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Buying the Car Part 1: The Research

Updated: Apr 5, 2023


The first step to successfully buying a car in Spain is research: the questions to ask and where to look.



Series

Part 1: The Research

Part 2: Visiting the Dealerships

Part 3: What to Keep in your Car


Helpful Vocab

Financiado (financed, monthly payments) Al contado (in total, pay in full)


Concesionarios (dealerships)

Particulares (individual sellers)

Segunda mano (Second-hand)


Manual (stick shift)

Automático (Automatic)


Diésel (diesel)

Gasolina (gasoline)

Híbrido (hybrid)

Eléctrico (electric)


Etiqueta medioambiental (emissions sticker)


Consumo urbano (city gas mileage)

Consumo extraurbano (highway gas mileage)

Consumo mixto (mixed gas mileage)


Marca y modelo (make and model) Precio (price) Año (year) Combustible (fuel) Potencia (horsepower) Tracción (front-wheel or four-wheel drive)

Kilometraje (Mileage)








My search started in the sweltering heat of July in Madrid. I did the process backward—first buying the car and later taking care

of the license. The latter involves many steps and takes much longer than driving a car off the lot. Plus, dealerships really only want to sell cars and make money. The search grants you more independence and choice.


With a road trip to France quickly approaching, from visiting dealerships to driving the car home, the process took me two weeks. While I accomplished it in a time crunch, consider a solid two months for a less stressful search. A more thorough investigation will guarantee you find the best deals and save the most money.


The quest may challenge you, but Spanish bureaucracy demands that everything follow a relatively straightforward process. Stay calm and organized. Keep a to-do list, use a notebook to compare different cars, write down helpful Spanish vocabulary, and have your documents up-to-date and in order.


Throughout the journey, I came across the perception from other ex-pats that non-residents cannot technically be long-term drivers. I promise you that you have every right to own a car and get a license in Spain. We too often disregard something as impossible when what we mean to say is complicated.


Your first step involves answering some practical questions:


Is the car for commuting or traveling? An older and smaller car might suffice for commuting, but you’ll probably want something more spacious and reliable for road trips. I wanted mine for traveling, although I admit when I’m feeling lazy or running late, I’ll take it to work. A car used for highway miles usually lasts longer than one used heavily in city traffic.



What is your budget? Setting a budget will significantly narrow your search. Most dealerships offer financiado (monthly payments) or al contado (in total). While an upfront payment feels daunting, it could save you thousands since monthly payments accrue interest. If you finance, the dealership may ask for bank statements or a work contract to prove solvency.

Concesionarios (dealerships) offer both options, while particulares (individuals) typically ask that you pay in total.


What are your personal preferences? Makes, models, colors, and stick shifts. Most people in Spain drive manual (stick), so they’re generally cheaper. Automáticos are increasingly becoming available but still more expensive.


Dotted white lines indicate free parking (please excuse the mess, we'd just had "mud rain")

Where will you park the car? Learn from my mistakes. Almost all the problems I’ve had resulted from the neighborhood where I park: missing windshield wipers, scratches, broken mirrors, and a hard-luck hit-and-run (more on that later). Is there space to park in your neighborhood? Parking in most city centers is limited and, in Madrid, restricted to zona azul (metered parking) or zona verde (intended for residents). In the EU, dotted white lines designate free parking.

Check out the cars that park around your house. Do you notice lots of dents, scrapes, or missing pieces? These factors will influence where you feel comfortable keeping the car. You can also check out offers to rent a secure parking space on sites like Idealista.


What type of fuel will I use? Your investigation will show you offers for diésel, gasolina, híbrido, and eléctrico engines.


Environmental sticker driving in Spain, etiqueta medioambiental www.autopista.es
Environmental sticker, image via www.autopista.es

All cars in Spain display an environmental sticker (etiqueta medioambiental) in the bottom left corner of the windshield. The ratings (ZERO, ECO, C, and B) correspond to its emissions and affect where you can drive and park. With that in mind, check out the specific regulations in your city.


Climate concerns have slowly phased out diesel engines, meaning they’re older and more expensive. Typically, diesel was cheaper, so it could become economical if you used the car extensively. More recently, however, diesel prices and taxes have gone up.

Conversely, electric cars are expensive to purchase and charge without a private garage. Cities like Madrid incentivize their use and allow you to drive and park anywhere (center included) for free.

Overall, gasoline engines are the most common, but with inflation, search for a car with good gas mileage (consumo), because fuel is your most recurring expense.


The consumos listed on offers include urbano (city), extraurbano (highway), and mixto (mixed). Vehicles with the lowest reported gas mileage in the EU averaged around five liters per 100 kilometers, but any car with an average of ten liters or less will serve you well. Most ads will display mixed or highway gas mileage figures. If you have the savings for a hybrid, they have the best mileage and can alternate between gas and electric.

Another type of fuel you might stumble across in your search is GLP (liquefied petroleum gas). This alternative is currently much cheaper than gasoline, but that could change. It's also not available at all gas stations.

Speaking of gas stations, when you go to fill up, check what fuel your car takes in the manual or inside the fuel door. Standard gasoline in Spain is labeled 95 or 98.




With the vision of your car in mind, the next step is the search itself. Long before I started physically searching, I scoured the Internet for ads.


While you can always buy the car at a specific dealership, there are also many second-hand (segunda mano) dealerships in Spain. Some of the powerhouses in Madrid are listed below. Despite the gimmicks, browsing their offers helped me gauge fair prices.


  • CliCars advertises itself as an online dealership. You can visit the lot or do the entire process online, with the car delivered directly to your house.


Search the second-hand offers on the above websites and play with the filters to narrow the results. Filters include:

  • Marca y modelo (make and model)

  • Precio (price)

  • Año (year)

  • Combustible (fuel)

  • Potencia (horsepower)

  • Tracción (front-wheel or four-wheel drive)


Another important filter is the mileage (kilometraje). Many dealerships offer Kilómetro 0––vehicles with very few kilometers.


How many kilometers on a used car still represents a good deal? The answer varies, although you can expect the average European driver to add about 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) each year. Multiply this by how old the car is to draw your conclusions. Generally, avoid anything over 80,000 kilometers. In my case, I planned to road trip a lot, so I searched around 50,000 kilometers.


Vehicle search engines allow you to browse beyond dealerships or condense several offers into one list. Two of the best-known sites include:


  • Look under the coches or motor tabs.


  • Apart from a search engine, this website boasts a forum with hundreds of common doubts answered and insightful articles.


These search engines can connect you with individual sellers, whose offers usually cost less than dealerships and allow more room for negotiation. However, exercise extra caution since an individual does not have to pass the same inspections and requirements.


With a list of attractive offers and a budget in mind, your next step is out the door and on to the dealerships.

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