Poss to get MOT in Spain?

Do you have a query on how to get things done in Andalucia, where to find things, who to call? Find out by posting and hear about others experiences.
skychick
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 53
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:19 pm
Location: Sevilla

Poss to get MOT in Spain?

Postby skychick » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:14 pm

Hi,
Have had my UK car in Spain for a short while and since never intended to be permanently here I'm planning on driving it back.
Problem is, the MOT is due on it soon and I don't think I will be able to get it back before then.
Is there anyway of getting the MOT done in Spain so it's all legal and above board when I drive it back to the UK?

Beachcomber
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 11081
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:11 pm
Location: Guadalhorce Valley

Postby Beachcomber » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:08 pm

In short, no. Some ITV stations will issue a Spanish ITV certificate for a foreign registered vehicle but it has no validity in law other than to prove that the vehicle was roadworthy (according to their standards) at the time of the test.

It does not take the place of a UK MoT certificate and does not validate your insurance which will be invalid without a proper MoT certificate.

User avatar
toddcl
Resident
Posts: 600
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:48 pm
Location: Alcaudete

Postby toddcl » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:58 pm

British records will show that your MOT is out of date and unless you completed a SORN declaration saying your car was being taken out of the country then a fine could be waiting for you if you have a UK address.
Road fund license, Insurance and MOT are all monitored on the national DVLA computer and if one is element is not compliant then it's picked up and you receive a fine unless you have declared on a SORN that the vehicle is off the road for a period or as in your case not in the UK.

As has been said many times before on this forum. A miss match or hotch-potch mixture of Spanish and UK requirement is not legal.
If you drive a car in Spain or the UK with a mixture and have an accident you will find that you have no cover and will be in deep mire.
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated into the collective

User avatar
costakid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 5754
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:55 am
Location: malaga este

Postby costakid » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:30 pm

Most ports, service stations and a lot of police cars have ANPR now and if you are out of tax mot or insurance you will be caught. The police now have the power to impound untaxed, or uninsured vehicles and crush them. All police cars on the m20 and m25 have ANPR

BENIDORM
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 3982
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:15 pm
Location: Granada Province

Postby BENIDORM » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:51 pm

As stated by our learned friends, it is quite difficult to move your car legally from here to UK..However I did take one of my Sons cars back to UK with similar circumstances, I did have it ITV tested and it was insured and still had Uk tax, but I booked it into a garage in Dover, and had with me a letter confirming the booking and drove it straight there , less than 5 minutes from the port.....No Problems.....You could of course send it back by freight, some of the carriers and transport firms will take cars.And it isn´t as expensive as you may think, taking into consideration fuel etc.....Maybe worth a few enquiries....... :wink:

User avatar
spanish_lad
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 6218
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Alhaurin el Grande since 99, cartama campo since 2022

Postby spanish_lad » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:41 pm

i would say no it is imposible to get a legal one...

and you'd be better off transporting it.

blondie
Resident
Posts: 879
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 2:07 pm
Location: San Pedro del Alcantara

Postby blondie » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:18 pm

Hate to rain on everyones parade but I know for a fact that you can get a UK registered car MOT´d spanish style over here and it will be valid for the insurance in Spain if insured by a company over here e.g. Abbeygate.

Very unikely to be calid in the UK but if insured by the company here that accepts it then it should be valid anywhere in that companies eyes.

Campo Kenny

Postby Campo Kenny » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:25 pm

Blondie that is very true, but you will not be able to tax (Road fund licence) without an MOT from UK hence making car illegal.
Honest we explored every avenue with this for our car which we leave at the airport and the only proper legal way to do it was to bite the bullet and have it Spanish plated.

In the event of a costly or serious shunt I believe for the insurers not to quibble the car must be either fully UK compliant of fully Spanish.

Cheers,

Kenny

Beachcomber
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 11081
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:11 pm
Location: Guadalhorce Valley

Postby Beachcomber » Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:37 pm

At the risk of repeating myself yet again, a foreign registered vehicle must be road legal in its country of origin including UK MoT, insurance and Vehicle Excise Licence. Anything less and you run the risk of having the vehicle impounded despite what some fly-by-night insurance company may tell you.

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Postby peteroldracer » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:44 pm

Beachcomber wrote:At the risk of repeating myself yet again, a foreign registered vehicle must be road legal in its country of origin including UK MoT, insurance and Vehicle Excise Licence. .
Quite right beach - and you are only allowed to use such a car here for six months, then it must be re-exported.
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

prime mover

Postby prime mover » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:16 pm

blondie wrote:Hate to rain on everyones parade but I know for a fact that you can get a UK registered car MOT´d spanish style over here and it will be valid for the insurance in Spain if insured by a company over here e.g. Abbeygate.

Very unikely to be calid in the UK but if insured by the company here that accepts it then it should be valid anywhere in that companies eyes.
Blondie, read Beachcombers and Peteroldracers comments and listen, they are correct, you cannot LEGALLY mot a UK reg car in Spain, you cannot LEGALLY tax a UK reg car in Spain, therefore you cannot LEGALLY insure a UK rgeistered car in Spain, take note of the word LEGALLY :?
Hope I didn't rain on your parade, this has been done to death I wish people would leave it alone :?

