Egypt- no diesel engines allowed?

[2raveller]

Hi, (entered it in wrong thread b4)
We are trying to organise to ship a diesel landcruiser to Egypt. However one shipping company has sent me a file of requirements that customs need to get the car in... the headings listed ; Documents required, Customs Presccriptions and Remarks.
In the remarks column it said 'NO DIESEL ENGINES ALLOWED" ????!???
Is this correct?

[mago]

Unless there is an update I am unaware of, diesel engines are not allowed to register in as "Private" cars registered permanently in Egypt.

If you are just passing through, they are allowed.

[roamingyak]

Yip, info sheet that comes with the Carnet states "Diesel-operated vehicles are allowed to be temporarily imported in Egypt".

So make this and your intention to only have it there temporarily clear to the shipping company.

[Trumpton]

We had no prob driving in last year & have arranged shipping (containers) for later this year, with our diesel cruisers.
Mind you, arranging the shipping in & back out with the egyptian beauracracy is a nightmare!!!!

Andy

[Endurorally]

It's just a bit of typical Egyptian bureacracy. A carnet is a temporary import documentation, so, its temporary. So, why do they say diesels can enter the country on a temporary basis...odd indeed.

We travelled to Luxor setting out from Marseilles with a bunch of vintage and classic cars, the oldest was 1921, and drove the coast road of Libya and then down the Nile, and had no problems. Libya was welcoming. Fuel was available everywhere for both the classics, and the Organisation's Toyota Hi-Luxes which were diesel. Diesel is cheap, and available at every filling station.

....so, no worries.

P.Y.

[Tango]

yes in fact years ago diesel engines for private cars were not allowed, but that changed many years ago. The same thing was that at that time also Toyota Land Cruisers are not allowed. It is from the same time, may be 20 years or more ago.
So please check with the agent you are dealing with if he is up to standard. In any case it will be hard to get a car shipped in through Alexandria, there are two ports in Alexandria, so find out in which port your car will be shipped two. One is difficuilt the other is worse. So I hope you plan enough time to get your car out. Be also aware how much staff you have in your car. By law only 100kilos of load is free, the rest you will have to pay coustums on. So please check everything before you start off.

I wish you all the luck you can get, and that everything will go smooth
have a nice travel

[Trumpton]

tango,

We are shipping our cars into Alexandria Old port this month, have you any ideas how long it takes to get the cars out once the ship arrives (container), we dont seem to be able to get much response from the Egyptian agents!!!!!!

Andy

[onlyMark]

Originally Posted by mago

Unless there is an update I am unaware of, diesel engines are not allowed to register in as "Private" cars registered permanently in Egypt.

If you are just passing through, they are allowed.

My car is a diesel and I imported it new from Japan permanently without any problem at all.

[Tango]

ago first for the private cars they are allowed since years to be registered there is no problem, I ve driven several once of them over the years, those informations you have were correct but years away.

For the other questions how much time it take to get the cars out of the port, you will never find a correct answer, nobody could tell.
I know quite a few persons who have done that over the years and you always hear a different story. Please also consider that you have still Ramadan until the 20th of September than 3 days of vacations the feast, where no body will be working.

Under normal conditions you have to calgulate 1 up to 3 days, plenty of stress and some gray hairs and paying always and every where money, sometimes for reasons you would never know.

Please be also aware to have enough Fire extinguisher as those are necessary for registration and they are expensive in the harbour

best regards
Tango

[Trumpton]

Thanks for the info about the fire extinguishers Tango, we have 3, hopefully that should be enough.

Our cars are not leaving uk till 21st sept, so hopefully all the Ramadam celebrations will be over & done with by the time they arrive!
We did the land crossing from Libya last year, so understand a bit about the Egyptian beauracracy!!!!, Although organising the shipping IN has been a nightmare so far, and we still have to get the cars shipped back out!!!

