanish" car. Most insurance companies will start a new year of insurance and will give you a pro rata return of your unused part of the insurance IF YOU REINSURE WITH THEM. If however you change to another insurance company then you will pay short term rates which usually means you dont get any refund.

Good advice is speak to other Brits who have done this as different firms charge different amounts and some firms are not very good at their work. Personally I had a major problem as my car was first registered in U.S.A. before it was imported into England. This means that the car does not have a European Certificate of Conformity which means some firms will charge you a lot more when there is no additional work for them.

Although it appears a very tortuous proceedure it was painless except for the costs. I used a good firm that operates in the Costa Blanca area and was recommended by a few other Brits who had used them.

Everyone who has posted here is talking about a LHD car. The above is exactly the same for a RHD  and costs the same.

There is no need to rush into changing the plates because if it is fully legal in country of plating then it is legal here.This means Road Fund Tax, MoT and insurance. Best advice to anyone bringing their car over is to MoT it just before they leave British shores. Dont forget to inform DVLA that the car has been exported.

Good luck to anyone who "imports" their car.

Like Stephen I used a firm to hold my hand through the process.

The costs were similar but less - it was a year ago!

I think I was lucky on the matriculation front as I fell in the category of one who got away with the wrong date being looked at on the padron!

The only other cost I incurred was having my headlights replaced as they did not dip to the right side.

I've been the process and it's a real nightmare, I almost gave up till I found someone who imported cars from Germany to help. My suggustion is to pay someone to do it. I tt can be done on your own but it's a hassle. Regarding the CEO tax it really like so many other things in Spain, depends. Of 5 people I now who brought vehciles in only 2 had to pay the CEO tax.

Ok!

So it looks like we finally have the answer!

And it depends on many factors being done in the correct order.

Thanks to everyone for all your input on this subject, as I think we finally have sorted out 'myth' and 'fact'.

Next step ... well, when I get over there in three weeks time I will also do a bit of digging around. Will let you all know how I get on in the weeks/months that lay ahead before I re-register the car.

I have recently joined this forum and I note several answers have been received which seems to have settled the matter.

However, we will be importing a new LHD vehicle from the UK which will be registered in the UK, VAT paid, but be EU compliant - lights etc. Only BMW will do this.

I presume the procedure is the same as stated by Steone but can ignore the ITV element and what about the six month rule?

Can it still be a personal import and not subject to the CEO tax?

We have not yet obtained Padrons but have N.I.E. and own a property.

Thanks

Robin

Robin

The rules are as follows:

If you wish to import a car from another e.u. country you have to pay the metriculation charge UNLESS you bring it over with your home goods etc. To qualify for the tax exemption you must have owned the car for 6 months before reregistering it and you do it within 60 days of arriving in Spain. The date as to when you arrive in Spain is the date on your PADRON. So you do the maths.

As far as the ITV is concerned this is part of the system of making certain that the car is compliant with Spanish regulations and has nothing to do with the cars age. It is not the normal ITV hence the additional costs of it.

If you do it yourself you will need to speak and understand Spanish fluently and might need the assistance of a lawyer/gestor. It is much easier to use a reputable company to do it for you.

I can not suggest in an open forum that you do not register at your local Town Hall to get your padron until the car is 6 months old but I understand that this is not illegal nor unusual. So long as the car is fully legal in the country of registration then it is legal to drive it in Spain. Just make certain that you have insurance. If your U.K. insurance will not cover you for a long period in Spain there are several insurance companies that are available here that will cover a foreign plated car. Try asking the Sun newspaper about their policy.

I'm a little puzzled why if you are purchasing a new car in the UK to export, you are registering it and paying VAT on it there. This is from HMRC website:

Exporting your motor vehicle to another EU country from the UK

If you buy a new motor vehicle in the UK to take to somewhere else in the EU, you'll have to pay VAT on the vehicle in the other country when you arrive there. You won't have to pay UK VAT when you buy the car if you do all three of these things:

• you or your authorised chauffeur personally take delivery of the new vehicle in the UK
• you export it within two months of its supply to you
• you and your supplier complete and sign form VAT 411 and send it to the address on the form

Maybe you will have it for more than 2 months before exporting it? Maybe you are thinking that the VAT if paid in the UK will be less (15% as of today!) than in Spain?

With regards to the padron, I would just like to warn that, as with many things, the situation appears to vary depending on where in Spain you are. As far as I am aware, there is no actual legal obligation to sign on the padron (I could be wrong) so I am not convinced that it is this that will determine from what date the authorities will deem you to have "arrived" in Spain. I have heard recently in our town from more than one source, that from applying to join the padron to actually getting a certificate, currently takes two years. Why, I have no idea and cannot find out, but if true, it would certainly put a spanner in the works for anyone trying to use it to obtain exemption from tax on their car, since by the time thet get the certificate, they will have been resident for more than the 60 days permitted!

To make it clear.

You have a choice as to where you pay the VAT, either in the UK or Spain but the reason for the former is so that the car can be imported as a personal goods and so avoid the CEO. So it is not a car for export only but a British one but EU compliant (lights/speedo).

Can't see the point of the test but if it is a requirement then no choice.

My wife does speak fluent Spanish but we would be using a firm with the requisite experience and to avoid any mistakes.

We live in Alicante province, near Moraira.

Regards to you both,

Robin

As has been pointed out before, you have to have owned the vehicle for at least 6 months prior to bringing it to Spain in order to avoid the tax. So in effect, the car will be used rather than new. If you were bringing in a new car, it may be that you would not need the test if you can provide a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer. Years ago when I imported a car into Spain, the test was known as a "homologation" test, basically certifying that the car had not been altered from the manufacturer's spec. If the car is new, maybe this isn't needed?

This from the direct.gov.uk website:

New vehicles must have a certificate of conformity as proof of type approval from the supplier or vehicle manufacturer. Left-hand-drive vehicles from within the European Community will need a certificate, issued by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), under the Mutual Recognition scheme. This shows that changes have been made to the vehicle, making it suitable for use on British roads.

Obviously, this is in relation to bringing a new car to the UK from another EU state, but I suppose the same should apply the other way round (yeah, right!)

 i used to live in spain (left 2 years ago) and i drove a uk registered pajero. i wanted to register it in spain but everyone told me it was impossible because it was a japanese import. i contacted a company that specialized in registering people's cars and the say it would cost at least €1000. i am thinking of returning to spain next year with another pajero (lovely country, lovely car) and from what i've read on this site all i need to register it in spain will be an ni number, my passport, a pardon and the car documents. is that correct? what about a certificate of conformity?