Helen248

We are exploring our options for when we permanently relocate to near Arganil.

We need a car ASAP after we arrive. Our plan was to fly out, hire a car for a week from airport then try and source a car there. I feel this might be an unrealistic task especially being over the Christmas period with closures for bank hol etc. Which will result in us having to return car to nesr Porto airport then catch train & bus to our new home then be stranded without a vehicle and no vehicle to use to go and view cars.

We are now thinking about purchasing a L H car here in UK and ferry/drive option. This means we could put extra belongings in the car as we are not having a removal company as we rent here and our furniture is old/cheap and not worth the cost of removal company also our new place is fully furnished.

Does anyone know of any good L H car dealers in UK? We are South West but don't mind travelling a couple of hours. We also have a 2012 Nissan Note to sale before we go and I checked with We buy any car who offered a ridiculous small amount.

Is this a good idea? Can anyone see any pitfalls? I have googled some L H car sales places and it looks like we could get a better car here for our budget of £3000 - 4000 and I am hoping I could also trade in my Nissan. Also I think I would feel better if the car was UK registered as many are Spanish or French and I am not sure I would understand the paperwork if we had issues registering it in Portugal. At least if it's UK registered and we have issues in Portugal we can phone UK to sort. My Spanish and French language is limited.

Any comments/advice welcome.

Loafing Along

You will have issues registering the car in Portugal unless you have owned it for one year before you take up residence. The process of registering is fairly complex, requiring extensive documentation and detailed proof of length of ownership - utility bills etc etc. There are threads on this site which can explain it all in detail.
As it seems that you are moving now it looks as though you have missed that window of opportunity.
Either you bite the bullet and pay extra rental costs here or , do as you originally planned and search for a locally-purchased car when you arrive. There are definitely reasonable second-hand cars within your budget, I know a couple of people who have paid that sort of price and are satisfied with their purchase but the search time may put you at a disadvantage.

This local web gives some examples :
https://www.standvirtual.com/carros/...ew_used%5D=all

Helen248

Thanks that is useful advice, I don't want any hassle with registering so I think we should go back to original plan of selling our car here for peanuts then paying more for a car when we arrive. We are out again start Dec for notary so maybe we can take a look at some second hand car dealers in Porto or Coimbra or anywhere within a couple of hours drive of Arganil. Your advice is much appreciated also I didn't fancy the long drive with my back back anyway.

mfesharne

Just for the sake of accuracy, the rules for tax free matriculation changed in the 2017 budget & you now only need to have owned it & resided in the country of registration for 6 months instead of the former 12 months, have 12 months to begin matriculation instead of the former 6 months & cannot sell (without repaying the tax) for 1 year instead of the former 5 years................... But interestingly, the law about a foreign registered car remaining in PT for 6 months before beginning the matriculation process or being removed back to the country of registration for 6 further months has not changed. lol!

You also need to swear an affidavit in the UK Embassy & provide a vehicle specific Certificate of Conformity as well.

peterfc

I found a PT citreon Berlingo van in the UK for a price i was happy with. Before i paid for the van i checked that there was no outstanding tax due and the Financas gave it a clean bill of health. I form has to be filled in by the owner of the car/ van and the new owner. The lady in the office in Gois told me without the form the ownership could not be changed. I was shown just what had to be signed ect and with the blank form went and got the van.
Easy no problem at all upon my return i went with the filled in form and after paying the fee the van was mine.

In all at the office it took about 10 minutes to complete the change of ownership.

Peter

MrBife

I would suggest driving down in the Nissan you already have and using it for the permitted six months (as long as it remains street legal in the UK during that time) while you get on your feet and look around for something locally. At the end of the six months you can sell it for spares or use it for a trip back to UK.. With everything else you are going to be doing I wouldn't add the hassle of matriculating a car - just buy a Portuguese one if you are going to be staying and have done with it, prices are not as bad as folks say. See www.standvirtual.pt for a guide to prices.

