LHD Headlights

[Dave2000]

Hi all, I'm looking for a pair of left hand drive headlamps for the 80. They must be 'E' marked and in perfect condtion as I intend to matriculate (import/register) my Landcruiser in Spain. I have seen the ones on eblag but at over 300 euros with shipping they can forget it. I have a UK address they can be posted to if you do not want to send to Spain ect.

Any takers?

Thanks in advance for looking

regards

Dave

 

[djhep]

Hi Dave.

Can you keep us posted on how you get on with your matriculation in Spain.
I'm thinking of doing the very same thing, and am also looking for lhd headlights.

Do you know if we will have to have a 6 monthly ITV done after matriculation. I can't seem to get a definitive answer from the Spanish i've spoken to.

All the best.

Dave.

 

[Dave2000]

Hi, as far as I am aware the only vehicles that have six monthly ITV (inspections) are those registered for commercial use. New pivate cars have IIRC two year inspections until they reach 10 years old and then it is on an annual basis, I did own a Land Rover Discovery that had six monthly inspections, the only thing I could find out about it was that a some time in it's life it may have been registeed for business use. This can be changed back but the paperwork might be lengthy, I did not bother as it passed the inspection every year except the one time I took a chance with a cracked rear mirror

Ten minutes down the road and a replacement was fitted and all was well.

Hope that helps

regards

Dave

 

[Dave2000]

Just an update for djhep, I was sitting on my euros waiting for someone to get back to me who had a pair of LHD headlights in France but he has not come through for whatever reason anyway, my new LHD headlights are on their way from Germany and the moment they arrrive I will start the matriculation process, perhaps within the next two weeks?

I will be able to give you all the steps, I know Spain is sinking under the red tape over here but I might be lucky and get through in just two visits to the Heffi de Traffico in Murcia.

regards

Dave

 

[djhep]

Hi Dave......
Really appreciate that.....it always makes things alot easier if you know what you are heading into.
Did you order your new lights on e-bay?. I see they are selling them on there for 250 euros / pair.

Apart from fitting new lights, I've got a couple of small issues that i need to sort before heading for the ITV.
Mainly getting my new suspension fitted, and sorting a couple of oil leaks.
Otherwise my only concern is that i don't have standard bumpers. Do you know if that would be a problem?.

Ok Dave, good luck with fitting the lights and also at the ITV station.

All the best.

Dave.

 

[Dave2000]

Yep headlights on ebay 279 euros inc shipping and as mentioned I am waiting and online tracking puts them in spain as we speak

OK read this warning!

Generally ANY modification will cause your car to fail the ITV.

If car car has any of the following it will fail, but read the proviso at the end.
Tow bar (must have serial numbers from approved installer)
Snorkle (must have letter from installer and that would normally be the dealer)
Bumpers, if you have a bull bar these were outlawed three years ago although a light bar seems ok.
Suspension lift (2" seems ok, any more attracts too much attention and could fail as the geometry could be wrong (I agree with this one)
Bigger wheels or tyres (a small percentage is allowed, IIRC something like 7%?)
Seats missing (for example so you could fit a drawer system, all seats must be present)
Lights on the roof
Differential locks
Winch

Right if it appears that you cannot do anything to your car then you would be right to a degree because the laws change here overnight and it really is a bit of a minefield. My previous Land Rover Discovery had everything on it when I took it for an ITV except the wheels I swapped them for the standard ones. On one occassion the guy tried to fail me because he could only see 5 of the 7 seats listed in the 'permiso' or registration document, when I showed him they folded down he was ok and moved on. He was young and keen to do well and yet the armour plated bumpers and rock sliders/snorkle/two ARB diffs/winch ect ect did not raise an eyebrow? As my car was registered for business use it was ITV'd every six months, I had one fail or 'Desfavorable', it was because I had a cracked rear view mirror! The day before I sold it I put a new ITV on for the new owner, it was pointed out to me the snorkle should be on the permiso and should be put on for the next ITV. The new owner who lived in a different area had this same car fail on pretty much every mod six months later!

So not only does the province where you are matter it also is dependent on the individual inspectors opinion, so what can you do? You should get any mods you want to get done BEFORE the ITV and have them all listed under the engineers report that is done on all new imports/registrations. Without doubt a bull bar will be rejected so keep that in mind, bigger wheels can go beyond the above percentage but ONLY if they do not exceed a certain 'track' limit, so inset/offset is an issue.

The towbar for some unknown reason attracts the authorities in a big way. Let us assume you go the main dealer and have a towbar fitted, he then gives you a paper explaining that the car now has to be inspected with the towbar fitted and you have to go to the ITV station to have it 'granted' on your permiso within 14 days. If/when you are stopped by the Gaurdia Civil (or local police who have now been granted new stop and check powers) and your towbar is NOT on the permiso you get fined.......now get this, if you have the towbar on the permiso and at a later date you take it off (perhaps in anticipation of fitting it to a new car?), if you then get stopped and you have not had the towbar removal noted on your permiso you will get fined again!

All in all it seems that the Spanish cannot operate without a piece of paper with a number on it, you will find this applies to pretty much anything thing you do whether it is dog/car/house or even buying a spark plug will need PAPERS!!

By the way, want a CB in your car? Get it put on the permiso....or be fined!!

