Selling UK Registered Car in Portugal

rarrainbow

Hello All!

We are currently in the UK, moving to the South Algarve in the next month (May 2012). We have decided to buy a car in the UK and drive it over as:

a) we have heard cars are 2.5x more expensive to buy in Portugal
b) we will know nobody upon arrival and will therefore have no trustworthy people to help us when buying a car (we are getting cheap banger and are not mechanics ourselves!!)
c) we have lots of stuff to bring over (surf boards, dive equipment etc) so even though flights are cheap, once extra baggage has been added, plus taxis etc when we get there, figured a car would be much easier and much more fun too!
d) being involved in the tourist industry my BF needs to be ready to go as soon as we get there, therefore not inclined to buy Portuguese car upon arrival as this will take time to sort out insurance, breakdown, even just finding the car....

We know that:

a) as long as the UK car is UK taxed and MOT'd, we can keep it legally for the first 183 days of entering Portugal
b) after then we need to matriculate
c) there are loads of posts on all forums about this and clearly it is a pain in the posterior and also pretty costly :-( (also I believe you have to have owned the car for 12 months prior to attempting matriculation... well we haven't even bought our car yet..... so can't matriculate anyway!)

However:

a) we need a car as BF is freelance photographer across the whole of the South
b) we are limited on funds!
c) we have found really good insurers to cover UK, Spain and Portugal

Surely:
- with the number of expats moving between the UK and Portugal, something can be set up between us to benefit all. I'm thinking drive a UK registered car over, have it legally no hassle for 6 months, then sell it to somebody who is going to the UK. Maybe part ex for their LHD car?

Pitfalls:
- not sure how many people leave Portugal to move back to the UK?

Overcome by:
- people will be visiting the UK and maybe the idea of a road trip would appeal... see some of Spain and France and even the UK along the way! Use the car to transport more than is allowable on cheap.com flights. Use it whilst in the UK. Then if coming back, sell it onto the next person who needs it!

Surely:
-there must be people needing RHD leaving Portugal who have a LHD car to get rid of??????

-doing part ex or a plain swap to avoid all the absolute red tape of getting the cars re-registered and all the costly checks involved

What do you all think please? As I said, as yet, we have no car but definitely need one... which is the best way to do this based on only wanting a cheap banger and having lots of stuff to bring over...

Any ideas or inspiration to address this situation that clearly a lot of people are suffering with would be great!

Thanks

Wig

Keep driving it in Portugal for the 12 months, they won't know or care. When it hits 12 months then register it as Portuguese. If you want to be all legal, drive it to Spain/UK (Probably needs to be UK legally but they won't know if you go to UK or not so why bother?) after 6 months and get another 6 months "car visa".....for this to happen it would probably be best for the vehicle RK to not register themselves as a Portuguese resident until after the car is registered in Portugal.

http://www.bca-group.com/eu-en/import-export-guides/import-guides/portugal.aspx
Says nothing about requiring to be 12 months in your ownership, Does sound expensive though

http://pt.bca-europe.com/SearchVehicle?saleId=dee39737-5c1d-498f-9a6b-00cf39937f35&SaleCal=true
Unfortunatly does not show expected selling prices.


Overall I think your best bet, will be to either fly there and buy a car when you are there,

Or drive, but you must drive it back to UK (and leave it here) once you have bought a Portuguese car.

Live in Spain instead and drive into Portugal as and when needed

bryanb

You will probably have little trouble keeping a UK car in Portugal or Spain semi-permanently,so long as you keep it low profile, I understand there are people in Spain who can arrange (Legal) UK MOTs.

s_b

bryanb wrote: »

You will probably have little trouble keeping a UK car in Portugal or Spain semi-permanently,so long as you keep it low profile, I understand there are people in Spain who can arrange (Legal) UK MOTs.

i hope thats an oxymoron

bryanb

s_b wrote: »

i hope thats an oxymoron

As I understand it a group of motorists pay a qualified tester to go to Spain and test their cars using the facilities of a Spanish garage.
So would that be an oxymoron?

I also hear that Germans do similar for their TUV tests.

s_b

bryanb wrote: »

As I understand it a group of motorists pay a qualified tester to go to Spain and test their cars using the facilities of a Spanish garage.
So would that be an oxymoron?

I also hear that Germans do similar for their TUV tests.

never heard of that cant believe vosa would approve
i used to test a car for a friend every year he used to come back see family and leave the car with me
the spanish got very funny with him though because they said he should register the car over there local polic!a

(spain)

bryanb

s_b wrote: »

the spanish got very funny with him though because they said he should register the car over there local polic!a

(spain)

The policia are quite right, a foreign car in any EU country must be imported or exported after 6 months. Hence the advice to keep a low profile.
It can also be difficult with UK insurance companies trying to limit your stay in other EU countries, which is totally against EU law (regarding third party insurance which must be valid in all EU countries for the duration of the policy)

PS. Not sure that VOSA approval is required really. The Road traffic acts are what counts.

vaio

I'd have thought that VOSA approval would be needed, apart from anything else they inspect the MOT stations to ensure the kit is suitable and calibrated etc

bryanb

vaio wrote: »

I'd have thought that VOSA approval would be needed, apart from anything else they inspect the MOT stations to ensure the kit is suitable and calibrated etc

Agreed, perhaps things are not so legal as I've been told. It apparently happens in the Marbella area.
However the MOTs were on the database and enabled owners to get tax discs.
My info is 2nd hand so I am unable to say more.

s_b

bryanb wrote: »

Agreed, perhaps things are not so legal as I've been told. It apparently happens in the Marbella area.
However the MOTs were on the database and enabled owners to get tax discs.
My info is 2nd hand so I am unable to say more.

as i guessed
all they are doing is getting an mot certificate printed off back in blighty
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackburndarwenhyndburnribble/8319310.Great_Harwood_garage_boss_in_court/

Premier_2

s_b wrote: »

as i guessed
all they are doing is getting an mot certificate printed off back in blighty
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackburndarwenhyndburnribble/8319310.Great_Harwood_garage_boss_in_court/

There was only evidence of just ONE certificate issued by him where the car was not present.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/newsandevents/pressreleases/2010pressreleases/03-11-10garageownerguiltyoffakingmottests.htm