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Take care with car transfers
Be wary of handling the used-car transaction on your own, however. If you are selling your own old car to a new owner, make absolutely sure that the transfer is completed into the new owner’s name. Otherwise, you may find that the new owner conveniently forgets to register the car in his own name, which leaves you as the still-registered owner liable for any parking tickets or road tax that come due on the car.
If you fear that this may be the case, you must then have the vehicle de-registered in your name. This is called a baja de matricula.
Again, you obtain the form from the traffic department, and you must present the receipt for the current year’s municipal vehicle tax. If you no longer have the circulation permit and the inspection certificate, because they are with the new owner, you can make a sworn declaration of this.
You must also make this application for baja when you junk an old car. Sometimes you think that the car is off the road when it has in fact been repaired and someone totally unknown to you is illegally operating it. Make the de-registration and you will be protected from later consequences.
Inspection required
Vehicle inspection of older cars is compulsory for Spanish-registered cars. Cars more than four years old must be inspected. So be alert when purchasing an older car, and ask for the Inspección Técnica de Vehiculos certificate. If the car doesn’t have one, you have to have the car tested yourself if you want to use it on public roads, and there’s no guarantee it will pass the test. When you hear Spaniards say IT~ they mean MOT.
Buying used cars in Europe
With Spain’s entry into the Common Market, people begin to ask whether they can go to Belgium or any other EU country and buy a used car and import it into Spain, because Spanish used cars tend to be more expensive than used cars in most countries.
Automobile depreciation is much quicker in countries like Germany, Holland and Belgium. One estimate calculated that a mid-level BMW about two years old could be bought and imported from Germany at a saving of about 25 per cent, including the payment of Spain’s special registration tax of 12 per cent.
Be warned, however, that there is plenty of paperwork and delay. Experienced gestores report that the process takes more than three months; that the testing and registration fees can easily reach €600, in addition to the special tax.
They also advise the prospective importer to make sure the original factory invoice for the car is available and to have the vehicle inspected and certified roadworthy in its country of origin even before it enters Spain.
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