Technical Report

Cost: 120 euros
Needed:

1. Specification sheet on the car
2. Any technical manual

Result:

1. Stamped two sited paper with car technical details.

Call the College

It seems before a car can be imported it needs to conform to what is allowable on the road. The cars details have to be recorded by a certified "engineer" from the:

Call them and ask for an engineer. They will take your phone number and an "engineer" will call you within a few days. At least that's what they say. I had to call back because the engineer didn't call back as promised. In fact when the first engineer I contacted could not be reached by his contact phone a month and a half later it all happened all over again. I called the college for another engineer and again I had to call back to speed things up.

Is it worth paying for a report?

From what the engineer said if the same model or type of car has already been imported you should be able to import your car without too much trouble. Seeing as though this type of car has already been accepted by whatever "need a stamp" governmental regulatory body that is in charge of this. If the car hasn't been imported before that might not be good. In fact it seemed that a technical report would be a waste of time and money because the costs of getting the car accepted would be prohibitive. The engineer said he would not make the report if he didn't think it would be accepted. Plus he said he would return half his fee if the car could not be passed by ITV for faults uncontrollable by the owner of the car.

Chassis Number

Getting a serial number, which has a special name possibly the chassis number, located under the bonnet (hood) was important for the engineer. He also took a few measurements. But it seemed he did most of his work looking up the vehicles vital measurements somewhere else and typing them up nice onto paper which he then gives his own stamp. To be fair, his inside knowledge as to whether the car would have a chance at passing seemed gave him more credibility in my book.

Technical Engineer

The first engineer, who never worked out, bid 200 euros for everything with promises of "no problems" because he seemed to know the right people. The second engineer was very above board and fairly knowledgeable. Both engineers gave mobile phone numbers as contact numbers. The second engineer did give a fixed number later.

There doesn't seem to be a set price that the engineer will charge as it seems that will depend on the vehicle type. In this case the charge was 120 euros. Though on pestering the College they did give more or less the same figure. In this story the engineer drove (40 kilometers) to inspect the car and a week later I picked up the technical report from him, paying on delivery being very satisfied with the informative engineers services. Even more after car passed ITV. Though not really happy about the need of having to pay anyone for this stamped piece of paper.

Sale (transfer) of used Vehicle: 620 Form

Cost: approx. 4% of car value. 620 form 60 cents
Needed:

1. Translated original bill of sale and two copies
2. Copy of Technical Report or Circulation Permission for Vehicle
3. Copy of sellers id (if possible)
4. Original and copy of your id. You must be a resident

Result:

1. Two "stamped" different colored carbon copies of the 620 Form.

You'll need to go to the "Liquidation" office to pay the transfer tax, where they will liquidate you. Just kidding, but they will take your money. Four percent of the vehicles value. They will supply the form for 60 cents and you can fill it out there. I found 620 forms on the Internet but since you have to go there anyhow what's the point.

Bill of sale in Spanish

Since I was importing a car and it wasn't legal in the eyes of Spanish law the Technical Report was needed. If the car is legal you'll need the "permission to drive" paper instead.

You need the original bill of sale translated into Spanish. A bill of sale in this case is not any official form. Just an agreement between you and the seller. If you've yet to buy your car do a copy in Spanish to save you the trouble of having it translated later.

I picked up a "fill in the blanks" Spanish bill of sale form from an auto school. Clicking on the small picture will show you the full size. Your welcome to it. It's a little confusing as it was written as if the buyer and seller had people on their behalf filling out the form.

ITV Inspection, two trips

Cost: approx. 96 euros
Needed:

1. Technical Report
2. Original Registration

Result:

1. Stamped "favorable" two sided paper showing results of the inspection.
2. Copy of the previous original car registration stamped by the ITV.
3. Green "thick paper" technical inspection card.

Around here ITV's are privately run inspection centers for vehicles. The car of this story was inspected at a big ITV in Malaga near the airport. It may have had half a dozen bays for vehicles to enter. During the visit it seemed to be very efficient, friendly and well run.

Since this car was being imported or/and it came with a technical report it cost more, for some reason.

Right hand drive and headlights

The technical engineer was somewhat concerned about the right hand drive and also the headlights. But that could have been because of not having inspected many right hand drive cars. Of course I was concerned also. Having to change the steering wheel position was out of the question and having to replace headlights another expense and a possible second trip to ITV for inspection.

If understood right, headlights are angled somewhat to not point into oncoming traffic. In England they drive on the left side of the road and the headlights are angled opposite to here. Some English vehicles over here have tape covering part of the headlights to counteract this effect. The car in this story had this tape also. The outcome was that the tape was taken (scraped) off. The car was put in front of a wall with it's lights on and I adjusted the lights with a screw driver so they didn't seem too much this way or that. In the end the lights were not an issue during inspection.

In this case, concerns for the right hand drive car and overzealous inspectors where unfounded. The person at the desk said they regularly inspected right hand drive cars. Though from what I've heard it could be a different story if it's a larger vehicle.

