taking a uk car to spain
taking a uk car to spain
hi everyone
we will be moving to malaga area soon, but dont know whether to take our uk car and use for a while , or buy a lhd uk registered car take to spain and get re-registered to a spainish plate there, has anyone tried these options????????
dave
You could buy a LHD UK plated car , insure it legally over here with a company in Gibraltar and use that. You will get people telling you over here that it is not legal but I know it is possible as I did it, and got paid on it when it was caught up in a flood over here. Just make sure it has an MOT or Spanish equivalent (ITV).
Legally you are not supposed to keep it for more than 183 days in the country, which if you are moving here will be the case, but again I had mine for 2 years with no problem, even when stopped by the police.
However having said all that the laws on driving licenses etc over here now are becoming much more strict and you will really need to get it validated or changed to a Spanish license or you can end up with a big fine or even in prison, which IMO is way over the top if you are insured and have a license - much worse to not have either I would have thought.
Only problem with the Brit plated car is coming to sell it on. You might have problems with that as not many people will want to buy it and you will get a lot less value for it (might not be a problem as they are much cheaper in the UK anyway), but still will be difficult plus to get it Spanish plated can be very costly over here too, and you will have to weigh that up too when deciding between Spanish or Brit plated.
The easiest way of all, having done it myself , would be get a car over here as it´s just a lot easier overall with everything, however the choice is yours and I am trying to give you the info you asked.
Legally you are not supposed to keep it for more than 183 days in the country, which if you are moving here will be the case, but again I had mine for 2 years with no problem, even when stopped by the police.
However having said all that the laws on driving licenses etc over here now are becoming much more strict and you will really need to get it validated or changed to a Spanish license or you can end up with a big fine or even in prison, which IMO is way over the top if you are insured and have a license - much worse to not have either I would have thought.
Only problem with the Brit plated car is coming to sell it on. You might have problems with that as not many people will want to buy it and you will get a lot less value for it (might not be a problem as they are much cheaper in the UK anyway), but still will be difficult plus to get it Spanish plated can be very costly over here too, and you will have to weigh that up too when deciding between Spanish or Brit plated.
The easiest way of all, having done it myself , would be get a car over here as it´s just a lot easier overall with everything, however the choice is yours and I am trying to give you the info you asked.
Driving a RHD car in Spain
Why would you want to drive a RHD car if you are living in Spain? It is much easier to drive on the right-hand side of the road using a LHD car.
- malagaman2005
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Interesting, where did you pick up this little gem of information from? A friend went to Malaga Trafico recently to register their UK licence and was told it was not necessary. Have you any link or something in black & white I could refer to? Thanksblondie wrote: However having said all that the laws on driving licenses etc over here now are becoming much more strict and you will really need to get it validated or changed to a Spanish license or you can end up with a big fine or even in prison, which IMO is way over the top if you are insured and have a license - much worse to not have either I would have thought.
.
" If at first you don't succeed then skydiving is not for you"
- Trooperman
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I've had this note sent by my insurance broker:
This came about because of a court case (I believe) and it involved Liberty insurance company. The previous way of registering a UK licence with the Spanish authorities was, we are being told, incompatible with EU guidelines and that a UK licence must be assumed to have an automatic "right" to be valid in Spain. But, of course, telling the Spanish bureaucracy off makes them bristle with righteous indignation, and they now demand (we are being told) that as a minimum, UK licence holders must conform to the Spanish requirement to have a medical exam every now and then, staring at age 45.
Now all this is hearsay and I just listen to the rumours, but I HAVE had a medical (mereley an eyesight test) and I now have a letter from the trafico in Malaga telling me I can drive !!!!!!
Not sure this resolves anything apart from adding to the bewildering array of muddled thinking!
Don´t take this as gospel-------it's just what I'm hearing at the moment.
Further to my email of yesterday, I have had many enquiries regards the implications of not having medicals ..... I would just like to clarify a few points :
UK driving licenses are classed as valid, providing you hold the photocard version.
With a UK license, medicals do not have to be carried out until we reach 70 years.
Holders of Spanish licenses will be aware that medicals begin at the age of 45 years, and are carried out every 5 years until reaching 70, when this changes to every two years.
The Spanish "medical" actually sounds more complicated than it is - all that is required is an eye test and a computerised reaction test, carried out at a specialised clinic.
Therefore, from the information printed in the Round Town News, it would seem we should all be having medicals from the age of 45, to fall in line with the spanish legislation . this is the matter that I have queried with Liberty, as none of us want to end up like the poor lady who lost her court case!!
