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A frequent question asked by motorists of a foreign nationality in Spain is reagrds to the ITV (Inspección Técnica de Vehículos), or the roadworthiness test of a motor vehicle in Spain, which is the equivalent of an MOT in the UK.
ITV tests are compulsory in Spain and as in the UK, can only be done by an authorised Test Centre. The test is basically to check that the vehicle is roadworthy and not a hazard to other road users.
If a vehicle has been involved in a serious road traffic accident, has been subsequently damaged in some way and has undergone any repair work it will need to be retested to ensure that the work has been completed correctly and that your vehicle is still road-worthy.
- New Cars are tested for the first time after four years and every two years thereafter up to 10 years Old
- A car over 10 years must be tested every year
- Motorcycles are first tested after four years, after which the test is due every two years
If a vehicle has been involved in a serious accident, and undergone some repair work it should be retested to ensure that the work has been done correctly and that your vehicle is still road-worthy.
Taking the ITV Test
- Find an authorised testing centre on the website of the DGT (Dirección General de Tráfico): There is a Test centre in most Major Towns
The vehicle's registration document (permiso de circulación) needs to be produced when you are taking your car to the testing centre.
The following Features are Tested:
- tyre tread depth
- lights
- Exhaust Emissions
- shock absorbers
- brakes
- wheel alignment
- Mirrors & wipers
- General Bodywork
If your vehicle Fails the test
If a vehicle fails the test, the owner is issued with an itemised notification of failure for you to present this to your local garage and get the necessary repairs done. Repairs must be done within 15 days of the date of this notification, and then the vehicle should be re-entered for a second examination.
However, Changes to the ITV/MOT legislation comes into effect on May 1 2010, which means that cars that have failed their MOT, or do not hold a valid certificate, will still be able to use the roads for a ten day period of grace. The driver will have to present the car for testing during the ten days, and will have to pay a 150 € fine.
Passing the Test
An ITV card details the results of each test undertaken, and then where appropriate a certificate is issued as proof of roadworthiness. The certificate (which is basically a sticker) must be displayed in the top right hand corner of the windscreen. It shows the month and year of the next test due.
Not displaying the ITV certificate, or driving without a valid ITV can result in severe fines and the Guardia often perform spot checks for this reason.
Foreign Vehicles
Vehicle roadworthiness is not transferable across the EU countries. A car imported into Spain must pass the Spanish ITV test before it can be registered in Spain; likewise, the ITV of an exported Spanish registered car will not be valid in another country. It is possible to get a Spanish ITV on a "Not Yet Imported "UK vehicle in the same manner, if and when your UK MOT expires.
How does this work in practice ?
So now you are at least aware of the theory behind the ITV and all that it entails, You may wish to click HERE to read a first hand personal account of taking a car for an ITV test.
Donna : Yes, you have a 10 day period of grace, but keep a copy of your ITV appointment with you in your car.
Stephanie : You are required to hold vehicle insurance even though your vehicle is off the road click for more info here, however, you can still get an ITV even though the old one has expired. The licence you may or may not hold makes no difference.
Matt : No
Martin : In theory you can get fined for not displaying a valid ITV sticker and must take the test again. If you can find a friendly ITV station and provide evidence of having passsed the test you "might" fall lucky and get issued with a replacement.
My Spanish ITV expires end of 31 April car getting new shock absorbers installed on 2nd May I have a ITV inspection booked for Tuesday 7th May.
Will I get a fine if caught driving car by police? Is there a grace period? I have proof of ITV appointment which I made online. Please advise, and thank you.
I'm in the process of getting a spanish license as my US license is not recognized in Spain. I bought a car while under the tourist time limit to drive with an international permit. However, after it expired I did not get the new license. Therefore the ITV has been expired a year and the car is not insured because I do not have the spanish license. Its sitting in the garage. Will i still be able to take it to ITV after getting the spanish license. And will they insure it after it has been sitting in the garage without insurance? thank you
My Spanish ITV expired in November, and I am now in the UK with the car and plan to drive it to Spain in April. I will book a test at the first city when I cross into Spain. Will I have any problems getting the car re-tested because the cars ITV expired 4 months ago ?
My ITV sticker has gone missing, how do you get a duplicate ? Thanks
Andrew : Maybe the 10 year registration date of your car fell slightly short of the ITV date ? Either way, I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that...
My car is nearly 10 years old and has just been for its ITV today. It did pass but I don't understand why it now expires July 2014. I thought it would be valid only for a year?
