Importing a British UK plated Car into Spain

[El Cid]

Also, SFAIR, once you have kept a vehicle here for more than 6 months, it should be put on Spanish plates. If you have residencia here, as Sid says, you absolutely must also reregister to Spanish plates.

For the eventual return to the UK, I think the UK replating fee (to DVLA) is quite small.

Non residents can keep a car here so long as they only use it for 6 months in the calendar year and it is taxed and MOTd and insured in the UK. Residents MUST reregister.

Reregistering a UK car in the UK is very easy and costs very little. You even get the old number back.

Sid

[costakid]

Re registering in the uk once you call it a day in Spain is free as you have already paid the 1st registration fee. Fill in a V55, mot the car and you will get your original reg number back.

Under the EU 4th directive a car has to be insured in the country that it is registered in. If you have Spanish insurance and no UK insurance your 100% illegal.

I guess this is because of the 90 day rule with most uk insurance companies. Saga however insure all year for european use.

[PeterBat]

Thank you all for your input.. I am grateful.. even more so to Trooperman for the name and tel No..

[gus-lopez]

Hi pensure1988,


I bought my Merc ML270 over with us and switched it to Spanish plates. What I found was that although the rear light clusters were correct the rear red fog light was only wired into one (UK)side and only that side had a bulb fitted. Simple matter of running a wire and fitting a bulb to correct.

For the headlight swap I found that the cheapest option was to get the Mercedes garage in the UK to fit replacements. I sold the old UK units on ebay for a tidy sum to someone who wanted to fit newer headlights to his older ML. Although personally I'm not convinced that the originals couldn't have been adjusted despite what the garage said.

.

Yes , you were mugged as the ML has a lever on the back to swop lhd/rhd. Don't get annoyed though as most merc dealers don't know. The one here in Lorca didn't.

Re registering in the uk once you call it a day in Spain is free as you have already paid the 1st registration fee. Fill in a V55, mot the car and you will get your original reg number back.

Under the EU 4th directive a car has to be insured in the country that it is registered in. If you have Spanish insurance and no UK insurance your 100% illegal.

I guess this is because of the 90 day rule with most uk insurance companies. Saga however insure all year for european use.

It used to be but it certainly isn't anymore. About £100 now to convert back to UK plates.


Regarding the " must be insured in the UK " Yes that is correct BUT it only has to be insured in the UK & on the data base by a company Trading in the UK or Having an associate company in the UK . Therefore it is perfectly legal to insure it in another EU state using a company legally trading in the UK.
In Spain there are a few that can offer insurance on foreign registered vehicle, Liberty Seguros being one.
Advantage of using ythem is that it is the vehicle that is insured& for any driver over the requisite age, Full EU green card without additional cost; full EU recovery included. Additionally Liberty Seguros notify the dvla on Tuesdays/Fridyas of all UK registered vehicles insured so that they are included on the MIdatabase.

"Vehicles should be registered in the country of residence of the policy holder and/or vehicle owner. Provided their registration is in order, they may be insured by an insurer established in the country of registration or in any other EU country. Insurers providing cross-border insurance services must fulfil certain formalities under the EU insurance rules. They must also be willing to offer a contract."

From here:

http://ec.europa.eu/finance/insurance/c ... dex_en.htm

[Manchesteral]

Non residents are allowed to buy cars in Spain so long as they have property in Spain although the rules are pretty vague and can be interpreted different ways in different places.

On that basis it should be possible to register your car in Spain. You will have to pay the registration tax but that is based on the current value of the car which in your case will 10% of its original cost. The tax rate depends on the CO2 emissions and the top rate is 14.75%.

In addition there are costs involved in making changes to the car to conform to Spanish rules such as possibly changing headlights etc. On top of that will be the cost of a special ITV and of course gestors cost for handling it all.

A non resident can keep the car in Spain indefinitely on UK plates so long as it is not used for more than 6 months in a year and has a valid UK tax and MOT and of course insurance. A Spanish ITV is not acceptable so you would have no option but to take it back to the UK for an MOT.