Helen248

Gosh it's such a dilemma. We are now actually considering taking our Nissan as we are coming back in April for a visit to UK so that will give us 4 months to source a Portuguese car. Then we can drive the Nissan back and sale it whilst we here in UK then fly back. I just don't know how our UK insurance works. I think we have a 14 day or maybe more Europe cover so it will cover us to drive over initially then I assume we need to get insurance in Portugal. Will car insurance cost a lot on a British car? Then I am not sure what happens when we drive back in April. Will our Portuguese insurance cover us to drive back as we will need to cancel our UK cover once arrive in Portugal as it won't cover us after a set amount of days - I'm assuming they think you are going on holiday.

Helen248

Just checked policy and it covers us for 90 days in Europe but only if your permanent home is in UK. We will have purchased our Portuguese home by start of Dec so this won't work. To be honest it's a long drive anyway with a bad back so I think we will just fly one way then train & bus to new home. When we are ready we can then take a bus or train to Porto or Coimbra to view cars or hire a car for a week or two to visit car places. All this panning is driving me nuts. Really difficult to plan and sort everything whilst working FT. Also when we fly out start Dec we will hire a car for a few days so can view car sales places then.

mfesharne

Be cautious of selling or even scrapping a UK registered car outside of the UK as technically (at least) it's illegal & (IIRC) the fine can be up to 6 times it's (Portuguese) estimated value.

Diddion

mfesharne

There are other issues to consider as well, not least amongst them the fact that a registered resident of Portugal cannot drive a foreign registered car unless they own it AND it has begun the matriculation process.

coleio

Surely this is not a problem, 5 mins ago, I could get a Porto Airport hire car for quote * € 322 Price for 31 days * over the xmas period with unlimited milage so one option is just hire a car to collect on arrival for a couple of months. Note that if you damage the car you'll either have insurance of loose 1000 euro deposit so careful moving furniture, cement, bricks etc. If you are not a PT resident, owning a house does not make you a resident it depends on the amount of time you spend here and not here. If a UK resident ie you have not gone through the PT residency process you can drive a UK reg car, some UK insurance companies (SAGA) will allow 12 months driving abroad - so you could have a UK reg car if it were in PT for 3 months so you can do stuff. My personal choice was/is to buy a an older Citroen/Peugeot in the UK, do all the paperwork at a UK address, stuff car with everything (including a cement mixer) and slowly potter to Portugal. Towards the end of 3 months just decide what to do ie to drive it slowly back to the UK, sell it to someone traveling round Europe or a UK registered person moving to Spain who wants a UK reg car (change of ownership is done online instantly) or talk to the my local scrappy - below (or similar people) and fill in section 5 of the registration document which does not need any information about what physically happens to the car ie car is not imported/registered for road use in Portugal. I't all depends on your situation.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.6775...7i13312!8i6656

liveaboard

If you can find a PT registered one in the UK [like Peter] then you might snag a bargain; the odds are slim but check it out.

If you're flexible about model + make, there are always hundreds of second hand cars for sale; but if you want something specific you likely need time to wait for the right car in the right condition in the right price range to come up for sale in your area.

I was looking out for a Mercedes for months; drove to Lisbon 3 times before I got what I was looking for. Many advertisers were just too far away; if I could know that was a car to buy it would be ok, but you have to travel just to look.

A garaged car can last for decades if not used for commuting, but if you have to park it in the weather you'll be shopping for another one within a few years anyway.

Diddion

1. New cars are very heavily taxed.
2. The climate in much of Portugal is kind to cars, with rust not being a problem as in the UK - I don’t know about coastal regions, though. The Sun is hard on paint, though.
3. I think that the cars are generally well cared for.

I would not hesitate in buying a used car in Portugal; in fact have already done so. Used cars come with a guarantee. Ours came with an insurance based guarantee, which was honoured without question at 11 months. This included collection of the car, 5 days rental car, labour and parts.

mfesharne

Wise words from Diddion but I'll add to be cautious of buying anything that's overladen with technology as good mechanics are as rare as diamond studded unicorn kak here.