Need car parts from UK: any experience?

[jobin]

The car is oddball, and old, but the parts pretty normal after 20 yrs wear and tear.  Front suspension parts like shocks, mostly.  Some vendor in the UK has supply of parts and says will ship International. 

Anyone have experience with buying and shipping new/used car parts toT'land?

[steve187]

will get hit for duty.

 

[jobin]

Duty?  That's some kind of tax on the ??value?? of the car part?  Say i pay US$50 for a part in the UK, then that is shipped to T'land.  What will be the duty on that part?  Any ideas or where do i find the duty list?  If any exists.  And if the part came through the mails, not FedEX, will that help?

What if the part was shipped direct to a car dealer, not to me?

[Pdaz]

If they will send by regular airmail and the part is not to large/heavy you have a chance it will arrive without duty. If they send by courier service you will incur duty. Duty is calculated on the cost of the item+postage. I have bought lots of car/bike parts in from UK/USA and Europe. All depends how much you need the part. If you can't find it easily here there is little choice.  On a $50 dollar part it won't break the bank. 

[jay1980]

not first hand experance but I have been told by a friend there is less chance of having to pay duty if shipped to someone with a Thai name rather than a farang name and also as previously mentioned sent in regular post, not fedex etc

 

 

[overherebc]

3 hours ago, jay1980 said:

not first hand experance but I have been told by a friend there is less chance of having to pay duty if shipped to someone with a Thai name rather than a farang name and also as previously mentioned sent in regular post, not fedex etc

 

 

 

I've had bike parts sent by Royal Mail tracked and signed, cost obviously depends on weight. Takes about 2/3 days to reach BKK the last 200 K about a week but never paid duty.

PM me and I'll tell you who not to use.

[melvinmelvin]

have bought car parts (engine stuff) from the UK several times,

sent to LoS by ordinary postal service, customs declaration forms and all properly filled out,

 

never been charged a dime/nickel/bob

[Strange]

7 hours ago, jobin said:

The car is oddball, and old, but the parts pretty normal after 20 yrs wear and tear.  Front suspension parts like shocks, mostly.  Some vendor in the UK has supply of parts and says will ship International. 

Anyone have experience with buying and shipping new/used car parts toT'land?

 

If you have the cash and don't mind spending it, yeah sure order it from the UK. Some posters said that they did not have to pay Duty, but I have. It will be hit or miss on that front and its equally annoying because sometimes you can not predict what customs will charge. 

 

But on to the Shocks and other parts (you probably already know this - just tossing it out there) things like shocks will have a part number and that number will fit many, many different cars. Also, if you know the bolt pattern, extended and compressed length, and vehicle weight, you can pull one off the shelf and run it if you go with a similar car. Example if you know your cars weight, and the measurements of the shock you want to replace, find a car of similar weight and configuration and run it. 

[jobin]

Thanks all.  Not in BKK so can't search  breaker yards but local (CM) Chevy dealer service mgr is checking for me.  I'm sure he knows if acceptable shock is available in T'land.  I had also thought shocks ought to be pretty common in fitting so might go with 'almost perfect'!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Saraphee]

I have been importing components for classic cars for about 10 years. What follows is a summary of my personal experiences.

Duty will be calculated on cost plus shipping. Many items have a duty rate of 10%. I have know customs apply 30 or 40% to some items.

Mail is OK for small items and usually escapes duty, but heavier bits from UK using Parcel Force often  come under scrutiny. Generally the same applies to stuff from the USA using USPS.

Almost all the courier services are tied in with RTC and would rarely escape duty.

Some shocks (maybe gas filled if my memory serves me) may not be shipped by Air.

Fortunately there are machine shops around who can re-pressurise your existing shocks and even make them adjustable. Getting them smartly repainted afterwards is easy!