jdr

Make sure you keep your ferry ticket as you drive in Spain, read zels post ;-)
The Guardia are getting hot on this now.

zel

In practice this is very hit and miss and you definitely have to have UK insurance and the new 'computerised' MOT.

Saying that this morning I tried to renew my own tax disc for my own car and I have insurance with one of the biggest companies in the UK and the 'new' MOT's and it still say it was not possible!!

zel

As mentioned you can only get a valid MOT done in the UK.

And as for the many cars you see, sure people 'risk it' and roam around in their 'illegal' cars. I guess the question one asks themselves is do you want to be looking over your shoulder and face getting into trouble with the local authority whilst trying to enjoy your new life in a new country?

The fact of the matter is a government is missing out on a lot of missed revenue with these 'illegal registered vehicles' taking this into account it's no surprise to hear that the Portuguese authorities are clamping down on it like they started to do in Spain last year!

Bensafrim

But...........you can't get your UK tax, even on line, without a MOT certificate. The system checks a database of insurance and MOTs so I am still confused as to how UK plated cars are driven around continuously without having to re-visit the UK
Or am I missing something?

jdr

Your not missing it and they are all illegal, and as you can not insure an illegal car, (well they will take your money) the paper its printed on is worthless, so dont get involved in an accident with one. ;-)

Sam J

Hello,

We imported our UK bought LHD landrover and would recommend that unless you are bringing a car to Portugal that you love, buy in Portugal!

We used an import agent which cost Euros 450, had to have a special SIPO (MOT) (Euros 65), a certificate from the British Embassy (Euros 65), we became residents (we were going to register anyway, but being a resident avoids paying import duty). The whole process took about 1 year with much to-ing and fro-ing.

I hope this helps with the decision.

Sam

zel

This whole thing really confuses me when people write such things as we sell a hell of a lot of vehicles to expats moving to Portugal and all of them have no worries what so ever gaining registration.

I think I mentioned it before shortly before xmas we had a client who purchased 2 cars to take to Portugal, Just after new year he sent me photos of the vehicles with all his companies logos on them and Portuguese registration plates. So that's what 2-3 weeks turn around? 1 year sounds like something very wrong happened along the line? Perhaps your vehicle did not have EU type approval?

People say that same about Spain but a member on here (Mitzyboy) just did all in 4 days for his car.

Sam J

Hi,

It was only our experience and I´m guessing it took longer as we were residents and went through the process on the basis we would not have to pay import duty on our vehicle. Our agent had to write to the local finanças to get a declaration we did not have any unpaid taxes in Portugal etc....perhaps more bureaucracy and therefore takes longer this way.

Sam

zel

Still seems very excessive time turn around, the vast majority of our clients purchase before they move to Portugal so they can achieve tax free importation and they also only took a matter of a few weeks turn around at the very most a month to gain registration once they have residency.

The same can be said for Spain, Perhaps it just boils down to whom you get to do it for you and how efficient they are?

Bensafrim

Zel
I believe that you are now echoing the more 'modern' and flexible attitude that is becoming more evident in Portugal.
12m ago everything was 'very difficult' but on a number of instances recently I find that the old red tape attitude is being pushed aside.
I guess when Sam went through his tribulations there was still a lot of beaurocracy around. The new Residency laws are simpler and I sense there is more willingness to help people out.
I am keeping my fingers crossed for a quick conclusion for both residency and car registration.

hatty

Well people, I am really confused here and I would appreciate any imput on this dilemma.
I recently purchased a place in Portugal.
Our neighbour in the UK GAVE me a LHD Renault Twingo originally imported from France and subsequently registered in the UK and which is now on UK plates.
As abit of a laugh I drove it to Portugal assuming that due to its advanced years it would probably take its last breath as it approached the house in Portugal. That was 6 months ago and it is going strong and has turned out to be a fantastic runabout.
Now, I tried to matriculate it myself in Portugal, ha ha. A visit to the licensing office in Faro was a scream. A large sheet of paper was handed over to me complete with tippexed over charges.
I have since been quoted E1000 for import duty, [I do not intend to take residencia], plus MOT and other taxes. As far as I am aware all this is completely illegal under European Union guide lines but I do not relish explaining that to the GNER.
So, I am reading from other postings that LHD cars are easy to register : I would welcome anyones advice and direction towards an agent who can talk sense on matriculation in either Portuguese or English. Or someone who will give this great little car a home.
Thanks. Hatty

zel

I unfortunately can not recommend an agent to help you with this process as I will only ever recommend someone I have dealt with directly.

Most of our clients seem to do the job themselves, so it can't be incredibly hard to obtain.

€1000 import duty on a OLD (assuming) Twingo does sound a lot, how old is the vehicle? and was this just for import duty or the entire process?

If it was the entire process this is an ok price as you're obviously paying for some ones time, import duty, modifications (it will need LHD lights added, fog light switched) all the other associated duties & expenses.

On the subject of import duty, you are indeed correct, this is technically against EU law and if Portugal are anything like Spain (you would assume they are) they will be getting fined heavily on a yearly basis due to this..

Only problem is as with Spain, the fines are probably less than what they make out of it.

hatty

Thanks for that.......and you are right about the age of the Twingo, shes 10, which in car years is about 100.
If E1000 had been the total charge I would have bitten the bullet as better the devil you know, with a second hand vehicle I think.
Reading the other articles has made me very determined and I will start afresh with my endeavors. I will keep you posted.Love a challenge