Car inspection in Portugal: when to go, what to bring and what to do if your car fails
The compulsory roadworthiness test here is called the IPO — inspeção periódica obrigatória. Its date doesn’t move: it is tied to the day and month when the car was first registered, and it is shown on the car’s registration certificate. A passenger car goes for its first test four years after first registration, then every two years, and once it is eight years old — every year. It costs €37.47 and takes half an hour; you don’t need to book, and you can choose any centre. If you miss the deadline, the test won’t cost more and the next date won’t move, but behind the wheel you are already breaking the law: the fine is €250 to €1,250, and on the road it is issued on the basis of the database, not a piece of paper in the glovebox. Since 1 March 2026 there has been a new reason for failing that hardly anyone knows about: a car with an outstanding manufacturer’s recall campaign fails the test — according to IMT, about eighty cars a day. Below, in order: how to work out your date; what to check before you go; what to take with you; how the test works and what is checked; the three levels of defects and the three outcomes; what to do if your car fails and how long you get; what happens if you are late; how the test for an imported car differs; and where to go if you think your car was failed unfairly.
Work out your date — it’s not where you think
The first thing that trips up newcomers: the test deadline here is not counted from the last time and is not tied to the car’s year of manufacture. It is tied to the day and month of first registration — the very first in the car’s life, even if that was in Germany. The date is on the car’s registration certificate (certificado de matrícula, also known as the DUA — the ‘green card’), in field B.
The schedule for a passenger car:
— first test — four years after first registration; — after that — every two years until the car is eight; — from eight years — every year.
For a light goods vehicle (that includes vans, pickups and any car registered as a goods vehicle in its documents) the count is different: first test after two years, then every year. The same goes for trailers from 750 kg to 3.5 tonnes. Motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles have their own calendar, approved by a separate order; the test price for them is €18.87.
An example. A car was first registered on 10 October 2022. The first test is due by 10 October 2026, the next by 10 October 2028, then by 10 October 2030, and from 10 October 2030 (when the car turns eight) — every October.
You can come up to three months before the date, and that doesn’t move anything: the next deadline will still be counted from 10 October. It’s worth taking advantage of — at the end of the month the centres have queues of people who remembered on the last day. Nobody will remind you: IMT sends neither letters nor text messages. The date of the next test is printed on the report you were given last time — that is your calendar.
“IPO (Inspeção Periódica Obrigatória) Unlike Russia where the MOT has been made voluntary , in Portugal it’s not only compulsory , it’s strictly enforced. Passenger cars have to do the IPO for the first time 4 years after they start being used , then every 2 years until they reach eight years old , after that EVERY YEAR. it’s governed by article 116 do Código da Estrada Português Starting from 1 January 2022 , motorbikes over 125 cc also have to do the IPO.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹26.09.2023
“Passed the inspection today no problem, the inspector was really nice, polite, as for faults — turns out you have to have a yellow vest ))) I didn’t know. He switched everything on and moved everything himself, wasn’t picky. Didn’t look at the windows, adjusted my headlights for me himself))) And turns out next time I have to go in December 🙈 it’s counted by the matrícula..”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt29.08.2024
A week before the test, check for a recall
This is new and the nastiest part: since 1 March 2026 a car with an outstanding recall fails the test. Not ‘gets a note’, but fails outright — such a gap is recorded as a level 2 or level 3 defect, and one of those is enough to fail. That was IMT’s decision, and it gave warning in advance, on 18 February.
A recall campaign (in Portuguese campanha de recolha or ação de chamada, in everyday speech simply recall) is when the manufacturer itself calls owners in to a garage to fix its own defect: brakes, steering, suspension, airbags, a software error, emissions. Recall repairs are free — on a car still under warranty, on a twenty-year-old one, and for the third owner. They are done only at an official dealer of the make.
The trouble is that there is no way of finding out about a campaign: the manufacturer sends a registered letter to the address in the vehicle register, and that is either the previous owner or your old address. So, by the count of the car association ACAP, about 87,000 cars with an unresolved recall are on the roads across the country, and since March an average of 84 cars a day have been failing the test — those are IMT’s figures. In the first 40 days of the rule more than 3,400 cars failed, about 8% of all fails in the country.
The check is free and takes a minute: on the recall.motordata.pt platform you enter the car’s registration number or VIN. The platform was built by ACAP together with IMT and the consumer affairs authority, and it has been running since December 2025.
