duduanna - 15 June 2008 06:48 PM
Hi All
Any help would be very gratefully received as im a little confused on this topic
I understand that you are allowed to drive your Uk registered car legally ” up to 6 months ” in Spain without registering it.
Is this 6 months in one year? and if so ,if I stayed for 9 months between August and June would that qualify for 2 lots of “up to 6 months”?
Does this rule apply to RHD cars or both?..or none?
Also, If I buy a LHD car here in the UK before coming to Spain is it better to buy a Uk registered Lhd,or is a Spanish registered Lhd better?
What about a French registered LHD?theres quite a few of those available to buy in the Uk.
what additional problems would that entail?
I want to buy my vehicle before coming to Spain as I am transporting stuff with me.
Cheers
If you apply for residencia there are financial gains to be had if you change to a Spanish matricula sooner rather than later. If you are a non resident you can drive a UK plated car for 6 months in any one year BUT the car has to be legal in the place of registration (ie the UK) which means it has to have an MOT, current road tax and UK insurance (and a GB sticker on it).
It doesn’t matter where the car is registered the rules are the same. I would be very reticent in buying a Spanish plated car from the UK as the rules in Spain are bizzare in the extreme, whoever owns the car at the beginning of the year is the person liable for the road tax, some Spanish people never pay the road tax but the debt lives on with the car. If you buy one and register it in your name and your local ayuntamiento issues you with an annual road tax bill you are also liable for any unpaid tax.
We came with an old, reliable RHD UK plated car, re registered it after 6 months quite cheaply by using a local gestor and sold it on with no problems.
Many people come in a van with their goods and chattels and have no problem selling a RHD van here… sometimes at a profit!!
In the Malaga district if you have a re registered RHD car which is over 10 years old and has been on Spanish plates for over 6 months a used car garage will give you 750 euros whatever the state of the car just so it is off the road!
Another point is that once the car is re registered the insurance is considerably less.
