White smoke, lumpy running, no power

[Terranical]

Hi !

We have lived here permanently for 3 1/2 years now. Little village called Pedralba, near Valencia.

I've worked hard on my Spanish but the little grey cells aren't what they used to be ! I spent a lot of time in bars round here. It's the only way to get known, and once you are known you won't get ripped off. Because you know them as well !

I'm fortunate that I now have some good Spanish friends who also can speak a little English, and they have then introduced me to the entire family. Once you are in, life is much easier.

Yes, techie terms are difficult, but the guy I go to is brilliant (we actually have several garages here) and though speaking no English he is incredibly patient and we rummage through cars pointing at bits and swapping words. All they care about is that I TRY to speak Spanish, not how good it is. They'll forgive a million sins as long you have made an effort.

I really enjoy going down there and yacking for ages. My wife isn't quite so keen - I still have a job to do !

It's a challenge, but has been great fun, and very rewarding. And the cars are still running

Be interested to know how you got your matriculation done - I'm trying to do mine myself and first of all I need a technical report in Spanish from Nissan, but my Spanish friend in Valencia who has a Nissan dealership, amongst other things, is having a struggle to get anything !

Like to hear your experiences.

B. Rgds
John

Hi John, I enlisted the services of a local (to Coin) insurance office run by English people, they arranged most of the administrative stuff, including the ITV and the physical check to ensure the car was standard (no body lift, standard and matching wheels and tyres, no bullbar, unless it was factory fitted - mine wasn't, no towbar, again unless it was factory fitted, although luckily mine is a Brink which has a plate with all the dimensions and limitations of which the inspector made notes, and he seemed to be happy with that, however I did remove the ball to be on the safe side, then refitted it after I got the ITV. He also checked the VIN and engine numbers. Although it took only around 10-15 mins for the whole examination it still cost 120€!
I also had to get an NIE number from the Guardia Civil in Malaga (it appears you can't do anything involving the ayuntamiento without that).
I don't think I could have done it myself without the aid of the Insurance Centre in Coin, they knew who to phone and were able to translate all the forms for me. I did all the running around (4 or 5 trips to Malaga for the NIE & ITV) and they did the rest.
I bought the LHD front & rear lights (s/h) from eBay so saved a bit there, but the cost still came to around 1700€ altogether, that was 830 admin charge,which also included the number plates and the Insurance Centres' mark-up, plus 160 for the ITV, 530 for the work required for the ITV, 120 for the inspection, then 330 for third party fire & total loss insurance and 122 for a years' tax, but both of those I would have had to pay anyway.
The headlights & rear lights cost me around another 300 from eBay in the UK (LHD lights are like the proverbial hens teeth, even in Spain), so all in all, a very expensive procedure, particularly for a 17 year old car that's probably worth around £500 in the UK, but the alternative was to buy one in Spain and they are so expensive there - I don't know whether you have noticed, but you rarely see a Terrano for sale, and when you do they fetch silly money, strange in the country that builds them!
The above really outlines the whole procedure that I had to do, so I'm not too sure what matriculation is, it certainly wasn't something that the Insurance Centre mentioned.
Hope this helps, anything else I can tell you, just get in touch.
Cheers
Bruce

 

[reetp]

Oh gawd ! Might make you spit a bit now...

I changed the headlamps already - EUR 30 each from a local breakers I think. I'm surprised you needed much else done for the ITV - when you see the state of my battered old Escort that has just passed again, I reckon if it has 4 wheels and can get through the shed without collapsing in a big pile of steam & smoke it will pass

The all is all standard. My only concern is the towbar as I know they are funny about them over here. My guess is it was factory fitted - the rust seems to match everything else - but as per many towbars, it isn't plated. I think I'll just wait see what they say - I can always take the ball off.

Personally, I usually try to avoid any companies run by English - they can frequently cost more than the Spanish do ! And they should have explained what things mean so you know for the future !

