The Spanish automobile fleet has an average age of 13.9 years and 70% of the cars that circulate on the roads and streets of our country are over ten years old. The data provided by the employers' association of vehicle manufacturers, Anfac, places Spain below the European average, which is 12 years, which translates into double jeopardy. On the one hand, due to the environmental problems caused by the high polluting emissions from these old vehicles, and on the other, safety, as old cars do not equip ADAS driver assistance systems.
The aging of the Spanish fleet increases every year due to the growth of the second-hand vehicle market. In 2022, 2.3 used cars were sold for every new one and vehicles over 15 years old accounted for 40% of sales. According to Carfax, the largest private provider of vehicle histories in Spain and Europe, the risk of acquiring a used vehicle with damage increases by 50% when its age is between 9 and 11 years old compared to the range of vehicles that are between 6 and 8 years old.
In addition, according to data from Anfac, 64.7% of passenger cars over a decade old that are still circulating in Spain have the DGT environmental label B or lack it. These cars are the cause of practically all the polluting emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 91.4%, and 92.7% of particle emissions.
With the information available in its database, Carfax establishes the average age differences of the vehicles by community. The study determines that Madrid is the only autonomous community in Spain that has an average age of the car park below that of Europe, with 11.4 years.
Madrid manages to lower the average age of the vehicles that circulate on its roads and streets as it is the community where the most new and electrified vehicles are sold, which undoubtedly contributes to the rejuvenation of the fleet. Only 41% of the cars in the region are more than 10 years old, and a third are between zero and three years old.
Behind Madrid, the other communities with the least old park in Spain are Catalonia (13.4 years) and the Valencian Community (13.6). Both exceed the European average, which is 12 years.
The autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla top the list of places where the oldest cars in Spain are found. In Ceuta, the average age is 16.3 years, but it is Melilla that occupies the first place with an average one year higher, reaching 17.3 years. This figure places the park in Melilla three points above the national average and more than five above the European average.
Ceuta and Melilla are followed by another six communities with a park that is over 15 years old. These regions are Extremadura, Galicia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias and La Rioja. In all these communities, the double environmental and safety problem that comes with having an old vehicle fleet is aggravated. In Castilla y León (64.18%), Extremadura (64.02%) and Galicia (63.58%), practically two out of every three cars are over ten years old.
The Carfax study determines that Andalusia is the community with the largest car park in Spain (14%) and that it must improve in the inconsistencies of the mileage of its vehicles, since 4.73% of its cars are affected. However, there are four other communities that surpass it in this regard. They are Castilla-La Mancha, with 4.85%; Castilla y León, with 5.08%; Murcia, with 5.48% and, above all, Extremadura, which climbed to 6.13%.
On the other hand, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands are the ones that register a greater number of vehicles with associated risks, 27.85% in both cases, which may be due to the high volume of rental cars that circulate on their roads, as they are the main touristic destinations. On the opposite side, Castilla-La Mancha stands out, with barely 3% risk for its vehicles and 0.46% of previous accidents or damages.
