How to buy a car from Germany: Step-by-step guide
After analyzing the car market in Portugal and comparing prices with Germany, the idea of purchasing a car abroad becomes especially appealing. Our team of experts is ready to assist you at every stage, but if you want to figure out all the details on your own, this guide will thoroughly explain every step of buying and legalizing a car in Portugal.
Step 1: Choosing a car in Germany
The first step is to choose a suitable car. The best option is a car with a transparent history from an official dealer, preferably under factory warranty or with additional coverage from the previous owner. Our clients are spared this step, as we offer a service for checking cars in Germany, identifying potential problems in advance. Let’s look at the key factors to consider.
Car location
If you plan to drive the car yourself, its location plays an important role. If the car is far from the city of your arrival, transportation costs can increase significantly.
Payment methods
Another important point is payment. Most German dealers only accept bank transfers, which can take 2–3 days, and the seller will not hand over the car without receiving the funds. This means either paying for the car in advance or accounting for the costs of staying in Germany.
We offer our clients the option to pay for the car in cash or cryptocurrency, making the process much more convenient than paying independently.
Availability of required documents
After receiving the car, you need to ensure you have all the necessary documents, as well as arrange insurance and temporary transit plates if you plan to drive the car yourself, which can also take time.
After successfully choosing and paying for the car, you can proceed to the next step — delivering it to Portugal.
(Current expenses: ≈ €1000)
Step 2: Delivering the car to Portugal
Once your new car is yours, the important task is to bring it to Portugal. You can do this in two ways: either drive it yourself or use a logistics company that will deliver the vehicle by car carrier. Let’s take a closer look at both options.
Driving the car yourself
If you decide to drive the car yourself, you’ll need to cover 2,300–3,000 km, which will take about 25 to 30 hours.
Assuming a route of 2,500 km taking 27 hours, you’ll probably need to make 2 hotel stops, making the trip about 3 days. In this case, total expenses for fuel, toll roads, and accommodation will be around €800, relevant for both gasoline/hybrid and electric vehicles. Even though electricity is cheaper, electric vehicles will require more time for charging, leading to more hotel stops.
Additionally, increased mileage and potential damage to the car are other downsides of driving it yourself.
Transporting the car by carrier
Using a car carrier is a convenient and safe way to transport your car without increasing its mileage, saving you time.
However, not all logistics companies provide high-quality service, and issues like damage due to improper loading or delays may occur.
We work only with reliable logistics partners and fully control the process from the car handover in Germany to its arrival in Portugal.
After delivering the car to Portugal, the next important step is legalizing the car and obtaining Portuguese plates.
(Current expenses: ≈ €1800)
Step 3: Legalizing the car in Portugal
Once the car is in Portugal, you need to start the legalization process. Let’s go through the main stages.
Obtaining homologation and technical certificate
First of all, you need to request homologation and pass a technical inspection. During the inspection, it’s crucial that the car is in perfect condition and the CO₂ emissions comply with the manufacturer’s values.
Paying ISV
After receiving the technical certificate, you need to submit documents to the Portuguese customs service (this can be done through the Finanças online portal) and pay the ISV (Imposto Sobre Veículos) fee for customs clearance.
It’s important to note that hybrid vehicles may be exempt from ISV up to 75%, and fully electric vehicles are completely exempt.
For a more detailed understanding of how ISV is calculated, we recommend checking out our article explaining the ISV calculation process in detail.
After successfully paying the fee, you will receive a DAV (Declaração Aduaneira de Veículo) document containing your car’s Portuguese plates. With this document, you can go to a workshop to get the plates made, which takes about 10 minutes.
Submitting documents to IMT
However, obtaining Portuguese plates is not the final step of the legalization process. After receiving the plates, you’ll need to arrange insurance and schedule an appointment at IMT (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes) to submit documents for registering your car in their system.
Once the request is approved, you will receive a confirmation email of the registration. After receiving this email, you need to wait 48 hours before moving to the final step — obtaining the Certificado de Matrícula.
Getting the Certificado de Matrícula
The final step of the legalization process is obtaining the main car document — the Certificado de Matrícula.
To do this, you need to schedule an appointment at the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) and apply for the Certificado de Matrícula.
After that, the document will be sent to your address, completing the legalization process.
Legalizing a car in Portugal is not a simple task. As you can see, going through the process requires multiple steps and a lot of time spent visiting different institutions.
Our team handles the entire legalization process, saving you time and effort searching for information about each step.
It’s important to remember that every step of the legalization requires expenses, and if something is done incorrectly, you might have to pay again or face fines.
(Current expenses: ≈ €3300)
Conclusion
We hope that you now have a clearer understanding of the process of buying a car in Germany, bringing it to Portugal, and legalizing it.
As you may have noticed, the cost of driving a car yourself is quite high and comparable to our prices. Trust us to save time and money, and we will do everything to ensure you can start using your new car as soon as possible.
If you realize that handling all these steps on your own would be difficult and costly, contact us through any convenient social network. We will help you purchase the car of your dreams and take care of all the processes so you can fully enjoy your new car.
And if you decide to bring the car yourself, we hope our article was helpful and wish you to avoid all the problems we mentioned.