I think normal costs are around EUR 800ish for changing it over. Obviously Insurance & 'Road' tax are extra. (matriculation means registration - impuestos are your taxes).

I know what you mean about costs over here. Cars are ridiculous. Parts just as bad, hence when I come back over this Friday for a few days I'm loading up with stuff for both cars. Saves a fortune. I don't get it at all. My guess is that during the Franco era, imports were probably heavily restricted or taxed. When he went, suppliers couldn't see a reason to change. People would still pay. Bit like my mate who works quite well up for large credit card company. Why is their interest rate so high ? "Because people are stupid enough to pay it" was his reply....

Same in the UK for so long - all the usual stuff about it's expensive cos it's an island and all that stuff. Just trumped up reasons to rip you off.

I digress !!!

I'll let you know how I get along with things.

 

[Terranical]

Oh gawd ! Might make you spit a bit now...

I changed the headlamps already - EUR 30 each from a local breakers I think. I'm surprised you needed much else done for the ITV - when you see the state of my battered old Escort that has just passed again, I reckon if it has 4 wheels and can get through the shed without collapsing in a big pile of steam & smoke it will pass

The all is all standard. My only concern is the towbar as I know they are funny about them over here. My guess is it was factory fitted - the rust seems to match everything else - but as per many towbars, it isn't plated. I think I'll just wait see what they say - I can always take the ball off.

Personally, I usually try to avoid any companies run by English - they can frequently cost more than the Spanish do ! And they should have explained what things mean so you know for the future !

I think normal costs are around EUR 800ish for changing it over. Obviously Insurance & 'Road' tax are extra. (matriculation means registration - impuestos are your taxes).

I know what you mean about costs over here. Cars are ridiculous. Parts just as bad, hence when I come back over this Friday for a few days I'm loading up with stuff for both cars. Saves a fortune. I don't get it at all. My guess is that during the Franco era, imports were probably heavily restricted or taxed. When he went, suppliers couldn't see a reason to change. People would still pay. Bit like my mate who works quite well up for large credit card company. Why is their interest rate so high ? "Because people are stupid enough to pay it" was his reply....

Same in the UK for so long - all the usual stuff about it's expensive cos it's an island and all that stuff. Just trumped up reasons to rip you off.

I digress !!!

I'll let you know how I get along with things.

When I was first looking for LHD headlights I naturally went to a Spanish breaker, well, six of them actually. They are in a row all down one street in Malaga. The first one was a polite no, the second a not-so polite no, the others just laughed!. I got the impression that, because every 5th car in Spain is a Terrano, any that find their way to the breakers have a waiting list for them, perhaps you were lucky to find one that had some in stock. I notice you didn't mention changing the rear lights, I had to do mine because the T2 has only one rear fog and one reversing light, and the law states that the rear fog must be nearest the white line, after I had changed them I simply extended the appropriate cables from one side to the other.

Re your Escort, my daughter had a similar experience with her Lada Niva Cossack, the windscreen wipers were moved by pulling a piece of string and the exhaust manifold was held on with a mole wrench - they passed it! Apparently the pre-registation test is much more strict than a standard ITV, hence the 160€ instead of around 40€, so I was surpised that excess emissions and shot shocks were all they found. I knew the back shocks had had it, they rattled over bumps so probably the bushes were worn, but I wasn't expecting it to need fronts too, however, when I got home after the fail I tried bouncing the front, and instead of coming back up and settling they did an extra bounce, so replacement was probably justified. The car also does feel much better on the mountain tracks now, and there's not so much body roll on spirited cornering!

It sounds as though the 830€ the Insurance Centre charged me was not too bad, as that included their charges too, and as I said, I couldn't really have done it without them.

Like you I tend to buy what I need in the UK and take it over, we are going again mid-May (flying) and my case is already half-full with tools and car spares - Lord knows what Easyjet are going to make of it!
Safe driving.
Bruce