just a little warning on window tint and ITV

Hi

We brought our 2004 Berlingo Spanish reg car from the UK to South Spain when we moved over. while it was in UK we had all the windows tinted for obvious reasons. by a professional company at a cost of £280.00. When we took the car for its ITV 10 days ago they failed it on the window tinted glass as we didnt have any documentation, so we rushed off back to the house in the hope we had some documents which we did in the form of an invoice. 1hours drive and 3 hours wait later we were back in ITV office and he refused this documentation as it was not descriptive enough. Whole day wasted and no ITV.

We spent the following 6 days phoning and emailing the company in the UK to ask if they would/could send out (via email attachment) the necessary doc's. Finally they did. we went back to the ITV yesterday as it runs out in 2 days and took a lovely helpful Spanish guy from a car garage down the road to assist in this and yet again and after so much effort and worry they refused this improved document?

We had 2 options left. take the tint off, no chance! or try a shop in town (motril) to get them to provide the necessary stickers/documents in Spain. Long story short. 5 hours later and 80 euros out of pocket we managed to achieve this and get the car MOTed, but what a monumental mess on and messed about, typical Spain and there obsession with paper work etc.

Hope this helps anyone else avoid this situation in the future..

No reason whatsoever that you could have known about this before - just a shame you didn't post a question here before getting it done. I think it's fairly common knowledge in Spain that any type of "modification" can only be carried out by authorised businesses. The more well documented example is fitting a towbar.

Hopefully your bad experience will save someone else going through the same.

 Onelife

I would be interested to hear what the "obvious reasons" are for having your windows tinted in the first place.

Its rare to see a vehicle of the Berlingo type with such. The majority of vehicles with tinted windows seem to be the higher priced luxury range (lots of which still have UK registration) such as BMW, Range Rovers Mercs etc. 

You seem to be blaming the Spanish as many do for something that was your own fault, as for an obsession with paperwork its there for a reason not just pee off Brits. 

Aelred

Actually, Aelred, I am at this moment driving a hired Ford Focus with tented rear windows - hardly a high end vehicle!  Personally, the tint is so dark, it's a nuisance!

Having lived in the middle east for many years and having never had the need for tinted windows, I do wonder why some people put the stuff on!  If it's to keep out the heat, then you can get practically clear tint that does just that.

My personal opinions aside though, I would have thought that the test centre would have had a machine to test the level of tint (if that is what they need the paperwork for).

Onelife; Tinted windows to me always hints at the same as burglar alarm boxes on houses...something inside worth stealing...

Aelred; re your comment about...The majority of vehicles with tinted windows seem to be the higher priced luxury range (lots of which still have UK registration) such as BMW, Range Rovers Mercs etc. probably find most of these are illegal out here anyway...! (No UK MOT, Tax  and been here for more than 183 days etc, etc.)

The whole point is that many people equate the Spanish ITV test with the UK MOT; its far from it; the UK MOT is about the vehicle's serviceability status on the day of the test, and whilst the Spanish ITV is basically similar its much more to do with Conformity.

This is why when you attempt to re-register a 'foreign' registered vehicle onto Spanish plates you are required to provide a Certificate of Conformity from the original manufacturer. The Spanish ITV checks this conformity against the Spanish requirements. Bolt-on goodies like window tint and towbars are only acceptable if the work was done by a Spanish Certified Authority and supported by the correct documentation. If you decide to stray from the Conformance Certificate in any way you do so at the risk of failing the next ITV inspection or at a roadside Inspection by the Guardia Civil acting as deputies for the Spanish DGT.

I fell foul of the ITV Conformity regs when I presented my vehicle for a routine ITV Test; the vehicle had a tow bar; the ball hitch had been removed but the chassis members were still in place...no supporting documentation so it had to go...I had replaced the original headlight bulbs, both main and dipped, with Blue Xenon versions...Infinitely better than the original glow worms so beloved of French Car Manufacturers...wrong colour temp for the vehicle description; so they too had to go...

Truth be told though I much prefer the Spanish ITV to the UK MOT (especially if the UK MOT is carried out by a main dealer..he has a far too strong financial axe to grind in finding something however marginal to fail a vehicle on.) Out here, after a successful ITV test, you can be assured that your vehicle is roadworthy.

So its not just paperwork for the sake of it. The Spanish Authorities take Vehicle Safety very seriously and given the Spanish way of driving this is a very sensible thing...

fb

In a nutshell, Foxbat.

As you say, the Spanish test stations have no financial interest in finding something to fail you on - they do not carry out repairs, and the first re-test is free as well. Good enough reason if you ask me to avoid any mechanics offering a free "pre-test". Sounds like a virtual 100% guarantee of some fault or other being discovered.