What to do next:
— an active campaign shows up — ring the dealer of the make, book in, and the repair is done free of charge. Only after that go for the test; — it’s been fixed — open the platform again before the test and make sure the car is no longer on the list. Data doesn’t get there instantly; — nothing shows up — that’s not for ever. A campaign can be announced tomorrow, and it also happens that it has already been announced but hasn’t reached the platform yet: then you will pass the test, but the car does have a recall. This, by the way, is worth checking before buying a used car too — along with its history and taxes.
In the chat conversations over all the years not a single first-hand case with a recall turned up: the topic was brought up once, in June 2026, and even then as a retelling of a news story. The rule is new, and most people simply don’t know about it.
Where to go: any centre, no need to book
The test is done not at IMT or the police, but at private CITV centres — Centro de Inspeção Técnica de Veículos. There are more than two hundred of them around the country, working under an IMT licence and at IMT’s rates. You choose the centre yourself: you are not tied to where you live, to the make of car or to the centre you used last time.
The easiest way to find the nearest one is to search maps for ‘inspeção automóvel’ — that’s what people do. IMT has an official list of all the centres and a map, but these are two spreadsheet files: the authority has no search by address.
Booking is optional. Many chains take online bookings, but the queue on the day is usually two or three cars, and there is no real advantage to booking. You turn up, pay at the till, they tell you which lane to use, and you join it.
One small thing that catches people out regularly: the card terminal at the centre sometimes won’t take a foreign card. It is a state payment, and some tills only work with Portuguese cards. Cash or a local card always does the job.
And decide in advance whether you need to visit a garage first. The test is not a diagnosis: the inspector will tell you what is wrong, but won’t look for the cause, fix it or give advice. If the car is ‘behaving suspiciously’, it is cheaper to show it to a mechanic first than to pay twice.
“I did it. Opened google maps, typed inspeção automóvel. Went to the nearest place, no booking, the queue was 2 cars. Paid about 35€. They asked me to stand next to the car, then get behind the wheel, turn left and right, press the brake a few times. 20-25' all in.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt20.12.2023
“All you need to do is turn up at any Centro de inspeção, pay at the till 36€(if I’m not mistaken) and put the car in the inspector’s lane they tell you at the till. But before that it’s a good idea to drop into any garage and ask them to do a CheckUP for the IPO.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt16.11.2025
“I always pay with a Visa from the Tajik bank IBT. Only got refused once - at the MOT, coz it’s a state payment. Parking, toll roads, shops (including small ones), taking out cash at a cashpoint - no problem. Also from non-Portuguese ones - Revolut, Bung - from personal experience - work brilliantly.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkPortugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk chat16.04.2025
What to take with you
The list is short, and it comes not from custom but from the law: without these papers they simply won’t test your car.
— The registration certificate — certificado de matrícula (DUA), that plastic ‘green card’. Older cars may have two papers instead: the livrete and the título de registo de propriedade; — the previous test report — ficha de inspeção. Only not needed the very first time in the car’s life. They don’t always ask for it, but the centre has the right to, and in recent years they ask more often; — the warning triangle and a high-visibility vest — under the Highway Code they must be in the car, and they are checked. The vest has to be inside the car, not in the boot: you’ll be getting it out on the road.
What is not required: insurance (it is checked on the road, not at the test), proof of paying the annual IUC car tax, garage receipts, a power of attorney. Anyone can bring the car in — even a neighbour — as long as they have the documents with them.
The car is also supposed to be brought in ‘in normal working order and clean’: this is written directly into the rules. It isn’t nit-picking — a chassis number caked in mud or a boot piled with junk gets in the way of the inspection, and they can send you off to a car wash.
“Nothing to do with it. At the MOT they don’t check taxes. Give them the logbook and the old MOT sheet and that’s it”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt09.01.2026
“[link] Did it last week. Got a red card for the window tint and yesterday got a green one with the tint taken off. You can book on the website but there’s no benefit to it. Prices at the link. All you need is to bring the car in normal condition, triangle and vest (they didn’t look at mine), the previous green sheet and the plastic card. They checked the exhaust, suspension, brakes. On the cars next to me they looked at the headlights. The terminal refused to work with a non-Portuguese card.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatporto12.10.2025
What exactly is checked
Nothing on the car gets taken apart: everything is checked from the outside, on a lift and on test rigs. The list is approved and the same at every centre:
— identifying the car — number plate, engine number, chassis number (VIN): checked against the document; — lights and visibility — dipped and main beam, sidelights, indicators, fog lights, number plate light, reflectors, windows, mirrors, wipers; — steering and running gear — condition and alignment of the steering, axles, wheels, tyres, suspension; — brakes — service, secondary and parking brake, on a test rig; — exhaust — measured with an instrument; — bodywork and chassis — general condition; — instruments — speedometer and fuel gauge; — leaks — oil, coolant and so on; — equipment — seats, seat belts, horn, warning triangle, vest.
