Shipping a car from Dubai to Europe?
short flights long nights
I did not realise the cars differed so much
Sometimes they don't even differ, but the necessary evidence of compliance differs. The only thing different might be the all important compliance plate that confirms the vehicle meets the rules in a certain jurisdiction. Without that, and particularly if the manufacturer won't provide documentation confirming what elements of the destination jurisdiction's requirements that the vehicle meets or doesn't meet, you're faced with the nightmare of demonstrating compliance.
And then, when you come to sell the car, who wants to buy a grey import??
And then, when you come to sell the car, who wants to buy a grey import??
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Sea Container to Marseilles is around 2000 Euros inclusive of customs etc, get a reliable company to do it.
Driving back used to be a nice option, you have to drive through KSA in under 24hrs as they won't give you a visa for longer whilst driving through Iran is stunning and the Iranians are very hospitable, your problems start after getting out of Iran...
Driving back used to be a nice option, you have to drive through KSA in under 24hrs as they won't give you a visa for longer whilst driving through Iran is stunning and the Iranians are very hospitable, your problems start after getting out of Iran...
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Hmmm... not as "mission impossible" as many have indicated.
Over the two decades my family were resident in GCC countries, various members shipped 4 cars and 3 motorcycles back to Europe. The last one went in 2016. Do your homework and its certainly plausible. The shipping is the least of your worries - a vehicle can either go by container or on a Ro-Ro. Neither is terribly expensive.
The biggest headache / question mark is around registering it locally in the EU. You will need at very least a CoC from the manufacturer. Make sure you know the process and understand the requirements before you put your car on the boat...
Personally I would only do it if the car is in some way special or you are very emotionally attached to it. From a purely economic perspective it doesn't make much sense.
Over the two decades my family were resident in GCC countries, various members shipped 4 cars and 3 motorcycles back to Europe. The last one went in 2016. Do your homework and its certainly plausible. The shipping is the least of your worries - a vehicle can either go by container or on a Ro-Ro. Neither is terribly expensive.
The biggest headache / question mark is around registering it locally in the EU. You will need at very least a CoC from the manufacturer. Make sure you know the process and understand the requirements before you put your car on the boat...
Personally I would only do it if the car is in some way special or you are very emotionally attached to it. From a purely economic perspective it doesn't make much sense.
As someone that occasionally buys a ticket in the Dubai DFS car lottery, it does cross my mind as to how easy it would be to get my winnings back to Europe and registered without major paperwork problems.
Two colleagues of mine each won a car in that raffle.
A F/E from USA, and a Capt’ from Aus’.
Both endeavoured to take the vehicles home, but ended up selling them back to the Dubai dealer, for whatever they could get. Less than the advertised price I believe.
Apparently in both cases, compliance proved insurmountable.
A F/E from USA, and a Capt’ from Aus’.
Both endeavoured to take the vehicles home, but ended up selling them back to the Dubai dealer, for whatever they could get. Less than the advertised price I believe.
Apparently in both cases, compliance proved insurmountable.
I think you can get approvals to temporary import into some EU Countries
Googling "import car into EU" brings up lots of options and info but it's clear it's a painful , and possibly very expensive, process
I understand from some people who brought cars back from the USA that the hassle and time cost was enormous ................
Googling "import car into EU" brings up lots of options and info but it's clear it's a painful , and possibly very expensive, process
I understand from some people who brought cars back from the USA that the hassle and time cost was enormous ................
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Try this. Highly recommended. Used by a Ferrari owner.
Seabrook Cargo Services LLC
Asmawi Warehouse Complex,
26B Street, Ras Al Khor 1, Dubai- UAE
Tel : +971 4 – 346 7655
Mob: +971- 54 792 4637
Web: www.seabrookfandh.com
Seabrook Cargo Services LLC
Asmawi Warehouse Complex,
26B Street, Ras Al Khor 1, Dubai- UAE
Tel : +971 4 – 346 7655
Mob: +971- 54 792 4637
Web: www.seabrookfandh.com
It would help if we knew what kind of car it is and why it has to be this one. For example, sometimes it can be cheaper to source a decent condition already road compliant grey import in the UK. (Someone else went through the whole hassle at either end and suffered the stresses in between, and lost money on the whole deal anyway. Spoken with personal experience.)
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I think you can get approvals to temporary import into some EU Countries
Googling "import car into EU" brings up lots of options and info but it's clear it's a painful , and possibly very expensive, process
I understand from some people who brought cars back from the USA that the hassle and time cost was enormous ................
Googling "import car into EU" brings up lots of options and info but it's clear it's a painful , and possibly very expensive, process
I understand from some people who brought cars back from the USA that the hassle and time cost was enormous ................
As I had owned the car for more than six months before the import the taxes were not bad at all, and had work not interfered with getting it registered within two months of it reaching Spanish shore they would have been basically zero. I used RORO for shipping as in my case a separate container wasn’t worth the cost, it only cost me $1400 including insurance from Houston to Barcelona. Shipping was supposed to take four weeks, but it actually showed up in two weeks.
FlyTCI......I think it does depend where the car comes from. I assume US car safety standards are equally as high as EU ones. The difficulty lies where certain car markets do not comply with EU standards.
You can do it all yourself. I have several times, at either end, the whole bang shoot, from purchase to transporting to shipping to paperwork to landing to paying taxes to collecting to road legalization and V5.
But I would still advise you to find the right people in the UK to help you once it's landed. Easier.
The wrong garage will say, "You'll need to get the original factory parts of this, this and this (brakes, coilovers, bulbs etc.) This will have to come off, so will that. Forget it mate. You're stuffed."
The right garage will say ,"No problem. Leave it to us."
And there are all kinds in between.
But I would still advise you to find the right people in the UK to help you once it's landed. Easier.
The wrong garage will say, "You'll need to get the original factory parts of this, this and this (brakes, coilovers, bulbs etc.) This will have to come off, so will that. Forget it mate. You're stuffed."
The right garage will say ,"No problem. Leave it to us."
And there are all kinds in between.
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My car has coilovers and the chief inspector at the facility doing my initial annual inspection had to certify that they met the standards. Unfortunately he never entered that into the system so twice in following inspections that became an issue, which was eventually sorted when they made a permanent record in the car’s file that it was legal.
The traps with American vehicles into Europe vary from potentially unfixable but usually not an issue such as crash test performance, to seemingly trivial but still a hassle such as headlight standards. Seek advice before committing!
