Car Transport to Portugal

You can opt to drive down to Lisbon yourself, in fact you could make a rather nice road trip out of it. However, it can often be cheaper and easier to hire a car importer, especially if you’re already in Portugal, as this saves you going to get it.

Multi Car Trailers: Huge car bearing trucks can carry around a dozen cars at a time all across Europe. The main benefit of getting your car hauled this way is that you can relax in the knowledge that your precious motor is in the hands of a specialist. Also by sharing the cost of fuel you can save some money too. The downside of using a large trailer is that they tend not to be able to deliver door to door.

Single trailer transportation: This is perhaps your best option for quick car deliveries to Portugal because the bespoke nature of the transport gives you more control over the process. Single trailers are also best suited to transporting a non-roadworthy car.

Driving it: As mentioned, you can drive it yourself; alternatively you can hire someone to do the pedal-work for you. Known as trade platers, these drivers specialise in delivering cars on a one to one basis. This can be less expensive than other options, especially with a driver who needs to get to Portugal anyway.

Shipping: From Portsmouth or Pittsburgh, wherever your car is coming from you have the option to get your car ferried to Porto. You have two options for shipping, roll on roll of (where your car is parked on the boat), or containerised shipping, which strangely enough means your car travels in a shipping container. Given that around 65% of Portugal’s border is coastline, there are a number of ports to choose from.

When looking at Portuguese car delivery options make sure that any driver you employ has proper European vehicle carrier insurance. Finding a transporter who is a member of a recognised vehicle transportation association can also be worthwhile.

Getting quotes from lots of car import and export companies can be a laborious task, the last thing you want to be doing when planning a foreign move is trawling web pages for a car delivery service.

Which is where Shiply can help: by listing your European car move with us, we help bring the quotes you.

Upload the details of your car transport to Portugal including dates and destinations and our registered car transporter will be able to see and bid for your delivery. You can compare competing companies based on the price of the offer as well as reviews from other Shiply members.

Your Portuguese Car

When your car arrives, depending on how you got it delivered, you might have to go and pick it up. Your first task should be to check it over with the transporter to make sure that it hasn’t been damaged during its journey – any discrepancies should be taken up with the driver.

Your first port of call should be the customs office (Alfândega Portuguesas), where you will need to declare your car’s arrival. Next you should make a visit to register your vehicle at the IMTT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes Terrestres). Remember to bring all the appropriate documents.

You can then apply for your Portuguese driving licence and plates.

When you have a break from the sunshine please do leave some feedback for the transporter who helped you ship your car. Reviews on Shiply are the most useful tool in helping our users discern which delivery driver to use and are invaluable to everyone!