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'tis a long drive ....


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I have 2 cars and am thinking about exporting one back to faranglang , specifically the UK.

 

'I think' that if one is a UK citizen and has owned a vehicle abroad for more than one year in your own name , no import tax is payable . Has anyone ever done this ? If so , what , if any are the pitfalls , the costs involved , the time taken and who did the shipping ?

 

Any info would be appreciated ... thnx in advance.

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I looked at exporting Thai cars to the UK some time back. In particular I was interested in pick-ups, because there were very few available then. Some of the stumbling blocks I came up against, which are probably only partly relevant to you were,;

 

Shipping costs - expensive if you want to include proper insurance.

 

Import tax and VAT - expensive, but for you I think not too much of a problem (personal vehicle, although I think the rules for non EU countries are quite different).

 

Conversion - Maybe some cars are OK, but pick-ups do not normally have heaters - a must in the UK! There are various other things that would be considered necessary in UK that Thai vehicles do not always have.

 

Maintenance - if the model you are thinking of importing is not sold in the UK then these costs can be high.

 

There are other things to consider also, like how much would an equivelent vehicle cost in the UK? How much stress am I going to put myself through trying to do this?

 

At the end of the day I decided that it was not worthwhile on a commercial basis, but from a personal prospective it maybe worthwhile??? ::

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Thanks for that Liberator ...

 

It is in fact one of my 4wd pickups I'm thinking of shipping. So far I've had a quote of just under B50,000 , not sure about the insurance on that though .

 

As for conversions , I have already changed the speedo so that it includes MPH and the wheel arches already comply with UK regulations . Enquired about the heater and got some funny looks :: but was eventually told that a place in BKK can do that for me . There are other things like emmisions and protrusions to think about but that's not really too great a problem as a friend in the UK can sort that out .

 

As (I think) no import tax would be payable and the equivilant vehicle cost in the UK is much higher . Maintainence shall , or should be , not too much of a problem as a)it's basically a Toyota Hilux (Tiger) and b)I have a lot of contacts in the motoring scene.

 

From what I can gather you're given a period of one month from initial import until official registration , plenty of time to get things sorted out. This is on a personal perspective , not business by the way .

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There are other things like emmisions and protrusions to think about but that's not really too great a problem as a friend in the UK can sort that out .
Not sure of UK but for USA this is a very big deal and must be sorted out prior to shipment (paperwork exemption to allow import). But perhaps UK is better. If same model is not sold in the UK you should also figure on problems getting replacement parts and add that to the total cost estimate.

 

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This was posted on Lonely Planet about exporting vehicles to the UK.

 

"

The rules are complex.

 

1. You need the certificate of ownership

2. You need to de register the vehicle in Thailand, if you don't do this you will not get an export licience. When you

have de-registered the bike it will no longer legal in Thailand and will effectively have no cash value. You will not be

able to re-register if you change your mind so de-registaration is the big step.

3. You will have to find a shipping agent and comply with shipping regulations (drainage of all fuel/oil, removal of

batteries).

4. you'll need to get the shipping documentation right, see your agent.

5. Back handers at the port!

6. Type registration in the UK

7 Vehicle registration in the UK."

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