From Canada to Spain for work. Have canadian registered car questions.

Hi BorealMan,

Welcome to Spain & to the Expat.com forum.
Hope you shall enjoy your new life here, at least and claearly more likely a warmer climate.

As for selling your cars I recommend you to post an ad on the 'Classified' section here on the site.
Be aware, before anything else, & just avoiding you unnecessary expenses, mind that further buyers -people in Spain- preffers left-side steering-wheel -cars rather than 'non European' standar vehicles.

Good luck !!
Best regards

kittycat1

Hi kittycat1,
thanks. My cars are left-side steering wheeled and the dashboards read km per hour, etc, I guess they are EU-compatible. Given the years of production must be low emission also.  I haven't taken decision to sell my cars yet, because we are all still in Canada. And Spain realities aren't very clear to me as for now. So at this point I'm just trying to estimate the cost of this big leap to Spain, building my plan, etc.

...OK, so tonight I've had some more time to google it. The answer is rather disappointing (it looks like moderators prohibit URLs on this forum, so I do a small copy-paste):
Should I Import My Car to Spain?

In some cases (especially when importing from outside of the EU) you could be liable to pay around 40% or more of the vehicles value in taxes!

...holy sh...
Here is some more information:
The tax bands are as follows (But may change in the future)

    0 percent tax for vehicles with emissions of less than 120 grams of CO2 per kilometre
    4.75 percent tax for vehicles with emissions from 120 to 160 grams of CO2 per kilometre
    9.75 percent tax for vehicles with emissions from 160 to 200 grams of CO2 per kilometre
    14.75 percent tax for vehicles with emissions of more than 200 grams of CO2 per kilometre
    12 percent tax for vehicles which are not rated for CO2 emissions

Non-EU Vehicles

Taxes for vehicles from non-EU countries include the following:

    10 percent import duty (IPSI, Impuesto sobre la Producción, Servicios e Importación) based on the original market price with reductions based on age of the vehicle, payable at customs offices. -- in my case it is 10% of 2/3 of the new car price.
    21 percent VAT (IVA), payable at customs offices.  Wow...
    Registration tax (Impuesto sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte) of 0 to 14.75 percent based on the vehicle's CO2 emissions (See above).  - Mine is rated to 206g/km, so it is 14.75%
So, at the end it is even more than 40%.

Hi BorealMan,

For your professional reconversion, I can not help you.

But for the vehicles, there, I can bring some tracks. For the bike, no problem for homologation. For the car, if there is no equivalent model in Spain and / or Europe, the cost of homologation will be significant ...
For the SUV, the only way to avoid being stunned by taxes, it would be to register in utility version. That is to say a two seatsFor your professional reconversion, I can not help you.

But for the vehicles, there, I can bring some tracks. For the bike, no problem for homologation. For the car, if there is no equivalent model in Spain and / or Europe, the cost of homologation will be significant ...
For the SUV, the only way to avoid being stunned by taxes, it would be to register in utility version. That is to say a two seats model. You must also think that gas is much more expensive in Europe than in Canada ...

So in conclusion, even with a resale loss, it will be much more financially worthwhile to sell your Canadian vehicles to buy good used cars in Spain.. You must also think that gas is much more expensive in Europe than in Canada ...

So in conclusion, even with a resale loss, it will be much more financially worthwhile to sell your Canadian vehicles to buy good used cars in Spain.

* plan ahead wisely * 
-good luck with your relocating-

Hiya!

This is just a vey quick reply.

I worked in Spain for 2 years, a few years ago.

I realised that nice shiny cherished cars turn to bumped and battered wrecks pretty quickly. It's not the same as UK where people generally respect cars a lot more, mostly. They routinely 'kiss' each other whilst parking - that's what fenders/bumpers are for. This definitely dissuaded me from buying a new car out there.

Importing my car to Spain simply wasn't worth it!! The extra taxes even on older cars was horrendous!! I realised that the Spanish number plate was where the burden lay - I've forgotten the technical details but suffice to say it was not worth it!!!

Second hand cars really hold their value, unlike the UK where they depreciate rapidly and are worth nothing after 10 years. I think the drier climate makes cars last longer. The economic climate also drives people to hold on to cars.

I decided to run my UK car and bike out there for 2 years, although you're supposed to re-register according to both UK and Spanish regulations. My excuse would always be that I'm there temporarily, although I did insure with an ex-pat specialist. I also had the UK number plates made to look like Spanish ones, haha! ie same font and white at the rear.

The graphics design industry was pretty dire when I was there with people getting paid peanuts. Many left to get jobs in UK or Germany - maybe this created a void??

Think about a second hand car when you get there as overall with shipping and taxes it's probably not worth it.

Be prepared to literally melt if you live inland and south eg Seville as it gets to 45C in summer.

Good luck!

good point  Jase675
you nailed it !!

Jase.  “I realised that nice shiny cherished cars turn to bumped and battered wrecks pretty quickly. It's not the same as UK where people generally respect cars a lot more, mostly. They routinely 'kiss' each other whilst parking - that's what fenders/bumpers are for.”


I have been driving cars and m/cycles in Spain for 32 years.   I am careful where I park.  So far i have not suffered any damage whilst parked

I have had a couple of accidents but the other drivers have all been insured and their insurance companies have paid for repairs.  My no claims discounts have never been affected

some additional considerations above what others have mentioned

1) Parking in most of the cities/towns that I have visited in Spain, so far, are few and far between (eg, Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Alicanted, Valencia where I live).  On the other hand, public transportation is excellent.  As a consequence, there's less need, or desire, for a car.  Certainly not much need for two.  I lived here for 3 years before I bought a car, and did not miss it at all.  The only reason we got one was to do day trips.  In one year, we've used it 6000 kilometers, with half that going to pick up my son from after-school activities.

2) Parking spaces are not very big.  Your Scion would be a good car here; your SUV you will find to be challenging

3) Getting a car homologated/ITV'd (safety inspection) is only the beginning.  For cars out of market, you will always be fighting parts availability issues.

4) When you leave, or decide to sell the cars, they may not bring as much due to being gray market.

The bike you will find very useful.