Spanish ITV: how to pass first time and what fails most often

The Spanish ITV rarely fails cars for serious breakdowns. It fails them for details drivers never look at, and almost all of them take under half an hour to fix. This is the check we run before a customer drives to the station.

Lights: the number one reason

With the car parked, switch everything on and walk around it: dipped and main beam, side lights, all four indicators, brake lights (all three, including the high-level one), reverse, fog lights and the plate light. A blown bulb is the silliest fail there is. Also check both headlights have the same tone: if only one bulb was replaced with a different type, the station will notice.

Headlights with yellowed or cloudy plastic can also cause trouble, because they scatter the beam and cut the range. Headlight polishing takes a short while and you simply see better at night.

Tyres and brakes

The legal minimum tread is 1.6 mm, but arriving exactly at the limit is a gamble: if wear is uneven, one spot is already below it. Check all four match in size per axle and look for sidewall cracks from the sun, common on cars parked outside all summer here.

On the brake test the machine measures the difference between wheels on the same axle. If the car pulls to one side when braking or the pedal feels long, the ITV will see it as a number.

Emissions

A diesel with a saturated particulate filter or a petrol car with a tired lambda sensor fails on gases. If your car does mostly short trips around Granja de Rocamora or Almoradí and rarely sees a main road, it is a clear candidate. Half an hour of dual carriageway before the appointment helps, but if the engine light is on, the ITV will fail it without discussion: diagnostics first.

What else they look at

- Windscreen: a crack in the driver's field of view is a fail. - Wipers and washers that actually work. - Mirrors complete and unbroken. - Number plates legible and properly fixed. - Seat belts that retract and lock without slack. - No oil or brake fluid dripping.

Paperwork

Bring the registration document, the technical sheet and, if the car has modifications (towbar, different wheels, changed headlights), their paperwork in order. An unregistered modification is a rejection even if the car is otherwise perfect.

If you have been failed

You have two months to return with it fixed, and on the second visit they only recheck what failed. Do not leave it to the last day: in summer, slots in the Vega Baja fill up.

If you would rather not gamble, bring the car in first and we will run the full check: lights, brakes, tyres, headlights and fault codes. If something is wrong we show you, and we tell you what is mandatory to pass and what is not.