UKC

Hello collective UKC hive mind. 

My van broke down at the beginning of the week. Essentially dying as the cam belt broke. I was silly enough not to get breakdown cover. And soo can’t get it back to the U.K. easily/cheaply.

Ive been quoted £2,500 to get it home but it’s not worth it. It is off the road at a recovery vehicle depot so it is ok where it is and I have managed to extricate myself and all my belongings. 

Im going to have to go back to sort it out in some way but I’m just wondering if anyone has some wise words? I want to scrap it out there. To most simply do this can I export it? Or just take the V5 back out and get it squared up that way? Don’t want the DVLA chasing me up or the Spanish on my back either...

Any knowledge greatly received.

Cheers, Duncan

Not the best position to be in.

I sold a vehicle to a Swiss guy and simply filled in, I think, the yellow part of the v5c. So I guess you need a name and address of a bonafida recipient. He gives you a quid, you’ve exported it permanently.

alternatively if you want it back try one of the car transport companies, These guys cover the Calpe area and beyond and are reliable from past experience, https://www.cartranspain.com/portal/

Best of luck

Thanks a lot!  

While probably no cheaper than over here, surely Spanish mechanics can replace cambelts and associated bent bits?

Get someone to fit a second hand/reconditioned engine in spain if the damage is that bad? Then at least the van will be worth something to recover some of your costs and can drive it home.

One other (heath-robinson) thought... could you rent a Hertz van one way from Spain to UK and use it to tow it home yourself? (obvs need another driver)

Could you pick up a cheapish car transporter from ebay, use it to recover your van, then resell?

All depends on weight of course.

Depends totally on the value of your van,  Repair with 2nd hand head + maybe a piston or 2 depends how fast it was running when the belt snapped would be the cheapest.  Bear in mind if you pay to get it home you still have to repair it and it should be cheaper over there. I say that with experience having had clutch's explode and wheel bearing's run in motor homes while on the Costa del sol.  If its not worth repairing there then its not worth the cost of getting it back and then repairing it here. Best of luck mate.

If you have time you could sell it. If not just scrap it. 

What vehicle is it and is it a decent conversion? Where in Spain are you? 

Where abouts in Spain is it? You could probably sell it. 

It’s already been to a garage and I was told that it is either not fixable or more likely not worth fixing. The van is a 16 year old VW LT35. I was doing ~70mph when it went so I imagine it did a decent amount of damage to the valves when the pistons went out of sync

I bought it a few years ago already converted for about £1600. It’s not particularly nicely converted. Loads of rust in the body work and the passenger door is damaged (again I bought it in this condition) 

I was aiming to get a new van this year anyway so I’m not so bothered about the death of the van itself. I’m just wanting to dispose of it correctly so that the DVLA don’t get on my case and I don’t get hassle/fines from the equivalent Spanish body.

The van is at a recovery yard southbound on the AP-68 half an hour from Bilbao. If anyone wants it, I’ll transfer your name to the V5 as soon as I can and it’s all yours! 

Was considering towing it home in some form yeah... just I’d rather scrap it in Spain. I guess I’ll just get my V5 from home and go back out and try to do it that way. Was hoping someone had some pearls of wisdom on doing this!

Bad week for British vans, Gus not having much luck either!

Just found this:

http://www.tumbit.com/how-to-guides/articles/67-how-to-scrap-a-uk-car-in-sp...