Buying and Selling a Second Hand Car in Spain

This article is about the processes involved in buying and selling second hand cars in Spain. It will also look briefly at some of the pitfalls and problems to avoid, concentrating mostly on the buyer's point of view. As a seller, it would obviously be in your best interests to prepare things so that a buyer of a second hand car in Spain can actually buy your car.

First Steps

Every car needs to have the following documents up to date to start the buy / sell process:

• Permiso De Circulación - In England you would call this the Log Book. It gives the car details, number plate, chassis number, make and model, year of first registration, and most importantly the name and address of the current owner.
• Inspección Técnica - Also called the ITV. In England you would call this the MOT. It gives the car details, and is stamped and dated with the last ITV inspection passed and stating for how many years (1 or 2) this is valid.
• Impuesto Sobre Vehiculos - This is equivalent to a road licence fee. It is payable yearly to the Ayuntamiento where the owner is registered.

So one of the first things to check, whether buying or selling, is that these are all in order for the car in question. Ask to see the original of all these documents before going any further.

Let’s assume you’ve found a second hand Spanish car you would like to buy. Ask the seller to show you the originals of these three documents. Check that the names correspond between them. Check the seller’s ID too.  If the person selling is not the owner for any reason, such as family member, or second hand car dealer, then you need to make sure that they are allowed to sell the car. This is particularly important in the case of a private sale.

The Permiso De Circulación is valid if the name and address are correct and the details correspond to the second hand car you are trying to buy.

The ITV could be out of date, or nearing it’s renewal date. If this is the case, then you would be well advised to ask the owner to pass the ITV before you continue. The car might be for sale because the owner knows about an ITV problem that is not obvious to a prospective buyer without actually testing. Would you know if the car would pass the environmental checks for gas emissions or noise?

The Impuesto Sobre Vehiculos could easily be out of date by one or more years. Once you have bought a second hand car in Spain, you would be liable to pay the back dated taxes before you could register the car in your local Ayuntamiento

…Continue reading PART 2 of
Buying and Selling a Second Hand Car in Spain, Second hand cars in Spain

Last updated 26 01 2012