Right now buying a second-hand car is the only option for many people to get a vehicle. Of course, when we go to buy it, we do not buy any second-hand car, first we make sure that it is in acceptable conditions. But that’s not the only thing we need to look at, we need to make sure the car is Free of charge so that later we don’t have any problem with it. Here we explain how you can look at it so that you can make sure before buying a second-hand car.
What is a car free of charges?
A car free of charges means that It has no fines, receipts or unpaid taxes, nor does it have liens or seals. It is important that we check this when buying the car because if we do not, we will be buying a car on which a third person or entity has the right to keep it or seize it.
Before buying a second-hand car from an individual, check that it is free of charges.In fact, if we do not specify in the sales contract that the seller has to take care of all pending payments, We will be the ones who have to take charge. This usually happens in sales between individuals, so it is important that if we are going to buy a car from an individual and not from a company, we check well that it has no charges.
How do you check that a car is free of charges?
The DGT offers us several ways to know if a car has loads or not. We can request a reduced report of the car or a detailed report.
Reduced report: this report is gratuitous, the problem is that it is not very specific. It only tells us the date of the first registration in Spain, the make and model of the car, the fuel it uses and whether or not the car has loads through an indicator. If the indicator is green, the car does not have any charges and if it is red, it does have charges, but it does not specify which ones.
Detailed report: in this case, the procedure will cost us some money, €8.67. However, here we can get more vehicle information: the administrative information, the identification of the owner, the municipality where the car is domiciled, the history of the ITV, the mileage, the loads it has, the technical data…
Which one to order depends a bit on what you want to know. In any case, the reduced report is free, you can request it in any case. If when requesting it the result is that the car has loads, you can consider whether to ask for the detailed report or not.
How are these reports requested?
We can request the reduced report through the website, through the miDGT app or in person.
- If we want to get through the website of the DGT we only have to access the reduced report with our digital certificate or through cl@ve. In this case we only need to know car license plate about which we want information. Once entered we can download the report.
- From the app we just have to go to the main menu and click on “my procedures”- “vehicles”- “vehicle report”. And there we can request the reduced report.
- In person at a chief or traffic office, we will have to make an appointment before and bring the request for report that we can download on the website or ask at the traffic office to which we go. We will also have to take a document that identifies us such as ID or passport.
We can also request the detailed report through the app, the web and in person, and we will also have an additional option, request it by phone.
- By the web: we will have to pay the report fee, access the type of report we want with our digital certificate or through cl@ve, select the type of report we want (in this case the complete one), and enter the information requested (registration number, frame) and put the reason for consultation. Then we will have to put in the number of the rate that we have paid and finally we must download the report.
- By phone: Through this medium we will be asked some questions to verify our identity and we will have to pay the fee in advance electronically. The report will be sent to our email so that we can download it.
- Through the miDGT app: We have to go to the main menu and click on “my procedures”- “vehicles”- “vehicle report”. Then we choose the detailed report and we can pay the fee directly in the app.
- In person: it is exactly the same as to request the reduced report. The only thing different is that we will have to pay the fee.
The DGT explains everything that needs to be done in detail, but if it still seems complicated to you, there are companies that are dedicated to facilitating it and requesting it for you, but of course it will be more expensive than if you do it yourself.
Also, if you have trouble understanding the report, you should not worry because The DGT has a guide on its website that will help you interpret both the reduced and the full report.
Who can request this information?
These reports are available for anyone. So if you need to know all the information about a second-hand car before buying it, don’t worry because it’s at your fingertips.
Is there another way to know if the car has loads?
Another way to know if a car is free of charges is requesting a simple note is the Personal Property Registry. In the simple note we will also be informed of the loads that the car has. In the article “what is the simple note of a car” we explain how you can request it.
It does not matter the medium through which you make the query, the fact is that it is necessary to do it to be sure whether to buy a car or not, since it is not so rare that we get scammed. If you consult the information you will be able to buy it knowing that you will not have problems in the future due to pending fines or embargoes and that you will not have to take care of any of that.
