Ah yes... Portugal. Well I have just returned from a year in Portugal and cars are very pricey there. My family are Portuguese and I always wanted to treat my cousin to a 2nd hand Jag XJS (his favourite car), but when we investigated the various taxes he'd have to pay as well as the yearly duty we decided it was better to just flush money down the nearest privvy!
I drove my car there for a year, on UK insurance. Being EU, your current insurer has to cover you. There are specialist insurers that cover ex pats out there (or any other EU country) but I was informed by a family broker out there that as I was already covered when I left UK, then they are duty bound to cover you... they just dont shout about it thats all. So I didn't hurry to sort new insurance and plates out (just as well, because I returned a year later but the original plan was to stay longer).
The Portuguese add VAT to a new car, and then slap a 'car tax'. Oh, and if you have a 5 litre limo with all the toys, you get stung with luxury duty on top. Buying an average new car will cost you half as much again as it does in the UK. Because the 2nd tax isn't called 'some more VAT', you cannot argue that VAT has already been paid on the car you bring from England. You escape paying portuguese VAT, but they still ask for the 'CAR TAX'. Second hand cars in Portugal hold their values... because the average Joe cannot afford to buy one new!
The way round it is as follow... If you have owned the car for more than 3 years and it has been registered at a UK address for that time, you can get your car registered for, I think, about 700 pounds. I will ask my uncle to reconfirm this and get back to you. As I didnt end up staying, I didn't pursue it any further. Older cars pay a pittance in road duty and new cars pay the equivalent to UK prices. I am unsure whether an old car registered today would fall under the former or latter.
Easiest option... buy a house just inside the Spanish border (or use the address of a friend there) and purchase/ run your newly acquired lybra on spanish plates. Fill up with petrol there whilst you're at it as it's a sight cheaper there too.
I do not profess to know everything about the subject, but the above is what my investigations threw up when I was gearing up to take both the Barchetta and Fulvia over for good. I hope that it helps a bit.
Mark
Hi Tim
Thinking of Portugal, I have been told that importing a car there now costs a small fortune, I had a quote on a Portuguese website of 20,000 euros to import the integrale. The only way is if you move residence, then you are allowed one car per person.
If you know any different then please let me know, I find it hard to believe as well, but I have also been told that the Portuguese get fined by the EU for charging import taxes, but the fine isnt as much as the tax so they carry on