As mentioned, no second hand car import allowed to Thailand at the moment.

Sell you 2005 500SL in you home country and for the money you get you can buy a 1974 MB 280 SLC with a Toyota 4 banger in Thailand.

It would be a great car to drive here,

the roads are built for speed here,

if you like drinking then driving, even

better, what side is the steering wheel on.

It used to be forbidden to import used cars or motorcycles into Thailand. Now it is not generally forbidden, but you need to obtain an import licence:

[ Quote from http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+personal+vehicle/importingpersonalvehicle ]:

Used / secondhand vehicles need to obtain an import permit from the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Tel. 02-5474804. For the vehicles with the weight less than 3500 Kgs., the importer needs to obtain an import permit from the Industrial Standard Institute as well.

[unquote]

And that is the problem.

Follow post #2.

I had a day off from the forum otherwise I would have quickly endorsed.

A 5 liter (!) Merc Benz importing to Thailand.

Please forget it as hard as it may sound.

and isn't going to cost more than the car is worth.

It will.

Might end up in the region that a new one costs here.

500er Merc Benz are in the 15 million Baht range.

Approx. 380'000 Euro, 280'000 GBP , 410'000 USD

http://www.mercedes-benz.co.th/content/media_library/thailand/mpc_thailand/EN_NG/Pricelist/pricelist_en.object-Single-MEDIA.download.tmp/11_12_2015PriceList_Expo.pdf

Bummer.... Thanks guys. Looks like it's bye bye SL, hello some Jap pickup?

Don't cry and resignate

I know its hard, but there are decent 6 cylinders sedans of Japanese brand below 2 million.

A laughable 3 to 4 million will buy you a nice 2 (!) liter Merc Benz

Many have gone before ye - here, there be monsters!

The duty free dispensation for returning Thais, apply to personnel/household items. I think cars/bikes are particularly excluded from this, not sure if you could dismantle and claim "spare parts"?

If you had that car for more than a year you can take it with you tax free and therefore it will be much cheaper despite the shipping than buying something comparable in Thailand!

Thats for Thai nationals that were living abroad and returning isnt it.

I don't think the OP is Thai.

Yes, and which has been mentioned previously is also been suspended, and besides it all comes down to what a given customs officer feels in spite of any written guidelines when it comes down to it, it's all left up to that persons discretion or for that matter personal desires, (which may be your intended import).

Same in lndonesia.

A friend of mine imported a 25 year old BMW & it ended up costing him a small fortune.

Double what the car was worth.

Well to some point "worth" is arguable, if you love the car and have years of love into it and don't have designs on reselling it any time soon or ever? Then the cost may be "worth" it, but not just for the average car certainly.

Don`t bring it, my story is to complicated to explain, the customs officer liked it and was determined to get it, and he did.

+ 1

Same in lndonesia.

A friend of mine imported a 25 year old BMW & it ended up costing him a small fortune.

Double what the car was worth.

Well to some point "worth" is arguable, if you love the car and have years of love into it and don't have designs on reselling it any time soon or ever? Then the cost may be "worth" it, but not just for the average car certainly.

As he related to me.

He was sorry that he imported it.

l never saw the car, l know that he said that he could have bought two new cars in lndonesia for what it eventually cost him.

Don`t bring it, my story is to complicated to explain, the customs officer liked it and was determined to get it, and he did.

+ 1

Ditto

I would have been happy to bring over my wife's convertible yellow Mini Cooper bought second hand for 15k eur but initial estimate was more than 30k eur + delivery + fees so we reluctantly sold it

Same in lndonesia.

A friend of mine imported a 25 year old BMW & it ended up costing him a small fortune.

Double what the car was worth.

Well to some point "worth" is arguable, if you love the car and have years of love into it and don't have designs on reselling it any time soon or ever? Then the cost may be "worth" it, but not just for the average car certainly.

As he related to me.

He was sorry that he imported it.

l never saw the car, l know that he said that he could have bought two new cars in lndonesia for what it eventually cost him.