Mandatory second trip to ITV

It was a relief to have the car pass. Even better on the first time. Maybe some worries were unfounded? Anyway the paper work needed to be processed and would take a week. Which they were, but of course meant another trip to ITV. They kept the original registration for the car which they stamped and gave me a copy of it.

Vehicle Tax:

Cost: depends on engine size
Needed:

1. Vehicle documentation

Result:

1. Paid receipt

This is the tax where your local town hall gets a slice of the pie. Payment amount depends on the engine size of the vehicle. Bring its documentation. In my case it was the Technical Report. For an already registered car the green technical paper should do it. This needs to be in the municipality where you are registered as a resident.

It's a yearly tax which is supposed to be paid at a certain time of the year. Most of that year was up when mine was paid so I was only charged for the time left of the year. You don't pay there. They give you a bill which you pay at one of many banks. The bank will stamp it and you keep that copy to take with you to the Jefetura. You can also tell them to take the amount from your bank.

Car Registration Tax:

Cost: seven percent cost of vehicle. 565 form cost under a euro
Needed:

1. 565 form

Result:

1. Paid receipt of form

You need to pick up a 565 from which you can get from any tax (Hacienda) office. In my case I got the 565 form from the tax (Hacienda) building in Malaga. Which is right next to Corte Ingles on the river. You fill out the form and pay it at the bank. The tax man will contact you later if he/she didn't think the value of the vehicle was right.

Fill out the 565 and pay it at your bank, or any bank for that matter. The bank will stamp it as paid and the form will be one of the pieces of paper you'll need to show at the Jefetura.

Jefetura del Trafico: Where it all comes together...hopefully

Cost: 62,20 euros: request for registration
Needed: It varies, but in my case...

1. Request for Registration form (Solicitud de Matriculacion). Pick it up at the information desk.
2. Original ID of owner of car and a couple of copies (just in case).
3. ITV Inspection papers (Tarjeta Inspeccion Technica). Bring them all and copies of each (just in case).
4. Vehicle tax receipt, original and copy.
5. Car Registration tax, form 565 (white & blue sheets & copies).
6. Vehicle documentation, original & copies.
7. Original & copy of bill of sale (factura de compra) translated into Spanish.
8. 620 form and copies (just in case).

Result:

1. Vehicles green technical paper (stamped).
2. Permission to drive the vehicle (to be kept in the vehicle).

La Jefetura: May fit some peoples stereotype of a "chaotic" government office

Reminder leaflet

Traffic fines are also paid at the Jefetura which accounts for what seemed to be why over half the people were there and which definitely influences the atmosphere. Anyway, you need to bring all your hard earned paper work here. Bring everything you have (just in case). If you get your vehicle passed the first time let me know. And to be fair the reasons I didn't pass the first or the second time was I didn't have everything I needed. Which, by the way, I had on a reminder leaflet (in Spanish) which you can get from the information window. Which you can see in here.

The phone is, of course, an answering machine which you can weave through by pressing the right number on your phone. Messages are of course in Spanish, there didn't seem to be another language option. At the end of the message, which I listed to countless times, a voice phone number was given. Which was always busy. If you really need to talk to someone there by phone (beats driving to Malaga) try finding another number of another department. Sort of approaching from another angle.

Who you going to talk to?

Permission Form

Pick up a permission to register (Solicitud de Matriculacion) form from the information desk. Fill it out and pay at the cashier. After you pay your "request" you will be given a number. If you have paid for your request on a previous day get a number from the information desk. At the other end of the large room, stepping down, there were waiting chairs and about four desks in semi enclosed areas. Here is where the people who will look over your paper work sit and you'll need to talk to one. There was a digital display showing who's number was next and which desk they needed to go to. I had to come back another day and it didn't matter that I saw someone different the next day.

Anyway, give all your paper work to this person and keep your fingers crossed. Of course it always pays to be civil with these people, though I did see someone stretching it allot. Other administrators had to be called over to clarify the point and I thought they were handling it very well. Even considering the people stretching it were being overly thick and were just being a pain.

Registration processing

It took me over an hour to get to the Jefetura in Malaga. Finally on my third day trip to the Jefetura the papers were was accepted. Yeeha. Then woman said to me "come back tomorrow to pick them up"...Well what can you do?

How you going to get there?

The Jefetura is on the west side of the river (for lack of a better word) which cuts Malaga in two. When I was there the Larios center would give three free hours of parking with an at least six euro purchase. I also found metered street parking without too much trouble, though your mileage may vary. I found the bus and train system excellent and inexpensive. A friend found that the bus service had nothing to do with his experiences of using the bus service in England. If you have any trouble just ask people where the Jefetura is, sooner or later you'll get an answer.

Other Bits

License Plates
Cost: 18 euros
Needed:

1. Newly gotten paper work on the car

Result:

1. Two license plates.

After getting your vehicle legal you'll need license plates. There is a store which does plates just up from the Jefetura around the corner. They close lunch time. You'll need your new paper work to show them. If I remember right, two plates cost around 18 euros. They don't drill the mounting holes for the plates. I did mine by using the old plate as a template. Taking off the old plate and laying on top of the new plate and drilling using the old holes as a guide.