One of the upsides to all this is you can request any local garage (preferably one dealing with 4X4's) to call in a registered engineer, the charge varies and could be in the region of 500/600 euros but it is worth it. If he (the engineer) checks all the mods including thoss posh roof lights (but not the bull bar) then the car can be put in for ITV.

The laws got really tightened up three years ago, wished I had my Landcruiser then.

Hope I have not scared you but have some coin in your pocket when ic omes to legalising your car over here, if you are going for 'residencia' then you may bring your car in under the 'goods and chatels' law, this it seems will result in lower taxes and the engineers report seems to be in your favor. One final point, if your car has the chassis number on the dashboard at the bottom of the screen and it does not appear on the metal structure of the car it CANNOT be passed, this is because the tester needs to take a 'rubbing' of the number. A friend tried to get his american Pontiac registered and he had this exact problem, the guy told him to go away and get some number stamps and put his own number on the chassis 'somewhere'!

Go figure?

regards

Dave

 

[djhep]

Thanks for the great info Dave.
As i suspected, it looks like it will be a bit of a hit and miss affair as to whether my Landcruiser will be allowed on Spanish plates.
I forgot to mention in my previous post that as well as the non standard bumpers, i have rock sliders and a snorkel fitted also. Luckily the suspension kit that is ready to fit is only a 2" lift.

I have some experience with changing over from uk to Spanish plates as i have done this with a motorbike and an old car.
Fortunately both sailed through all the testing etc without any hassle.
The only change that i made to the motorbike, was to fit a sticker to headlamp to supress the spike in the main beam.
The car is an old 86 911 turbo. That sailed through with ony headlamps to change.
In neither case did an engineer do any inspection in person, but did a "telephone inspection"....
I spoke to a few people about this, and it seems that he probably couldn't be bothered to drive so far up into the mountains to do the inspection in person...This is Spain, so no suprise there...LOL....

Anyhow, I look forward to hearing how you get on, and again good luck.

Cheers.

Dave.

ps. i have just been reading your "My LC 80 Thread" over on IH8mud...some good info. Thx.

 

[Dave2000]

How long ago did you do the motor bike and car? As mentioned earlier now the car must go to an official ITV station most of which are now privatised to a German company. As mentioned earlier it really does depend who does the initial inspection, also your bumpers should be OK as long as they have a 'homogolation' number. This is something they (the inspectors) will be looking for, one of the local tricks is to put on a sticker from a bumper that is shown in the 'homogolation' approved catalogues. The spanish NEED a number!!

regards

Dave

 

[djhep]

Hi Dave.
I had the vehicles plate transfers done 1-1/2 yrs ago.
I paid a company in Coin to organise it all. They pretty much took care of everything apart from the bit where i had to take the vehicles to the testing station for it's first ITV. (Ronda)

Part of the process when going this route, is that a registered engineer comes to your home, and does the initial inspection.
This includes as you said earlier, checking wheel sizes, length of car etc etc.

In both my cases he didn't do that, and talked me through all the points over the phone.

Fortunately for me, both vehicles were pretty much standard (apart from some performance mods to the Porsche, which were undetectable to anyone not knowing what they were looking at)

If i recall correctly the total cost for the bike was just under 800 euros, and the car was 1200 euros.

I'm grateful for your info regarding non standard bumpers and homologation numbers etc. This has probably saved me having a heart attack when the engineer tells me that i can't do the replate and then asks for his fee LOL......
(As far as i know my bumpers have no numbers stamped. Also i have no letter from the installer of the snorkel).

The above is only my experience, and it seems that whoever you speak to has a different one.
I think it depends largely on how they are feeling at the testing station that day.
A friend of mine reckons that she only ever goes there on a Friday afternoon, just before they are knocking off for the weekend, and always wears a short skirt LOL.......Not really an option with my legs :>)

Ok Dave, have a good weekend.

 

[Dave2000]

Well the moment my headlights are here the car will be straight in, my spanish is poco so I will be taking a translator with me. Whilst my car will be pretty much stock I am going to take the rear seats out so they will hopefull register it as 5 seats and not 8. I will also take a list of my proposed modifications and the questions will be very specific so that should reduce any ambiguous replies, the questions will be worded such as:

What is the biggest wheel/tyre combination I can fit WITHOUT an engineers report.
What is the biggest wheel/tyre combination I can fit WITH an engineers report.

As you can see I will be expecting straight legal no BS answers, if you have a specific question or two (no not a chapter from war and peace) I can ask them for you?

I will keep you informed.


regards

Dave

 

[Dave2000]

Well the headlights have just arrived and I am about to move home so it is all happening at the same time! I need a new 'padron' (town hall notification that proves where I am living/registered) so to avoid delays I may register it at my old address?

I really am not looking forward to this, I wanted the 'angel eye' headlights but even though they are 'E' marked the inspector who I checked with said they have to have other numbers not related to the 'E' mark, when I asked him what those numbers were he did not know!!

It seems that Spain was happy to jump on to the euro wagon but are not happy about giving up some of their antiquated laws and regulations! If I am not happy I can take them to the european courts where I am pretty much guaranteed to win my case......of course I may need to wait two or three years

The brand new set that have arrived are from Germany so hopefully they will 'conform'?

I will give further updates as and when the occur.

regards

Dave

 

[djhep]

Hi Dave......
Did you manage to get the Cruiser onto Spanish plates yet?.
I'm still looking into it, but am worried that the non standard bumpers will be a problem.

Cheers.

Dave.