Thanks Robster. Its that the panel on the boot (with the light and boot latch) has been pulled off by a very ham fisted friend. We are about to drive from Ronda to Santander, for the ferry. Do you know if it still counts as roadworthy without the light on the reg plate? I suppose as they don't check it, it should be ok without? :-/
As far as I am aware they don't check the light above the number plate - or at least they never seem to have checked on previous ITV's on my car. I suppose that it could be down to interpretation between the various test stations though !
Hi, when it says that they check the lights, does anyone know if that include the light over the rear reg plate? Or just the headlights/indicators etc?
Thanks
lived in spain for 10 years ,,,,,,,,,,,,speak spanish .............above is totally wrong .......who wrote this......................you have 2 months to represent for 2nd test
..............sorry...get it right next time!!
#Steve - Can you be a bit clearer in what you need? Do you need the technical details of a UK car translated into Spanish or the details of a Spanish car translated into English... If you require official certification of these documents you will need to find a certified 'Traductor Jurado' in your area. A notary, Asesor or Solicitor should be able to point you in the right direction. If not, then we know a very good Spanish lass that can do technical translation for you...
I need to get my car technical data translated, the permiso de circulation or technica ficha where do I get this done could you point me in the right direction Im living in Valencia, I`ve tried every website to find this information. can you help?
Sandy : Many ITV centers will offer a significant discount on same-day retests, but the exact amount circumstances vary depending on the station and region in question.
If your car fails its ITV on several things, do you have to pay another re-test fee or is it like UK in that if you take it back within a week then the test is free.
I think the best thing for you to do here Jane, is to pick an ITV station in the area that suits you best and contact them. Differences can and do take place between ITV Stations. Try looking at www.itvcitaprevia.es
Just had my car tested in Alicante...test due by 17th May and had it done on 16th May....next test due by 24th May 2013....so you need to check the date noted down in your fichas.
Just came on this site to ask exactly Barry's question; but not quite clear about the answer. I have my son's Spanish registered car here in France, due to be tested in July (last tested 18 July). Do I have to get it back to be tested by July 18 or do I have 10 days' grace? ie. July 28th.
It will make quite a difference to me, so want to get it completely clear.
Thanks, Jane.
Barry, the ITV expires on the anniversary (1, 2 or 4 years) of the date that you last had the car tested.
Is the ITV cert valid until the last day of the month shown ?
I'm confused.
I've looked at the ITV and DGT websites and can't see any reason why this would be.
Unless your fichas state that your vehicle is a people carrier or commercial vehicle it should be more than 6 months... ( But then again, your Fichas are hardly likely to have changed in the space of 6 months, so should be the same as last year ! )
spanish plates.
Sara : Is your car on UK or Spanish plates ?
I took my renault megane (turismo) for its itv last week. its year is 2001. it passed favorable, but i was only issued 6 months??? last year i got 1 year. Anyone have any clue as to why its so short this time?
The date - whether 4 / 2 / 1 years - is dated from the anniversary of your previous test and NOT the date of registration. IE. If the date of expiry was Feb 1st, but you had to test the vehicle 1 week early for the sake of convenience, your ITV would expire on Jan 24th.
For a private car the first four years are exempt from ITV. From four to ten years it is every two years, once over 10 years then it is annually. Hope this helps.
Does anyone know the exact due date of the ITV for a car.....anniversary of the last test or of the date the car was registered....( last test was 17.05.2010, car was registered 23.05.02. Thanks.
Joanna : Without seeing your Fichas, it sounds very much like the make and model of your car is registered as a commerical vehicle (like a pick-up) and as such a 6-Monthly ITV would be standard for this kind of vehicle.
Hi we took our 7 Seater for ITV last week the car is 13 years old. They only gave us a 6month disc not a year why?
Michael : Yes, that shouldn't be a problem - I ITV'd my own vehicle last week, one month early for convenience sake.
My car is due it's ITV in July - How long before it is due can I take it in to be done ? I am in Ireland at the moment and will be back in June - can I take it then ? - Thanks, found this article very informant!
Jo : You can take an ITV test, but it will be regarded as nothing more than a voluntary safety check by most insurers and be void in the event of an accident.
Phil : What reasons did the Guardia give for fining you ? Did you present the ITV failure certificate to them at the time ?
I understand then that my English Registered car, not yet registered in Spain can get its ITV done here even if I don't have an NIE Number yet?
I took my car for an ITV as it was out of date by a couple of weeks. The car failed however the test centre said I have 2months to fix the minor problem. On the way home I was stopped by the Guardia Seville and they issued me with a ticket but no fine amount on the ticket. Does this ticket mean I will be fined?