Once again, I shall update everyone as soon as I have further details
This came about because of a court case (I believe) and it involved Liberty insurance company. The previous way of registering a UK licence with the Spanish authorities was, we are being told, incompatible with EU guidelines and that a UK licence must be assumed to have an automatic "right" to be valid in Spain. But, of course, telling the Spanish bureaucracy off makes them bristle with righteous indignation, and they now demand (we are being told) that as a minimum, UK licence holders must conform to the Spanish requirement to have a medical exam every now and then, staring at age 45.
Now all this is hearsay and I just listen to the rumours, but I HAVE had a medical (mereley an eyesight test) and I now have a letter from the trafico in Malaga telling me I can drive !!!!!!
Not sure this resolves anything apart from adding to the bewildering array of muddled thinking!
Don´t take this as gospel-------it's just what I'm hearing at the moment.
nil illegitimum carborundum
Malagaman.
I picked up a Sur in English during december, can´t remeber which week, but there was a large double spread on the new driving fines etc and validity of licenses, including British licenses.
I can´t confirm the validity of the report, however thought I should point it out having only read it a few weeks ago.
Maybe a search on their website might throw up something.
Trooperman, interesing stuff, and even more confusing.
I picked up a Sur in English during december, can´t remeber which week, but there was a large double spread on the new driving fines etc and validity of licenses, including British licenses.
I can´t confirm the validity of the report, however thought I should point it out having only read it a few weeks ago.
Maybe a search on their website might throw up something.
Trooperman, interesing stuff, and even more confusing.
- Trooperman
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But, to get back on-topic, I have bought both a Spanish registered car in Spain and a UK car (in the UK) which I have just driven out here.
So, DAVEE, you may well ask why!
If you intend coming to Spain, you will have noticed that the roads are not that good and that the standard of driving is also pretty ropey, resulting in many cars with accident damage. Couple that with the seemingly inbuilt avoidance of inconvenient truths when selling anything, but particularly, cars, and you will all too readily - and accurately - assume that I have had a bad experience with my Spanish car!
Add to that the extraordinary high cost of used vehicles here (and astronomically high spare part prices for my Jap 4x4), and you will see why I went back to the UK and bought a good'un.
There is a cost in transferring to Spanish plates after 6 months, but have no fear about it being RHD assuming, that is, the visibility is OK to begin with - just a few problems with car park ticket machines if you're on your own.
So, DAVEE, you may well ask why!
If you intend coming to Spain, you will have noticed that the roads are not that good and that the standard of driving is also pretty ropey, resulting in many cars with accident damage. Couple that with the seemingly inbuilt avoidance of inconvenient truths when selling anything, but particularly, cars, and you will all too readily - and accurately - assume that I have had a bad experience with my Spanish car!
Add to that the extraordinary high cost of used vehicles here (and astronomically high spare part prices for my Jap 4x4), and you will see why I went back to the UK and bought a good'un.
There is a cost in transferring to Spanish plates after 6 months, but have no fear about it being RHD assuming, that is, the visibility is OK to begin with - just a few problems with car park ticket machines if you're on your own.
nil illegitimum carborundum
It is true trooperman that second hand cars over here do seem to be more expensive but I found new cars to be cheaper than the UK. A few years back I bought two almost identical cars, one in ES and one in UK, same model but slightly different spec as the ES one had larger engine, cruise control etc and the UK one didnt. The ES price in euros was pretty damn close to the UK price in pounds which made the ES car something like 70% of the price of the UK one.
That is only true if you are being paid in Pounds Don.
I get paid in Euros, and find a lot of the time that if you compare pounds prices to euro prices, pounds work out cheaper.
E.g. 17 gbp but 23 euros for the same product.
Therefore I am paying 6 euros more than someone paying pounds who earns pounds.
hope that makes sense.
I get paid in Euros, and find a lot of the time that if you compare pounds prices to euro prices, pounds work out cheaper.
E.g. 17 gbp but 23 euros for the same product.
Therefore I am paying 6 euros more than someone paying pounds who earns pounds.
hope that makes sense.
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It's actually quite correct.Trooperman wrote:But, of course, telling the Spanish bureaucracy off makes them bristle with righteous indignation, and they now demand (we are being told) that as a minimum, UK licence holders must conform to the Spanish requirement to have a medical exam every now and then, staring at age 45.
Don´t take this as gospel-------it's just what I'm hearing at the moment.
There was a change to the Spanish law in 2006, in accordance with the current EU directive, that allows Spain to require the same conditions to apply to the holder of a UK licence (who is an official resident of Spain) as those that apply to the holder of a Spanish licence in particular the requirement to have regular medical checks by an officially approved medical centre.
The potential effect of this, if it is enforced, is that the (resident) holder of a UK licence could find it deemed to be invalid in Spain with all the consequences that can accrue from driving without a licence - ie. up to a 6 month prison sentence.
