Buying or selling a used car in Spain can be a hazardous business, but if you take care to ensure that all the necessary paperwork is completed to cover yourself against liabilities, things should go smoothly. Any Spanish car must have two documents: a permiso de circulación, which makes it legal to drive the car on public roads, and a tarjeta de inspección technical de vehiculos or certificate of roadworthiness.

If you sell a car, you must sign the section on the back of the permiso de circulación which begins ‘Transferido …’. To make sure no problems arise you should also write in the date of the sale. This obliges the new owner to complete the paperwork within 10 days. You can also notify the jefatura provincial de trafico of the sale, to cover yourself in case the buyer omits to change the name on the car’s papers.

If the car is still in your name after the sale, the new owner could be running up fines for which you will be liable. You can check this: ask at the jefatura for the form called solicitud de datos del registro de vehiculos (request for vehicle registration details). This will tell you whether or not you are still the car’s registered owner. It is however a legal requirement for the buyer to transfer the vehicle into their name as soon as possible after its purchase.

If you are buying a car you must ask the seller for two further documents. The local car tax, impuesto sobre la circulación de vehiculos, should be fully paid up to date (ask to see the vendor’s passport or identity card to check their signature is genuine, and ask for a photocopy for your own security, in case anything goes wrong). The other document you should have is a transferencia. This is obtainable from Trafico and should be completed and signed. Help with all these papers can be given by a competent gestor or by the Real Automovil Club de España (RACE).

Be careful to check the legal status of any car you buy. All cars over four years old must be inspected and must pass the inspeccion technical de vehiculos (ITV), equivalent to the MOT test.

In order to buy any vehicle, you must have a NIE/NIF Number.

If you buy a vehicle from a reputable car dealership, they usually handle all the paperwork on your behalf to complete the ownership transfer. However, they will look to you for payment of Trafico’s transfer tax and fee.

If you purchase a vehicle privately, you should produce the following first at the Hacienda then the Trafico office: 

•   Ficha Tecnica and Permiso de Circulación (signed on the back by the Seller)
•   Current ITV (stamped on the back of the Ficha Tecnica)
•   Original Road Tax Certificate (Impuestos Vehiculos) + 1 photocopy
• Copy NIE & Passport/Residencia of the Seller + 2 photocopies
•   Original NIE/Residencia of the Purchaser + 2 photocopies
•   If the Purchaser is non-resident, original Passport (or copy certified by the Ayuntamiento), plus a Certificado de Empadronamiento from the Ayuntamiento to confirm the address, plus a signed declaration that the Purchaser has a valid licence + 1 photocopy of both

•   The relevant Trafico transfer forms, duly completed and signed by both parties

The transfer will take a minimum of fifteen days. Trafico charges are approximately 40 Euros plus a tax amount that is 4% of the book value of the vehicle.