# Importing car from Abu Dhabi to Portugal



## MarbellaGirl

Hi there, we are moving from AD to Eastern Algarve in October. Having nearly passed out at the cost of 2nd hand cars on our recent visit, I am now looking into costs involved in shipping our 2009 Hyundai Tucson 2.8L, as here it's worth about £4000, and I would be prepared to keep it over there until it fell apart (so to speak!). I can get it shipped pretty cheaply, and it seems whilst it's a complete pain to do, it's cheap to do the matriculation especially as it's already LHD. My questions then relate to how much it would then coat to insure, and for ongoing road tax per annum, bearing in mind it's a V6 engine, and it seems the road tax is related to emissions and engine size? Can anyone help with this please?
Also everything I have read about matriculation seems to say you have to go to Lisbon or Porto? But maybe the posts I am reading are from those based in those areas. Can it be done in Faro or Tavira?
Oh yes, and then are there matriculation companies who will do the running around fairly cost effectively? Being new to the country (although we lived in Soain for years), and speaking no Portuguese (yet!), I am thinking a few hundred euros could be a wise investment here?
Also the Certificate of Conformity required, would I just get that from a HyundI dealer here, or I can get it online with the manufacturer? Never heard of one before....
Thanks for any advice........


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## brodev

I believe that the option of transfer of registration of a second hand car only applies to cars imported from the EU. In other words the car needs to have been registered in another EU country.


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## travelling-man

brodev said:


> I believe that the option of transfer of registration of a second hand car only applies to cars imported from the EU. In other words the car needs to have been registered in another EU country.


Hope you won't mind me correcting you on that....... I think you'll find any adult can import one vehicle tax free (no matter where they come from) if they & the car meet the required criteria such as having been registered to that person for 12 months previously etc.

I imported my car from South Africa on the tax free allowance scheme when we came here about 5 years ago & it's origin wasn't even questioned.


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## travelling-man

Oh & going rate to have an agent do the car matriculation for you is about €400 plus the matric test which is about €125. 

If you have anything non standard on the car such as high performance exhaust or wide wheels etc you'll find it a great help if you get a letter from your local main dealer saying they're acceptable replacement parts


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## SpiggyTopes

Go to the UAE Embassy and they will tell you exactly what to do ..... why bother asking here?

The cost to insure and pay the annual tax car will be the least of your worries, but you could allow E 1,000.

Is it petrol? Is it sold on the market here? If not, will spare parts be available?

I paid an agent more than E 1,000 to process our car and it was worth every penny ... he is STILL working on it a year later, although I'm using the car legally.

I did this last year and the Embassy was very helpful with car, permits and baggage. It is not difficult but you do need certificates from them for the car, residency in UAE and baggage.


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## travelling-man

I think you'll find it's the Portuguese embassy or High Commission you need to consult rather than the UAE one.

Tax you'll be able to find here: IUC - Imposto Único de Circulação 2016

Insurance is quite cheap & as an example, I pay about €190 per year for a 3.2 litre Jeep Grand Cherokee TD LE.

Hyundai Tucsons are available here so I'd have thought spares would be readily available.

Spiggy:

Can I ask why as much as €1k & do you know why it's taking so long? - Mine took 6-8 weeks from start to finish & cost in my area is usually about €400


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## MarbellaGirl

Thanks for the speedy replies and advice everyone. Yes I plan to go to Portuguese Embassy here, but from trawling pages like this, there seem to be many different experiences as to how to achieve this transfer once you get to Portugal. 400E seems money well spent to not have to do/visit the 300 different steps and places that appear to be required to achieve this. The car is petrol and no modifications or extras, but is top specification, even if already 7 years old (practically on the scrap heap for here!)
And what about the annual road tax there, is it worked out on the value of the car, or the engine size?
Thanks again.....


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## travelling-man

Road tax is calculated on engine size & emissions & priced as a new car from date of matriculation in PT not year of manufacture........ Big engines/high emissions are obscenely expensive but smaller engines/lower emissions aren't too horrendous.

You should be able to work out road tax on the link I posted.


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## brodev

travelling-man said:


> Hope you won't mind me correcting you on that....... I think you'll find any adult can import one vehicle tax free (no matter where they come from) if they & the car meet the required criteria such as having been registered to that person for 12 months prev.


Happy to be corrected, but everything I have read on the subject referred to importing a car from within the EU. Glad that you have had the experience to share.


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## travelling-man

Getting mine in from South Africa was an absolute doddle & customs couldn't have been nicer or more helpful....... I did however go to great pains to be absolutely sure ALL the paperwork & numbers etc were absolutely correct & that I had every single document they required & more.

My only complaint about Customs was they removed the radiator grill to look behind it but didn't reassemble it properly (good job I checked!)


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## Leandil1

Good day! We are looking at shipping our Kia to Portugal. Were you successful in shipping your Hyundai? Ours is a 2018 model but they dont have an eu certificate that they can issue for it. Will it matriculate without it?


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## baldilocks

IDK why people are so keen on importing cars from elsewhere with all the problems that they might bring. Buy here, you will make a friend of a local dealer who will ensure that your car is kept in full working order. Taking something imported to a local facility and you won't get the best of service because you didn't buy it from him/her.


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