# Ship my Honda Civic from the US?



## BellaLuna (Jun 7, 2008)

Ola to all,

Well, I haven't visited Expat Forum in a while...we're supposed to be in Portugal already! This is the second time I've "chickened out", but I'm getting back on the horse.

I sold my Toyota Highlander, which would have been too big for Europe. I've bought a 2007 Honda Civic, and I really want to bring it to Portugal. Some people have warned that it's expensive to get a car registered in Portugal, and that there are modifications that must be done to the car etc. But since the dollar is so low right now, even if I found a car for say...10,000 euros, that would be paying just about 14,000 in dollars.

This Civic is really neat too because the speedometer is digital so I can just push a button and it goes from Miles to Kilometers. It gets 40 miles per gallon on the freeway, so it's very fuel efficient and it is a ULEV, which stands for "Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle". 

So, would it be worth it to bring the car? Thank you so much for any advice!

Christina


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## silvers (Sep 22, 2008)

Hi Christina,
Do you speak Portuguese? If so i can put you in touch with an agent who dealt with our neighbours car, she did all their paperwork, but as you can guess, she doesn't speak a word of English.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

One other big consideration is whether or not you can get your particular model of car serviced in Portugal. You may want to look into that before you decide whether or not to go through the expense and hassle of shipping it.

Even "international" car makers tailor their models for each country's market and technical specifications. If you can't get your car serviced in Portugal, your "savings" won't really amount to much.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BellaLuna (Jun 7, 2008)

Thanks for your advice Bev and Silvers. I don't speak enough Portuguese to work with an agent that only speaks Portuguese. In fact I might know enough to order from a menu, and ask where the post office is.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

BellaLuna said:


> So, would it be worth it to bring the car?


On balance I would say ... No

Official website is here ...

Site da DGAIEC - Perguntas Frequentes Regularização Fiscal

Try and get a quote from a matriculation agent before you ship, when you add on the shipping I would be surprised if you didn't spend close to the same again as you paid for the car.

Do yourself a favour - Sell it there and choose a Portuguese registered car when you arrive


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