2. Second-hand vehicles

It is necessary to check that all vehicle original papers are available, together with the car insurance, the registration document, the definite registration plate and the technical identification card. These documents guarantee that the vehicle was legal in the origin country, which is a basic condition to register it in Spain. Vehicles sold at auctions, exhibitions or events cannot guarantee all these conditions, and can lead to problems difficult to solve in order to register the vehicle in our country. Vehicles can have the European approval or not. It will depend on the antiquity of them. In case of not having the European approval, the Spanish administration can possibly demand a technical inspection in order to register the vehicle in Spain. This inspection is usually expensive.

Necessary requirements of the first-hand vehicle purchase contract:

• Name and address of both parties, with the seller’s detailed identification.

• Delivery place and date of the vehicle.
• et price (without VAT).
• Meter kilometres.
• Vehicle identification number, which is the same that appears in the property certification.
• Vehicle model and brand; a statement in which the seller makes clear that the vehicle is new.
• The signature of both parties.

Seller’s documentation:

• Purchase contract

• Material data sheet

• Certificate of Conformity with the data sheet

• Issued, sealed and signed guarantee, with the vehicle delivery date. These are necessary requirements to exercise the guarantee right. It is important to take into account that only official car dealers can fill, sign and seal the guarantee. The guarantee has to include the correct vehicle data, the guarantor, the holder of the guarantee, the holder’s rights and the guarantee deadline.

• Post-purchase issued, sealed and signed cheque book. Only official car dealers can fill, sign and seal the guarantee.

• Bill and delivery note with the correspondent date.

• Currency change price certification the day that the vehicle delivery was made in order to pay the taxes to the finance office.

Provisional registration:

A second-hand vehicle can be purchased to a professional or a private individual. Direct purchase to a private individual can be cheaper, but usually does not provide the same guarantees than the purchase to a professional.

If you buy the vehicle to a private individual you should analyse it. If you are not able to do it, a professional has to analyse your vehicle.

We recommend to check the brakes, pneumatics and motor… and to compare your identification number or the number written in the motor with the number of the vehicle identification card. We also recommend adding a clause to the purchase contract that establishes that the contract is subject to the definite registration in the country where the buyer lives.

Necessary requirements of the purchase contract:

• Name and address of both parties, with the seller’s identification

• Delivery place and date of the vehicle

• Chassis number of the vehicle; it should be the same than the property certification number.

• Statement in which the seller confirms that the vehicle is not a stolen vehicle and that it has not been taken in an accident. The seller also has to state which the brand, the model and the spare parts are.

• Signature of both parts

Seller’s documentation: (again):

• Purchase contract

• Bill and delivery note with the correspondent date

• Material data sheet

• Roadworthiness test for motor vehicles

These are necessary requirements to exercise the guarantee right in the future. The guarantee has to include at least the object of it: (the correct vehicle data), the guarantor, the holder of the guarantee, the holder’s rights and the guarantee.

If the vehicle is acquired by means of an intermediate the guarantee is valid the day the seller delivers the vehicle to the intermediate. The period of time between the delivery and the purchase may be long.

In this case we recommend not giving money in advance before seeing and examining the vehicle.

If you are going to move the vehicle form the country where you have purchased it to Spain, you need to have the following documents:

• A provisional registration number (you can also keep the original registration number in the case of a second-hand vehicle)

• A temporal vehicle licence
• The original vehicle documents
• Public liability insurance. In some countries, you can find 15 days or one month insurances that are valid for the period to time needed to move the vehicle from the purchase country to the destination country. You can contract insurances with the following companies:
  • A company in the same country than the country where the provisional registration was done.
  • A company in any State having an open office in the country where the provisional registration was done.
  • A company in any other State that grants freedom to provide services in the country where the provisional registration was done.

Second-hand vehicle insurance; second-hand vehicles are already registered and have a public liability insurance, so you can temporally use the former owner’s insurance (if the registration country does not change).

If you want, you can submit us your case: members / non-members

Taxes depend on who is the seller of the vehicle:
If the seller is a private person: the purchase is subject to the tax on capital transfers and documented legal acts that have to be paid in the destination country.

• If the seller is a private person: the purchase is subject to the tax on capital transfers and documented legal acts that have to be paid in the destination country.
• If the seller is a businessman engaged in an occupation: you should pay the value added tax (VAT) in the origin country. In this case we have to distinguish between two different situations:
  1. If the seller is a private individual: the VAT breakdown should be included in the bill (though the bill can be admitted without the VAT breakdown)
  2. If the seller is not a private individual (a self-employed person, for example): in this case it will depend on the foreign seller; he can accept the scheme for used goods or the general scheme and the regulation of these schemes in the country where the purchase is made.

• The scheme for used goods: it is possible that the administration of the purchase country does not allow the buyer to recover the VAT (which is the case of Germany, for example)

• General scheme: the buyer can recover part of the VAT in the country where he lives

• The registration tax

• Vehicle excise duty