Shipping car to UK

[desertphantom]

Hi all

 

Wondering if anybody has any recent experience/knowledge of potentially shipping a car from Thailand to the UK? I've seen a few posts but they seem to be from a while ago.

 

I'm planning to leave Thailand in the next couple of months and have a 25 year old Merc C220 which I've spent a fair bit smartening up mechanically and aesthetically, it would only be worth about £3k back home, around 160,000 THB max here and proving a difficult sale. I'm reluctant to give it away for peanuts or to hand it over to the Thai family (for a whole multitude of reasons) and I've had past experience when I left my last job selling a car for way less than it was worth so would prefer to get it sent over if possible... 

 

I understand that as it's over 10 years old and I would be returning for residence to the UK that the customs costs would be minimal but could be totally wrong there. Compliance and MOT wise and I can't foresee any major issues, mechanically it's pretty sound which is one of the reasons I wouldn't mind keeping it. Any ideas how feasible this would be?

 

[Kwasaki]

All you can do is enquire if you're not coming back most people would sell and buy another in UK and vice versa.

 

What makes you think it would be worth that much 3k in UK is it a classic collectors piece.? 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

A lot of people will tell you not to bother, but they don’t really know what they are talking about. 

I am also one of those people and would suggest not to bother.

 

Reasons: The cost of shipping a car is likely to be close to what the car is actually worth. 

 

As difficult as it may seem, unless its a rare and valuable model, its just not worth it. 

Sell it locally - Second hand cars fetch more in Thailand than they do in the UK. 

 

Put it up for sale and see how many bites you get - If priced reasonably, you’ll get a bite.

 

 

[desertphantom]

Thanks for the replies, I say about £3k as that's the average for similar spec and mileage on UK autotrader, the thing is if it were to cost maybe £2,000 to ship it then I'd rather do that for sell it for less than it's worth just because I'm in a rush. Of course that would mean I've spent more than on the equivalent car in the UK but can't say it would bother me much.

 

It's not a collectable model but it's a decent car which I've worked on properly.

 

Has anybody done this or know somebody who's done this and what the costs were and also how much of a headache the process is?

[2long]

I totally get the OP. I have a 15 year old Honda Jazz that I would never part with.

But with prices so high here and so low in the UK, you'd need a damn good reason to ship it home, considering registration costs there, etc.

I really hope I'm wrong and wish you well, but £2000 all in sounds too cheap.

Please keep us updated, and I will follow this thread.

Good luck.

[desertphantom]

From what I read the actual shipping cost is not too high (about £1500 from Bangkok to Southampton in a container, less on roll on roll off boats) provided you do the donkey work and book it yourself which would require a Thai speaker. The customs paperwork on the UK end is where things get a bit blurry and I think you might need an agent. I'm sure this sounds ridiculous to all but a few people.

 

If I attempt it I'll let you know.

[bkkflyer]

Shipping costs are extremely high at the moment. I guess it would probably be GBP4000-5000 to ship it in a 20 feet container at the moment. Heck, we shipped a 40 feet container from China to Europa some time ago and paid more than GBP10.000 - estimated to increase to GBP15.000-20.000 in the next few months. Its insane..... compared to GBP2000 1+ year ago for a 40ft HC.

[desertphantom]

Any idea why it's become so much pricier?

[Gulfsailor]

37 minutes ago, desertphantom said:

Any idea why it's become so much pricier?

The previous reply is correct that the cost of seafreight has skyrocketed this year. For a 20ft Bangkok to the UK expect at least 6000 pounds at the moment.

During the height of the pandemic a lot of companies in the west halted or reduced production out of necessity or fear and China was happy to increase output and fill the gap. The result is that there’s currently a huge shortage of room on ships going to the west and available containers.
Hopefully next year things will start to return to normal.  

[Liverpool Lou]

On 8/8/2021 at 5:22 PM, desertphantom said:

Has anybody done this or know somebody who's done this and what the costs were and also how much of a headache the process is?

Have you though about asking a shipper?   They would actually be able to answer your questions.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:07 PM, desertphantom said:

The customs paperwork on the UK end is where things get a bit blurry and I think you might need an agent.

It's not at all blurry, it's all here in black and white...

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/paying-vat-and-duty

[Liverpool Lou]

On 8/8/2021 at 5:04 PM, desertphantom said:

I'm planning to leave Thailand in the next couple of months and have a 25 year old Merc C220 which I've spent a fair bit smartening up mechanically and aesthetically, it would only be worth about £3k back home

Are you thinking about importing a car without a heater to the UK in winter or does yours have heat?

[desertphantom]

On 8/10/2021 at 1:08 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

Are you thinking about importing a car without a heater to the UK in winter or does yours have heat?

Thanks for your help Liverpool Lou, I'll delete this post now as you have proven how foolish I was asking if anyone had first hand experience (which is often quite different to the quoted procedure) doing this.

[nauseus]

On 8/8/2021 at 8:35 PM, desertphantom said:

Any idea why it's become so much pricier?

Backlogs, fuel and Covid. 

[Albert Zweistein]

On 8/8/2021 at 2:07 PM, desertphantom said:

From what I read the actual shipping cost is not too high (about £1500 from Bangkok to Southampton in a container, less on roll on roll off boats) provided you do the donkey work and book it yourself which would require a Thai speaker. The customs paperwork on the UK end is where things get a bit blurry and I think you might need an agent. I'm sure this sounds ridiculous to all but a few people.

 

If I attempt it I'll let you know.

Ro Ro's from Bangkok to Southampton ?

[Liverpool Lou]

13 hours ago, desertphantom said:

On 8/10/2021 at 3:08 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

Are you thinking about importing a car without a heater to the UK in winter or does yours have heat?

Thanks for your help Liverpool Lou, I'll delete this post now as you have proven how foolish I was asking if anyone had first hand experience (which is often quite different to the quoted procedure) doing this.

It was a question, that's all!

[CharlieH]

A picture of the car might help and you could post an Ad amongst the Expats here on the forum, you may get lucky !

 

https://aseannow.com/forum/79-cars-for-sale-in-thailand/