User avatar
spanish_lad
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 6218
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:13 pm
Location: Alhaurin el Grande since 99, cartama campo since 2022

Postby spanish_lad » Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:10 am

prime mover wrote:therefore you cannot LEGALLY insure a UK rgeistered car in Spain, take note of the word LEGALLY :?
but the b*stards will take your money none the less :(

blondie
Resident
Posts: 879
Joined: Fri May 20, 2005 2:07 pm
Location: San Pedro del Alcantara

Postby blondie » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:49 am

Sorry guys but again I have to comment

I actually know someone who very recently had a UK car on insurance from Gib, with a Spanish MOT and the car was written off and paid out on.

Might not be "legal" , but it is possible

User avatar
toddcl
Resident
Posts: 600
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:48 pm
Location: Alcaudete

Postby toddcl » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:38 am

blondie

It's still not LEGAL, according to the British or Spanish Embassy's.
You have Criminal and Civil Law. If the insurer wants to pay out that's fine, but under criminal law you are not compliant and god forbid you kill someone you would get the book thrown at you in a criminal court.

This thread was also about taking a car back to UK that has no MOT.
With half the UK police cars and motorways now having scanners that check your registration, you would be identified as not being 'Road Legal' within a very short distance.
Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated into the collective

Campo Kenny

Postby Campo Kenny » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:53 am

I obviously believe what Blondie says but the person she refers to was very lucky in my opinion to get paid out on the total loss.
In my two only insurance claims (one for house, one for car) I've felt the insurers have done their best to find a loophole or a breach in the terms and conditions of policy.
Therefore I think you are playing with fire if you use a car that is not fully compliant with the laws clearly set down.
As I said previously we scoured every avenue when we brought our UK car across a few years back and the only water tight method of being fully legal was to "Spanish plate it".

As for the original posting, I can offer no advice, all as I can say is that if it were me I'd try to get car back to UK before MOT expires.......The way my luck goes I'd probably run someone over through no fault of my own on journey back and be in debt and shame for rest of my life. Without the car legal even if you were blameless for the incident you don't have a leg to stand on.

Kenny

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Postby peteroldracer » Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:01 pm

A suggestion: there are several firms offering a "transport your car/boat/moto to the UK" at what looks like less than it would cost you to take it, if you count hotels, food, ferries - everything. Why not send the car back to the UK with one of those, arrange for a DoT test beforehand and get the car taken there. You can then fly back on a cheapie, pay and pick up your legal car, and Bob's your uncle!
I still believe that anyone who thinks they are clever by not fully complying with the Spanish law on cars, ITVs, plates, road tax and so on is beneath contempt. An uninsured and wrongly registered car is always driven by an irresponsible driver - more liable to commit traffic offences (in the belief that they will not get tracked down), and much more likely to flee the scene in the event of a crash, possibly leaving wounded victims.
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

User avatar
juliesteve&joe
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: Iznajar area/Cambridge

Postby juliesteve&joe » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:58 am

So, are all the cars on gibralter Spanish registered then? No way of getting an English MOT over there? I suppose that would be too easy!

El Cid
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 16058
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:42 pm
Location: La Herradura, Costa Tropical, Granada

Postby El Cid » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:14 am

BENIDORM wrote: , but I booked it into a garage in Dover, and had with me a letter confirming the booking and drove it straight there , less than 5 minutes from the port. :
If you are driving to a prebooked MOT you are allowed to drive the car, legally, without a valid MOT.

That of course only applies to driving it in the UK so what the situation is on the way across Europe is a bit debateable!

Sid

User avatar
peteroldracer
Andalucia Guru
Posts: 7774
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:56 pm
Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia

Postby peteroldracer » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:57 am

juliesteve&joe: is Gibraltar part of the UK, and are the cars there registered as British? Of course not - have a look next time and you will see that all the leal cars there are either Gibraltar registered, or Spanish (apart from tourists for anywhere else in the world, including Great Britain.
It is like the Isle of Man - they have their own laws, registrations, test regimes.
Why do so many people try to make out that they do not need to comply with a very straightforward set of rules re cars, just because they think the laws unfair or wrong? I suspect that the vast majority of the test/road tax/import duty dodgers are the same people who cannot be bothered to vote, either in the UK or Spain, as appropriate, in which case they have no right to a view.
I used to cough to disguise a [email protected] I f@rt to disguise a cough.

User avatar
juliesteve&joe
Andalucia.com Amigo
Posts: 109
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:12 pm
Location: Iznajar area/Cambridge

Postby juliesteve&joe » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:04 am

peteroldracer:
We have never been to Gibralter so it was an innocent question!!! We are not trying to break the law or bend the rules- infact quite the opposite!
I find it hard to understand why some people on this forum cannot just answer a question, but have to turn it into some sort of argument, trying so hard to get their own point across. Its questionable, whether these people actually have REAL friends to debate and talk with, therfore need to vent their spleen on A.com.
Have a good day!!


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 69 guests