spinnaker sam
Member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2015
- Messages
- 6
Hi guys,
Have been kind of retired living in Spain for the last 7 years.
When i first came over i had a Mitsubishi Delica and towed all my possessions including a flat pack kitchen from the top of Spain to the south. Took me 3 trips to do the whole lot.
After 12 months i tried to get Spanish plates for said car, only to be told i could not as it was a car not normally sold in Spain. So drove it back to the Uk to the same dealer i bought it from and exchanged it for a Nissan Mistral LWB auto with the 2.7td engine. I think it is a 1995/1996 version. Bought a couple of armchairs and some cornflakes to fill up the back and once more drove back to the south of Spain. Car was much more economical, and did the journey quicker. Probably because i did not take any wrong turns!
Anyway as Terranos had been built in Spain i was fairly confident of getting Spanish plates in due course. I eventually did, but had to remove the reversing mirror, the small overtaking mirror and my big fog lamps located on the bull bar before it was accepted. Also had to have a long rear number plate with new lights fitted to the rear bumper as the normal location for a square shaped plate on the rear door was not big enough to take the Spanish size plate.They looked very closely at the wind deflectors around the windows as well, but i got away with that. 2 years later at the itv (mot) test i was told the law had changed and my rear fog light was on the wrong side, so now have one fitted under the bumper on the correct side.
So now to my next problem. I am on the move again, and this time hoping to get to Bulgaria. Only one journey this time and i am hoping to get all i want to take in a trailer and the car. I know i can not use my old uk trailer with Spanish plates, so that is remaining here with all the winter firewood stored in it. So i have to get a tow hitch fitted by an authorised dealer and then buy a trailer. On my Spanish car documents it quotes the weight of the car and says i can tow 750 kg unbraked and 2800 kg braked, which i now know after reading articles on this site is not correct. Also on further inspection of the paperwork it says i have a Terrano 2 tdi, even though the chassis number quote it as being the r20 series with the td engine.
So wanting to know accurately what i can tow and especially what the gross train weight is for a Nissan Mistral i have been searching the web in vain. Then i discovered that the weights should all be on the vin number. Full of hope i looked under the bonnet at the plate, only to discover that it only showed the chassis number and no weights at all.
So my questions are as the plate is blank does it mean that i am not allowed to legally tow anything? Alternatively would it be termed as a "car" which means no GTW has to be quoted and i can tow what i want? Or am i just being stupid and looking in the wrong place?
Unfortunately being a Japanese import i have no handbook and most of the other writing on the car is in Japanese.
From reading the forum i think the GTW should be 4280 kg and the gross trailer weight 1700 kg, but how do i prove this to any policeman that might stop me.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
Have been kind of retired living in Spain for the last 7 years.
When i first came over i had a Mitsubishi Delica and towed all my possessions including a flat pack kitchen from the top of Spain to the south. Took me 3 trips to do the whole lot.
After 12 months i tried to get Spanish plates for said car, only to be told i could not as it was a car not normally sold in Spain. So drove it back to the Uk to the same dealer i bought it from and exchanged it for a Nissan Mistral LWB auto with the 2.7td engine. I think it is a 1995/1996 version. Bought a couple of armchairs and some cornflakes to fill up the back and once more drove back to the south of Spain. Car was much more economical, and did the journey quicker. Probably because i did not take any wrong turns!
Anyway as Terranos had been built in Spain i was fairly confident of getting Spanish plates in due course. I eventually did, but had to remove the reversing mirror, the small overtaking mirror and my big fog lamps located on the bull bar before it was accepted. Also had to have a long rear number plate with new lights fitted to the rear bumper as the normal location for a square shaped plate on the rear door was not big enough to take the Spanish size plate.They looked very closely at the wind deflectors around the windows as well, but i got away with that. 2 years later at the itv (mot) test i was told the law had changed and my rear fog light was on the wrong side, so now have one fitted under the bumper on the correct side.
So now to my next problem. I am on the move again, and this time hoping to get to Bulgaria. Only one journey this time and i am hoping to get all i want to take in a trailer and the car. I know i can not use my old uk trailer with Spanish plates, so that is remaining here with all the winter firewood stored in it. So i have to get a tow hitch fitted by an authorised dealer and then buy a trailer. On my Spanish car documents it quotes the weight of the car and says i can tow 750 kg unbraked and 2800 kg braked, which i now know after reading articles on this site is not correct. Also on further inspection of the paperwork it says i have a Terrano 2 tdi, even though the chassis number quote it as being the r20 series with the td engine.
So wanting to know accurately what i can tow and especially what the gross train weight is for a Nissan Mistral i have been searching the web in vain. Then i discovered that the weights should all be on the vin number. Full of hope i looked under the bonnet at the plate, only to discover that it only showed the chassis number and no weights at all.
So my questions are as the plate is blank does it mean that i am not allowed to legally tow anything? Alternatively would it be termed as a "car" which means no GTW has to be quoted and i can tow what i want? Or am i just being stupid and looking in the wrong place?
Unfortunately being a Japanese import i have no handbook and most of the other writing on the car is in Japanese.
From reading the forum i think the GTW should be 4280 kg and the gross trailer weight 1700 kg, but how do i prove this to any policeman that might stop me.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
