Although we drove our car from the UK to Spain when moving, we decided that the best option would be to sell it back in the UK and buy a car in Spain. As mentioned in the previous post, keeping the car from the UK isn’t practical as in Spain they drive on the right hand side. It can also be costly and time consuming to register a foreign car in Spain but we will look into this process in this post. Buying a car in Spain appeared to be a sensible idea, although the process didn’t happen without hiccups.
It was very handy to have our old car here for the first few weeks as our temporary accommodation was in La Pobla de Vallbona in an urbanizacion, around a 40 minute walk from La Eliana center. It gave us the flexibility to drive around, discover our new home a bit more, go to the beach, shopping etc. Although you can survive without a car if you live in La Eliana, it is still handy to have one.
On the 4th of August my parents arrived from Poland with our daughters and almost straight away we set our goal to find a new Spanish car. The reason for the hurry was that we had already booked a ferry crossing from Calais to Dover on the 13th of August and my return flight to Valencia on the 14th. My dad would drive a car across Spain and France with me.
Car search
We decided to search for a smaller car (we had Vauxhall Insignia before) because we had noticed that the parking spaces in La Eliana are limited and small and we wouldn’t be using the car as much as we used to use it in the UK. We also didn’t have an assigned parking space as we live in an apartment so we would be keeping it in the public parking.
The timing of the search wasn’t in our favour as it was August and many dealerships run on a reduced service. The first thing we noticed was that car prices were much higher than in the UK and there wasn’t much choice. The region of Valencia is still struggling with the shortgages of cars due to the damage caused by the DANA storm in 2024. The demand for the cars after the storm was high as many got ruined in the floods and it looks like the supply still hasn’t managed to catch up. I heard people saying that they often try to go further down the coast if they are looking for more favourable deals. Some people also import cars, for example from Germany.
After doing some research we found out that there were some car dealerships in Paterna (which is around a 15 minute drive from La Eliana). Before heading there, we looked online and checked what they had on offer. Ideally we didn’t want to spend more on our Spanish car than we would get from selling our British car. And we didn’t want to take any loans, just buy in cash.
Buying ≠ collecting
After visiting a few dealerships, we found a car we liked in the Flexicar salon. We were happy that everything went so smoothly until we found out that we will have to wait at least two weeks until we actually can collect the car. The dealer advised that the car now needs servicing and for them to issue all the documents it roughly takes that time. We also noticed that the lamp by the front mirror was broken so we asked them to change that. The day was the 7th of August so we should get our car by 21st of August. It was a tight fit as we had our temporary accommodation until the 23rd of August so we were hoping to get the car to be able to move. Oh how naive we were. This was our first experience of Spanish mañana.
The day of the collection was approaching, I kept sending messages to our dealer to ask about the progress and to stress how important it was for us to get the car on time. He kept assuring us that the car would be ready. However, we didn’t collect our car for another two weeks. We were fuming but there was nothing we could do. In the boiling heat of August we made trips on foot from one place to another with suitcases and everything we had to move. And on top of that the broken lamp didn’t get repaired. They said they didn’t have a part and weren’t bothered to order it. I kept trying messaging them and asking to do it but the issue is ongoing.
Registering your British car in Spain
If you visit Spain in your own car but do not live here, you do not need to import your car. For people who decide to keep their UK car when they move to Spain, they will have to re-register it with the Spanish number plates and import it. You have 30 days to re-register your car from the day you become a resident. The total cost will be between 600 euros and 1,500 euros. Here is the process you need to follow:
- Customs clearance. You must clear your vehicle through Spanish Customs. Vehicle import duty costs 10% and VAt is 21%. You can get tax exemptions if you are moving to live in Spain.
- Pass the ITV Inspection (MOT). For this you will need your UK V5C logbook and a Certificate of Conformity.
- Pay taxes:
- Road tax – this is payable to your local town hall
- Registration tax – this is payable to Agencia Tributaria
- Register at DGT. You need to book an appointment at your local Provincial Traffic Headquarters. The documents needed: passport, NIE, Padron, proof of tax payments and ITV paperwork. The fee is around 99.77 euros.
- Get Spanish plates. Once the car is approved by DGT, you will get your new Spanish registration number. With this go to a local auto parts store to buy a physical Spanish number plate.
- Insure your vehicle.
Although I think we overpaid for our car and overwaited as well, I am still glad that we bought it over here. I heard nightmare stories from people trying to re-register their foreign car and I wouldn’t like to go through this process. Our ITV runs out in October and I am already dreading it. In Spain the inspection needs to be done every two years for the cars between 4 – 10 years old and annually for the cars 10 years and over. I am sure it will give me great material for my next post 🙂