Re-registering it would cost less than the cost of continual trips back to the UK.

Sid

Hi Sid, can you clarify the content of the first paragraph of your post, for example, are you suggesting that if I DO NOT own property in Spain but rent there for say 4-5 months a year it would be possible to own and insure a Spanish rgistered car for use when I'm down there, or should I check this thoroughly with a lawyer ?

[El Cid]

As I said in my post, the rules are pretty vague and can be interpreted different ways in different places.

The problem is getting it registered in your name and for that you need an address that you can be contacted at for fines etc. If you were renting the same property every year it might be possible. I suggest you talk to a local gestor (rather than a lawyer) and see what he suggests.

Sid

[Miro]

If you are a resident, which it appears from your post that you are, you have no choice but to reregister your car. That is the law, and yes, your car is illegal. If you get stopped again, the fines will probably cost more than the cost of registering it.
Sid

and if you get a really stroppy Trafico man he can impound it on the spot. It would then be your problem not only to get it replated pronto, but also get yourself home...

They're having a bit of a purge on foreign registered cars around here lately. I personally know of someone who got stopped in his UK plated banger. The police knew it had a SORN in the UK. The car was impounded and he was handed a €700 fine. The only way he can get the car back is to re-register it, which would probably cost more than the value of the car. And besides, he doesn't even have an NIE, despite clearly living here most of the time.
No sympathy here

[peteroldracer]

No sympathy here

Nor here...

[Manchesteral]

As I said in my post, the rules are pretty vague and can be interpreted different ways in different places.

The problem is getting it registered in your name and for that you need an address that you can be contacted at for fines etc. If you were renting the same property every year it might be possible. I suggest you talk to a local gestor (rather than a lawyer) and see what he suggests.

Sid

I'll do that, thanks.

[costakid]

100% you only pay the 1st registration fee once. That is why its call 1st registration fee. You can take your Uk plated car to China and when you bring it back there is nothing to pay to make it UK road legal. Tax and Mot obviously applies.

[chrissiehope]

Actually, you can read the phrase "1st registration fee" two ways - is it a fee for registering for the first time, or the first fee of many for registration ?

[costakid]

Well you can split hairs if you like but DVLA only charge the fee once. They charge it the 1st time a car with chassis number +++++++++++ is registered on there system.

[peteroldracer]

What irritates me even more is the arrogant ones with personalised plates who just break the law rather than lose their precious status symbol - eg Ford Fiesta J444JEF that has been here for years - wonder if the driver is called Jeff? There are many others similarly guilty.

Just happened to see the offending car this morning - the quote is from a post in 2013!

[Devils Advocate]

Pete, that car is not offending unless it's a ringer. It has a current UK MOT and UK RFL until September.

[peteroldracer]

If they are resident here then it is....and an MoT can be bought over the net cheaper than taking it to and fro?

[Devils Advocate]

Peter have you got a link on how to buy an MOT over the net?

This car is taxed and would need a pukka MOT do be able to do that. Its records suggest the guy drives it back every February/March for it's test.

[Devils Advocate]

MOT's have long since changed. You can't just buy a fake and show it to the insurers or police.

Everything is on the data base and fired through to DVLA when car finishes its test. Hence why the "certificate" you get is just a piece of white printed A4 paper for your records, easy to forge but pointless to do so.

[Miro]

Its records suggest the guy drives it back every February/March for it's test.

So they're probably resident here, in which case it's still illegal!

I wonder why all the UK plated cars you see on Bargain Loving Brits & A New Life in the Sun have their plates pixelated out?

[peteroldracer]

So they're probably resident here, in which it's still illegal!

I reckon the loss of his personal plate would be so destructive to his fragile ego that he could not contemplate it!

[Devils Advocate]

Wow, how do you know the guy is resident? People drive over in their UK plated cars all the time for long stays. He could be resident I admit but I don't know and neither do you.

The car IS NOT illegal as stated.