Join the Alicante City forum
My name's Alex and this is my website all about Alicante City in Spain. Register now for free to talk about Driving, hiring, buying and owning a car in Alicante City and much more!
We are planning to drive to Spain in our UK registered car and thinking of leaving it in longterm airport parking for for 6 months, when we fly back to the UK. The idea being to save on carhire costs. We would drive the car back to the UK for MOT when it is due.
Is it legal to have a UK registered car in a secure parking area for this length of time? Or would it have to be put onto Spanish plates?
Thanks in advance
Yes, you can keep it on UK plates. As long as you don't use it more than 6 months in a year the car can remain provided it is taxed, insured and MOTd in its own country.
Posted: Tue Mar 5, 2024 5:07pm
Legendary helpful member
Hi,
I believe a UK registered car can only be kept in the EU for 6 months in any 12 months. So, for example, after bringing the car into the EU on 1st Jan it must be out by the 30th June it cannot be brought back into the EU until !st Jan the following year. I suppose any combination of visits can be made as long as the total time does not exceed 6 months. That's the way I read the rules online, I could be wrong.
If you have two cars you could cover the full year in Spain, but is it worth it? I have thought about doing that but not really looked into the costs as at the moment my Spanish registered car is going fine.
Rgds,
Aitch.
aitchc1401 wrote on Tue Mar 5, 2024 5:07pm:
Hi,
I believe a UK registered car can only be kept in the EU for 6 months in any 12 months. So, for example, after bringing the car into the EU on 1st Jan it must be out by the 30th June it cannot be brought back into the EU until !st Jan the following year. I suppose any combination of...
Read more...
... visits can be made as long as the total time does not exceed 6 months. That's the way I read the rules online, I could be wrong.
If you have two cars you could cover the full year in Spain, but is it worth it? I have thought about doing that but not really looked into the costs as at the moment my Spanish registered car is going fine.
Rgds,
Aitch.
I think it's the driver and not the car that the 6 months pertain to. UK law states you do not have to deregister the car if it is out of UK for less than 12 months.
Of course, this may now have changed but the rules were you could not drive it abroad for more than 6 months in one year but the car could remain for up to a year provided it was still taxed, insured and MoTd.
However, the sites saying that are now rather old so I would check if things have changed since UK is no longer in the EU. But it was also the driver and not the car that was time limited to 6 months in a EU country and even then not exceed the 90 in 180 rule.
We have a near (ish) neighbour that brought his UK car over for a couple of months, then his son came over and drove it and then the originals came back and drove it for a couple of months all within the one year and then drove it back to UK at the end for the MoT. He insisted that was the rule, the driver not the car.
Best to check with DGT though in case the rules did change.
You need to inform your insurer as leaving a car unattended in a foreign country is a material fact which you have a duty to disclose.
If you doubt this then ask your insurer!
Advertisement - posts continue below
Posted: Tue Mar 5, 2024 8:39pm
aitchc1401 wrote on Tue Mar 5, 2024 5:07pm:
Hi,
I believe a UK registered car can only be kept in the EU for 6 months in any 12 months. So, for example, after bringing the car into the EU on 1st Jan it must be out by the 30th June it cannot be brought back into the EU until !st Jan the following year. I suppose any combination of...
Read more...
... visits can be made as long as the total time does not exceed 6 months. That's the way I read the rules online, I could be wrong.
If you have two cars you could cover the full year in Spain, but is it worth it? I have thought about doing that but not really looked into the costs as at the moment my Spanish registered car is going fine.
Rgds,
Aitch.
Thank you.
Posted: Tue Mar 5, 2024 10:05pm
Legendary helpful member
marcliff wrote on Tue Mar 5, 2024 5:18pm:
I think it's the driver and not the car that the 6 months pertain to. UK law states you do not have to deregister the car if it is out of UK for less than 12 months.
Of course, this may now have changed but the rules were you could not drive it abroad for more than 6 months in one year but the car could remain for up to a year provided it was still taxed, insured and MoTd. ...
Read more...
...
However, the sites saying that are now rather old so I would check if things have changed since UK is no longer in the EU. But it was also the driver and not the car that was time limited to 6 months in a EU country and even then not exceed the 90 in 180 rule.
We have a near (ish) neighbour that brought his UK car over for a couple of months, then his son came over and drove it and then the originals came back and drove it for a couple of months all within the one year and then drove it back to UK at the end for the MoT. He insisted that was the rule, the driver not the car.
Best to check with DGT though in case the rules did change.
Hi,
there are a several websites that say only 6 months maximum for a foreign registered car driven by a non-resident, but nothing defininite that I can find on any official site, so your suggestion of asking DGT is the best option.
Rgds,
Aitch.
The law states you can take a UK reg car to Spain for 6m in a 12m period. Speak to your insurance company and get the reply via email. Your insurance will state that, but we queried that if it was off the road for a while can it be extended. We drove over, used it then locked the car in a secure garage when returning to the Uk. I seem to recall it didn't have full insurance whilst it was unattended. It became fully comp as soon as we came back and used it again. The insurance stipulated the start and end date for being out of the UK. We were going to run out of days for the drive home and were told over the phone it could be extended 2 further days. I rang to get it in writing in case we were stopped etc and they denied we could do that. They did look into it further after a bit of hassle and we were ok. So whatever they say get via email. I don't recall exactly how many days it was out of the Uk. If you had numerous family members using it, and you are back and forth, it'd be worth it.
Posted: Wed Mar 6, 2024 9:52pm
Tine123 wrote on Wed Mar 6, 2024 8:49pm:
The law states you can take a UK reg car to Spain for 6m in a 12m period. Speak to your insurance company and get the reply via email. Your insurance will state that, but we queried that if it was off the road for a while can it be extended. We drove over, used it then locked the car in a secure ...
Read more...
...garage when returning to the Uk. I seem to recall it didn't have full insurance whilst it was unattended. It became fully comp as soon as we came back and used it again. The insurance stipulated the start and end date for being out of the UK. We were going to run out of days for the drive home and were told over the phone it could be extended 2 further days. I rang to get it in writing in case we were stopped etc and they denied we could do that. They did look into it further after a bit of hassle and we were ok. So whatever they say get via email. I don't recall exactly how many days it was out of the Uk. If you had numerous family members using it, and you are back and forth, it'd be worth it.
Thank you. That's really helpful to know.
Find more Driving, hiring, buying and owning a car topics from a particular area:
Or view all Driving, hiring, buying and owning a car topics in all of Costa Blanca.
