Second hand cars

Due to our car hire coming agreement finishing at the end of July, we will need to buy our own car. This is not an experience I'm looking forward to. Second hand car salesmen rank alongside estate agents and insurance salesmen in my view of things, not the most popular of people, but we will have to deal with them. The only difference I can see out here is they are dressed in shorts and shades, but I'm sure behind the shades, they are of the same ilk. Cars tend to be more expensive over here, not the big fleet car market like in the UK and they tend to last longer. They don't seem to rust, they don't have to use salt down south, lack of snow, it's rare. They do however, suffer from faded and blistered paintwork due to the sun, and dents. Lots of dents! They are like a badge of honour here, the more the better. Apparently, we don't actually have to resident to buy a car, just have proof of a fiscal address here, like a house rental agreement or similar, they just need somewhere to send the road tax bill to. You also need your passport and an NIE number, as with everything here. You have to be careful buying privately, if the person you buy from has not paid his road tax for a few years, when you buy it, the bill passes to you! How nice, so it pays to check. At home they would just tow your car away and crush it for not paying, not here. Other different ways here include the insurance, it's not the driver here, but the car that's insured, so anyone over twenty five can drive it, very handy when family come out, no need to keep changing the policy and paying 'administration' charges. It also includes breakdown cover, towing is illegal here, and medical cover for everyone in the car. So although it looks a little more expensive compared to the UK, you get a lot more for your money. There is also a spanish branch of Direct Line, so you can get help in english if needed, worth considering. We were considering one of those van type things that everyone out here seems to have, no bigger than a car, but loads of room in the back for suitcases when the family visit, boring, but practical. The trouble with them is the ITV system, the equivalent to the MOT back in blighty. New cars here, do not need testing until four years old and then every two years until ten years, then every year after that. The problem is that these vans with windows, although having car seating in for five people, are classed as a commercial vehicle. That means a test every year by the looks of it, and every six months at ten years old. Sod that for a game of soldiers! So, still wanting to be practical, a Yaris Verso, or something similar looks the way to go, as these are still classed as cars, and will serve our needs. It looks like we have sold our car back in the UK, so Linda will sort this out when she goes back next week, then we will have to look at this more seriously. A new car would be nice, but a bit more than we are prepared to pay at the moment, and we don't do a lot of milage, only the airport run, time will tell. I might need to stock up on paracetamol for this one, bound to get a stress headache, it will be the first time I've needed any out here.