Going to Mardid in Spain - take the Griff ?
Discussion
Hi, I'm off to work in Madrid in the New Year for 2 years. Should I take the Griffith or put it into long-term storage ?
Leave It : Storage will cost £120/m approx but I will return to a car which should be 99% the same as when I left but I will miss the obvious driving pleasure. 2 years isnt that long.
Take It : insurance while 100% out of the country ? hassle of maintaining ? MoT returns to the UK ? too hot in the Summer ? More hassle than its worth ? or great driving car to explore the local mountains to the NW of the city ?
If you live in Madrid, be great to hear from you. Views ?
Leave It : Storage will cost £120/m approx but I will return to a car which should be 99% the same as when I left but I will miss the obvious driving pleasure. 2 years isnt that long.
Take It : insurance while 100% out of the country ? hassle of maintaining ? MoT returns to the UK ? too hot in the Summer ? More hassle than its worth ? or great driving car to explore the local mountains to the NW of the city ?
If you live in Madrid, be great to hear from you. Views ?
ESDavey said:
Hi, I'm off to work in Madrid in the New Year for 2 years. Should I take the Griffith or put it into long-term storage ?
Leave It : Storage will cost £120/m approx but I will return to a car which should be 99% the same as when I left but I will miss the obvious driving pleasure. 2 years isnt that long.
Take It : insurance while 100% out of the country ? hassle of maintaining ? MoT returns to the UK ? too hot in the Summer ? More hassle than its worth ? or great driving car to explore the local mountains to the NW of the city ?
If you live in Madrid, be great to hear from you. Views ?
take it - nice dry environment, mountain roads. You dont have to use it while out there unless you choose to !Leave It : Storage will cost £120/m approx but I will return to a car which should be 99% the same as when I left but I will miss the obvious driving pleasure. 2 years isnt that long.
Take It : insurance while 100% out of the country ? hassle of maintaining ? MoT returns to the UK ? too hot in the Summer ? More hassle than its worth ? or great driving car to explore the local mountains to the NW of the city ?
If you live in Madrid, be great to hear from you. Views ?
MrMCI said:
Was driving around north western spanish coast and Pyranees in the Griff this summer. You have to take it!
If you do I would thoroughly recomment the Santander crossing.
Exactly this!If you do I would thoroughly recomment the Santander crossing.
There are some amazing roads in the Pyrenees and you will forever kick yourself. I took the G33 to Spain, it broke down (its only breakdown) but a Spanish auto electrician sorted it in a couple of hours. The mechanicals are agricultural, land rover dealers can fix it as will any decent Indy (and there are plenty).
I flew over Croatia and Macedonia a couple of weeks ago and saw some amazing but totally empty roads in the mountains and valleys heading down towards Italy. Seriously thinking of taking the Tuscan there. The plan is to drive via Austria to Greece
I lived and worked in Madrid for a couple of years, you're gonna love it .
It will depend on your contract but mine covered hiring a car as I wanted, weekends for instance, so I didn't take a car with me at all. There is little point in having one as getting around Madrid is so much easier on the Metro, it goes virtually everywhere.
Then you have to consider where you are going to park it. Many flats have allocated parking spaces in their basement parking but not all and it costs extra. Otherwise you will have to leave it on the street where double width parking against the pavement is commonplace. If you're against the pavement and want to get out you just stand with your hand on the horm until somebody comes and lets you out
. It is also common for the locals to make the space they are trying to park in big enough by shunting the cars either end. I guess you wouldn't be very pleased with that but you soon learn not to leave the handbrake on, not that it makes much difference in a Griff 
.
Then ask yourself why nobody has a convertible? It's just too hot and everybody drives around with the windows shut and the aircon on. Unlike North West Spain and any of the coastal areas, Madrid regularly reaches 45 deg C daytime temps and is above 40 deg C for quite a long period in the summer.
Spring and Autumn would be worthwhile times to take the Griff out but I would suggest leaving it behind when you first go out and look at the situation for yourself. Then make your mind up when would be a good time to try it.
.It will depend on your contract but mine covered hiring a car as I wanted, weekends for instance, so I didn't take a car with me at all. There is little point in having one as getting around Madrid is so much easier on the Metro, it goes virtually everywhere.
Then you have to consider where you are going to park it. Many flats have allocated parking spaces in their basement parking but not all and it costs extra. Otherwise you will have to leave it on the street where double width parking against the pavement is commonplace. If you're against the pavement and want to get out you just stand with your hand on the horm until somebody comes and lets you out
. It is also common for the locals to make the space they are trying to park in big enough by shunting the cars either end. I guess you wouldn't be very pleased with that but you soon learn not to leave the handbrake on, not that it makes much difference in a Griff .Then ask yourself why nobody has a convertible? It's just too hot and everybody drives around with the windows shut and the aircon on. Unlike North West Spain and any of the coastal areas, Madrid regularly reaches 45 deg C daytime temps and is above 40 deg C for quite a long period in the summer.
Spring and Autumn would be worthwhile times to take the Griff out but I would suggest leaving it behind when you first go out and look at the situation for yourself. Then make your mind up when would be a good time to try it.
Bring it on over with you, you won't regret it. You'll be in a very exclusive club - AFAIK mine's the only other Griff here currently, in fact it's been here all its life. You'll get no shortage of admiring looks and comments wherever you go, the Spans are very appreciative of unusual & interesting automotive machinery. More to the point, there are great driving roads round the city, and although scameras are now part of the scenery here, they are still pleasantly few & far between, and you can plan your drive accordingly. It's true the ambient temps can get quite warm in high summer - but 40-plus is generally only reached on the odd day in July or August. No sweat on the insurance, even on a UK plate you can get cover locally. I have a good local spannerman who's now very knowledgeabe on the Griff's innards, and is reliable.
Look me up when you get here!
tj
Look me up when you get here!
tj
ESDavey said:
just found out that I can't insure the TVR from the UK for more than 90 days/yr. So maybe the answer is to store the Griff & bring it out to Spain for a few weeks at a time.
Ummm, try NFU.Also you cannot insure fully comp but your cover 3rd party remains for longer trips.
What you cannot do is live somewhere more than 6 months and have a car registered elsewhere. (EU rules)
The Spanish Police had a crack down on the Costa's a few years back and caught loads of retired ex-pats with their UK cars on UK plates.
You should be able to do the same as I did with my bikes and re-register. Bit of a ball-ache, but can be done.
Thanks boys ... great feedback. I think I will put the TVR into UK storage & bring it out in the spring. This will enable me to get settled in Madrid & sort out all the other stuff (ie schools, house, etc).
I will try UK and Spanish insurance companies to see if I can extend the standard 90 day duration.
Cheers, Simon
I will try UK and Spanish insurance companies to see if I can extend the standard 90 day duration.
Cheers, Simon
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