Look, you've already done the maths on the ISV, you've already picked the country (Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium...) and you've already got the money set aside. The import bug has bitten you and now all that's left is the most important part: finding the car.
The internet is a wonderful place, but it's also full of imaginative folks trying to sell snake oil. If you go to Google and search "cheap cars in Europe", you risk landing on some shady website where they ask you to wire €5,000 to a prince in Nigeria.
To make sure your money is well spent and you buy a pristine machine, you have to go straight to the giants of the European market. Martin gives you the playbook on where to look and, more importantly, on how to look:
1. Mobile.de: The Undisputed King of Europe 👑
It's the bible of car importers. Mobile.de has the largest database in Europe, with millions of listings. It's so big that the Portuguese version of the site even works pretty well by now.
The Master Trick: Never search without filters! When you search for your car, head to the sellers section and pick the "Dealers Only" option (or Autohaus). Buying from private sellers in a foreign country, with no warranty, is an extreme sport you don't want to play. Focus on professional dealers.
2. AutoScout24: The Almost-Identical "Brother" 👯♂️
AutoScout24 is the other big giant. The interface is super easy to use and you'll often find cars here from countries like Belgium, Italy or France that don't appear on Mobile.de. Using these two sites at once is like having the entire European car market in your pocket.
3. The German Dictionary of Trust 📖
German dealers are very pragmatic and don't hide their cars' defects. There are two magic words you really must look for (or filter on) in the listings:
- Unfallfrei (Accident-Free): Means the car has never had serious accidents or structural damage.
- Scheckheftgepflegt (Complete Service History): Means the car had all its services done on time, with stamps in the service book (or digital records at the brand).
If a listing has these two words, you're looking at a trustworthy car.
4. Run From the "Oil Rig Tale" 🏃💨
Saw a 2023 Audi A5 for €12,000? It's too good to be true. The seller says he's moved to England, or that he's working on an oil rig, and that he'll send the car via a transport company as soon as you transfer a €1,000 deposit? Block and run. Miracle bargains don't exist. Use common sense!
5. Severely Lazy? Our Car "Matchmaker" Service 🕵️♂️🚗
Don't have the patience to scroll through German websites at midnight using Google Translate to decipher dodgy listings? We get it, it's hard work.
If you want it all done for you, Multipark plays car matchmaker for you! You just have to call us and say: "Look, I want a 2023 Tesla Model X, white, with a spotless interior". We activate our network of contacts abroad, scour the market, separate the wheat from the chaff, and find the ideal machine. Then we just pass you the dealer's direct contacts so you can talk to them and shine in the final negotiation. It's like Tinder, but for cars (and far more likely to succeed)!
The Trip and the Paperwork: Leave the Stress to Us
Car chosen, deal closed. Now all you have to do is buy a flight, land, sign the papers and drive your new "beast" back to Portugal.
But how do you manage the cars here in Portugal? Are you going to ask someone to wake up at dawn to take you to Lisbon or Porto airport? And when you arrive driving the new car, where do you leave the old one?
Do it right. Take your current car to the airport and hand the keys to the Multipark team. You head straight to check-in, while we keep your vehicle in our secure, monitored facility. When you land back in Portugal, or when you arrive driving the imported vehicle, you just swing by to pick up the old car.
And the 360º service is now complete: not only do we help you find the car (if you wanted our magic touch) and keep your old car at the airport, we also handle the final boss: Portuguese paperwork.
Arriving in Portugal with the car is just step one. Then comes the nightmare: Customs, Tax Office, IMT, applying for new registration plates and the Type B inspection. But you don't have to lose holiday days standing in queues! Multipark, through its partnerships, takes care of the entire legalisation process and the mandatory inspection of your imported car.
You go for a coffee to celebrate the purchase and show off the machine to your friends, while we deal with the paperwork and the boring bureaucracy.
Just focus on the pleasure of driving. Run a quote and book your Valet Parking on the Multipark website and leave the car hunt, the logistics and the legalisation in our hands!
