Irish car in Spain - insurance

1123heavy

Hello all,

I am looking to buy a car and will immediately be taking it to spain. I have to be in Spain for 3 months for studying a course and will need the car whilst there, cars are a lot cheaper here and I know how things work so taking one from here.

Now comes the question of insurance, I have been quoted 3,500eu here - ridiculous sums. So I was wondering if anyone knows if I can take out insurance in Spain? It should be more affordable and i can just cancel it then when I'm leaving (I won't need the car after the 3 months anyway).

I did a bit of research and it seems the car has to be registered in spain to be eligible for spanish insurance, how is this process?

All recommendations much appreciated on this dilemma.

FYI I am 23 with a full license of 2 years and 2 yrs no claims.

SmartinMartin

It is very expensive and awkward to register a foreign car in Spain. It would take up most of your 3 months. You'd be far better off just buying one there.

SmartinMartin

Have a read here, although if you're not a resident there may be different rules :

https://www.justlanded.com/english/Spain/Articles/Travel-Leisure/Registering-and-insuring-a-foreign-car-in-Spain

dubrov

You are much better off buying one out there and selling it again at the end of the three months. If cars are more expensive that would also be reflected in your sale price.

Also factor inn the steering wheel is on the other side of the car which will make driving much more difficult

K.Flyer

You may be better off looking into renting a car.
Its now low season and if you shop around you can get deals on long term rental.
Also look at independent car rental excess policies to cover the fully comprehensive side of the rental.
Buying a car here, driving over, fuel, tolls and ferry costs both ways will cost you a lot of money.
And don't think of having an Irish car over there with no current tax or road worthy cert, the police are on a mission at the moment seizing foreign cars.

SmartinMartin

What flyer said. You might have a problem renting though, most companies there insist on over 25. Have a look at www.doyouspain.com.
Looks like a month's rental for a 23 Yr old is around €700. If you do go for it don't pay the rental company's full insurance, take out a rental insurance policy through the likes of www.worldwideinsure.com and save yourself a lot of money. Bear in mind though, the rental company will block €1000 to €1200 on your credit card for the duration of the rental.

Charles Babbage

As above, find a rental company that does under 25s. You might not need a car every day anyway and so you might only need to rent for half the time.

I spent a few months in the US, I rented a car for a month or so and in the meantime looked for a good deal for the next month, I lived near an airport and got a car from a different operator there if they were cheaper. If there was a busy period which was driving up prices, I only rented for the busy period and then went again when the prices had fallen.
The biggest problem was remembering what colour/make of car I had that day.

1123heavy

Thank you all for replies, it certainly made me consider renting a lot more than I was having just brushed it off as expensive. Also I never realised it would be so complicated and expensive to register the car there.

I looked at the doyouspain site and found some really good deals, but then they were charging me a 212eu excess for being a young driver. I then looked at ryanair car hire and found some even cheaper deals, there was of course a surcharge for my age too but it was 95eu, an excellent deal in comparison. It's coming to about 200eu for a month, so i guess i'll rent another car at the end of the month.

I am fervently trying to find what the catch is with the ryanair car hire, so far it seems they try to sell you additional insurance with the threat that an undisclosed amount may be blocked on your debit card when picking up the car if you don't take out this insurance.

Charles Babbage

1123heavy wrote: »

Thank you all for replies, it certainly made me consider renting a lot more than I was having just brushed it off as expensive. Also I never realised it would be so complicated and expensive to register the car there.

I looked at the doyouspain site and found some really good deals, but then they were charging me a 212eu excess for being a young driver. I then looked at ryanair car hire and found some even cheaper deals, there was of course a surcharge for my age too but it was 95eu, an excellent deal in comparison. It's coming to about 200eu for a month, so i guess i'll rent another car at the end of the month.

I am fervently trying to find what the catch is with the ryanair car hire, so far it seems they try to sell you additional insurance with the threat that an undisclosed amount may be blocked on your debit card when picking up the car if you don't take out this insurance.

The excess on the insurance is probably substantial €1000+. This would be the block on your credit card. You can insure the excess with a third party, as noted above, but you would still have the block on your credit card, as this third party insurance is not the concern of the car renter. Insurance to cover the excess is hugely expensive, so for a longer stay I would take the hit on my credit card, maybe even lodging the sum into the credit card if your limit is not sufficient.

Autoeurope.ie is a good site for comparing deals in general, not sure how they are on the under 25s. They also sell excess insurance.

coylemj

1123heavy wrote: »

It's coming to about 200eu for a month, so i guess i'll rent another car at the end of the month.

Leaving aside the issue of the excess insurance, there is no way a company can rent you a decent car for €200 p.m. and cover depreciation, rent for the desk in the airport, staff wages, basic third party insurance, cleaning and servicing the car etc. etc.

There is a major catch hidden somewhere and which will jump out and bite you when you arrive at the airport. The 'bargain' Spanish rental companies are notorious for this.