Then in that case not one of the cases I was speaking of.

Road trip through Russia and China looks like the best option

Looks like quite a few have actually done it - and not one has any positive news to report. Looks like I was wrong to think I could have brought it here at a 'reasonable' cost. Oh well - at least I now know I can be happy with my lovely little Honda - just gotta try and forget about the Merc

Same in lndonesia.

A friend of mine imported a 25 year old BMW & it ended up costing him a small fortune.

Double what the car was worth.

Well to some point "worth" is arguable, if you love the car and have years of love into it and don't have designs on reselling it any time soon or ever? Then the cost may be "worth" it, but not just for the average car certainly.

An example....I had all the OK's - I had built the car from the ground up over 5 years with no costs spared.....My daughter loved (as did I) that car & and I was going to give it to her when I moved here and store 2 other vehicles -------

She never made it - my daughter was killed in an automobile accident 3 months before departure....

Got the OKs and shipped here engaging a reputable shipper on this end.....Then the nightmare started - more paperwork needed - then told I hadn't owned it long enough because the BOS & pink slip had a different address than the address I'd moved to.....On and on - meanwhile the docking/stowage and storage fees were stacking up.....As well as attorney fees I'd now engaged.....Had relatives in the PI so thought I could put in to their name and ship there - they'd store it for my use for whenever I'd be there (technically the car was still in between countries - but the container couldn't be openned here to get my other stuff out).....Would have had to redirect to PI - trust someone there to offload and not tamper with my other belongings which then would have to be shipped back......That fell through because I did not have certain visa type - which was not possible to get......

Finally - was told come get the car and went down....Was told it needed a final sign off.....Got there - had 200,000 in pocket just in case.....Was told nope - they couldn't allow it in - that the laws changed while it was crossing over.....Plus was told couldn't remove or split the shipment.....Asked to see the new law - not available.....Asked if there anyone else we could "sway" = no.....

I'd already spent 720,000 trying to keep the car here.....They didn't want to allow me to split and get my other stuff out of the container.....

Someone saw and wanted it and they got it......

In speaking to the guy that handles visas here in CM and has hundreds or thousands of clients over the years - he has yet to hear of anyone successfully bringing a vehicle in....I even had their own documents to wave in their face/show them....

In theory I could have shipped everything back to the US.....Flown over - gone through customs to reinstate then recertify/safety/smog and relicense and have 3 vehicles stored in the US.....Then ship the other stuff back trusting it would all again fall under my retirement visa....I gave up at that point....

It had dragged out for over a year....

When splitting out the shipment they didn't even look at what else I was bringing in - they got what they wanted....

That's the thumbnail sketch.....

On my first trip to Pattaya, about 12 years ago, I saw a mint condition TR-3 tooling around amidst all those Toyotas. Always wondered how he got it in.

On my first trip to Pattaya, about 12 years ago, I saw a mint condition TR-3 tooling around amidst all those Toyotas. Always wondered how he got it in.

12 years ago... had not the issue we have today.

http://www.kaidee.com/c11a298-auto-car-sl-class/

Bummer.... Thanks guys. Looks like it's bye bye SL, hello some Jap pickup?

Don't cry and resignate

I know its hard, but there are decent 6 cylinders sedans of Japanese brand below 2 million.

A laughable 3 to 4 million will buy you a nice 2 (!) liter Merc Benz

6 cyl, sedan, and Japanese.... not the same as a 500SL... not even close, and I've had a 300ZX twin turbo, and a Supra twin turbo and the are not in the same league.

http://www.kaidee.com/c11a298-auto-car-sl-class/

Thanks for the link Arthur, WOW.... 3.5 mil for a 2003.... just WOW. thats about £78,000, mine books about £10,000.

I know its hard, but there are decent 6 cylinders sedans of Japanese brand below 2 million.

Let me know WHERE is in Thailand have so Secret place

Becouse i can't find decent 6 cylinders sedans of Japanese brand below 2 million.

Almast price is near 3 ml or more

and it near price german car