Car buying - Should I get one in Tenerife, Spain or bring one with me?

[monet208]

Hi
Because of having to own a UK based car for 6 months to avoid higher import duties importing it into tenerife we explored the buy local option but it seems from forum comments that used cars are quite expensive in tenerife ??
They do not seem that much cheaper in mainland spain around cadiz ??
High milage also seems to be common even on 2/3 year old cars ??

A used decent family size car 2/3 years old seems quite lot cheaper in the UK -looking for example at a 2 year old mercedes CLS
Not worried about having a r/h drive car in tenerife although appreciate l/h would be best

Would apprciate members comments on my comments on prices on the island and mainland spain etc

Good sources of used cars on the island and around cadiz or even madrid ?

[timmylish]

This topic has been discussed ad nauseam here and the previous Forum so do a search and you,ll be surprised at the amount of information you will get. Yes. People coming from Northern Europe and the British Isles in particular cannot get their heads around pricing of cars! At the moment discounts being offered here on new cars are by far the largest I have ever seen. Since time was created the pricing of used cars has consistently remained very high, in comparison to your location. As to whether it would save money to buy on the Peninsula do remember the additional costs, ferry for car (non-resident 600€?), ferry or airfares for you (non-resident) and that,s just for starters. So, in reality the money you would end up paying would be identical, once Import Duty, variances in VAT between here and the Mainland and all other taxes I have forgotten about. Think for one moment. If it were so easy all Canarians, people like me resident for countless years etc etc would have found a way to get these cars cheaper! Yes. Centimos but nothing significant. The only time you,ll score is if you find the car of your dreams on the Mainland at a great price and then take the chance by ordering on line. You payys yer dosh and take yer chances, so to speak. Site for used cars as follows, others may have more;-
http://www.segundamano.es/anuncios-sta-cruz-tenerife/?ca=38_s
this site covers all of Spain. Good luck! I,ve been there before.

[Tom & Sharon]

The price of new cars here is almost identical to the UK, even with the current exchange rate.

We bought a new car, and if you want a brand new car, I would buy it here.

You see all kinds of absolute crap second hand stuff here, both on the road and offered for sale, at ridiculous prices.

Personally, if I wanted to buy a decent second hand car like you mentioned ie. a 2/3 yr old Merc, I would approach the LHD dealers in the UK, of which there are many, and get them to source me one. I would look for one on Spanish plates, and just drive it here.

Just google LHD cars for sale, and all the dealers will pop up. There are loads.

[timmylish]

The price of new cars here is almost identical to the UK, even with the current exchange rate.

We bought a new car, and if you want a brand new car, I would buy it here.

You see all kinds of absolute crap second hand stuff here, both on the road and offered for sale, at ridiculous prices.

Personally, if I wanted to buy a decent second hand car like you mentioned ie. a 2/3 yr old Merc, I would approach the LHD dealers in the UK, of which there are many, and get them to source me one. I would look for one on Spanish plates, and just drive it here.

Just google LHD cars for sale, and all the dealers will pop up. There are loads.

I,ve just spent 3 hours doing as suggested and my head is truly sore! The bleedin' prices on the sites Googled are even worse than just buying here and, in some cases (originally non Spanish) still have to be re matriculated! Unless something exceptional crops up I,m just gonn astay with buying here.

[monet208]

Thanks everyone
Will explore new prices when we come over in a few weeks but probably will go for a 2/3 year old car
Only problem I have found on tenerife and mailand spain sites is the high milage on many of the cars 2/3 years old - perhaps thats all around at the moment

[dixie4]

I bought a Spanish registered car in UK from eBay. Then drove it to near Granada via Santander. I saved a fortune on the car purchase price. Two years later I sold the car for a substantial profit. Perhaps I was just lucky. Registering the car in Spain with an absentee previous owner was a small hassel but sorted in the end. Having the right paperwork and a good Gestor was the key.

Recently I looked at doing the same again this time taking a car to Tenerife. I could not find the right car available in UK at that time. So looking 'outside the box', again though eBay but the Spanish version, what I did find was that Barcelona seemed a cheap region to buy a car compared with Tenerife and the rest of Spain. I understand ferries run from various points on the Atlantic coast at about 700 Euros for the trip. Could be a bit of an adventure.

[Stoney]

I did all the research about cars as well, you will save nothing, never mind all that extra paperwork and if you don't speak Spanish it would take forever. Go to a main dealer and look at the nearly new models, the price might be on the high side for secondhand but you will find one with low mileage if you have a bit of patience, I got one from Santa Cruz with only 5000 klms on it

[Tom & Sharon]

Thanks everyone
Will explore new prices when we come over in a few weeks but probably will go for a 2/3 year old car
Only problem I have found on tenerife and mailand spain sites is the high milage on many of the cars 2/3 years old - perhaps thats all around at the moment

If you're still thinking Merc - be careful. Think about it, it's practically impossible to rack up a load of mileage in a couple of years on an island this small.

A friend of my son's here, who is in the motor trade, told me that most of the 2nd hand Mercs on the island have come from Germany. He said that the mileage is due to them having been driven up and down the German Autobahns, and that most have them have been "clocked".

Look at this one on ebay:- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/09-MERCEDES-C-320-CDI-DIESEL-LHD-LEFT-HAND-DRIVE-/110733033486?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19c834000e

If that was for sale here, it would be silly money, and I wouldn't trust the info on it here either! It says they can assist with re-registration anywhere in Europe as well. I still say, if that's what I was looking for 2nd hand, that's where I would buy. Not here.

[soren lorenson]

[QUOTE=Tom & Sharon;88066]If you're still thinking Merc - be careful. Think about it, it's practically impossible to rack up a load of mileage in a couple of years on an island this small.


Your joking, wish it was, I´ve clocked up over 100,000 Kms in my 4 year old car!

[princessmonika]

25000 kms per year are you going around the island every day--:wow:

[Tom & Sharon]

Your joking, wish it was, I´ve clocked up over 100,000 Kms in my 4 year old car!

Well ours is 1 year old next week, and it's done the grand total of 4,200 km!

[monet208]

Thanks for the ideas Will certainly look at spains ebay and around barcelona

Added after 3 minutes:

Thanks for the info
I have saved that ebay seller and will certainly look at other ones that specialise in lhd cars

[tracey_in_tenerife]

i bought a LHD Renault Megane Cabrio on autotrader and on spanish plates, i had been looking for a while, a friend over in tenerife arranged the re registering in to my name, and it got drove over, the best 6k ive ever spent, my car over in Tenerife would be around 12,000+