ITV - what's involved?

[pentaqua-new]

Is there a www for what actually happens at an ITV? I've been told there is a page with necessary documents and what they inspect.

[olive]

Don't know the www. page but might be part of the online booking site which is listed somewhere on here.

You make your appointment (e.g. for Loja) , turn up and pay and show your docs. They call you and you drive the vehicle around to the test lane 1 or 2 as advised on the tannoy. First off they look around the vehicle, test emissions, lights and horn function and wipers, washers. Seatbelts, any untoward EML on dash etc. They check the chassis VIN but not the engine VIN. Under bonnet checks for fluid leaks, battery security. If it looks original then they don't get excited. Things held on with tape, bendy wire etc get a closer look!

next part is front brake and rear brake (s) test on rolling road. You do all the driving unless they can't make you understand. Then on to the pit for what I think is the best bit. the tester gives you a walky talky and each wheel is rocked sideways and front back by a powerful sliding plate under it. The guy is underneath looking for ball joint play, rubber bush issues, rust, damage etc. Handbrake operation.

He also checks condition of exhaust, hangars and so on.

I don't think it is as thorough as a UK one. For example I have never had headlight washers checked.

Finally you wait outside while they do the paperwork. Pass, fail, any advisories. Probably takes 30 minutes. If it is a Spanish matriculated car ex UK car allow another 30 minutes to convert mileage reading to kilometers.

Hope that helps.

[El Cid]

Also be careful about any bolt on extras like tow bars, bull bars, special wheels etc. If they were not factory fitted then there will be problems.

A friend was failed recently for having those little plastic reflectors clipped onto the doors! I think the tester was having a bad hair day.

Give the car a good blast down the motorway on the way to the test to clear its tubes prior to the emission test.

The most difficult thing is trying to hear your reg number called over the Tannoy system! Make sure you park near a speaker and listen very carefully.

Olive, whether is is as thorough as the UK MOT is debatable - in Spain at least you know they have actually tested it. Headlight washers are not tested as they are not a mandatory requirement on vehicles.

Sid

[Enrique]

Hi,
Olive sums it up nicely......... not come across the extra 30 mins for miles to KM conversion.

Docs.........Tarjeta Inspección Técnica de Vehículos

Items that attract great attention ............correct size of wheels and tyres, so no wide wheels if not standard and on the docs.
Towbars............again need to be on the docs or they have to come off.

Items that would fail back in UK..........split drive shaft gaiters , rear light bulb out, have been know to get an advisory and passed

[rafiki]

The after-market accessories business must be a bit thin in Spain.

I've got a dual battery system on my Land Rover, one for starting, the other for running cool-boxes, lights etc. whilst camping. I suppose I'll have to disconnect that for the ITV?

[gerryh]

The most difficult thing is trying to hear your reg number called over the Tannoy system! Make sure you park near a speaker and listen very carefully.


Sid

At the Algorobo ITV station if your reg is ABC 1234
then they don't call the number as one two three four but as one thousand two hundred and thirty four, all in rapid Spanish of course. Totally confused me
Cheers
Gerry

[anis]

If you are worried about listening for the long string of numbers, write your name down and ask if they can call that out for you. They have started to do this recently for foreigners, went this week.

[Campo Steve]

Algorrobo will now take payment by card. It used to be cash only.

It has been mentioned before, but tyres need to be of the correct speed rating as well as size. Having said that, this week the guy only checked that on one tyre, the others he only checked the tread.

Algorroba was a pleasant experience this time. In the past I have been hanging aound for up to 40 minutes past my appointment time before being called. This time I arrived 20 minutes early and waited 10 minutes to do the payment etc. They then called me for the test before I had even had time to walk out of the office. I was only away from the house for 2 hours, including a 45 minute drive each way.

Most of the testers don't speak much English but have enough to get you through and will use sign language. If they point to your right-hand indicator, switch it on. I have found them quite understanding. Nothing to worry about.

The only preparation I would do, apart from making sure the car is up to standard, is to practice listening for your registration. Learning the alphabet in Spanish certainly helps.

[Laslomas]

Our Jeep was tested for the ITV (Algorrobo) this week and it failed on having the incorrect size tyres fitted. They are not anything special or differentb or unusual. But it seems they are a few millimetres different to what they should be. Sooooo annoying, the tyres were not cheap when we bought them 18 months ago, and they were passed as ok at the same testing station last year. They are hardly worn at all as we do not use the car very much. If they had failed them last year we could have gone back to the tyre suppliers and had a go at them for fitting the incorrect ones, but it's a bit late for that now.

[rafiki]

Have you checked your user manual/certificate of conformity? Are the tyres are really the wrong size? If they passed last year there could be reason for doubt; the tester may have got it wrong.

[El Cid]

It's what's on the Ficha Tecnica that counts. They must be exactly the same size and speed/load rating.

The speed rating on my Ficha Tecnica is actually lower than the factory fit tyres but that's OK - you are allowed to use a higher rating but not a lower one.

Sid

[Enrique]

Hi Laslomas,
As El Cid states must be as per the book..............
Have a look at yours and check against the book.............to read the spec and what it means...

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en ... 72069.html

[peteroldracer]

If you live here (as I assume you would if you have a Spanish-reg car) and cannot easily understand numbers in Spanish, IMHO you are really pathetic....

[El Cid]

Now that's unfair Peter.

It's one thing understanding numbers from a language point of view but when they are shouted out at high speed in pure Andalus through a crackly old speaker system then it is not so easy.

Sid

[peteroldracer]

OK Sid - I have to give you that!
I found that if nobody jumps up as soon as the matriculation is called, every pair of eyes in the place swivels around looking for the one dozing...

[El Cid]

I have a slight advantage. I have a Malaga reg car living in Granada province so I am usually the only one called with a Malaga registration which is usually easy to pick up on.

Sid

[gerryh]

What I found confusing was I expected my number to be called as Madrid Cinco cuatro dos ocho U P
and not as Madrid Cinco mil cuatrocientos veintiocho U P other a very crackly speaker, in Andalus when I was parked next to an old lorry trying to clear his injectors by revving hard.
Cheers
Gerry

[Parilla]

I'm sure I have read that from the end of this month, at an ITV inspection you will have to produce the vehicle insurance and road tax documents. Anyone else seen that ?

[avellana]

Yes you're right.
I can't find the information on a government website but loads of other sites have the information!
I searched on http://www.google.es/ for ITV seguro obligatorio mayo 2010
This is one site I found
http://itv.prevencontrol.com/Home/tabid ... fault.aspx
This link refers to Madrid but it's a national law.
http://www.itvcomunidadmadrid.es/noticias.html

[ken2]

I WONDER IF SOME ONE CAN HELP, i have a lady lives here on the Costa, she is a owner of a apartment ,and come over for a long weekend or a week at a time, well with the shortage of hire cares last year, she bought a cheap English plated car, but it now has no m.o.t, can she get it tested here in Spain,I'm not sure how long she can keep it here as she only uses it for say about three months through out the year,??