International travellers to Brazil, do you need your license translated to Portuguese to hire a car?

Question

International travellers to Brazil, do you need your license translated to Portuguese to hire a car?

Answer 1

No, not to HIRE the car, they will accept anything.

    Now, legally, if the police stops you you need either a driver´s license from a country that accepts the Brazilian one or the international one issued by AAA, Touring Club, etc.

    It´s the same as in the US, when you try to rent a car, they´ll rent you no matter what. If the police stops you, the Brazilian one is not valid.

    The companies want to make their profit and they don´t care.

    And the employees want to make their commission.

    Brazil has a reciprocity philosophy when it comes to those things and that is why US Citizens still need a visa for Brazil, because Brazilians need one for the US. Same goes for Canada, Japan, Australia.

    Europeans don´t, because the EU does not require tourist visas form Brazilians.

    The same thing applies to Driver´s licenses.

    But in any event, even if you are from Portugal, get a AAA one, its better and it will be more difficult for crooked cops to get your money.

Answer 2

Yes - I learned this the hard way.  You need an international translation.  I was able to get mine at AAA for about $15 plus the price of a photo.  You can do this once in Brazil, but why deal with the hassle....

Answer 3

Hi there, I just got back from a week in Brazil and used my Virginia drivers license without any problem when renting from Thrifty.

They have a few deals running so you might get some free gas or a small discount at this link: http://www.thrifty.com/specials/Deals_Me...

As for the police, if they pull you over you will probably have to pay them anyhow!  A sad fact, but worth the hassle to visit such a great country.