Bringing your car back from Spain: what determines the price?
A car left behind on the Costa del Sol after the summer, or a car that has to be there in May while you fly out yourself: either way, someone has to be behind the wheel. Not to recover a stranded vehicle, but to put a car where it belongs.
We drive that vehicle by road, with one dedicated driver from departure to arrival. Below you can read how such a trip runs, what we do about the odometer, what the price depends on and which two conditions apply beforehand.
Your car is driven, not carried
No trailer, no enclosed transporter and no tow rope. One driver takes charge of the car at the address you give, drives it by road to the destination and hands it over there to you or to someone you appoint.
This works in both directions. You fly to Marbella, Monaco or Gstaad and your car is waiting when you arrive; at the end of the season we collect it again. Out, back or both — the route is fixed before departure, toll roads and vignettes included.
Driving instead of carrying has a practical side: the car reaches places a transporter of nearly twenty metres cannot. An underground car park below an apartment in Monaco, a driveway in Saint-Tropez, a chalet road above Gstaad. And it leaves on the day you choose, not once a trailer is full.
The odometer, discussed in advance
The objection to driving is always the same, and it is a fair one: kilometres are added to the odometer. We do not gloss over that. Marbella is roughly two thousand kilometres from the Netherlands, Monaco and Milan about half of that. You know that distance before departure, because the route is agreed in advance.
Before departure we note the odometer reading and photograph the vehicle all round: paintwork, wheels, glass and interior. On arrival we repeat that, at the same points and in the same order, and you receive both sets. The difference is documented; it is not a matter of trust.
And one driver does the trip. No handover at a car park halfway through France, no stranger getting in somewhere you are not present. Whoever collects the car also hands it over, and you have his name before he leaves.
What the price depends on
This trip is bespoke: the price applies per assignment and is quoted on request. We have no flat Spain rate, because Barcelona and Marbella have little to do with each other on the map. What we can say in advance is what the amount depends on.
Five things determine it. The distance of the agreed route, toll roads and vignettes included. Whether it is a single trip or there and back. Whether the driver flies out to the car or home afterwards — a ticket costs something different by the day. The season, because these routes are busy around the end of July. And the time window: a fixed arrival day at a fixed hour takes more planning than a trip that may shift by a week.
You receive one amount, excluding VAT, before anyone gets in — together with the route, the number of kilometres and the name of the driver. What the quote says is what you pay; you have it within sixty minutes.
Two conditions up front
One: the vehicle must be insured, with cover in every country on the route. Our driver drives on the car's own current policy — we are the carrier, not the insurer. Check this before you request the trip; without valid cover it cannot go ahead.
Two: the car has to be drivable. If it is standing still through damage or a defect, that is bespoke work on request. Borders are not the issue: besides the European Union we drive to Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra and the United Kingdom, and we arrange vignettes and border papers. Only a destination on another continent is out of the question; we do not arrange shipping.
How to prepare the day of departure
Arrange four things. Agree how the driver receives the keys: concierge, house sitter, garage or key safe. Put the registration document and the proof of insurance in the car. Take out personal items and valuables; those are not covered during the trip. And let us know how you want fuel or charging handled.
If you are not there yourself, pass on in advance the name and telephone number of the person handing the car over or receiving it; that person signs. Do photograph the car yourself as well — you can then lay our two sets alongside your own.