Sid
here's the link to the article from Sur in English (Dec 21st to Dec 27th)
http://tinyurl.com/2f5rzw
This is the bit about driving licences:-
Those who drive without valid driving licences - whether they have lost all their points on a valid licence, have never had a licence, have a licence from another country that has not been validated here or have had their licences seized by the courts - will have a little longer to consider the error of their ways before facing prison sentences.
http://tinyurl.com/2f5rzw
This is the bit about driving licences:-
Those who drive without valid driving licences - whether they have lost all their points on a valid licence, have never had a licence, have a licence from another country that has not been validated here or have had their licences seized by the courts - will have a little longer to consider the error of their ways before facing prison sentences.
- flan_taster
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Digressing but reading the SUR article it says:
Drink and drugs: Punishment for driving while drunk or drugged to be the same as that for excess speed. Drunken driving is defined as driving with more than 1.2 grams of alcohol in the blood.
Now my maths is useless but 1.2 grams is the same as 1200 miligrams.
In UK the 'limit' is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
how do these compare?
And as far as bringing a car from UK, you can get away with paying import tax if you get the paperwork done in the correct time and don't upset the tax man. On country roads, a right hand car is safer especially on those ones that have a precipice.
Drink and drugs: Punishment for driving while drunk or drugged to be the same as that for excess speed. Drunken driving is defined as driving with more than 1.2 grams of alcohol in the blood.
Now my maths is useless but 1.2 grams is the same as 1200 miligrams.
In UK the 'limit' is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
how do these compare?
And as far as bringing a car from UK, you can get away with paying import tax if you get the paperwork done in the correct time and don't upset the tax man. On country roads, a right hand car is safer especially on those ones that have a precipice.
Yes you are right!
I forgot about that loophole.
If you get your plate changed at the same time you register for your residencia, I think there is a time limit for both, you end up paying a much reduced fee for the plate change.....around a 70% discount on what it would cost normally. Speak to a gestor about this and don´t let them say it can´t be done, a family member of mine did it and saved a fortune on plating his 2 cars over here.
Then by buying a UK plated car and doing it with the discount, your car will actually go up in value over here.
I forgot about that loophole.
If you get your plate changed at the same time you register for your residencia, I think there is a time limit for both, you end up paying a much reduced fee for the plate change.....around a 70% discount on what it would cost normally. Speak to a gestor about this and don´t let them say it can´t be done, a family member of mine did it and saved a fortune on plating his 2 cars over here.
Then by buying a UK plated car and doing it with the discount, your car will actually go up in value over here.
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The UK limit is 80mg in 100ml. That is the same as 0.8g in 1 litre.flan_taster wrote: Drunken driving is defined as driving with more than 1.2 grams of alcohol in the blood.[/i]
Now my maths is useless but 1.2 grams is the same as 1200 miligrams.
In UK the 'limit' is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
how do these compare? .
The Spanish (and also in most of Europe) is 0.5g per litre which is equivalent to 50mg per 100ml.
In other words the UK limit is 60% higher than in Spain although there are plans to reduce it to the European norm of 50mg.
The SUR article quotes 1.2g which is confusing when compared to the usual figure of 0.5g.
The 1.2g figure is the point at which the new penal code applies and you can face a prison sentence if you exceed this limit.
Sid
- flan_taster
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Thank you Sid. What threw me was also the SUR saying this: Any driver found to have more than 0.66 milligrams per litre, or 1.2 grams of alcohol in the blood, will fail the breath test, and will be subject to the same types of fines as those imposed for speeding So what they have stated here is complete nonsense.
A bit like the lovely Jasmine selling Cádiz Province to a couple on tonight's Place in the Sol and saying that the El Puerto de Santa Maria region is served by no less than 3 International airports : Seville, Jerez and Cádiz. It is truly amazing what total hogwash these 'celebs' spill out of their mouths.
A bit like the lovely Jasmine selling Cádiz Province to a couple on tonight's Place in the Sol and saying that the El Puerto de Santa Maria region is served by no less than 3 International airports : Seville, Jerez and Cádiz. It is truly amazing what total hogwash these 'celebs' spill out of their mouths.
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No it's not nonsense, it's just badly worded.flan_taster wrote:Thank you Sid. What threw me was also the SUR saying this: Any driver found to have more than 0.66 milligrams per litre, or 1.2 grams of alcohol in the blood, will fail the breath test, and will be subject to the same types of fines as those imposed for speeding So what they have stated here is complete nonsense.
The 0.66mg/litre applies to the breath test where the normal limit is 25mg/litre. 66mg/litre is the new upper limit where the penal code applies.
It just gets confusing when they talk about the breath limits and the blood limits in the same sentence. You can only be convicted on the blood test, the breath test is just an indicator that you may be over the limit - the next step is a blood test - it's the same in the UK.
Sid
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