Bringing a car to AUH

[kempilot]

Hi guys, I am waiting for word on a start date to join EY. I just need some info about bringing a car over from the US.
I have a car that I do not ever intend to sell, and instead of storing it for however long i would rather have it with me.
Thanks

[Jet II]

I dont know anyone who has bothered but found this on a local Dubai website - I doubt that Ab-Dab will be much different.

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We used Allied International (Allied Pickfords in Dubai) for our last household shipment and were happy with the service at both ends, so decided to use them again for the car shipment. We opted to have the car shipped by container, rather than the considerably cheaper roll-on, roll-off method. Their quote stated it was for shipping from their office/warehouse in Toronto to their warehouse in Dubai (but in reality they were willing to deliver it anywhere in Dubai) and included customs clearance (but not the duty).

The car was delivered to Allied International’s office just outside Toronto on June 19 with the following paperwork:

·Copy of Canadian ownership document, showing chassis engine number, make, model, year and color

·Passport copy

·Copy of UAE residence visa

·Verification of vehicle’s value (for insurance purposes)

In our case we used the Canadian online “Black Book” value – used by most car dealers in Canada as we had already owned the car for a couple of years and the purchase invoice was therefore out-of-date.

We removed the licence plates so we could turn them in for a refund of our motor vehicle tax and I was surprised no one asked us why we were doing so. You would think the government would want to strike the VIN (vehicle identification number) from its records when a car left the country to avoid it being used on a stolen vehicle. Similarly no one asked for verification that there were no liens on the car (ie no outstanding car loan). These are a couple of interesting loopholes, if you ask me.

Six weeks later, on August 2, we got a call from Allied Pickfords in Dubai that the car had arrived (one week later than estimated). We were told it would take approximately one week for them to clear it through customs and were asked to fax/email Allied the following documents:

·Copy of Canadian ownership document, showing chassis engine number, make, model, year and color

·Passport copy

·Copy of UAE residence visa

·Most recent passport entry stamp

·A signed form (provided by Allied) appointing them our agent in dealing with customs

I then had to arrange insurance for the car, which I did through AXA in Dubai via fax/email. In addition to completing their application form I had to supply:

·Copy of UAE driving licence

·Proof of no claims bonus from our Canadian insurer (an email was sufficient)

They did not require any proof of value – they just accepted our valuation.

The car cleared customs 6 days later and we had it delivered to AAA in Al Quoz (right behind the Tasjeel Car Registration Centre).

On the morning of the delivery I went to Allied’s office to pay them the duty which they had already paid on our behalf. We were pleasantly surprised to find they had assessed the car’s value at only 2/3 the value we used for insurance. Duty was 5% plus 60 Dhs for the vehicle clearance certificate.

We decided to pay AAA to register it for us to save time and hassles, although obviously this is something we could have done ourselves. The paperwork they needed to register it was:

·Copy of Canadian ownership document, showing chassis engine number, make, model, year and color

·Passport copy

·Copy of UAE residence visa

·Copy of UAE driving licence

·Original Insurance certificate

.Original Customs vehicle clearance certificate (which I had collected from Allied)

·Our actual residence address (not PO Box)

The car was registered later that same day and we collected it from AAA the following morning.

Costs were as follows:

Allied (shipping) 14,500 Dhs ($4,400 Cdn)
Allied (insurance) 2,000 Dhs ($605 Cdn)
Customs (duty) 2,000 Dhs
Customs (certificate) 60 Dhs
Registration 445 Dhs
AAA 300 Dhs

[Scooby Don't]

If the car is a classic, beware.

The Dubai RTA, though this could be a national thing affecting Abu Dhabi too, plans to ban the registration of cars over 20 years old, and the transfer of registration of cars over 10 years old. There will apparently be a list of classic with exemptions, but I'm willing to bet it won't be an exhaustive list.....

[kempilot]

Thanks Jet II , Thanks Scooby Don't for the really useful info. the Shelby is actually a 2007 model.
I really don't want to get rid of it. I bought in in Nov. of last year and only put 4k (miles) on her.

[kingoftheslipstream]

kemp pilot

The 20 year thing is not accurate, at least not for the Emirate of Dubai.

It may be different in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, but I doubt it.

The limit for registration here in Dubai is that the car has to be less than 10 years old, period. It's in effect as I write. A good friend has just had his 10 year old Mits. Pajero declared worthless by beurocratic sleight of hand.

Now, Abu Dhabi may be different - if so, there are going to be a lot of folks from Dubai registerin' their cars in that Emirate soon.

Be very cautious in this matter - none of us have any idea what is going to happen to the 10 year old cars and I am monitoring my buddy's situation to see what the fallout of all this is going to be.

Good luck 'n happy contrails.
k-o-t-s

[sec 3]

You should have alot of fun with that car in AUH ! It will probably take 6 months to a year to get the locations of the cameras pinpointed so you can give 'er !

Good luck.

[kempilot]

You know it sec 3 :E

[Jet II]

kemp pilot

The 20 year thing is not accurate, at least not for the Emirate of Dubai.



It is at the moment.

The present rule is that you cannot re-register a car over 20 years old and you cannot transfer the registration of a car over 10 years old.

So if you purchase a car that is 9 years old you can transfer it into your name and re-register it for the following 10 years in your name - you just cannot sell it to somebody else.

All that being said, there is a proposal to cut the re-registration limit to 15 years from 2010.

[sharksucker]

Did that in November 2004 with a Jeep Wrangler.
I went with this company: Schumacher Cargo Shipping - International Shipping for Cars, Household Goods, and Freight (http://www.schumachercargo.com)
I had the option of "roll on/roll off" or containerized. Went for the option of the container as that allowed me to put in some other cargo as well. It was a 20ft container and cost me 1.700 USD. That included loading, customs and insurance in NYC and offloading in AUH, for clearance in AUH I had to go with a local company (cant remember their name, somewhere in the touristclub area), cost me 400 AED. Additional cost for import plate (about 200 AED), valid for 3 or 4 days to drive up to registration (could have taken a pickup truck at similar cost as well), 5% custom duty based on the value of the car ( and they do calculate very fair on that.)
Schumacher cargo took care of everything from drop off in NYC on, even gave me the contact to that company in AUH for the offloading. The vessels sailed that time once a month and the trip takes about 4 weeks..