What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

peterpan241 · Post by **peterpan241** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:17 pm

Just toying with an idea at the moment of buying a bike in France, because what I'm looking at is plentiful and appears to be cheaper than here. Then take it to Spain and register it there, my brother lives in Spain so I could keep it at his and get him to insure it as he has an IEA (?) number.

This would allow me to take cheap flights (sometimes) as apposed to long road journeys and expensive ferry crossings to explore Spain, Portugal & Morocco.

Any suggestions / advice gratefully accepted

heavy · Post by **heavy** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 9:42 pm

you will be able to do the French purchase part, very complicated, ive just looked into it for my mate, hes uk resident and I live in france, so found out how to do papers, and your bruvver should be able to help you import it into spain, you will need patience,
regards rikki

Tim Cullis · Post by **Tim Cullis** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:21 pm

I have a Spanish-registered bike and car in Spain yet my official residence is London.

You can get your own NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) tax number using your brother's address, you don't need to be a resident for that.

Re-registration is a right pain, however, here's a typical googled page: http://spain.angloinfo.com/transport/ve ... a-vehicle/
And http://spain.angloinfo.com/transport/ve ... u-vehicle/

The costs of transferring a vehicle registration (free in the UK) are likely to be several hundred euros depending on the age and value.

Then phone up Linea Directa (Direct Line) and chat to one of their English-speaking operators, https://www.lineadirecta.com/

Lairyskippy · Post by **Lairyskippy** » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:26 pm

I've recently imported a UK registered Versys 1000 (2013 model) and that cost about 1,000 euros. Furthermore, a mate of mine down here imported a UK registered Kawasaki VN800 (2002 model) that had originally been imported into the UK from Germany and that also cost him just under 1,000 euros. Go figure that one?

Good luck with what you decide to do.

peterpan241 · Post by **peterpan241** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 7:57 am

Thanks for your replies guys, my other train of thought was to buy it take it to my brothers in Spain use it for 6 months and bring it back to the UK and register it here. Is it easy to get UK insurance on a French registered bike? or am I getting even more complicated? Is there a Spanish site like www.leboncoin.fr?

Simon_100 · Post by **Simon_100** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 8:11 am

Tim Cullis wrote:I have a Spanish-registered bike and car in Spain yet my official residence is London.

You can get your own NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) tax number using your brother's address, you don't need to be a resident for that.

That's really useful Tim - do you know any latest about driving a Spanish registered vehicle regularly on a non-Spanish EU licence? I've always thought since they dropped the old tourist plated vehicles that unless it's a rental this is no-go, but evidently not from what you are saying!

peterpan241 wrote:Is there a Spanish site like www.leboncoin.fr?

Yes, it's called Mil Annuncios - but you want to sit down before you look at the prices!
In general it's usually wise to get a 'gestor' , a kind of universal fixer, to do the import process for you - some times they can save you money and they will always save you loads of time ...

You should also check that the bike you want to import has been marketed here, otherwise you may face Type Approval issues :whistle:

Regs

Simon

Tim Cullis · Post by **Tim Cullis** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 2:18 pm

peterpan241 wrote:Thanks for your replies guys, my other train of thought was to buy it take it to my brothers in Spain use it for 6 months and bring it back to the UK and register it here. Is it easy to get UK insurance on a French registered bike? or am I getting even more complicated? Is there a Spanish site like www.leboncoin.fr?

Yes, http://www.vibbo.com/ (used to be segundomano)

You can also get Spanish insurance on a non-Spanish vehicle. Either way round (UK insurance with vehicle in Spain or Spanish insurance with vehicle in UK) you will likely be restricted to the time you are covered with the green card.

Tim Cullis · Post by **Tim Cullis** » Thu Dec 24, 2015 2:24 pm

The Spanish Biker wrote:
Tim Cullis wrote:I have a Spanish-registered bike and car in Spain yet my official residence is London...
That's really useful Tim - do you know any latest about driving a Spanish registered vehicle regularly on a non-Spanish EU licence? I've always thought since they dropped the old tourist plated vehicles that unless it's a rental this is no-go, but evidently not from what you are saying!

The two aren't connected. If you live full time in Spain you should have a Spanish licence** but you can be non-resident driving your own Spanish-registered vehicle on a UK licence.

**though my mate has been there eight years and is still running around with the old-style UK paper licence with no photo card.

From our 'caveliving' forum: http://caveliving.forummotion.com/t5559 ... nish-or-uk

What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen

Re: What's involved - buy a bike in France, register it in Spain but as a British Citizen