Buying a car - driving in Spain
Buying a car - driving in Spain
When buying a car in Spain, prepare for the fact that it may not look new for long! 18 months ago I paid 24,000 Euros for the first brand new car I’ve ever owned. Today it looks like a 5 year old car. Driving in Spain is actually a pleasure most of the time – very few traffic jams, lovely scenery and usually a lovely sunny day – its just the other drivers that are the problem. How many people can say they’ve driven through Spain and not been cut up on a roundabout, blocked in by someone double parking, had some irate driver 2” away from your bumper for miles, or come face to face with a driver on the wrong side of the road? Most of these circumstances are not one offs, but regular occurrences.
I have a neat round towbar dent in the back bumper from someone backing in to me whilst I was parked, and a dented front number plate gained by the driver in front suddenly deciding to reverse into a parking space which I was partly covering at the time (no reversing lights, hence no warning). I have also had the front bumber, wing and bonnet totally replaced after a lady opened her door without looking, in a narrow village street, plus various dents and scrapes where a driver has been determined to squeeze into a space in which he barely fits. Dents and scrapes in my pride and joy make me angry, the attitude of the perpetrators enrages me further. They truly do not see it as a problem, in fact the lady who took off my wing told me off for getting upset as she kept repeating ‘no problema’ over and over again. Her attitude was that the insurance would fix it, so why worry? True enough, but when you are on your way to an appointment because you have to work, have to pick up kids from school, and there is no local bus services in the area, it proves to be a big problem when you are unable to use your car. The insurance did not pay for 10 days car hire, so yes, it WAS a problem.
Ever seen some of these drivers parking? They judge their distances by banging into the cars front and back numerous times until they are safely snuggled in the middle. They double park, the park on zebra crossings, they pull up in the middle of the road and jump out to nip into the local shop whilst you sit tapping your fingers and waiting. No amount of horn slamming or shouting gets the result you are looking for – no-one is in a hurry to let you pass.
I also have a key scraping from front to back on the drivers side, and the Peugeot badge on the boot has been prised off with a knife - probably due to kids. Not to mention what the dog has done. Following its return from the garage with its brand new bumper and wing, the dog obviously decided he didn’t like the new smell to proceeded to eat it. I now have a partially chewed wheel arch and bumper at the front. That’s apart from the claw marks on the boot – god knows what he was doing on there.
One of the young guys who makes the signs for our office was hit by a speeding driver overtaking him last weekend – the passenger side of his car is a complete write off, but the Spanish guy who hit him jumped out, threatened to hit him, and then drove off again leaving him in tears of shock. The police can’t do anything because he has no description, and left with with the impression that they didn’t really care about it anyway.
As there are no drains, or cambers on the majority of roads, when they flood (which they always do when it rains) you can find yourself driving through rivers up to your wheel arches, even when it dies down the roads are still dangerous as the have no grip. However, Spanish drivers don’t seem aware of this and just carry on as normal. Best not to be on the roads when its wet.
If you let someone past, or stop for pedestrians, don’t expect a thank you – you probably won’t get one, and if you do it will be from another English driver or possibly German – never Spanish.
Zebra crossings are another hazard. My daughter’s friend got hit by a moped who overtook a car approaching a crossing in Benidorm. The moped driver came off his bike and her friend got taken to court and charged. He had to pay compenstation to the driver for his injuries, despite the fact that he too was taken to hospital with injuries!!!
Many urbanisations and country villas still have dirt track access as opposed to tarmac roads, in fact the main entrance road into the Jalon valley is so full of potholes that you arrive in the valley with bumps and bruises if you come over the mountain too fast. Unfortunately, I have to drive there every day so I expect very soon I will have a large bill for suspension repairs. Surprisingly enough, I know very few people who have suffered punctures.
Villages often have exceptionally narrow streets where once upon a time only a horse and cart would pass. Many streets are wide enough for one car only, yet receive two way traffic and allow parking. A weird tradition they have is that on the first of the month, the parking is changed to the opposite side of the street. You have until Midday to move your car if it is still parked on the wrong side, or it will be towed away. I have no idea why this is. Pavements are so narrow that everyone walks in the street, and if you live in the village you will have parked cars with 12” of your front door, making it very difficult to squeeze in with your weekly shop. Virtually impossible with a baby’s buggy I would think.