Actually last night I said 'what the hell, forget the shipping I'll drive there again', but on reflection, I changed my mind and will be shipping, the time 'lost' driving from UK is my problem with work commitments etc.

However, Im sure it will all be put to the back of our minds once its sorted & we are in the desert again

Andy

[Tango]

shipping the car back out of the country is much much easier. I made it twice . ofcourse when you are out in the desert all the problems will be forgotten real soon.
Normally I had a good agent in alexandria, but I don't find the contact right now. whit his employes it is an easy run of an day. With himself with you it takes only hours.
They have an office in alexandria and the head is called (if I recall right Mostafa....) it is better and cheaper to deal directly with him and not with the head office in Cairo as they also make airport clearence.
I'm afrait I couldn't help you with the name of the company nor the full name of the person.
May be some other time when I come across him, I'll post it here. So still other can get the advantage of that
good luck you will need everything...
By the way if you are not happy with your agent, may be you run across a person called Sheikh Ashraf, he has a very good raputation. So if you shift the car back from alexandria he might be of great assistance that what one hears. I had no shipping done with him.

[northolt]

Hi
I came a cross your Q, my answer is, in Egypt they don't Use Diesel as we have in Europe, they Use Gasoline, and your car will not be driven in Egypt if it is Diesel ,
however Petrol in Egypt is very cheep you maybe consider petrol car,
I also will be traveling by Car from Europe to Egypt
I will start from London UK to Marseilles than Ferry to Tunisia and drive to Alexandria crossing Liybia, I only now search for the carnet documents

[northolt]

Originally Posted by Trumpton

Thanks for the info about the fire extinguishers Tango, we have 3, hopefully that should be enough.

Our cars are not leaving uk till 21st sept, so hopefully all the Ramadam celebrations will be over & done with by the time they arrive!
We did the land crossing from Libya last year, so understand a bit about the Egyptian beauracracy!!!!, Although organising the shipping IN has been a nightmare so far, and we still have to get the cars shipped back out!!!

Actually last night I said 'what the hell, forget the shipping I'll drive there again', but on reflection, I changed my mind and will be shipping, the time 'lost' driving from UK is my problem with work commitments etc.

However, Im sure it will all be put to the back of our minds once its sorted & we are in the desert again

Andy

Dear Andy
I also plan to drive From London to Alexandria, could you please tell me about Carnet in Tunisia and Liybia and Egypt, where to get Carnet in borders, as RAC in England asked for allot money to do Carnet for Egypt
also if you know anything about pets, as I would like to take my 2 chocolate Labrador dogs with me in, ferry from France to Tunisia says they have kennels in ferry,
but i'm not sure about Arabic countries in borders will they allowed me or no.
kind regards
Giovanni

[Trumpton]

Originally Posted by northolt

Hi
I came a cross your Q, my answer is, in Egypt they don't Use Diesel as we have in Europe, they Use Gasoline, and your car will not be driven in Egypt if it is Diesel ,

Not quite sure what you mean that the car wont be driven in Egypt if its a Diesel???:confused1:

We had no problems last year with our diesels, and are on our way back to Egypt right now, again with diesel Landcruisers

You need to speak to paul Gowan at the RAC regarding carnets, (lots of info on this site if you search), and dont forget to arrange the visa, guide, policeman accross Libya before you go!

Andy

[Trumpton]

Giovanni,
No carnet needed for Tunisia, Mandatory guide in Libya will sort Libyan Carnet
Egypt carnet required from RAC, or from motoring organisation from the country in which your car is registered, RAC is 800% vehicle value, although you can get an insurance through them for this (still expensive though).

We tried all sorts of ways to get round this last year, phoning allsorts of countries but no luck (not even ADAC) as they all say that it must be from country of vehicle registration.

We couldnt get Libyan Transit visas either, although I hear that some lucky people have managed, so, budget for a Tourist Visa.

Yes it is a very expensive trip all together ( but at least we are getting 2 uses of our carnets by going back to Eg before they expire)!!
Andy

ps cant help with the pets bit