I've got a GB registered 1990 Land Rover Discovery that i drove, with my father, from Amsterdam, via Nordkapp, to our current location of Irkutsk. The plan was to drive to Vladivostok via KZ and MGO but now it's either broken a piston ring or has a hole in piston on 1 cylinder(#4), as the crankcase is pressurise and breathing out the oil filler cap. So i rerun the injector on #4 and driving on 3 just fine. But want to depart with the thing in Ulan Baatar and go to China where i can't take it anyway. I think it's too difficult to sell/leave it in RU due to their customs tax etc and because it entered on a temporary import permit.

Any ideas as to who i could approach or how?
Worth a few hundred dollars to someone? Could at least swap the new tyres or 20cm Hella spotlights for a case of ?!

Of course i'll try to get $ first, but if that fails i'm open to suggestions as to who to give it to?!

It's 90,000mile old and in mint condition apart from needing some major repairs on a brand no one has heard of...
Tax to Oct end. 1 old lady owner before me (serious!), bull bar, twin sunroof...ok ok, that adds little now!

The lucky buyer/reciever also gets it's contents, such as

20L fuel jerry
20L water can
tent
mattresses
pillows
tow rope
heavy duty ratchet strap
battery charger
pump
spares (fan belts etc)
lubricants
etc all the travel stuff as we're catching buses/trains to Japan after this!

(and then i'm sticking to bikes for the rest of the world...)

Thanks in advance
Simon
+61418559177

Hi Simon

10 days ago we rolled our 4x4 ! If I had spotted your request then I would have snapped it out your hands. But, we are now sorted.

I can only suggest this . . . .

When you get to UB find OASIS guesthouse N 47 54 706 E 106 58 857
Guy there is a biker, speaks good english (he's austrian), it's a new place but getting good reputation, loads of travellers come through there, and I know of at least 2 couples in last 2 weeks who have bought local vehicles (usually bikes!) to travel around Mongolia in.

I'm sure Rene could help you to either get rid of quick or maybe he will hold for you til buyer comes along.

Good Luck.

Phil.

Thanks for the advice Phil, and sorry about the delay. I was waiting until i was out of the country before i stated on a website that i'd sold it! Ok, paranoid...

Anyway, i went to see Rene and he was mainly interested for himself, although not keen in the end as after import tax and repair he figured it would be more than the US$5,000 it would be worth as a Mongolian vehicle. But as we were driving around UB i noticed a guy in a similar Disco, although V8, and so told him what i thought was wrong and did he want it for US$1000? In about 1minute he said yes, although we were able to keep it for a few more days to get around before continuing via train, UAZ etc.

In that time i also went to the cluster of car dealers in the NE of UB, and i was offered both US$800 and $1,000 by then, so seem to be the going rate. And i'd be happy with that even if it was fine and made it to Vladivostok!

I checked at Custom's and the import tax for a >19yo Diesel of >2.5L was US$3,000 plus about $400 in GST and some other duty. About the cheapest it gets for import tax is US$2,000 for a <5yr vehicle of 2L engine.

Upon border entry the border official did enter details of car from the V5/registration document into their computer at the same time as my passport, which had me slightly concerned, but alas their systems are not linked and i exited the country to China without a problem.

I noticed that there was both a Canadian and Australian registered bikes (2) at Oasis Guest House, and after talking to the Canuck via email (both in their respective countries) i'd suggest to future travellers that bikes could be sold easily in Mongolia legal/paperwork wise, but actually finding a Mongolian that would want such bikes makes the tough bit. So either 'creativly replicating' the ownership documents or actually transferring ownership within country of registration, to sell to a foreigner like ourselves would probably be the best bet for exit.

Cheers