What cars fail on most often in these chats: lights (a blown bulb and misaligned headlights), exhaust, tyre wear, the car pulling to one side, window tint not recorded in the documents, non-standard wheels and suspension, a crack in the windscreen in the area of the driver’s wiper.
Important: everything modified on the car must be recorded in its document. Wheels of a different size, window tint, a tow bar, lowered suspension — they aren’t banned as such, but if the registration certificate says one tyre size and the car has another, that is a level 2 defect. Such modifications are legalised separately, through type approval (homologação) and an extraordinary test — and it is cheaper to do this before failing, not after.
“Triangle + vest are compulsory. They’ll check every bulb from the sidelights to the fogs. Horn, wipers, sometimes they even try the electric windows. If the car doesn’t drive straight (it pulls), they’ll fail you. If the cat’s been cut out or the exhaust smokes — they’ll fail you. If the tyres aren’t standard or there’s less than 3mm of tread left — they’ll fail you. If there are stickers on the windscreen or a crack in the driver’s wiper area — they’ll fail you.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt12.08.2026
“Had the MOT today. First time in my life, even though I had cars before Portugal) Passed, they only said to adjust one headlight. The only thing is, I was sure they’d fail me on the suspension. It feels too sensitive. And I thought I’d go to the MOT and they’d do a diagnostic for me, so I wouldn’t pay twice. But the inspector didn’t say anything. And you can’t ask — it’s like asking a court to look more carefully at your offences) But since he didn’t say anything, at least nothing’s critical, and that’s good, because I was dreading figuring out where to find the money at the end of the year.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt12.12.2025
Three levels of defects and three outcomes
Everything the inspector finds is written on the test report and put into one of three levels:
— Level 1, minor. Affects neither the running of the car nor safety. Examples from the rules: a worn brake pedal pad, misaligned main beam, a dent in a wheel rim that doesn’t affect the wheel; — Level 2, major. Affects the running of the car or safety — or casts doubt on whether it is the right car. Examples: the steering pulling, ABS not working, blown bulbs, tyres of a size other than the one on the registration certificate; — Level 3, dangerous. The car is taken off the road immediately. Examples: emissions far above the limit, a serious leak of fuel or another flammable liquid, brake failure.
This adds up to the outcome:
Pass. Up to and including five level 1 defects. You can drive, but they are supposed to be fixed before the next test: an unfixed ‘minor’ one becomes ‘major’ next time.
Fail without the car being taken off the road. Six or more minor defects — or at least one major. You can still drive for now, but you have to fix it and come back. The rules also add an important restriction: if a major defect was found in the steering, suspension or brakes, you may carry neither passengers nor goods until the car passes.
Fail with the car taken off the road. Any level 3 defect. You may only drive to the place of repair and from there back to the centre. Break this and your car’s document will be confiscated.
A separate note on failing because of an unresolved recall: it is recorded as level 2 or level 3, depending on how dangerous the defect itself is. So in a serious case the car can even be taken off the road, though from the outside there is nothing wrong with it.
“Ordinary MOT (lights, suspension, exhaust, having a triangle, vests etc, a special A4 sheet with info whether passed or not. If not passed, the sheet is red and I think you get two weeks to fix it”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkmyptaxes05.02.2025
“Once they sent my motor back with a red bit of paper because one indicator was less yellow than the other (the paint on the bulb had flaked off) and a while later another bloke got through the MOT no problem in a C3 so wrecked it’d been lost at the scrapyard.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt31.05.2025
“By the way I’ve turned up for inspection loads of times with the plate in a frame instead of screws, they just told me to fix it, but gave me a green inspection”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt20.06.2026
Failed: 30 days, same centre, €9.40
Failing is not a disaster and no reason to pay the full price a second time. This is how it works:
— 30 consecutive days from the date of the test to fix what was recorded and come back; — a re-test costs €9.40 instead of €37.47 — four times cheaper; — you have to go back to the same centre. Go to a different one and you will get a full test at the full price, and the 30 days won’t count; — if at the re-test the same fault turns out not to have been fixed, the next deadline is cut to 15 days. The law doesn’t limit the number of re-tests; — missed the deadline — you have to take a full test again and pay the full price.
