Importing American cars into Spain

 

American cars seem an ideal alternative to the cars available in Spain
Being left hand drive and many of them having the muscle under the hood that brings a grin to the average big kids face.
The down side being if you need a computerised analytic test, the garages with these testers are few and far between.

With the pound being strong against the dollar, some people look importing an American car then get put off by the paper work tests involved in bringing one into Spain

There is a back door method, which will add more expense and time to doing this and that is via the UK. I have no idea about importing an American car into the UK, costs involved, paper work etc

My own American truck is a 4ltr V6 Ford Explorer XLT Sport
This is a three door version rather than the five door right hand drive versions that were sold in the UK

Mine was originally imported into the UK by someone else, then driven into Spain and ended up on a car dealers forecourt. Which is where I came by it.
Being naive and having no idea of what was involved in importing a car into Spain, one mistake was made that has caused a lot of grief and extra tax being payed

Paperwork you will need to import a vehicle
Passport
NIE number
Certificate of residence
Ownership documentation

The following applies to any car you buy on English plates in Spain
Do not send the log book to the UK to transfer in into your name with your Spanish address on it. The nice DVLA, will send the log book back to you, with the exportation slip removed and telling you to register it in Spain

This will mess you about for three reasons.
1, to help speed things along, you need your name on the British log book.
2, if you can prove ownership of the vehicle for six months, you can avoid paying import tax, but you will still have to pay the British consulate for a bit of paper work, which will cost about 132euro
3, ITV stations will only give a new ITV to the person named on the log book in some cases
There is a way round getting your car registered in the UK in your name and thats to get your name on the registration document and use a friend or relatives address in the UK. Get them to send the documents on to you in Spain. Even if you declare it SORN to avoid UK car tax

Shop around for someone to do the importing for you. Prices vary considerably from 500euro to 1000euro

Before you can get you car through an ITV, it needs to go through a vehicle inspection
This again can prove costly
You will need the correct headlights fitted. On mine it was just a case of getting them pointed from one side of the road to the other instead of complete headlight replacement
I did have to have a reverse light fitted to the truck, which in America and England are not a legal requirement on vehicles and get the fog light changed from one side to the other
No aftermarket upgrades should be fitted. Check with the person importing your car, just what are allowed.
I have heard of one guy importing a car with alloy wheels fitted. He then had to borrow a complete set of wheels and tyres to get his car through the inspection

Most European cars have plates with vehicle details on them, weights sizes etc. So a European car inspection can take between an hour to two. With American cars, the vehicle inspector will have to do a lot more tests on the inspection, mine took four hours. With the inspector measuring the truck at one stage
Taxes will be on top of the importing fee's charged
Due to the engine size of mine, I have the great honour of receiving 12% import tax. The tax is calculated on the vehicle worth at the time of importing. They use a book similar to glasses guide
4% sales tax
And road tax. Road tax varies greatly across Spain. Unlike the UK you do not get a uniform price for road tax. In Spain it depend on where you pay your road tax, as to how much it will be and I have also been told it can vary on the time of year as well

Car insurance is not a killer either. My own insurance is for any driver over 30, with it due to drop considerably next next year, since the insurance will be any driver over 40. At present its a little over £500 a year fully comp with vehicle recovery included

What stage am I at with importing mine
A lot of the above is through personal experience
I tried changing the log book to my Spanish address
Dvla sent it back minus the export slip
The car passed its inspection along with the ITV
They will not issue the ITV certificate, because the log book is not in my name
Even though I have a receipt of sale from the garage, the original log book, NIE number and certificate of residence
Without the ITV the truck can not be imported. So its a bit of a catch 22 situation at present, but I have been told this can and will be rectified

Total cost of importing the truck with all taxes and fees including payments to the people doing all the work 2500euro

 

Quick update on this
We have managed to get the car through an ITV station, only to hit another problem.
The truck failed on two things, one being side steps that are fitted and the other being one letter out on the VIN. When the ITV stations check a car for importing, they do a rubbing of the VIN. Mine had V instead of a U in the log book or the other way round.
So we are now in the hands of DVLA in the UK, in the hope they will amend the original log book

I am using a specialist company to sort all this out and to be honest, there is no way I could have got the truck this far if I had been trying to do it myself

 

Latest update on this.
My American truck now has the corrected V5 from the DVLA
A bit of a sweat on my part in case it was a stolen truck
Its passed its ITV. Now just a case of the letting the people handling the import sorting out the taxes etc

 

Since the last post more problems were encountered.
The ITV station came up with more unresolved problems, to be able to issue the ITV certificate.
After another trip down and meeting up with Graham from Replate Mate.
The ITV has finally been issued.
On the way down, a sweaty moment was had, because the offending side steps had been refitted. One of the reasons it failed its ITV in the first place.
The technician at the ITV centre had issues with the weight of the truck.
This then led onto the length being checked, both centre of the wheels and total length being rechecked, along with the vin and then questions about the power of the engine and finally the truck being weighed again.

After what seems like an eternity, the ITV has finally been issued

As for the offending side steps being in place on its latest visit to the ITV station, they are now included on the vehicle specifications. How it could fail on the initial visit with them being listed as one of the reasons for its failure and then to be added to the vehicle specification, I have no idea.

I am now in the hands of the paperwork shufflers. And hopefully close to having a legal truck again

 

As of today, I am the proud owner of a Spanish plated American import.
I would personally have given up on the import ages ago, but the importers plodded on and have gone the extra mile on importing my truck.

So thanks very much to Re Plate Mate

One very happy customer

 

LEE ...the only way I would have gone through all of that ..is if was a 1968 V8 chevey pick-up....or of course my 300c chrysler V8 5.7 Hemi...

 

There was not a lot of difference between importing a British right hand car and my yank. In fact there was less expense because my headlights can be changed from left to right, rather than replacing the whole unit.

I just got collared on the insurance to make things worse, in total with the car insurance has set me back, just short of 3000 euro.

But there are a lot of English plated cars over here and from time to time the police do crack downs. These result in fines or in worst cases the cars being seized. Other people have been given 30 days to get their cars changed to Spanish plates if they have taken up residency

And if the right car came up in the future I would do it again. Its not put me off importing a car.

 

 

hi lee i have a dodge ram 1500 5.7 hemi quad cab and wondered who you have used for the insurance as i have used helvetia fully comp and it costs in exess of 700€ with no difference in price from last year for non accident dicounts as in uk can you let me know on
b4billy2@yahoo.co.uk

 

I use Knights insurance brokers. First year was a pain because the car was on UK plates, then Spanish. So it meant stopping one policy then taking out a new one because of the registration change.

My last renewal, I got quotes from both Directa Line or what ever Direct Line Insurance call their company in Spain (forgetful moment) then I went to Knights Insurance brokers to see what they could do.

Im old school in the fact I prefer to be able to go into an office and deal with a person, rather than talk over a phone. And have always found their staff pleasant and easy to deal with.