Selling car in Ethiopia / Sudan
 

Hey there,

does anybody know if it's possible to sell a car (imported on a carnet) in either Ethiopia or Sudan?
What import duties apply?
Are there other restrictions on import of used cars?

cheers,
robin

Not sure about duties (sometimes as much as 100%) but what about being released from the carnet? The problem is the paperwork - locals don't like buying foriegn cars unless they are seriously underpriced and therefore all the schlep is worth it.

Why Sudan or Ethiopia? I would guess that you'd have a better chance in Kenya or Uganda...

Hey there,

yes, you're right - these two countries might not be the best choice to sell cars. But Kenya has a 8-year-rule (that makes it impossible to sell a car older than that), Tanzania wants cars to be checked on road-safety (!), and Uganda ships in cars via Kenya....

We'll try and see in Ethiopia.

Thanx,
robin

Didn't know you vehicle was over 8 years old hoever that only stops you from importing and reregistering it in country ie: a local buyer. What about maerketing it to other overlanders?

selling car in ethiopia
 

You would only be able to sell it to a person with duty free privilege (diplomat or aid worker) and the procedure is cumbersome. Can be done but takes time.

If you find someone with an import permit, you could sell it duty paid, but the duty on 4X4s is 160% of the new price with only a slight discount for older vehicles. Since the duty is so high, you will have to sell your vehicle at a real low price to make is sellable. You would be better off shipping it back. Also, you would need to sell to someone that could pay be check or transfer from a third country as you cannot transfer or take more than $1,000 out of the country.


BTW if it is RHD forget it in Ethiopia. IT needs to be LHD

Well yes, you are right - if just a little late.
We tried to sell our car in early 2010. And we've tried hard. But even selling it to somebody with a dutyfree privilege didn't work in our case. We've tried it all, found an aid agency willing to buy and everything ... But, at that time the government decided to suspend the concept of dutyfree-privileges for Aid-Agencies.
And paying the full tax onto the newprice was out of question.

So finally we drove that home to europe.
Cheers