In the chats the figure ‘two weeks to fix it’ goes around — that’s wrong: 15 days is given only from the second time, if the same thing hasn’t been fixed. The first time it is always a month.
The second recurring story: ‘failed — go to another centre, they’ll let you through’. People really do this, and sometimes it works: inspectors at different firms are picky in different ways. But do the maths — at another centre it is a new full test for €37.47 instead of a re-test for €9.40, and the fault still stays on your report. If something debatable has been recorded, it is more honest and cheaper to sort it out on the spot — that is what the last step is about.
And a really bad idea is to ‘come to an arrangement’. The test report lives not in the glovebox but in a database that is visible on the road; a car with a repair that was recorded but not done gets stopped, its document is confiscated, and then it needs an extraordinary test anyway — and this time for €130.80.
“I had the MOT at Controlauto in Santa Marta near Almada. Generally fine, they only picked on the wheel alignment (though I’d had it done not long ago). Had it redone right there and went for the second go - passed everything.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt19.08.2025
“A mate of mine at Dekra in Sintra tried 5 times in a row to pass the MOT, kept getting failed on headlight alignment. Every time he went to different garages to get the headlights adjusted. Didn’t help. Gave up, went to another MOT place a block away, passed straight off.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt27.08.2024
“If you run into a pedantic officer you can end up without your papers. I remember a mate got brought a 3 Series coupé with film on it. It passed the MOT on the ‘20 in the ashtray’ scheme, and only got driven like that for literally 3-4 weeks.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt19.08.2026
What you are given and what you now need to carry in the car
After the test you are given the ficha de inspeção periódica — an A4 sheet with the result, the list of faults and the date of the next test. People call it ‘green’ or ‘red’ after the colour of the form, and in chats and adverts it is used to describe a car’s condition.
A windscreen sticker is no longer issued — it was abolished, and nobody has the right to demand it.
Under the Highway Code the sheet is part of the set the driver must carry: the vehicle document, the certificate of ownership and the test report. Not having any of these with you means a fine of €60 to €300. The documents can also be shown on your phone, through the official app; if they couldn’t be checked on the spot, you have five days to bring the papers in.
Lost the report? A duplicate is issued by the same centre where you had the test, for €3.52.
It is worth keeping old reports: they show the car’s history, and that is the first thing people look at when buying a used car. Read not only the verdict but also the faults column — and always the mileage: a jump or a stall in the mileage between reports says more than the seller’s words. More on this in the guide How to buy a car in Portugal.
“Of the documents you must have the MOT and insurance in the car. Never ever leave the logbook in the car.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt07.05.2025
“well they’re a bit bald, I had the MOT the other day they gave me the sheet but did ask me to change the tyres after all so I’ve sort of just been paid should really splash out, just don’t know whether to change all four or if the front ones will do”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt01.11.2023
Late: what it costs and what else goes wrong
The test itself doesn’t get more expensive if you are late, and the date of the next one doesn’t move — it stays tied to the day of first registration. Other things go wrong.
The fine. For driving without a valid test — €250 to €1,250; for motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles €120 to €600. In practice they issue the minimum, and one day late is enough: they check the database, not a piece of paper.
Cameras and scanners. Police cars read number plates on the move and instantly see whether there is a valid test, whether the annual tax has been paid, whether there is insurance. So ‘I’ve never been stopped’ is a bad bet: you get stopped not at random, but on a signal from the system.
Documents. If the car is stopped and is clearly unsafe, the driver’s vehicle document is confiscated. In exchange you are given a guia — a temporary paper that lets you drive to a garage and then to the test, but not go about your business.
Insurance. Formally the law doesn’t forbid insuring a car without a test, but insurers see it their own way: people in the chats describe not being allowed to renew a policy until the car had passed its test. And it is worth remembering separately: in an accident, not having a valid test is a trump card for the other party’s insurer when it comes to paying out. What is paid and how after an accident is covered in the guide Car insurance in Portugal.
Selling. A car without a valid test sells noticeably worse and buyers haggle harder: the buyer doesn’t know what the very first test will cost them.
If you have already missed the deadline, the right course is simple: don’t put it off any longer, visit a garage if necessary, and go for the test. You are penalised for driving without a test, not for coming to take it later than you should have.
