Importing a car from California

I have not done this before. But I was tempted to move cars e.g. from the Middle East to Portugal and then decided against it. I bet you will find lots of information on the internet regarding how this can be done, but unless you have a very special car or are very attached to it, I would sell and buy in Portugal (or at least inside the EU).

Hi Griffin - Have you made the move yet? Or did you seek your cars? I’m also moving from CA to the Algarve, and I found my cars value in PT is much higher than in the US. (I have a 911 and also an XK Jaguar) and I am considering to bring them, if only to sell them.
Has anyone done this?
Janice

I haven't done this but I decided to sell and not ship my Porsche. The cost of retrofitting (making it legal in Portugal), along with shipping, didn't make it worth it.

That's why the import tax will make it very unlikely to be viable.  We all come to this conclusion in the end.
Governments aren't stupid and stop most of us buying in the least costly country and importing anything they can throw a protective blanket around.
Yes, cars in Portugal are very expensive as the main reason is taxation
If you buy inside the EU - cost of cars in Spain is very much less expensive - even though there is a supposed EU single market, you will still be hammered by Portuguese Import taxes.
Anyhow, wait to you see the price of petrol / diesel (gas) 🤣

I know, the gas is twice what we pay in Cali. I’m thinking to bring to PT and sell for a better margin. Then buy an electric vehicle.

Unless you have a very special vehicle that is rare and can achieve a massive premium in Portugal, I think you will find it isn't worth your bother attempting to import your car.

I once hired and drove a Lincoln Town car from SF down to LA and then across the desert to Las Vegas and although
I didn't need a car that size and it drank gas like it had a leaky tank., but there was a big smile on my face on the entire journey and I guess the entire trip cost me $50 in fuel.
Those were the days.

But you CANNOT  'sell it for a better margin '.

No one  NO ONE  is going to buy a car which is not road legal  / registered on Portuguese plates.
To achieve the latter IS possible ~but at cost of extremely high taxation.

I was not trying to make any kind of profit but I did inquire about putting on Portuguese plates my UK registered  CLIO.   From 2006,   2nd hand value in UK approx £3 to 4,000.
And it was already in the country,  albeit off road because of the Covid thing.

So I expected to have to pay maybe two grand to legalize.  However, several of the people who do all the bureaucracy for you advised me that the taxation costs would be over €8,000  ( yes, eight THOUSAND  not hundred Euros ).   So taxes twice the cost of the value of the car.

So I am having to buy in Portugal instead, to have a locally registered car. [ And I had to pay £1,000 to return the Clio to UK. ]

I believe there is one exception to this in that if you are becoming legally resident in Portugal you can bring in ONE vehicle which you already own and the taxes are waived or lowered. 
BUT  this is ONE  vehicle for your  personal use : if you sell it you have to pay the taxes you would have paid in the first place.

Great reply, thanks for the information. I have heard of the exemption before.

Yes. I think the best option would be to sell it in the US and buy a new one in Europe. Note that gas in Lisboa have reach 2€ per liter.

I considered importing my mint restored 1987 Mercedes 560SL it would have cost in the region of 30-40000 euro depending on the actual emissions test done here.

Use this calculator Import tax calculator

Bear in mind the above calculator does not include your shipping costs, then 23% IVA to be added to the value of the car, that is the customs value not the low value you might put on it. Also brokerage fees at both ends, handling at this end and weeks if not months of storage at the docks whilst they get round to checking the car. Then you might have to do some alterations to it to make it legal here, then you will have to pay someone to do all the legalising it, just lots of $$$$$ and will in 99.9% of case be more than the car is worth.

Yes you can get a reduction on the "calculator" part if this is counted as your settling in import items as a new resident, but not on the rest. You can also get a reduction on that part if the car is older than 50 Years.

So I have a  November 2019 Renault Clio Sport Tourer with kms 8383  and a February 2000 Honda S2000 with kms 140000  both for sale, contact me if you are interested.

Sir, are you telling people how many cars you have or you wish to resolve your problem. Anyway importing this moosar into Portugal and paying countervailing duties is stupyfying!!

Every new immigrant is allowed to bring their personal possessions that they have owned for at least 6 months, duty and tax free. This would included cars, boats, air planes etc. Of course the authorities will go through everything with a tooth comb.
ie immigrants should get a manifest (also known as a baggage listing) done through the nearest consulate, make sure that the documents of the asset being shipped ties up with address of last residence. Have proof of daily life in the previous 6 months (rental receipts, water accounts, energy accounts, etc). I would advise anybody considering the move that he / she gets a full list of documents / processes required.
In general, unless the vehicle is 'special', probably best to sell and rebuy in Portugal, but consider that Portuguese vehicles are expensive due to various taxes.