The Technical Vehicle Inspection (ITV) is a mandatory procedure that all vehicles over a certain age must periodically pass, which varies depending on their category. Thus, for example, trucks have to pass it for the first time two years after their registration; mopeds to all three; while cars and motorcycles must do so when they turn four.
This means that cars for private use and motorcycles registered in April 2019 must be released on ITV throughout the current month. Specifically, those copies whose registration includes a combination of letters between KWX and KWT will have to do so.
Once the exam is passed, the cars must pass it again biennially until they reach a decade. Thereafter its annual validity. Failure to comply with this legal obligation entails a fine, but does not imply the deduction of points from the card.
The regulations establish that you cannot drive with an unfavorable ITV, unless it is to go from the ITV station to the workshop to repair defects and from the workshop to the ITV for the second inspection of the vehicle. Doing it outside of this circumstance can lead to the payment of up to 200 euros, the same amount as for having the review expired or not having passed it for the first time.
Driving a vehicle with a negative inspection entails a penalty of up to 500 euros and also the immobilization or removal of the vehicle. In fact, when the problems detected in the review are so serious that they pose a great danger, the specimen will have a negative inspection that will lead to its immobilization and can only be transferred by crane to the workshop for repair.
For the more farsighted, it should be said that they have the possibility of passing the ITV in advance up to thirty days before it expires without shortening the validity period. This means that if the inspection expires on May 16, it can be passed on April 17 without affecting the next review date (it will remain May 16 as the deadline).
Likewise, it is not necessary for the owner of the vehicle to be the one who takes it to pass this procedure. Any other person can do it by presenting the original documentation of the same (circulation permit and the technical inspection card). This is a service offered by some workshops and dealers, as well as insurance companies, automobile clubs such as RACE or RACC, and even various platforms that are specifically dedicated to this activity.
Regardless of who is in charge of passing the ITV, they must necessarily pay for the process. Unlike the DGT rates, which have a standard price, the rates vary depending on the autonomous community and the type of vehicle examined.
Every year the consumer organization Facua prepares a study collecting the rate differences by region. The last one, corresponding to 2022, indicated that the average price of the ITV in Spain was 35.98 euros for gasoline passenger cars (3.6% more than in 2021) and 43.51 euros for those equipped with a diesel engine. (4.3% more than the previous year).
The Valencian Community is the territory with the highest ITV rate for passenger cars both gasoline (48.55 euros) and diesel (63.22 euros). On the other side of the scale is Mallorca, where passing the exam in a gasoline car costs 17.01 euros. In the case of diesel, the public stations in Extremadura are the cheapest, with a price of 29.25 euros. It is important to remember that this inspection can be passed in an autonomous community other than that of the habitual residence.