If I was buying a car now, I would probably opt for a second hand one - I'd probably find it less stressful. Second hand cars hold their value better here as they are less prone to rust, but are therefore more expensive than in the UK. Trading in your old car is encouraged, as the government try to avoid cars of over 10 years old being on the road. I don’t really know why this is, as most cars look like they’ve been driving in Spain for 10 years even if they are relatively new.
Read the book 'Moving to Spain' to find out more about life in Spain.
I have a neat round towbar dent in the back bumper from someone backing in to me whilst I was parked, and a dented front number plate gained by the driver in front suddenly deciding to reverse into a parking space which I was partly covering at the time (no reversing lights, hence no warning). I have also had the front bumber, wing and bonnet totally replaced after a lady opened her door without looking, in a narrow village street, plus various dents and scrapes where a driver has been determined to squeeze into a space in which he barely fits. Dents and scrapes in my pride and joy make me angry, the attitude of the perpetrators enrages me further. They truly do not see it as a problem, in fact the lady who took off my wing told me off for getting upset as she kept repeating ‘no problema’ over and over again. Her attitude was that the insurance would fix it, so why worry? True enough, but when you are on your way to an appointment because you have to work, have to pick up kids from school, and there is no local bus services in the area, it proves to be a big problem when you are unable to use your car. The insurance did not pay for 10 days car hire, so yes, it WAS a problem.
Ever seen some of these drivers parking? They judge their distances by banging into the cars front and back numerous times until they are safely snuggled in the middle. They double park, the park on zebra crossings, they pull up in the middle of the road and jump out to nip into the local shop whilst you sit tapping your fingers and waiting. No amount of horn slamming or shouting gets the result you are looking for – no-one is in a hurry to let you pass.
I also have a key scraping from front to back on the drivers side, and the Peugeot badge on the boot has been prised off with a knife - probably due to kids. Not to mention what the dog has done. Following its return from the garage with its brand new bumper and wing, the dog obviously decided he didn’t like the new smell to proceeded to eat it. I now have a partially chewed wheel arch and bumper at the front. That’s apart from the claw marks on the boot – god knows what he was doing on there.
One of the young guys who makes the signs for our office was hit by a speeding driver overtaking him last weekend – the passenger side of his car is a complete write off, but the Spanish guy who hit him jumped out, threatened to hit him, and then drove off again leaving him in tears of shock. The police can’t do anything because he has no description, and left with with the impression that they didn’t really care about it anyway.
As there are no drains, or cambers on the majority of roads, when they flood (which they always do when it rains) you can find yourself driving through rivers up to your wheel arches, even when it dies down the roads are still dangerous as the have no grip. However, Spanish drivers don’t seem aware of this and just carry on as normal. Best not to be on the roads when its wet.
If you let someone past, or stop for pedestrians, don’t expect a thank you – you probably won’t get one, and if you do it will be from another English driver or possibly German – never Spanish.
Zebra crossings are another hazard. My daughter’s friend got hit by a moped who overtook a car approaching a crossing in Benidorm. The moped driver came off his bike and her friend got taken to court and charged. He had to pay compenstation to the driver for his injuries, despite the fact that he too was taken to hospital with injuries!!!
Many urbanisations and country villas still have dirt track access as opposed to tarmac roads, in fact the main entrance road into the Jalon valley is so full of potholes that you arrive in the valley with bumps and bruises if you come over the mountain too fast. Unfortunately, I have to drive there every day so I expect very soon I will have a large bill for suspension repairs. Surprisingly enough, I know very few people who have suffered punctures.
Villages often have exceptionally narrow streets where once upon a time only a horse and cart would pass. Many streets are wide enough for one car only, yet receive two way traffic and allow parking. A weird tradition they have is that on the first of the month, the parking is changed to the opposite side of the street. You have until Midday to move your car if it is still parked on the wrong side, or it will be towed away. I have no idea why this is. Pavements are so narrow that everyone walks in the street, and if you live in the village you will have parked cars with 12” of your front door, making it very difficult to squeeze in with your weekly shop. Virtually impossible with a baby’s buggy I would think.
If I was buying a car now, I would probably opt for a second hand one - I'd probably find it less stressful. Second hand cars hold their value better here as they are less prone to rust, but are therefore more expensive than in the UK. Trading in your old car is encouraged, as the government try to avoid cars of over 10 years old being on the road. I don’t really know why this is, as most cars look like they’ve been driving in Spain for 10 years even if they are relatively new.
Read the book 'Moving to Spain' to find out more about life in Spain.
posted by Debbie at
8:39 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home