As a U.K. resident intending not to change residency, is the process of matriculating a U.K. reg car to Portugal any easier or not? Thanks.

Why are you thinking of doing this, even if it were possible?

We come and go frequently and leave one of our UK cars in Portugal for the max of 6 mths driving down in April and returning Oct. It works ok but after 5 years of it for reasons now of a. cost and b. lots of driving, it’s time for Ejet and a permanent car here to take the strain. However realising the import tax might be a showstopper, we’ll look out for a Portuguese car....I’m presuming a U.K. resident owning and running a Portuguese car in Portugal is OK??? Has anyone an experience of this eg local insurance costs?

As a new resident to take advantage of the no import duty you need to a. have owned the U.K. car (LHD or RHD) for at least 12 months prior to matriculation application start date b. start the matriculation within 6 mths from residency. So it seems your plan for no import tax is a non starter. The emissions level for a 1993 Porsche, which is what the duty is based on, would have made it very expensive to import.

I checked for a 2000 yr car 190gm/km CO2 and the duty was about 4500e. This U.K. car was worth £1500 so it was no brainer not to proceed. A newish car would be much much lower duty if at all...but then why buy a newish LHD in the U.K. rather than Portugal??

As you are PT resident (without a car?) seems the sensible option is to buy a PT car. Unfortunately a used one costs at least double the equivalent U.K. one.