I have an english nissan xtrail 2003 which has electric height adjustment headlamps. I am changing to Spanish plates and LHD headlamps, will manual height adjustment headlamps pass the itv?
Lyn : Road Tax in Spain does not work the same way as it does in the UK. It is NOT a responsibility of the Department of Transport to issue and collect the tax, instead it is the responsibility of the Town Hall where the vehicle is registered. Any unpaid taxes are simply attached to the vehicle in question, and will eventually need to be paid by the owner when they sell or scrap the car (with a small surcharge). As such, any taxes that go unpaid on cars are quite commonplace and not treated very seriously at all. By all means, you can get your friend to pay the tax, but there would be no real harm in waiting until you arrive and doing it yourself.
I have a spanish registered car here in Greece which i bought in Lanzarote. I want bring it back to Lanza soon but it needs road tax and insurance before that date. Can a friend in Lanza pay the road tax without the car being present and without producing the equivalent of the MOT so that I have the paperwork to drive over.
No fine as we took it to Orihuela which is part of the Alicante provence. Whether or not this is true, as it´s was something that was passed on to us, but I just wondered if anybody else knew about this. Anyway I´d rather get it right first time around.
Yay ! - I take it that the 56-64 Euros fee did NOT include a fine of any sorts then ?
The car is 10 years old and it would seem that it is all down to which autonomous community the car was registered and is for older registered vehicles, but not all. The car is Spanish and was registered in 1998 in Alicante on the old plates. Apparently some one was fined here in Murcia for not taking his car back to Alicante for his ITV, as they do an extra emissions test. Thanks for your input, but we have sorted it this afternoon, 56.64 euros, passed for another year.
That's the first I've heard of anything like that ! - How old a car exactly are we talking here ?
Hi
Does anyone know if it is true about taking older cars back to their Region of first registering. I was told that the car we have which is A for Alicante has to go back there for its ITV, if you try to get it done say in Murcia you could incur a fine.........Help please anyone
No, the only documentation that you need to take with you is the registration document (permiso de circulación) and technical papers (ficha technico)
Is it a requirement to have a valid insurance certificate to present to the ITV station?
Chris, no - you don't need a copy of the original ITV when you send your vehicle in for a new test .
Chris, no - you don't need a copy of the original ITV when you send your vehicle in for a new test .
Hi
Does it matter if I don't have the last ITV certificate when going to get my Spanish car re-tested for its MOT? I have photocopies but have lost the original. I live in Andalucia.
Many thanks
Chris
I have a spanish car that I keep off road at my holiday home.My itv expires 20/05/11.My next trip out is at the end of June 2011.Is there any way to put off the itv until then,or will I have to go to the expense of flying out in May?
I knew there were variations in the cost of an ITV but surely this is ridiculous ?
The price of ITV tourism varies up to 169% in the regions
Asturias and Extremadura are the cheapest . At the other extreme, are placed Valencia and Castilla y León.
Motor & Transport - Spain - 12/08/2010
FACUA, Consumer Action has prepared a comparative study (see table) on the maximum rates of Vehicle Inspection (ITV) in the seventeen autonomous communities, amounts for which the difference reaches 169% in diesel powered passenger cars and up to 247% motorcycles and mopeds.
The latest annual survey on ITV FACUA reveals that the price of inspections ranges from 24.26 EUR (including VAT) charged by firms in Asturias for any tourism to 65.20 euros it costs in the Valencia move review a vehicle with a diesel engine ...
I have just read in one of our local freebie papers that if your tyres are over 4 years old it is an automatic failure for your ITV . But even if they could, and did check date codes , construction details, load rateings , batch numbers , internal manufacturers codes etc.. ( all on the side walls of all tyres sold within the eu ) would they really bother ?
Thanks for the reply. My problem is that I have a Uk car on Spanish plates. I live in portugal. Have ITV Portugal but it is illegal so have to get spanish ITV. So do not know if I require Spanish address to obtain ITV in Spain or can I just get a garage to carry vehicle to test station get ITV then I can insure?
The paperwork that you are required to produce is the 'Permiso de Circulation' for a Spanish vehicle, or the V5 Log book for a UK vehicle. Personally, I have never been asked to produce Insurance paperwork for the ITV for any UK or Spanish vehicles that I have tested. If testing a UK car on a V5 it will show a UK address on the paperwork anyway, and this has not caused me a problem in the past.
No mention if you need an address in Spain. Do you need insurance before or after obtaining ITV?
What paper work must you take to the ITV when you have the test?
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