Are we crazy to move to Portugal? (by car)

Any thoughts?

If the plan is to buy a car in Germany, would it not be simpler to go get the car after you are in Portugal?

To live in Portugal, you need to get a car in Portugal, as matriculating a foreign car so as to be legal will be time consuming and expensive. I have friends who live there and they tell me the authorities are clamping down on this, so get a Portugese car.

The U.K. authorities would need to be convinced that you didn’t stop in France, Belgium or Luxembourg to refuel, otherwise you would have to self isolate for 14 days. Buying a German car isn’t a good idea, so this should be irrelevant.

Earlier in the year, the Spanish/ Portuguese road borders were closed and with the Covid situation rapidly evolving, who knows what will happen in a few weeks. The situation now isn’t as bad, but Covid cases are rising rapidly in Spain and it doesn’t take long for situations to change.

I agree with Jennifer. I would not try to drive through those countries. The governments of Spain and Portugal are meeting soon to talk about closing borders again, so no guarantees.

And, I have a number of friends who have purchased cars here in Portugal, including German cars, if that’s what you want. There really shouldn’t be a problem buying one here, then not having to deal with the hassles of buying elsewhere then bringing to Portugal.

Lastly, have you tried Idealista.com and Casa sapo.pt for rentals? They have a wide selection of rentals.

Hi yes been on all the websites, there are many more property websites.
Very very few decent villas to rent in Algarve, and even less those who actually reply to the contacts. It seems most agent left old houses on there, or just don't care about the rentals, as the money is in selling houses!

About cars, I heard of a few Portuguese people who got German cars, using an agent. These days the matriculation charge is peanuts, as long as one is wise and gets a plug-in hybrid car (even a powerful 9 month old one costs just 500 euros for the ISV.!).

Somehow used and new cars are very expensive in Portugal, even said plug-in hybrids, there isn't the competition and online car buying that exists in UK and Germany. For example for a brand new car it's usual to get up to 20% off in Germany or UK. (I got 25% on mine in the UK 4 years ago, but sadly the steering wheel is on the wrong side).

I read other forum posts describing their trip by car to Portugal from UK in early October (Santander) , and the ferries are actually mostly FULL, so lots of others are still driving.
Anyone else driving internationally these days?

I read other forum posts describing their trip by car to Portugal from UK in early October (Santander) ,

Since October hasn’t happened yet this year, I assume these posts refer to October 2019, before a Covid-19 had reared its ugly head in Europe, so I am not sure what these posts would have to do with current conditions.

I think I am probably missing something here as none of this makes sense to me.

Well it's for October 2020, why would I refer to 2019? :D LOL
These people are driving in from UK and nobody told them off, different forum I guess? ;)
https://expatsportugal.com/community/good-morning-portugal/driving-from-santander/#post-179551

Lol - well actually the posts were from September 2020 (I.e. 10/9) but yes, recent. :) I think you are wise to ask these questions - but I did not see that the other forum answered them. And I think people here are mainly saying that Covid is a rapidly-moving target and that checking regulations (regarding borders and quarantines) from official sources before something major is wise. Maybe there is a Facebook group focused on living in Portugal, as opposed to traveling there for tourism that could help.

The 10th to the 18th shows how quickly the situation is evolving. You’ll find this is a fairly positive, supportive forum.