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I’m moving to the area in October and really have no idea to get a car. In England I usually PCP a car (therefore paying a monthly rental) for 3/4 years.
is there a similar system in Spain as will need a car for work? Or is it better to buy? And then if I do buy, do they have any finance deals?
Thank you in advance
I've just bought a car here, so hopefully my experience will be of some help...
The used car market in Spain is less mature than the UK. This is due to 2 main reasons - firstly, very few companies offer company cars in Spain, so there is a lack of 3 year old ex-fleet cars coming into the market (but a lot of small 2 year old ex- car rental cars, with high mileage, but usually mechanically well-maintained, but lots of scratches and bumps). Secondly, culturally, Spanish families buy a car new and then hand it down through the family until it is run into the ground. The end result of this is that is less choice of cars and they sell for slightly higher than the UK.
The Spanish equivalent of Autotrader is www.coches.net
When you view cars either on coches.net or in a main dealer, you will see 2 prices - one for cash and one for finance. The finance price will commonly be about 10% cheaper than the cash price - but in reality you would end up paying more due to the finance costs. This seems a really strange way of doing this, but it appears standard!
The finance option is the equivalent of a PCP (deposit, monthly payments, option to buy at end of contract). The other alternative is that most banks offer lease-only cars (called 'renting') - these rates seem comparable to the UK.
The good news is that road tax is charged differently by each municipality and is cheaper than the UK (it's broadly based on BHP and emissions). Whoever owns the car on 1st January pays the road tax for the year (there is no refund if you sell mid-year). I believe that MOTs (ITV) are not due until end of year 4 and then bi-annually until year 10.
You need to be registered on the padron and have an NIE number to buy a car.
I paid cash, as I had the proceeds from the sale of my car in the UK and that was what I wanted to do.
Hope this helps!
RichT wrote on Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:57pm:
I've just bought a car here, so hopefully my experience will be of some help...
The used car market in Spain is less mature than the UK. This is due to 2 main reasons - firstly, very few companies offer company cars in Spain, so there is a lack of 3 year old ex-fleet cars coming into the market (but a lot of small 2 year old ex- car rental cars, with high mileage, but usuall...
Read more...
...y mechanically well-maintained, but lots of scratches and bumps). Secondly, culturally, Spanish families buy a car new and then hand it down through the family until it is run into the ground. The end result of this is that is less choice of cars and they sell for slightly higher than the UK.
The Spanish equivalent of Autotrader is www.coches.net
When you view cars either on coches.net or in a main dealer, you will see 2 prices - one for cash and one for finance. The finance price will commonly be about 10% cheaper than the cash price - but in reality you would end up paying more due to the finance costs. This seems a really strange way of doing this, but it appears standard!
The finance option is the equivalent of a PCP (deposit, monthly payments, option to buy at end of contract). The other alternative is that most banks offer lease-only cars (called 'renting') - these rates seem comparable to the UK.
The good news is that road tax is charged differently by each municipality and is cheaper than the UK (it's broadly based on BHP and emissions). Whoever owns the car on 1st January pays the road tax for the year (there is no refund if you sell mid-year). I believe that MOTs (ITV) are not due until end of year 4 and then bi-annually until year 10.
You need to be registered on the padron and have an NIE number to buy a car.
I paid cash, as I had the proceeds from the sale of my car in the UK and that was what I wanted to do.
Hope this helps!
Rich thank you so much that is really useful and exactly what I wanted to know! Superb!👏👏👏
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