How to bring your car to Brazil

It would be a fools errand to import a car into Brazil, The customs taxes alone are excessive. Best advise is to buy one here. The reason being you would pay almost the value of the car to import it and that is a big waste of money

Following this. Need to hear from someone who actually did it .

Not worth it and I researched it a lot. Even thought about driving it here, small ferry ride from Panama to avoid Columbia. The taxes will kill you, better off buying a car here.

I don't think you will find many people who have actually done it. I researched it as well and was not keen on paying again almost the price I paid originally for the car to import it. So I sold my car and bought one here.

I agree with all of the above, John C, Craig F. It would be a lesson in futility to Import a vehicle here, it would be entirely cost prohibitive, documentation for perhaps years. I also researched bringing a vehicle what a billywack, anything other than a mini car to midsized is trouble for where I live in the Northeast anything over a midsized is crazy, # 2 if you really like your vehicle sell it and buy something in Brazil for the way some people drive they need to take the bus, #3 most Brazilians have no insurance and some license are bought/lol.
I had a 2013 Toyota Avalon and like Craig I thought about every facet and in the end thought, I loved my car and sold her to avoid the abuse and headache of importing the old gurl! If one Is seriously thinking about importing a vehicle research the matter to avoid one gigantic brain ache and hoop jumping.

Back in 2003 I purchased VW Gol for, at that time, $R10,000. reais which was about $US4,500. We are back in CA.   and I too wondeted about returning with a car or Vespa scooter. Comments seem to point to : no, don't do it.

As far as I know, you cannot import a used car into Brazil. You can import a new one but the  shipping fees and taxes would negate any saving you make on the price of the vehicle.  Grit your teeth and pay the extortionate prices here.  I know, I hate it as well, but you probbly don't have much choice, I'm afraid.

My wife is Brazilian and has lived outside of Brazil for many years.  If we move to Brazil and she wants to bring her new car, is she exempt from some of these taxes?

Not at all, anytime with an engine is taxed to the extreme...even a weed wacker. Make sure household goods get here within 6 months of her arrival here or it’s not tax free. Our boat took about 4 months (low priority).

I am like Craig F I researched it and begin the process of shipping from USA, then got the letter from the exporter as to estimated payment. Almost 60% in taxes. Now living in Brasil I am glad I did not. Infrastructures would have ruin my car, registration and annual taxes and insurance high.
I would have no dealership where I live, so it was for the best. Just sold the car and brought the money (declared it of course with no issue as to saying I need to but a car.). Read an article Ford is trying to find a buyer in S.A. due to no profits. So who knw what the futre is in the industry here.

Thanks!  I am getting mixed information on the shipping of a car for a returning Brazilian citizen.  If we end up making the move, I will post the information here.

I looked at both ways, shipping in or driving in from a neighboring country and it’s a terrible decision unless your client has bags of money he doesn’t mind throwing around or it is a classic car with sentimental value. Honestly there is really nice cars here and with the current rate of the dollar the car will be roughly the same price with current exchange rate. It will be a huge hassle and not worth it at all. Good luck!

Thanks!  I am getting mixed information on the shipping of a car for a returning Brazilian citizen.  If we end up making the move, I will post the information here.

- @skipsherv

@Bhavna you can't  unless you're  a diplomat or part of a missionary. Or unless the car you want to export is like a Ferrari or some other high end car that'd  get stolen within 24 hrs. You also cannot take ant gas run things like weed whackers, lawnmowers or pressure washers.

But what if i want to travel on my car (a camper van) through Brazil and Argentina - can i ship it there for this purpose? It is stupid and unreal to buy a car just to travel...

12/30/22 But what if i want to travel on my car (a camper van) through Brazil and Argentina - can i ship it there for this purpose? It is stupid and unreal to buy a car just to travel...
-@Theodoro K.

It's hard to imagine a scenario in which renting a vehicle here wouldn't be much cheaper and much less hassle than trying to temporarily import a vehicle from abroad, if that were even permitted at all.  You definitely should check with the Brazilian and Argentine Embassies in your country (chances are that the laws are different, and one may be more lenient than the other), and with companies that move vehicles from your country to South America to know exactly what your options are.

@Bhavna  I imagine you have read all the reply’s so I have to ask WHY would you do it in the first place. Is it a classic? Do they not make this model in Brazil? Of course if money is no object you would also need to find someone in Brazil to service a car they know nothing about in Brazil.

Hello everybody,

If you exported your car to Brazil, were there any formalities that needed to be completed beforehand? What were they?

What is the best way to export your car? Is there a limit on the number of vehicles, or perhaps the age of the vehicle? Are there limits on emissions or emission controls in Brazil?

What are the expected costs of exporting a car? In your opinion, is it worth it?

Once you arrived in Brazil, what were the applicable taxes? What was the customs process like?

How do you go about registering an imported car in Brazil?

Is it best to buy a car once you have arrived or to bring your car with you, in your opinion?

We look forward to hearing from you!

Bhavna
-@Bhavna

Big waste of time and money.

1.Custom and Excise fees would wipe out any benefit you might gain. It matters none what you scored on the  negotiated purchase ( never mind ole lady Buick ). What customs suggest is worth ( close to MSRP ), is what taxes are levied against. You are paying full levvy.

2.Until it clears customs and they get paid, and the paperwork is in order, no delivery.  You will wait.... and wait.... and wait.

