Nomad
Member
- Messages
- 2,020
- Location
- North Devon (for how long?)
Answers to some of the questions so far :
I'm heading towards retirement but still registered as self employed in the UK so pick up paid work there when I go back to see friends & family. I do building work & house renovations, I have offers to renovate a couple of houses, also some plastering work if I can fit it around the owners holidays. Here I've been doing similar work if it looks interesting. I applied for the job of photographing the local volleyball teams but they always get a lot of applications for that vacancy and I've not heard back. Most of the photos when the teams are practicing from the beach wouldn't be allowed - on court teams wear matching outfits, at the beach they wear as much - or as little - as they like. Bikinis are very popular and photogenic but are not suitable for a family-friendly forum like this so use your imagination.
Vehicles in general: no salt anywhere so very little rust compared to UK,
North of the country is cool and damp in winter (hence some rust),
South is very hot in Summer so paintwork on anything kept outside fades badly, peeling lacquer on metallic paints is standard on anything over 10 years old. Carpark & shopping trolley dents are also standard on cars of all ages.
You need to carry the matriculation (vehicle registration) + all other documents when riding/driving.
SORN doesn't exist so keeping a classic in the garage for years isn't a free option.
Changing documents when you buy/sell a car costs £65, trying to sort missing paperwork is a nightmare (I've done it twice, for one I needed to contact a chap who sold the car 5 years ago and ask him to "sell" it to me as the chap he sold it to years ago never updated the registration. The other was inherited then passed to me - it took my solicitor 3 months to sort the transfer as the registered owner was deceased and not able to sign...). Bureaucracy is one of the few downsides to living here.
Motorcycles & the law. You need tax, insurance & IPO inspection (MOT). Tax is cheap, I think the bigger bikes are around £60, smaller bikes are £20. I asked 3 years ago and was told bikes under 350cc were exempt from needing inspection. Recent news articles say no bikes need inspection now
Customising is very popular on bikes https://euroweeklynews.com/2024/12/29/portugal-defies-eu-scraps-motorcycle-inspection/
Cars. Cars are often scrapped if they develop daft faults so there are plenty of easy-fix bargains around. Buying parts locally is expensive, buying online (Autodoc-Germany) is cheap but delivery takes at least 2 weeks. No modifications are allowed, tyres *must* be the size on the registration document and fitted as matching pairs, no non-standard paintwork, no tinted windows...
Website OLX.PT has lots of bargains (also lots of junk priced "optimistically" - I had my Golf for more than a year, another Golf that was for sale brfore I bought mine was still advertised after I'd sold mine).
Pre-2000 cars appeal to me so have fun browsing (remember, rust is unusual here !) https://www.olx.pt/carros-motos-e-barcos/carros/?search[filter_float_year:to]=2000
Pre-2000 bikes (often low mileage as they're toys for folk who have summer houses here) https://www.olx.pt/carros-motos-e-barcos/motociclos-scooters/?search[filter_float_year:to]=2000
Facebook marketplace & Telegram messenger groups also have lots of choice (but you can't filter by age of the vehicle)...
I'm heading towards retirement but still registered as self employed in the UK so pick up paid work there when I go back to see friends & family. I do building work & house renovations, I have offers to renovate a couple of houses, also some plastering work if I can fit it around the owners holidays. Here I've been doing similar work if it looks interesting. I applied for the job of photographing the local volleyball teams but they always get a lot of applications for that vacancy and I've not heard back. Most of the photos when the teams are practicing from the beach wouldn't be allowed - on court teams wear matching outfits, at the beach they wear as much - or as little - as they like. Bikinis are very popular and photogenic but are not suitable for a family-friendly forum like this so use your imagination.
Vehicles in general: no salt anywhere so very little rust compared to UK,
North of the country is cool and damp in winter (hence some rust),
South is very hot in Summer so paintwork on anything kept outside fades badly, peeling lacquer on metallic paints is standard on anything over 10 years old. Carpark & shopping trolley dents are also standard on cars of all ages.
You need to carry the matriculation (vehicle registration) + all other documents when riding/driving.
SORN doesn't exist so keeping a classic in the garage for years isn't a free option.
Changing documents when you buy/sell a car costs £65, trying to sort missing paperwork is a nightmare (I've done it twice, for one I needed to contact a chap who sold the car 5 years ago and ask him to "sell" it to me as the chap he sold it to years ago never updated the registration. The other was inherited then passed to me - it took my solicitor 3 months to sort the transfer as the registered owner was deceased and not able to sign...). Bureaucracy is one of the few downsides to living here.
Motorcycles & the law. You need tax, insurance & IPO inspection (MOT). Tax is cheap, I think the bigger bikes are around £60, smaller bikes are £20. I asked 3 years ago and was told bikes under 350cc were exempt from needing inspection. Recent news articles say no bikes need inspection now
Customising is very popular on bikes https://euroweeklynews.com/2024/12/29/portugal-defies-eu-scraps-motorcycle-inspection/Cars. Cars are often scrapped if they develop daft faults so there are plenty of easy-fix bargains around. Buying parts locally is expensive, buying online (Autodoc-Germany) is cheap but delivery takes at least 2 weeks. No modifications are allowed, tyres *must* be the size on the registration document and fitted as matching pairs, no non-standard paintwork, no tinted windows...
Website OLX.PT has lots of bargains (also lots of junk priced "optimistically" - I had my Golf for more than a year, another Golf that was for sale brfore I bought mine was still advertised after I'd sold mine).
Pre-2000 cars appeal to me so have fun browsing (remember, rust is unusual here !) https://www.olx.pt/carros-motos-e-barcos/carros/?search[filter_float_year:to]=2000
Pre-2000 bikes (often low mileage as they're toys for folk who have summer houses here) https://www.olx.pt/carros-motos-e-barcos/motociclos-scooters/?search[filter_float_year:to]=2000
Facebook marketplace & Telegram messenger groups also have lots of choice (but you can't filter by age of the vehicle)...
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