Buying a Spanish Registered car in UK

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

Ive just spotted a car for sale in the UK with Spanish matriculation plates.

What documentation should I be demanding from the Garage if I want to buy the car and take it back to Spain, where it will live over there on its Spanish plates.

What should the ‘seller’ have signed and given to the Garage?

Is there the equivalent of a Spanish on-line HPI check, to ensure that there are no fines, taxes or charges outstanding on the vehicle?

What documents do I need and what actions do I take to transfer the car into my name and our Spanish address?

Many thanks in advance,

All advice welcome

[Anonymous]

AFAIK there is no HPI check equivalent for a Spanish matriculated car. Any new owner would be responsible for outstanding fines and car tax on it. Ask for the last car tax receipt and the last ITV certificate so that you know what you are letting yourself in for. If it has no current ITV it isn’t road legal so you would have to get it transported to Spain.
You will also need to transfer the vehicle into your own name which requires both parties to sign the transfer document which is going to be a bit tricky if the vendor (a garage?) is in the UK. This is usually done via a gestor in Spain.
All in all you could be letting yourself in for a can of worms.

[Anonymous]

Proceed with caution.

It is possible to do background checks to see there are no fines or that the car is not subject to outstanding finance etc.

Here are details of someone that can help you – he’s very thorough and knowledgable on cars-imports-registrations etc

JAMIE
CAR REGISTRATION
MOBILE PHONE 0034-616673556
PHONE/FAX 0034- 952593500
EMAIL vehicleregist@hotmail.com
postal address: CALLE CAMILO JOSE CELA,EDIFICIO ALONDRA,LOCAL 3,(OPPOSITE THE ZOO ENTRANCE),FUENGIROLA 29640,MALAGA,SPAIN.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice, it does sound as though it has all the potential for going wrong.

I’m waiting for the dealer to get back to me with the documentation details, and we’ll see what we’ve got.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Hi Mike,

The other alternative is to buy a LHD car in the UK and import it..its not that hard when you know how (as we now do!!).

I think if you brought a Spanish reg car in the UK (or anywhere else) you would still need to goto the Jefe de Traffico to change the ownership details and pay a probably quite large fee to do this. If you buy from a garage I think they do this for you but its already in the costs or you can pay someone else to do so.

Another thing to be wary of it that a friend got a huge fine through the post Friday as she was spotted by a traffico car driving around Asturias and the in car database had her listed as not having insurance..when she had! She was not stopped (this was all dated March!!) so is having a huge stress trying to sort this out. No idea what would happen if a car disappeared out of the country for a while then reappeared, I guess it would be on this database!!!

[Anonymous]

Hi Heather,

Having looked at the documentation for the car and mindful of the pit-falls talked about by yourself, JJB and Hillybilly; I’ve decided it’s too much hassle and risky.

I’ll probablyy end up doing as you suggested.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Either way it’s still going to cost you.

Have you also considered just buying a car in Spain?

Car sales are not good at the moment so you may be able to pick up a bargain from the many car lots or some other Brit selling up and going back to UK.

Also don’t assume a LHD car in UK has LHD drive headlights – they might have been switched to RHD and that can cost to get them changed again.

[Anonymous]

Hi JJB,

I’ve reverted back to my original plan which was; unless I can find a good buy in Spain, then I’ll do the same ass a couple of my Spanish mates. They buy second hand cars in Germany (due to price differentials) and bring them into Spain.

Regards,

[Anonymous]

@mortimm wrote:

Hi JJB,

I’ve reverted back to my original plan which was; unless I can find a good buy in Spain, then I’ll do the same ass a couple of my Spanish mates. They buy second hand cars in Germany (due to price differentials) and bring them into Spain.

Regards,

Hi, not sure if you have found a car yet but I am selling mine either here or in UK when I retrun in December if you are interested

its a Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.6 sx top, 2007, 24,000km – bought brand new from dealer here – will be driving it back to Kent in January where it can be seen, also have a Opel Vivaro van, 2.0 cdti if thats any good to you. Its only a few months old still with manufacturers 2 year warranty (forced relocatioj due to health reasons) if youwant any more details or photos just let me know

[Author]

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