www.boxertrix.com

I have a pal who lives in Spain, who wants to buy a new bike ( a Kawasaki I'm afraid!) but says that buying a new bike there is very expensive.
He is considering coming over to the UK to buy said bike on British number plate and riding/shipping it back to Spain, then stashing it away for a few months to avoid having to register it in Spain? Sounds a but dodgy to me!
So, question is, has anyone here living in Spain gone through a similar process and can advise him please?
Is there an alternative way to save on a new bike?

I would have thought that as he’s living in Spain he will at some point have to register it for insurance purposes at least, he’ll have to do a bit of number crunching to see if it’s worthwhile.

I live here , In Spain .

There is a hell of a rigmarole to go through to change to Spanish plates.

If your mate lives here, and is registered "residensia" , on the padron etc, he will have to pay import duties on top of the registration costs.

The registration varies from place to place and who ever you use to do the myriad of red tape trips. but its about E750 to E850.

Then if he is a legal resident , he has to pay import duties , which is on the Spanish authorities valuation , not what you paid , at between 17% and 20 %

Then the road tax is calculated on the emissions .

Don't forget compulsory insurance , which includes recovery.

The english bike will have to have ITV inspection , and must be exactly as it was manufactured, no aftermarket exhausts, lights , tail tidy etc .

Correctly speed rated and sized tyres .

So , yes , I'm busy doing my BMW because to take it back to UK every year for MOT , will add up , in 2 years worth , may as well bite the bullet and do it, then no more worries.

At the end of the day , if he doesn't have a bike yet, may just be worth buying a local bike, all the extra red tape is done .

Hi Gerry,
Thanks for getting back to me, you are well qualified with your advice as you are living there.
He retired to Spain many years ago, so is domicile there.
I will pass your comments on to him, sounds like buying out there may be the least hassle?
Paul

70tno wrote:Hi Gerry,
Thanks for getting back to me, you are well qualified with your advice as you are living there.
He retired to Spain many years ago, so is domicile there.
I will pass your comments on to him, sounds like buying out there may be the least hassle?
Paul

Absolutely , and cheaper in the long run I'm afraid .

If he buys through a dealer , he'll have all the warranties etc , no schlep back and forth to the different govt agencies in the different towns to register , pay import tax , find a helpful ITV , some are sticklers, some are easy going , but to know which is which is a problem ...