violas Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 We will retire to Spain in 18months.Do we buy a motorhome in Spain or in Germany or UK before we go.LHD obviously, and about £25000 (!) Would appreciate some advice. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 It would be better if you put this on Motorhome Matters because they're all mad on here. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hymer C 9. Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Thanks John :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J9withdogs Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 John H - 2008-01-11 1:48 PM It would be better if you put this on Motorhome Matters because they're all mad on here. B-) I'm not mad - I've got a certificate saying that I am sane :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Thou Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 What it probably says Janine is that your are internaly sane or for short...............insane. Sorry but the truth can hurt sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J9withdogs Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Nah Nah Nee Nee - you can't upset me :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 I haven't got a certificate saying I'm sane but I've got a piece of paper somewhere that says I'm okay to be out in public unsupervised 8-) :-D D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 violas - 2008-01-11 1:39 PM We will retire to Spain in 18months.Do we buy a motorhome in Spain or in Germany or UK before we go.LHD obviously, and about £25000 (!) Would appreciate some advice. Thanks Just in case all the silly replies put you off a bit, as you will by now have gathered, this is the silly corner. If you follow the advice above and re-post your query in Motorhome Matters, you should get more reasoned responses, or at least responses from (some!) people who have read your question!Buying a motorhome after you get to Spain would seem the most straightforward route because of the following:1 LHD in UK is liable to be more expensive than in Germany or Spain. It is also liable to have a MPH speedometer, left dipping headlamps and the rear fog lamp on the wrong side. Remedying this will involve additional expense.2 Registration of an imported vehicle in Spain is, I understand, difficult even if you are fluent in "admin Spanish", slow, and expensive since, under their system, you have to work through intermediaries - who have to be paid.3 Once you commence the registration process, I understand you cannot use the vehicle until registration has been completed. This, I believe, is because as soon as you start the process it is automatically de-registered in UK and so cannot be insured by a UK insurer, whereas it cannot be insured by a Spanish insurer until registration is complete.4 If if your van is continuously in Spain for more than six months it must in any case, legally, be taxed, registered and insured in Spain.5 If you buy it in Germany and then want to insure it in UK for use before you move, you will have to register the van in UK (and change the headlamps, speedometer, and rear fog light for UK compliance), incurring additional cost. Then, after you have moved to Spain, you'll have to re-register all over again as in 2 above. If you buy in Germany and seek to export direct to Spain somehow the van has to cross France. You'd need to check very carefully whether you could obtain insurance for that trip: my present understanding is that comprehensive insurance is not available, but third party only may be. You may therefore have to pay for the van to be transported, or professionally driven. When you get it to Spain the procedure will be as 2 above.6 If you buy in Spain, even if the "ticket" price is a bit higher (but I don't know if this is true, you'd need to buy a Spanish mag to compare prices), the dealer will do all the necessary so you don't get the - expensive and time consuming - headaches.Forgive the off topic, but have you researched all the health, welfare, and pension issues surrounding moving to Spain? There have been a lot of recent changes, and many are finding they can't get healthcare in Spain because they haven't been resident long enough to qualify under their system, or haven't yet reached the Spanish statutory retirement age, whereas once you are out of UK for over six months you can't necessarily get treatment on the NHS back at home. I'm not expert, and there is a lot of detail concerning whether you become resident in Spain, where your pension is paid and therefore where you are registered for tax. However, depending on circumstances and general health, you may need private health insurance and, if you have a pre-existing condition, that can be very expensive or even unobtainable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Brian ok sorry didnt mean to upset you honest Just in case all the silly replies put you off a bit, as you will by now have gathered, this is the silly corner. If you follow the advice above and re-post your query in Motorhome Matters, you should get more reasoned responses, or at least responses from (some!) people who have read your question! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 violas - 2008-01-11 1:39 PM We will retire to Spain in 18months.Do we buy a motorhome in Spain or in Germany or UK before we go.LHD obviously, and about £25000 (!) Would appreciate some advice. Thanks See Brian's advice above, which I would fully endorse. I would STRONGLY, no, VERY STRONGLY urge you to buy in Spain. We have lived here in Spain permanently for the past 5 years now. If your MH isn't on Spanish plates, you are going to have some massive issues regarding insurance, vehicle tax, ITV (the Spanish equivalent of MOT) in the coming years. I mean MASSIVE. Like the Policia impounding your vehicle. Like going to jail for not having valid seguro (insurance) if you have an accident. Etc. My strong advice: wait till you get here an get settled in, then spend some time going round the Spanish MH dealers.......it's just as much fun doing it here as in the UK, except that you can do it in the sunshine here wearing shorts almost all year round. Almost all dealers have English speaking staff..... but then of course you are already learning Spanish in preparation for coming to our country. One thought though: there ain't any such thing as a Sale of Goods Act in Spain. If you do buy a lemon, you'll usually have the Devil's own job trying to get anything done about it. So there's a lot more "Caveat Emptor" (let the buyer beware) about purchasing anything here in Spain. Not something to be too worries about, it just means that when you find the MH you think you'd like to buy, go over it inside and out with a fine toothcomb. And then do it again. 'Cos getting faults fixed before you part with your money is easy. Getting them fixed afterwards here is not. On the upside though, vehicles don't rust here. Very little rain, and no road salt means that they last much longer than in the UK. Also mostly the equipment inside the MH will be exactly the same as you would get in the UK......so even if manuals etc are in Spanish here, you can get most in Englsih off the internet if you need to. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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