Importing your vehicle into Gibraltar

This is not difficult.

Step 1

Take your vehicle to the Customs Office (near the freight/commercial entrance to Gib), and ask for an assessment of the value. This varies depending on the condition of the vehicle, and the duty to import it varies depending on the size of the engine.

More info on import duty regarding engine size, new/second-hand car on my later post here.

Pay your money. Cash or cheque from a Gib bank account only. A British bank account is no good. You get a receipt. Obviously.

Step 2

You now have your Gib registration number so you need to go and buy your plates immediately. There is a good place on Devil's Tower Road - Car Care Centre - that will do plates on the spot. You need to produce your Gib ID card and customs paperwork.

Affix said plates.

Step 3

Buy insurance. You can't buy the insurance without the Gib registration number, so you need to do it immediately afterwards. We used Solrac in Tuckey's Lane. They were very efficient and very fast. We got cover for Gibraltar, Spain and Portugal, including breakdown cover. We produced our last British NCD and our recent Spanish policy plus a note from the Spanish insurers to say we had made no claims.

Step 4

Armed with Gib number and insurance (which you need to produce), book your MoT. We were lucky and got a quick appointment. After passing your MoT the paperwork takes about a week.

Step 5

Pick up your Registration Certificate. You are on the road again. Don't forget to carry all paperwork in the Iberian peninsula.

Adrian and Marc outside the Santana, photo courtesy of Brigid, received the other day, thanks Brig

LRUK Forums

When we first joined the internet, we signed up for lots of Land Rover forums. Or rather Adrian did.

But the first one we signed up for was LRUK forums. It's the one we post on the most, and we have had some good advice from it. We also have tried to post back advice, when we can.

On some of the others, people have offered to meet us. But not on LRUK, until recently.

The forum is pretty international, with members from North and Central America, even a few from South America (I think), some from Australia and New Zealand, a few from the Middle East and Asia too. Nearer to home there is a great Maltese section and a few of us in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

But one of the most active non-UK groups is based in South Africa. They are regular contributors and have some great stories.

Marc contacted us about his trip to Europe. He was travelling from Lisbon to Alicante and was thinking about detouring via Gibraltar and asked if we were interested in meeting.

We thought it would be cool, but didn't know whether they would turn up. Seemed a big detour to us, but maybe not to someone from Africa.

So on Christmas Eve - we got the 'phone call. They were in Morrison's supermarket in Gibraltar.

Great Christmas Marc and Brigid. Thanks for coming.

Marc and Brigid admiring a Triumph Stag -
they'd not seen one in South Africa