Driving my car to remain in Spain

Partner and I recently did Essex to southern Spain via Portsmouth-Bilbao ferry, overnighted in an Air bnb in Madrid to break up the trip as we didnt fancy driving through the night then continued the journey the day after.

Rules and regulations here vary due to vehicle age regarding the Spanish ITV, (mot),

From brief research you need to have your car metriculated from UK to Spanish plates after being here 6 months, and again from basic research it can cost from €1000 to €1500, but dont quote me.

You dont need to have a left hand drive car, second hand left hand drive cars here are expensive, we've looked into swapping our UK rhd Honda for a similar one we've seen back in the UK for roughly what we paid 6 months ago but where the dealer can/will supply the "new" lhd one on Spanish plates which should get around the metriculation, (matriculation ??), insurance is based on the vehicle not the driver as in the UK.

As above you need to look into the various options. Best of.

As above comment, after 6 months car needs to be put on Spanish plates, cost will also depend on the retail price of the car being changed over. 

There are a few garages who do this for you and you often see adverts in either Sol Times, Euro Weekly news or Focus magazine.

Get plenty of quotes for insurance as you have to play them off against each other to get the best price, don't accept the first quote.

Best wishes,

Tony.

Thanks very much, this has been helpful.

Do I have to notify DVLA that the car will be exported to mainland Spain, or does the 'matriculation' cover this? Apologies if this is a stupid question :-/

Sorry but that I don't know. When you contact any of the people who do the transfer just ask them and any other things you are not sure about.

Tony.

Would it not be simple to contact DVLA directly in UK as per their www. I recall previous posted topics and mention of SORN but I think this may be for vehicles laid up on UK.

There us a Spanish but English speaking agency that may be of assistance.

I'll check details & repost.

Bob and Sandra

Thanks, will do.

www.citizensadvice.org.es. Apparently you can chat to an operator but they may not be aware of DVLA requirements.

Every best wish & good luck,

Bob and Sandra

In the process of getting partners Honda Insight Hybrid put onto Spanish plates.

People at CAT services in La Foquia very helpful.

They gave us a list of how things work.

1st item was headlights, stickers wont pass ITV. Partner has had to buy new European headlights at almost 500€ euros each. Euro headlamps apparently have a switch on the headlamp to enable one to use the headlamps in Spain and the UK.

You'll need your UK mot, vehicle paperwork, log book etc, proof of insurance, proof of tax paid, etc etc, partners car is a £5500 very low emissions petrol electric hybrid and only cost £10 a year to tax, one part of the process for the car has been zero rated already, all done on a set of rules and regs that take into account cost of vehicle and its emissions.

Partner is using "The Garage" on the outskirts of Albox, brits who are again really helpful, they got the headlamps, are doing the back brakes which we knew needed sorting, are pre itv' ing the car and taking it to the ITV station at Lorca Monday, they know how the system works, when partner gets the car back it's a trip to the nearest town hall for tax, back to Cat services for more paperwork, then the garage for new Spanish plates.

Think I've covered it all.

There's articles in/on the media about the Policia/Guardia stopping UK reg vehicles, impounding them, issuing fines etc, the six month rule apparently doesnt exist anymore but theres confusion regarding this due to being resindent or non-resident, holidaying etc etc.