# Buying a car in Portugal



## sjhalasz (Apr 1, 2018)

We will be moving to Portugal from the U.S. in June. We will be staying for a week in Lisbon before moving into our apartment in Olhao in the Algarve. We want to buy a used car that is large enough to visit European countries comfortably but not so large that it's inconvenient for local travel. It seems that we will do better buying a car in Lisbon rather than waiting to buy in the Algarve. Is that true? What car would you recommend?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

sjhalasz said:


> We will be moving to Portugal from the U.S. in June. We will be staying for a week in Lisbon before moving into our apartment in Olhao in the Algarve. We want to buy a used car that is large enough to visit European countries comfortably but not so large that it's inconvenient for local travel. It seems that we will do better buying a car in Lisbon rather than waiting to buy in the Algarve. Is that true? What car would you recommend?


I would recommend an MPV such as Citroën Berlingo/Peugeot Partner (same vehicle different badges) or very similar. They have space for five to travel in comfort plus their baggage (many vehicles will carry one or the other but not both.) We are on our third model (we change every four/five years so that they don't get too old) and have found them all to be excellent - economical, nippy enough to overtake in safety, comfortable and meet all our requirements. This type of vehicle is the most common vehicle around our way and one can find them as much as 30 years old and still going strong right up to "just out of the showroom." 

We have used ours to drive to UK and back (about 4000 km round trip.) Nowadays we don't go so far (age and health restrictions) but, nevertheless, go off on holiday in December to the mountains of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas where we rent an apartment for Christmas and New Year. Our load includes three adults, three dogs, all our baggage, foodstuffs, and since the apartment only has a microwave and two burner stovetop, we also take our halogen oven a plus the slow cooker.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

It largely depends on budget & preferences but I note you're coming from the US which is the land of the auto transmission & if you want a biggish auto that's comfortable on longer journeys then you're going to have limited choice & as fuel is expensive you also need to decide whether you want to go with diesel or gasoline options. 

My own choice was the Jeep Cherokee 4x4 station wagon with a turbo diesel engine but if you decide to go the same way, I'd suggest you go for the 2.5(?) engine rather than the 3.1 (Italian made) VM 5 cylinder engine. 

Otherwise look at the Japanese options but there isn't much of a choice when it comes to autos. 

Personally, I'm not a fan of French cars because (IMO) they tend to overcomplicate things for no good reason. 

Oh & the worst cars (if you can call them that) are the pig awful French made Aixam vehicles that you'll quickly grow to hate as much as I do! Bwahahahahahahaha!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

travelling-man said:


> Oh & the worst cars (if you can call them that) are the* pig awful French made Aixam* vehicles that you'll quickly grow to hate as much as I do! Bwahahahahahahaha!


Ah, you mean those pedal car thingies that cause hold-ups on the main road doing 25kph in a 120kph zone where there is no overtaking.


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

Hi,

And relax.

Spring has started and things are bursting onto life, this is Portugal not the US of A so relax and slow down. Just a one minute check of random dates shows two week car hire from Lisbon airport can be 85.18 euro, far easier to rent then decide what to do when you have some time to look round in a relaxed way and see what is available and what is suitable for you perceived needs and what the locals use.


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

Why not rent for a month while you find you feet


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## JHW80504 (May 14, 2018)

Greetings, while I have nothing to add wrt buying a car which you have probably done already anyhow, I am curious about how your move has gone. We are livelong US residents currently living in Colorado but spending this month in Albufeira seeing how we might like to live in Portugal. Since you are a new Portuguese resident from the US perhaps we can stay in contact.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Strontium said:


> Hi,
> 
> And relax.
> 
> Spring has started and things are bursting onto life, this is Portugal not the US of A so relax and slow down. Just a one minute check of random dates shows two week car hire from Lisbon airport can be 85.18 euro, far easier to rent then decide what to do when you have some time to look round in a relaxed way and see what is available and what is suitable for you perceived needs *and what the locals use*.


Although you might arrive with pre-conceived ideas about what you think you will want, it is not until you are actually in the area in which you are likely to live that you really find out what is the most suitable vehicle. Take a look to see what is the commonest make and type vehicle on the roads - chances are *that* will be the most practical vehicle to use ,bearing in mind road widths/conditions and what people find the most useful. 

Around this way (in Spain) it is the smallish MPV such as Citroën Berlingo/Peugeot Partner or Renault Kangoo, etc. which are very useful in that they can carry five people PLUS their baggage or, with the seats folded down, 3 cubic metres(600kg) load space (enough for an entire kitchen in flatpack) and with a fuel consumption of only 5 litres/100km (range 1200 km on a tank of fuel yet decent acceleration and a top speed well into illegal levels. Don't forget that the colour can be important as well - a white or very light colour will reflect the heat in summer, making quite a difference to what it will, be like inside in the summer with, or without, the a/c on.


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## Diddion (Oct 17, 2017)

*Vehicle height issue.*

...also worth considering is the height of the vehicle measured vertically at the front axle. If 1.10m or above the vehicle enters a higher bracket for motorway fees.


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