Moving my car from Portugal.

Phate · 17 Sep 2017 at 15:26

Hi all,

I think I know the answer already but I thought I'd ask this here just in case I am missing something.

My car is currently sat in a family members garage in northern Portugal. It was last in the UK in November 2015, when I took the ferry to Dieppe and waved goodbye to the UK.

After we parked it up I cancelled the tax and insurance and the MOT has also obviously expired.

Basically, is there a way I can insure it to take it back?

Im in the UK a couple of times a year and it would just be handy to have there.

From what I know, it's not possible to apply any sort of insurance to it to take it back. Due to the lack of tax and MOT.

Yes my Dad has a firm which could pick it up. But it depends on whenever he next has a job in Northern Portugal which so far has been 2 years and nothing has come up. So I am exploring other options.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Jake

Phate · 17 Sep 2017 at 15:55

To get it registered it's approx €7000 so.... Unfortunately not!

Dis86 · 17 Sep 2017 at 15:56

Phate said:
To get it registered it's approx €7000 so.... Unfortunately not!

That's ridiculous!

Hater · 17 Sep 2017 at 15:57

Can't get your local garage to do a MOT over the phone?

geekman · 17 Sep 2017 at 16:15

I've done this sort of thing several times and it's really very easy.

First of all, you can insure it no problem: MOT and tax is not a requirement for them to insure you. Most companies give you up to 90 days European cover so that won't be an issue either.

Then, book an MOT at your preferred testing station for the date when the car will be back in the UK, and drive it there. Then, once it's MOT'd you can tax it. Should you get stopped in the UK on your way to the MOT station you have a perfectly valid defence as you will indeed be driving it to the MOT station which is totally allowed.

The only slight sticking point is that technically, to be legal in Europe, the car has to be legal in the UK: i.e. it needs tax and MOT which is obviously impossible. However, in practice, as long as you have the V5 and insurance certificate with you, you'll be fine. I've been stopped several times in different European countries in a UK reg car and all they care about is that you're the owner of the car and that it's insured. I've never been asked for proof of MOT or tax and don't know anybody who has.

There's many UK reg cars where I live in France which haven't been taxed or MOT'd since the early/mid 2000s and nobody does anything about it, so your "offence" is very minor in comparison.

Should you be very unlucky and get stopped in France by an officer who does actually ask for your MOT certificate, provided there's no dangerous defects on the car, you'll simply be fined and sent on your way. Might be wise to avoid driving through Switzerland though.

Phate · 17 Sep 2017 at 16:47

geekman said:
I've done this sort of thing several times and it's really very easy.

First of all, you can insure it no problem: MOT and tax is not a requirement for them to insure you. Most companies give you up to 90 days European cover so that won't be an issue either.

Then, book an MOT at your preferred testing station for the date when the car will be back in the UK, and drive it there. Then, once it's MOT'd you can tax it. Should you get stopped in the UK on your way to the MOT station you have a perfectly valid defence as you will indeed be driving it to the MOT station which is totally allowed.

The only slight sticking point is that technically, to be legal in Europe, the car has to be legal in the UK: i.e. it needs tax and MOT which is obviously impossible. However, in practice, as long as you have the V5 and insurance certificate with you, you'll be fine. I've been stopped several times in different European countries in a UK reg car and all they care about is that you're the owner of the car and that it's insured. I've never been asked for proof of MOT or tax and don't know anybody who has.

There's many UK reg cars where I live in France which haven't been taxed or MOT'd since the early/mid 2000s and nobody does anything about it, so your "offence" is very minor in comparison.

Should you be very unlucky and get stopped in France by an officer who does actually ask for your MOT certificate, provided there's no dangerous defects on the car, you'll simply be fined and sent on your way. Might be wise to avoid driving through Switzerland though.

That's awesome help, thanks very much. Just one question surrounding the Tax & MOT. I am sure when insuring cars previously, over the phone I have been asked if it has a valid MOT & Tax applied. So in this instance I would simply say "no, but I need to insure it to take it for the MOT" then that should be that?

Ok this gives me hope. If this is the case I can insure it and run around in it for a week or so just to make sure it's all fine after sitting there for a couple of years and then book a ferry and take it back.

geekman · 17 Sep 2017 at 16:55

Phate said:
That's awesome help, thanks very much. Just one question surrounding the Tax & MOT. I am sure when insuring cars previously, over the phone I have been asked if it has a valid MOT & Tax applied. So in this instance I would simply say "no, but I need to insure it to take it for the MOT" then that should be that?

