Importing A 22 Year Old Car

[Whitterz]

Hello Guys,

Just after some advice.

I Have a one off, Ford Fiesta XR2 Turbo Technics.... May not sound much to you guys, but it has been my pride and joy for 10 years, having numerous magazine features and winning awards at shows.

With me being over here 90% of the time, I am thinking of bringing her over.

I live in Surin, and know of the way, where brining in through Cambodia and via a Tourist visa on the car.

I have also heard rules, of taxation not applying on cars of certain age.

Please can you offer some advice on this, and what shipping line to use, and basic costs.

Thanks a lot

Danny

[H2oDunc]

My advice DON'T

Sell it back home and spend the money on something here. If you do a search on it you will come up with post after post where it has cost people lots of money or customs have taken a shine to the car and you simply don't get it.

[John 1]

Just do it then share your experience with all then we will know for sure if there are any pit fall's

[HAL9000]

I've asked around about the tourist permit option too. I thought it wouldn't be too much trouble to make a border run for the car every 90 days, but I've been told there is something like a deposit required at the border worth 200 or 250% of the value of the car, which on the customs website is considerably higher than market value. I'd imagine they'd especially estimate high on something that you've got that's tricked out like that.

But I just can't imagine that ordinary tourists really have to hassle with that kind of fee, so I'm thinking the info I got is wrong, or right and not enforced. People would never travel if there was that kind of restriction on border crossings.

Another tip I got was to bring it in through Singapore because it's a duty-free port.

Of course, the ASEAN free-trade zone is in the news again, so that could be helpful if approved. A US-Thai Free Trade Agreement is in the works too since before the coup, and last I spoke to a US trade rep, he said they are just waiting for Thailand to decide who's in charge so they can get it passed.