“Well it’s a lottery. I’d never been stopped in the car either, then the MOT was just one day overdue and sod’s law they stopped me. Ended up with a 250€ fine”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linksurflisbon20.01.2023
“The scanner scans number plates automatically,and if there’s tax owing,the MOT hasn’t been done,no insurance and maybe persistent unpaid trips on the motorways without paying.That’s how they nabbed me on the motorway 10 years ago for an MOT 1 day overdue(it was a weekend).Paid 250 on the spot,thank god they didn’t make me blow into the tube and didn’t load it onto a tow truck (without it you can’t drive)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkMotorbike chat 🇵🇹26.03.2025
“My insurance ran out in November last year, and I can’t renew it because the car didn’t pass the inspection back in May 2025”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt25.02.2026
An imported car: a different test and a different price
A car brought in from another country gets Portuguese number plates not through the ordinary periodic test but through the inspeção para atribuição de matrícula — the test for assigning a registration number. In the chats it is called the ‘B inspection’. Its purpose is different: it is not so much about looking for faults as identifying the car and checking its specifications against the documents — for the customs declaration and registration.
The price in 2026 is €93.52 for a car, goods vehicle or trailer, €46.76 for a motorcycle; a re-test is half the rate. It is done at the same CITV centres.
What to bring: the registration certificate from the country the car came from, the COC (certificate of conformity), the invoice or sale contract. It makes sense to request the type-approval (homologação) number in advance — with it the data is pulled from the database automatically; without it they type it in by hand, and mistakes then have to be redone.
After this test the car joins the general schedule of periodic tests — by the date of first registration in the country where it was first registered, not by the date of its Portuguese plates. So a freshly imported 2016 car will go for an ordinary IPO not in four years, but in its very next due month.
And a typical pitfall: a car built for a market outside Europe may fail to meet local requirements at its very first ordinary test — most often on lights. The whole import procedure, from type approval to number plates, is covered separately: How to import your car to Portugal.
“Then at any inspection place, Inspeção para atribuição de nova matrícula, for 91€, Have ready with you the COC certificate, logbook, the invoice for the purchase, and if possible request the homologation in advance”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt21.10.2025
“I always get the docs before the car is delivered, Homologation can sometimes take a while, but usually it’s automatic or a day, Inspection - in the morning, docs to customs - in the afternoon, approved the same day, and plates by midnight, So 2 days to legalise on average, if there are no strikes)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt05.07.2025
Extraordinary test: after an accident and after modifications
Besides the periodic test there is the inspeção extraordinária — an extraordinary test. It is needed in two situations.
After a serious accident, when the chassis, steering, suspension or brakes were damaged. The car is brought to this test already fully repaired, together with a detailed description of what was done — a copy of the garage invoice or a loss adjuster’s report. Until it passes you may not drive it, except on the way to the nearest centre.
After modifying the car. Any change to its construction — from wheels of a different size and lowered suspension to a tow bar and window tint — is authorised and entered in the document separately. Do it without this, and the fine is €250 to €1,250, and the car is held until it passes an extraordinary test.
An extraordinary test can also be ordered by the police on the road — if there are well-founded doubts about the car’s safety or about whether it is the car it claims to be.
It costs €130.80 for a car (€65.40 for a motorcycle), with a re-test at half price. If you do it in the same three months as your ordinary test is due, it replaces the ordinary one; at any other time it doesn’t move the schedule — you still have to take the periodic test in your month.
“Good evening! I want to change the suspension on my car. Read up on it, turns out ideally you need to go through homologation and put the changes in the DUA. The problem is it’s yellow, plus the car will drop by 2-3 cm. An inspector could spot that if he wants to pick on you. And then send you for inspection B and all the other pointless hassle.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt14.10.2025
“No one’s got round to the tint yet. By the rules, with tint you have to do the MOT again and enter it as a change in the logbook.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt12.03.2024
If you think your car was failed unfairly
Inspectors make mistakes like everyone else, and centres differ in taste: the same car is failed five times in a row at one and passed first time at the one next door. There is a procedure for this, and the key thing in it is timing.
Complain while the car is still inside the centre. This is IMT’s direct instruction: once you have driven out of the gates, it is no longer possible to prove that nothing was repaired between the test and the complaint, and there will be nothing to judge the dispute on.
Every centre has a complaints book, and they must hand it over immediately and free of charge the first time you ask. You keep a copy, and the centre must send the original to the transport regulator AMT — and AMT will later tell you what has been done about the complaint. How the complaints book works in general and what to write to make a complaint effective is in the guide The complaints book: how to complain in Portugal.