3.Trying to service whatever you bring here.  Never mind paying through the nose to get it serviced.  No dealership will touch it unless demanding heft ransom on parts and labor.    Independent repair shops??? No chance someone quit the dealership, bought tools to undercut the dealership on rates.  There aren't that many good and specialized techs around.

4.Mechanics here are by and large ill equipped to service domestic nameplates, never mind foreign jobs. It ain't like America, where the technician carries his own tools in a big shiny red rollaway storage to the job site.

5.If it is hard to come by, it will get jacked for chop shops.  You will spend serious money on parking garages everywhere you go. Forget curbside parking.

6.Most of what you can buy out there,  chances are  there might be an equivalent here, short of a Lincoln/Buick/Cadillac or some old Volvo. And  you don't want those neither . Soft suspensions, expensive reprogramming, not suited for the roads and skills sets around here.

7.And don't even try to drive through the border.  You will be taken by other Latin American corrupt officers and customs clearance workers. 

Get a beater, a vintage, or a new out of the lot. Made here.

As far as I know, you cannot import a used car into Brazil. You can import a new one but the shipping fees and taxes would negate any saving you make on the price of the vehicle. Grit your teeth and pay the extortionate prices here. I know, I hate it as well, but you probbly don't have much choice, I'm afraid.
-@Simonh342

You can actually import vintage cars into the country. A few local fellas do it. 

The asking price, out of the door here, from these dealers, is astronomical. 

12/31/22 @ Theodoro K.  I would especially call your attention to one thing that sprealestatebroker wrote above:

"2.Until it clears customs and they get paid, and the paperwork is in order, no delivery.  You will wait.... and wait.... and wait."

Having the paperwork in order means not only having all of the complex Customs documentation correct and accepted and all taxes and fees paid, but almost certainly obtaining certification that the vehicle is roadworthy and able to be registered in compliance with the CTB, Código de Tránsito Brasileiro/Brazilian Traffic Code.  The wait time and the final cost are hard to estimate, although both will be very high, probably high enough to cut very seriously into your travel plans.

I have a Miata Gran touring car at home, hardtop convertible, that I would simply adore having here, except first of all the very first lambado we come to would tear out the entire underside of the car and second parts and service would be absolutely impossible because there are NON others around.  So i just dont.

It is stupid and unreal to buy a car just to travel...
-@Theodoro K.

At one time in the USA, I owned an RV Park for many years. I continually had foreigners camping with me who had flown into the USA then bought a car just to travel in, only to abandon it at whatever airport they were flying out of. This was a common occurence. I've been traveling in and out of Brazil for many years. At first, I rented cars, but then, I bought my first car in Brazil long before I became a resident. I bought myself a second car, a new one, last year.

@Inubia

Sell it, unless you are a seasonal bird.   If you fancy a two seater roadseter, then take the money and buy a Puma.  VW Beetle Power Plant on a fiberglass body. 

It is stupid and unreal to buy a car just to travel...
-@Theodoro K.
At one time in the USA, I owned an RV Park for many years. I continually had foreigners camping with me who had flown into the USA then bought a car just to travel in, only to abandon it at whatever airport they were flying out of. This was a common occurence. I've been traveling in and out of Brazil for many years. At first, I rented cars, but then, I bought my first car in Brazil long before I became a resident. I bought myself a second car, a new one, last year.
-@rraypo

Haha that reminds when I came to the US 25 years ago, with this exact plan. As luck would have it, I managed to get an older Corolla (with something like 200 thousand miles, but ran like new). Even after having put over 20k miles on it, I could easily resell it for what I had paid (500$).

I have a Brazilian friend who wants to import a new car from Europe, he has seen that a particular model he likes, is available in Switzerland for an attractive price, while it’s not even available here at all. I know that even if he managed to register it here, it would be so much more expensive that it’s just not worth it (it’s a regular car, not some exotic that’s worth hundreds of thousands of US$). I would like to give him a link where he can read himself that there’s a 60% import tax on cars. Would anyone have an official link that I could show him?

But what if i want to travel on my car (a camper van) through Brazil and Argentina - can i ship it there for this purpose? It is stupid and unreal to buy a car just to travel...
-@Theodoro K.

Actually I know of someone who has done exactly that. He had a little van (I think it was a Japanese van like a Toyota Hiace or a Mitsubishi L200) that was transformed into a camper, so he decided it would be worth the hassle. Obviously he had planned a trip that lasted a bit longer than a month or two. Unfortunately the person is a friend of a friend, so I have only second-hand information. But I do know that he traveled through various South American countries during more than a year, and I think he even shipped his van back to Europe once he was done traveling. Unfortunately it’s been about 10 years ago, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to know more details. However I also remember seeing two campers with European license plates in the US (it was in the Rocky Mountains), that was about 20 years ago. One had French plates, the other one Swiss plates. So it’s definitely doable, and seems to make sense in certain circumstances.

01/14/23 Unfortunately it’s been about 10 years ago, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to know more details. However I also remember seeing two campers with European license plates in the US (it was in the Rocky Mountains), that was about 20 years ago. One had French plates, the other one Swiss plates. So it’s definitely doable, and seems to make sense in certain circumstances.
-@Kurterino

At least it was doable -- in some places -- ten or twenty years ago.  If anybody wants to do it today, I'd advise working on the approvals and arrangements a year before the planned travel date, not a month or two.  Actually talking to officials on the front end of the planning, not the back end.  And for Brazil, probably allow something more than a year, and have a Plan B in case it all ends in a rejection.