The Spanish system for dealing with
vehicles that have served faithfully for many years is to have it taken in by
one of the many Desgauces around the country. A desgauce is the equivalent of
an English wrecker’s yard where your car is written off the records as a
registered vehicle on the road.
In order to have your car accepted
for write off in the official records and to be crushed it has to have been
registered under Spanish plates with all its outstanding debts for road tax
paid, and it should not have any other liens against it.
You may be able to negotiate a fee
from the desgauce as they will break your car down into the sum of its functioning
parts for re-sale to other customers who are continuing to drive their models.
Once a car comes to a point where it is no longer economically viable it is
taken off the roads but its parts can help others to continue in existence.
The problem for some car owners is
that they have imported cars into Spain but they didn’t change the plates
within the specified period of time. After a certain lapse of time the car will
be driven without having the benefit of an annual certification
as to its roadworthiness. That is to say if the car is on foreign plates it
needs to have a current M.O.T in the country of its origin.
It is noted that some such cars do go
through the Spanish ITV but the value of that is doubtful. It should be borne
in mind that the ITV is a business and does not turn away a client.
Secondly, if the car is here in Spain
but is still registered as a vehicle that is currently on the road in say,
England it will be in violation of not having an up to date M.O.T. That car
cannot be broken up in a Desgauce and it can no longer be driven on the road in
England, a fact that will be noted when crossing the border into the country.
Brexit is bound to make matters only
worse, although in what ways we don’t yet know, but it is highly unlikely to be
good.
Finally, the car is a high insurance
risk because there will be many things wrong with its documentation that is
likely to affect any claim made for any damage caused by it. Also, because of
the lack of a proper certification as to its roadworthiness, in the event the
other car is the offending party the blame may revert to your car as perhaps it
should not have been on the road in the first place.
It would seem to be a good idea to
look into conforming your car’s status with regards to its proper registration
here in Spain. The sooner the better!
Copyright (c) 2018
Eugene Carmichael
