Join the Punta Prima forum
My name's Alex and this is my website all about Punta Prima in Spain. Register now for free to talk about Driving, hiring, buying and owning a car in Punta Prima and much more!
Hi. We are in the process of buying a holiday villa in Punta Prima area in Alicante . We will be visiting around 5 - 6 times a year. We have been advised to purchase a vehicle rather than renting. We were wondering if we can import our few years old Mini Cooper from the UK to Spain and use some vehicle management agency on Alicante airport. Any advice on the pros and cons and tax implications etc would be much appreciated. Cheers. Ali
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 11:22am
Super helpful member
As long as you are not permanent residents and come to Spain under the 90 days rule, you can bring you vehicle and use it with your UK plates.
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 11:34am
killjoy wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:22am:
As long as you are not permanent residents and come to Spain under the 90 days rule, you can bring you vehicle and use it with your UK plates.
Thanks so much for your helpful reply. Will it still apply if we leave it at the airport with some agency and only use it when we visit Spain under the 90 day rule??
Contact Leigh at https://www.spanish-number-plates.com/ he is the expert and very helpful.
We imported our car when we moved down permanently. It is an older Land Rover Discovery which we fully intend to keep and run into the ground. We needed a 4 x 4 as we live 500 metres up an unmade track and as we are totally renovating our villa we needed something that could take a bit of abuse!
As the driver's position is high then all round vision is good and negates many of the problems with driving a RHD vehicle on the wrong side of the road. Tolls and car parks will cause problems unless you have a passenger and overtaking is riskier.
Second hand car prices are very high in the UK so personally I would sell it there and buy a LHD here. Prices are higher in Spain but the import price may cancel the difference out.
Ali786 wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:34am:
Thanks so much for your helpful reply. Will it still apply if we leave it at the airport with some agency and only use it when we visit Spain under the 90 day rule??
You would need to take it back to the UK every year for the MOT.
Advertisement - posts continue below
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 11:45am
Cheryl wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:35am:
Contact Leigh at https://www.spanish-number-plates.com/ he is the expert and very helpful.
We imported our car when we moved down permanently. It is an older Land Rover Discovery which we fully intend...Read more...
... to keep and run into the ground. We needed a 4 x 4 as we live 500 metres up an unmade track and as we are totally renovating our villa we needed something that could take a bit of abuse!
As the driver's position is high then all round vision is good and negates many of the problems with driving a RHD vehicle on the wrong side of the road. Tolls and car parks will cause problems unless you have a passenger and overtaking is riskier.
Second hand car prices are very high in the UK so personally I would sell it there and buy a LHD here. Prices are higher in Spain but the import price may cancel the difference out.
Thanks so much. Probably best then if we buy a second hand car in Spain. Seems like a big hassle importing a UK car there.
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 11:47am
Cheryl wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:40am:
You would need to take it back to the UK every year for the MOT.
Thank you so much. That seems like a big hassle. We probably will have bite the bullet and buy a second hand car in Spain though the prices are quite high!!
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 12:46pm
Very helpful member
Ali786 wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:47am:
Thank you so much. That seems like a big hassle. We probably will have bite the bullet and buy a second hand car in Spain though the prices are quite high!!
Prices are higher than in the UK because the weather is better and the cars are in good condition for a lot longer.
Ali786 wrote on Mon May 2, 2022 11:45am:
Thanks so much. Probably best then if we buy a second hand car in Spain. Seems like a big hassle importing a UK car there.
Hi Ali, try Chris at Car Registrations Spain. Based in La Zenia they organised the import of our 4 year old Mini Cooper last year. Total cost including ITV and mechanical works to realign lights, import tax etc was 1300€. They can even organise insurance for you, although we got our own
They picked the car up from La Zenia boulevard and brought it back 4hours later, all legal and legit. Completely hassle free process
No issues with RHD vehicle apart from tolls and overtaking.
We haven't bought a second hand car in Spain but from reading a few threads on this forum it doesn't seem to be that straightforward.
Cheers
Posted: Mon May 2, 2022 8:11pm
We have imported a used UK car to Spain twice. The total cost easy around 1300 euros including changing all the lights and electrics over. You might pick headlights etc up cheap in a breakers. The documentation can be tricky and we found it easier to pay someone who knows the ropes to do it for us. Remember to pass the technical inspection the vehicle must be the same spec as original ie no modifications, not even a tow bar. I can recommend a good mechanic who can do it all for you. Get back to me for contact info.
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.
