Car purchase

Simple answer - the finance price advertised doesn't include the cost of the finance.

I believe that, a few years ago, the Spanish the government were looking at a law to make this be shown more clearly, but it didn't happen.

One of the problems with repeated car rentals is that almost all companies will only rent a car for a maximum of 30 days at a time, after which you have to return the car for it to be 'checked', which is an inconvenience; plus, you are at the mercy of significantly varying rental rates, so what may be €500 per month now, may well be €1,200 per month in July / August.

Hope this helps!

Yep you read that right, they also don't generally negotiate for a cash purchases. It's in the garages interests to sell you finance as that's where they make the most profit.

I'd go for a new car or one that is less than a year old or KM0, Km0 has been registered but not used so often a bit cheaper. Second hand cars hold value a bit more here so  there aren't really any bargains and people generally run their cars into the ground. If you buy when the registration plates change you might get the year before registration a bit cheaper but not much. 

Buying is always cheaper than hiring in the long run, some of the car companies have also added mileage limits in recent years as well as the 30 day hire limit. 

It also depends on location. We have quite a few car sales here in the northwest of Murcia but prices are much cheaper in Murcia city than here. A neighbour bought a brand new van up in Albacete and saved thousands. Research online first if you can.

Thanks for your help and replies.

Hi do you know when in the year the plates change?

Spanish plates are not linked to date. When the MA plates reach 9999 it goes to MB for example, so when they change relies on the volume of sales (plus non-Spanish cars being matriculated of course).

You also cannot choose what plate you get - it is just the next in line (though being Spain I am sure there is a brown envelope system for who gets a nice number!). Registrations are issued nationally, unlike the old system where the letters indicated where the vehicle came from.

Sorry I didn’t explain myself properly, I meant when in the year did the new registration come out so I could buy an ex demo 

I cannot have explained myself properly. There is no link between the registration letters and numbers and any date. If you are looking for an ex-demo or 0kms car then you should ask dealers what they have, but it could be any time of year!

Old post but still valid: 

How it works

The first four numbers of a Spanish Number Plate are a counter which runs from 0000 to 9999. The next 3 letters are a sequence which started with BBB and will finally end with ZZZ. As at November 2018 we are up to KRR, so once there have been 10,000 registrations the letter sequence will change to KRS. Consequently there is no exact method of determining the date a Spanish Vehicle was registered, just an approximation based on the first letter of the sequence.

Thanks I think I have got you now. It’s just that Dax said to buy when the registration plates change and I assumed it was like the UK twice a year. It’s seems to be a better way the Spanish system as your car won’t depreciate when it comes to March and September. Thanks again