Ok this gives me hope. If this is the case I can insure it and run around in it for a week or so just to make sure it's all fine after sitting there for a couple of years and then book a ferry and take it back.

I tend to buy insurance online and I've never been asked those questions. So if it was me, I'd just go onto an online broker and choose the cheapest one which covered me for Europe. If you wanted to be a bit more secure though, you could call a European cover specialist like Stuart Collins and explain your situation: I'm pretty sure they'd be able to sort something out for you.

Phate · 17 Sep 2017 at 16:59

geekman said:
I tend to buy insurance online and I've never been asked those questions. So if it was me, I'd just go onto an online broker and choose the cheapest one which covered me for Europe. If you wanted to be a bit more secure though, you could call a European cover specialist like Stuart Collins and explain your situation: I'm pretty sure they'd be able to sort something out for you.

Perfect info, thanks again.

It was either this or scrapping the car. Which I am reluctant to do!

Might drop you a PM or two if that's ok!

geekman · 17 Sep 2017 at 17:10

Phate said:
Perfect info, thanks again.

It was either this or scrapping the car. Which I am reluctant to do!

Might drop you a PM or two if that's ok!

No problem at all

Gaijin · 19 Sep 2017 at 10:54

I can only echo what geekman says - the police will have no way to check MOT and tax and to be honest generally would only want to pursue it if they've seen you persistently driving around in the same area for a period of time, or antisocial driving etc.

Phate · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:14

Thanks all.

I need to look at the calendar and figure out when is best to do this according to what we have going on. I could drive it up to Santander and then get the 24hr crossing to the UK. So the route is fairly simple. Only 600km from its current location to Santander. I could do that on a Thursday night, get the crossing on the Friday and then be in the UK parked up late on Saturday morning.

When I drove originally I drove from Dieppe through France, Spain and then to where it is now, it was 1650. A looonnngg way

geekman · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:43

It'd be best if you could time it so that you arrive in the UK the morning of the day of the MOT. It'll be a lot easier to convince a policeman you're driving it to an MOT when you're stopped on that day.

Phate · 19 Sep 2017 at 11:44

geekman said:
It'd be best if you could time it so that you arrive in the UK the morning of the day of the MOT. It'll be a lot easier to convince a policeman you're driving it to an MOT when you're stopped on that day.

That wouldn't be a problem. Can arrange an MOT easily

Dr Who · 19 Sep 2017 at 12:40

Dis86 said:
That's ridiculous!

You clearly don't understand that to register it is classed as importing and you have to pay the local difference in vehicle duty. I was going to take a 2ltr 7 to cyprus but it was cyp£7000 just in duty, I switched the engine to a 1.2ltr and it was £700!

Phate
Check the conditions of your ferry carrier, they may require insurance, but otherwise, book MOT in the ferry port town for when you arrive, arrange insurance online for that day, hopefully the computerised MOT will update quickly enough for you to Tax online as well.

Semple · 19 Sep 2017 at 15:12

Dr Who said:
book MOT in the ferry port town for when you arrive, arrange insurance online for that day, hopefully the computerised MOT will update quickly enough for you to Tax online as well.

Was about to mention this too. While you can drive on the road without a valid MOT on the way to an MOT test station, it needs to be within a reasonable distance. I.e. if you're booking one 100 miles away just because it's closer to home, if you get stopped they're likely to be a bit funny about it. If it's booked in the same town - something like a 10-15 mile radius, then i can't see any questions being raised.

Phate · 19 Sep 2017 at 15:13

Semple said:
Was about to mention this too. While you can drive on the road without a valid MOT on the way to an MOT test station, it needs to be within a reasonable distance. I.e. if you're booking one 100 miles away just because it's closer to home, if you get stopped they're likely to be a bit funny about it. If it's booked in the same town - something like a 10-15 mile radius, then i can't see any questions being raised.

Thats a good point. I'll arrange something close to dock.

jpaul · 19 Sep 2017 at 15:52

egh ? Not sure how you deal with the intermediate years of un-payed road tax, being legal owner w/o a SORN in place.

the €7000 sounds expensive, in comparison to <£150 I payed for registering a French car in the UK, just needed a certificate of european conformity ,
and had to fix the lights before the MOT.

Dr Who · 20 Sep 2017 at 03:10

arfoll said:
I'm curious - why so much? is it some registration fee/tax or something or just because local exam is hard?

Generally dodging it to port and getting a quicky MOT is probably a risk worth taking, but not sure how happy cops would be if they catch you... How long was it since last mot?

http://www.prestige-car-sales.com/car-import-taxes-for-portugal/