Car Shipping to Brazil

Why ship a car to Brazil from the UK

The Ship Cars is a specialist UK vehicle export company moving cars, SUVs, classics, motorbikes and light commercials to Brazil every month. North, Central and South America each impose distinct import regimes, but a common thread is container-led shipping with selective RORO on the East Coast. The 25-year and 15-year classic exemptions in the US and Canada generate steady British classic-car volume. Typical clients on this lane include returning Latin American nationals, alongside private owners relocating to Brazil and returning residents importing a personal vehicle. Our UK-to-Brazil corridor is engineered around predictable transit, transparent pricing and full compliance with Brazil customs.

Vehicles depart from Bristol (Portbury), Felixstowe, Southampton and arrive at Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Paranagua via direct trans-Atlantic East Coast calls. Typical door-to-port turnaround is 18–25 days to santos/rio de janeiro from southampton, supported by marine all-risks insurance, GPS-tracked UK collection and bonded warehousing where required. For an instant indication of cost, use our car shipping cost calculator or request a tailored quote on our quote page.

How UK to Brazil car shipping works

Every shipment to Brazil follows the same six-step pipeline: free quotation, UK collection or self-drop at Bristol (Portbury), bonded UK warehousing and pre-shipment photos, HMRC NOVA / C88 export clearance handled by our UK customs clearance team, ocean transit to Santos (and onward feeder to Rio de Janeiro where required), and destination customs handover. You choose the shipping mode that best matches the vehicle profile and budget — see the full breakdown on our car shipping costs page or compare live RORO sailing dates to Brazil.

Brazil ports, routing and transit

Vehicles bound for Brazil are typically routed through Santos as the lead discharge port, with Rio de Janeiro, Paranagua available as alternatives depending on sailing schedule and onward inland transport. We schedule loads to match weekly RORO sailing schedules to Brazil and consolidated shared container departures from the UK. For sole-use loads we book 20ft and 40ft container slots on the same rotation.

• Port of Santos
• Port of Rio de Janeiro
• Port of Paranagua
• UK departure: Southampton
• UK departure: Tilbury
• UK departure: Bristol (Portbury)

Brazil import duty, VAT and customs in 2026

Importing a vehicle into Brazil is regulated and document-driven. The headline framework is summarised below; our team verifies every figure against the latest Brazil customs schedule before quoting.

• EPA, DOT, Transport Canada and INMETRO compliance
• 25-year and 15-year classic-import exemptions
• Customs bonds, brokers and HS code 8703 classification
• Gulf, Atlantic and Pacific routings via Panama Canal

Document checklist for Brazil

• V5C registration
• Passport
• Proof of foreign residence (1+ year)
• Commercial invoice
• Bill of Lading
• INMETRO compliance certificate

For full country-specific customs rules, see our Brazil import guides and articles, our UK and Brazil customs clearance service, or use the duty-inclusive cost calculator for a landed estimate to Santos.

Other Americas destinations from the UK

We ship to 8+ other Americas countries from the UK on the same trade lanes as Brazil. Many customers shipping to Brazil also enquire about Argentina, Chile because routing, customs documentation and transit windows overlap.