Only IMT can overturn a test result — and only if the inspector’s findings were clearly wrong. Neither the centre itself nor another inspector has the right to change the verdict. So the dispute is not about ‘talking them round on the spot’ but in writing and through the proper channels.
What helps: a photo or video of the disputed part taken before the test; a garage invoice if that same part was recently repaired or adjusted; a measurement by an independent mechanic. What doesn’t help is arguing out loud at the lane.
And a sober thought to finish. Half the fails in the conversations are about lights and alignment, that is, things that are fixed for twenty euros in half an hour. Before going off to argue, it is worth working out whether it is cheaper simply to fix it and come back for a re-test at €9.40.
“A mate of mine had a headlight failed at Dekra. Went to a garage, got it adjusted. Went back to the same place for a re-inspection, failed again. He went to different garages another 4 times, but Dekra wouldn’t budge. Gave up, went to another firm (inspama). Passed first time.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt04.06.2024
“Well Controlauto, however many times I’ve been there, they check absolutely everything they possibly can) I just went to them with almost new cars, but in some 20+ year old motor I wouldn’t go there, With CO emissions it’s got harder this year, the inspection places have new equipment, now those who want to get round the check have to be a bit more crafty about it”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkautolife_pt22.10.2025
What to bring
- Certificado de matrícula (DUA) — the car’s ‘green card’; older cars have the livrete and título de registo de propriedade instead
- The ficha de inspeção from the previous test — only not needed the very first time in the car’s life
- Warning triangle and high-visibility vest — they must be in the car under the Highway Code, and they are checked
- A card or cash: the terminal at the centre sometimes won’t accept a foreign card
- For an imported car, also: the COC certificate, the registration certificate from the country it came from, the invoice or sale contract and, if possible, a type-approval (homologação) number requested in advance
- For an extraordinary test after an accident: a description of the repairs — a copy of the garage invoice or a loss adjuster’s report
Where people most often trip up
- The deadline is counted from the day and month of the car’s first registration, not from the last test and not from the year of manufacture
- You can come up to three months before the date, and it doesn’t move the date of the next test
- Nobody will remind you: IMT sends no letters or text messages, and the date of the next test is printed on the previous report
- Being late doesn’t make the test more expensive or move the next deadline — what costs you is an encounter with the police: from €250
- Since 1 March 2026 an unresolved recall fails the test on its own, even if there is nothing wrong with the car
- Check for a recall after the dealer repair too: data doesn’t reach the platform instantly
- A re-test costs €9.40 only at the same centre; at another one it is a new full test at the full price
- Thirty days to fix things are given the first time; if the same fault hasn’t been fixed, the deadline is cut to 15 days
- A major defect in the steering, suspension or brakes means no carrying passengers or goods until the car passes
- Everything modified on the car must be recorded in its document: wheels, window tint, tow bar, suspension — otherwise it is a level 2 defect
- You must carry the test report with you: not having it means a separate fine of €60 to €300
- A windscreen sticker is no longer issued, and nobody has the right to demand it
- The test is not a diagnosis: the inspector will name the fault but won’t look for the cause or advise on repairs
- Complain about the test without leaving the centre: afterwards you won’t be able to prove the car wasn’t repaired
- Only IMT can overturn a test result, and only if there was a clear mistake — neither the centre nor another inspector can
How it went for people
Cleared an American car through customs, drove it for a year — and failed over the rear fog lights
A family from the south bank of Lisbon imported a 2016 Ford Focus from the USA. Customs clearance went smoothly: they weren’t asked to modify or add anything, they got the plates and drove it without trouble for a year. But at its very first ordinary inspection the car failed — it has no rear fog lights, which are compulsory in Europe. There are slots for the bulbs in the lights and there is a button inside the car, but it needs reprogramming, and several Portuguese auto electricians wouldn’t take on an American car. The case shows something you don’t expect: the test for assigning a registration number and the ordinary periodic test are different checks with different lists, and passing the first promises nothing about the second. June 2026.
Changed his wheels, sold the old ones — and can make neither the deadline nor the thirty days
A man from Leiria fitted larger-diameter wheels to his Audi, didn’t enter the change in the document, and sold the original wheels. His annual test came round — and it became clear he couldn’t pass it with illegal wheels: the registration certificate says 205/60 R16, and the car has a different size. He can’t make the date and, by his own estimate, may not manage it within the thirty days given after a fail either. The moral is simple and expensive: the tyre size is written in the car’s document, and changing it without type approval means buying yourself a fail at the test; and it is worth hanging on to the original wheels at least until the next test. March 2026.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.