Going back to the original issue of window tinting, although I agree it does seem a little petty, when you see some of the jackass things people do to their vehicles, and when you think that some dimwit could go get some coloured sticky back plastic from the local stationers and seriously impair his driving visibility in the name of vanity, I feel that the ITV stance on conformity is a probably good thing.

by the way the very last thing on our minds for this window tint was "vanity"!.Roberto I totally appriciate the coment  on "coloured sticky back plastic " i.e DIY window tint which is very commog in the UK. if that was the case here then I would not have a problem whatsoever!

No offence meant, but it was you that said ".....and makes the car much better looking even a Berlingo!"

"After paying for a pre ITV and having no uncertainties that the car was not in tip top shape we where shocked that it failed". I rest my case, re: pre-tests. Avoid!

 Hi Onelifeliveit,

I totally understand your reasoning for window tints i.e. keep the sun / heat out, stops the cars interior from fading or cracking, more privacy and better security and yes it can make most cars look far better as long as it isn't too dark a tint. 

Unfortunately the Spanish regulations means that any window tint has to be accompanied by documents signed by an authorised installer to show that the tints comply with the law. Yes I agree in your case this is over kill as all they really need to check is the light transmission which they can easily do with the right equipment as someone else has suggested. 

I did actually look into having my car tinted in the UK before coming to Spain but found out about this law and decided I would get it done here in Spain but have yet to do so. Someone else suggested that to just keep the sun out you can get clear film that will do the same whilst that may be true in the UK, from the couple of installers I have checked with you cannot get such a film which complies with the ITV rules here in Spain.

Which brings me onto a question for Onelife did you get all the windows tinted in the UK i.e. the front passenger and drivers side glass? if so did that pass the ITV or did you just do the rears? I know this is possible in the UK but here in Spain from what I have been told you can only do the rears.

Rg, thanks fpr your comments.

answer to your question. We have limo black to all 6 back windows, and we have what is called legal’s (in UK) to the front. it was pointed out to us during this experience that no tint is allowed to the front windows in Spain but the tint in our case is very subtle its hardly noticeable so we actually got away with them regards ITV inspector, however I wouldn’t have had a problem removing those if needed.

From memory, the window film/tint that I refer to (that I know from Dubai - I'm afraid I don't know anything about the UK), which ranges in shade from near clear to quite dark and ws great for reducing heat/sun penetration was manufactured by 3M - a very large multi-national company and are present in Spain.

I wonder why it may not comply with ITV rules in Spain.  It was a very impressive product - only lightly shaded (the one I sampled) but reduced the heat enormously.

Onelifeliveit, one thing that no one has mentioned is that you have to keep the paperwork and receipt in the vehicle in case the Guardia ask for it if you are stopped. Window film here tends to be from Solarcheck and each window tint has a tiny homologation mark on it which is not normally on U.K. tints. It would have been far far cheaper to have had it done here. I recently paid 150e to have the 5 windows done on a Kia Carnival, 95% tint limo black, 2hrs to fit absolutely perfect. Now instead of having a temp. of 70+c inthe summer it's around 40c.

See here for what's allowed in each country
http://www.iwfa.com/iwfa/Law_Chart/EWFA%20Tint%20Laws.pdf     Also if you want to remove film use a hair dryer or a hot air gun,then clean using acetone or nail polish remover and a stanley knife blade.

Not trying to depress you but just because the front windows got past this time doesn't mean at the next ITV that you won't get a pull and failed. I've had it happen to me on a couple of occasions.

 Hi Guslopez,

Out of interest who did your window tints?

And to add to this merry thread is any modifications have to be officially approved and added to the cars paperwork. I had a Golf Cabrio with fatboy wheels, it came with the original wheels to change for the ITV !!

Hi RG, they are called  Luna Nueva, Ctra. Nacional 340,47 ( Diputación Tercia )968 441 241.  Exit for Lorca North from autovia, down to traffic lights and it's immediately after lights on right, opposite the car park for the bar/ petrol station. They appear to have a few other locations as well.

Hi Rixxy, on mine it even lists the auto-box and sun roof !

Well I never considered my Legal, english plated, tinted windowed (!!) Kia Sorento a luxury, high end vehicle...

Thanks OneLifeLiveIt for telling us about your story, and I am really sorry for all the trouble you have been through.

Unfortunately, you can sometimes have to deal with very unhelpful people, who cannot see the whole picture, and just make everybody's life (including theirs) difficult.

Patience is all you need!