English MOT and English road tax

Faro, when you de-register in the UK & pre-book an mot there's no problem.....from the UK registered address for the car.

Do I know someone who's done it yes but I didn't know until the day he was going back that the vehicle had been on sorn ,here, for 5 years, & even he realised that he couldn't drive it all the way back so he 'obtained ' an mot by post, drove back & taxed it @ the first p/office outside the port. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get to Essex without dozens of cameras picking up the no. plate.

Yes there are plenty of Spanish brokers as well who will register a Uk plated car, normally through IBEX & Lloyds of London. Liberty Seguros & , I believe Mapfre, will insure UK reg. cars but Liberty Seguros notify the DVLA, on tuesdays & Fridays of every week, all British reg. vehicles that they have insured. This is to allow you to be on the database if you travel to the UK & will show up on APNR cars that the vehicle has insurance cover. No good if you are running it around here on a Sorn or just with no tax, if you ever go back.

All these Spanish insurers, that insure UK reg. vehicles ,do so on the same basis as any other country, that it is legal in the country in which it is registered. That's the law.

Thanks Guslopez thought i was going mad!!

Let's not get side-tracked on an insurance debate when we are trying to figure out how the The Gunner can get his car MOT'd.

Does the SORN actually say the car must be off road at its registered address or do you have to state where the car is stored? I thought with a SORN you could not park up your vehicle on a public road so if you do not have a driveway or garage then you must find somewhere else to store your car off-road. I remember in London colleagues working overseas would store their car in our underground car park becase we had 24hr security etc especially when they lived in flats with only road-side parking etc. Also is there anything wrong with saying your car was parked up at your overseas property - that in itself surely does not lead to permanent export if your intention was always to return the car it to UK. If I have time I will look further into SORN.

If the above holds water then that would mean getting to the nearest MOT station from where the car was stored which is my argument of getting it MOT'd the first day it drives on UK roads and then having all the paperwork to back everything up etc.

If the Gunner has driven a UK reg car in Spain with dubious insurance and no ITV and no local tax, for 2 years, what's another few hundred miles in the UK under the same conditions? One assumes that the legalities weren't a problem in Spain

The only safe and legal way is to have the car transported ( perhaps pay for that out of the money saved by no paying due motoring costs?)

Ther is only one thing he can do ,legally, to get an mot. Transport it back. Sorn means offroad in the UK. I've just been down this route with the DVLA & as I posted under EC law the vehicle can be in one country for a max. of 6 mths, after that if it stays it is req. to be re-registered in that country & if you know , or suspect, that it is going to be out over 12 mths then you are required to notify them of permanent export. At the moment , legally, the car doesn't exist as it is legally SORN'd & in the UK. It is in an even worse position than one that has just let the tax lapse, as you have commited a fraudulent offence by declaring SORN.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I now realise that I misunderstood the SORN and because of that will not try to bring it back into the UK.  We are now considering exporting it officially from the UK and re-registering it in Spain, and then having an ITV and keep it out there.  Next question: anyone know how much it costs approximately to re-register a car in Spain (car is 9 years old).  By the way, our insurance company in Spain is Abbeygate, who are aware the car is UK registered but kept in Spain. 

By the way Abbeygate is an insurance broker ( and not a particually good one in my opinion ) not an insurance company so it's what the insurance company know thats important !!

I have purchased a cheap left hand drive car which i will drive over to Spain and keep there, it is taxed and M.O.T and my fleet insurence allows me to use it abroad for 180 days, can anyone advise as to procedure to to change it to Spanish plates and at what cost approx. I would hope to do this before the tax expires in Sep

Rob G

I'm sure you'll find a thread on "matriculation'' in here, try a thread search

I'll do a note during the week and post on procedure for re-registering foreign car.

My advice as always is do it yourself and avoid the ex-pat types who will over charge you over the odds!

As for the lights buy them from your local Spanish car accessory shop (not Norauto but the back street place where the garages get their parts!) - they will have to order them in for you but will have then in 1 to 2 days and they be a lot cheaper that say headlights4u who are online etc.

I have never used a gestoria in Spain. I like to find all the offices myself and then become the expert!!!!

If anyone is interested I can PM you details of a very helpful car accessory shop in Torremolinos.

No registration, in EU it bis illegal to drive and whats more the insurance you have paid will be void, but all us that register and tax/itv/mot cars pay for all the others. there is also a ruling about a UK citisen driving a non uk car with non uk insurance in the uk, I think you will find that the spanish insurance is not valid.

when your spanish insurance says 30 0r 60 or maybe 180 days away from spain, that is the same as uk insurance, but in the spanish insurance you have to be a soanish resident, same with the UK insurance,

We will have the same question/problem as Rob & Lor very soon, so would also like to know procedure for getting Spanish plates.  Some replies here are not very clear or helpful!!

Try the thread "new law about buying a car in Spain''

Type this in to "search forum threads'', top right as you read this, it has information there!

Lets hope this helpful!!!

Re-registering a foreign plated car in Spain (under change of residence rules) is simple and straightforward. However it does involve a bit of footwork in finding all the little offices but after that it's simple!

You do not need to pay a gestoria or an ex-pat to do it for you. Just go and do it yourself.

STEPS

The main benefit will be the Spanish will no longer blow their horn at you as they are prone to doing .... and of course you are now totally legal.

Hope this helps.

That is extremely helpful.  Thanks

Really helpful, thank you so much!

Faro, all I ever do is ;

1) check that the headlights need changing first, as some vehicles only have 1 type of h/light & are fuly adjustable, for L/R hand drive.If it's got 2 back foglights then you don't have a problem, otherwise swop from right to left or fit auxiliary on the left.

2) take vehicle to ITV station , present UK reg. doc. & ask for ITV & change of registration. Assuming it's all ok , come away with Spanish reg. doc. that has all details but no reg. nunber.  approx. 200€

3) Go to Local council & pay road tax on chassis number. Cost depends on horsepower.

4) Tax office (hacienda)  complete form 06

5) Tráfico, obtain transfer form, 0,65cents, fill in & copy, give in all paperwork. Assuming paperwork is correct you can return next day & pick up the reg. document , now complete with reg. number.

If you can do the above up to no.4 then as long as you get in El Tráfico before 11a.m. you can pick up @ 2pm the completed registration. Handy when you have an 80km trip .

It's a different system depending on regions and which side of the bed the person you are talking to has got out of bed.lol.

I would love to see more in the way of DIY guides coming onto the site.

Problem is most are touting for business and will not give much away only their contact details etc.

Also I always push those replying to threads to give ballpark price/cost etc and again most will not.

Unlike others I seek no business from this site and I do genuinely try to help people and I also encourage sharing of knowledge. 

Good luck with your registrations

I think thats unfair to say "most'' people on here are touting for business

Sharing information is the key, sadly "most'' people give their opinion, something they've heard or read, not always something they've actually done for real. This in itself causes problems.

Also for some people, who have neither the time or inclination, reccomendations on sites like these have there place

Like a lot of things it's the time over cash question!

Guslopez - good point I failed to consider some people have to drive quite a distance. For me when in Spain I can be in any of these offices in 15min.

and of course there are regional variation and each office establishes its own rules and procedures and as for opening times!!!!

If going to Trafico in Malaga then it's best to go Mon-Thurs at around 2:00pm becuase no one is there - the Spanish are all eating dinner and about to have their siesta! So you can be in and out in 5 minutes. But on Friday they close at 2:00pm.

Dave W - my comment was aimed at professional service providers who could easily reply to questions like this but don't and not private individuals or else provide a snippit of info plus their contact details ..... but that's my opinion!