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Shipping Car from the US

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Dave954
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Shipping Car from the US

Post by Dave954 » Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:14 am

Hello,

I'm sorry if this topic has already been explored in a different thread and if it has, I'd appreciate the link. That being said, how easy or hard is it (time, effort, and/or money-wise) is shipping/importing a car you own from the US to Singapore? Thanks.

David

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:42 pm

This gets discussed occasionally, but I haven't seen it recently.

The impression I have is that it's unlikely to be worthwhile unless the car is something very special to you, and preferably 25+ years old.

You'd have the cost of freight both ways, import duty of maybe 100+%, a steering wheel 'on the wrong side' (not much chance to resell locally if you wished to?), and you'd have to buy a 10-year COE (= permit to put on the road) which is going to be expensive, maybe S$50-100k. Google on 'Singapore COE prices'.


The above are pretty ballpark figures, but maybe they'll help move you along towards a decision.

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ecureilx
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Post by ecureilx » Sun, 09 Jun 2013 1:19 pm

JR8 wrote:This gets discussed occasionally, but I haven't seen it recently.

The impression I have is that it's unlikely to be worthwhile unless the car is something very special to you, and preferably 25+ years old.

You'd have the cost of freight both ways, import duty of maybe 100+%, a steering wheel 'on the wrong side' (not much chance to resell locally if you wished to?), and you'd have to buy a 10-year COE (= permit to put on the road) which is going to be expensive, maybe S$50-100k. Google on 'Singapore COE prices'.


The above are pretty ballpark figures, but maybe they'll help move you along towards a decision.
add to it, when you bring in second hand cars over 10 years, no insurer wants to cover full insurance .. if I remember correctly

and .. spare parts, well, back home when the US embassy needs some spares they got to a week to get their own spares, as the local dealers dont' service the 'made for usa' range

And .. import duty is fixed on the customs calculater .. not yours. . so if you buy a BMW for 3,000 in US and ship it out, the Customs here will work from, say 30,000 ..

you can engage one of the parallel importers to do the estimated cost ..

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Strong Eagle
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Post by Strong Eagle » Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:15 am

You can't even bring it in, unless you happen to be driving a right hand drive car in the US. Nothing but right hand drives are allowed in, with very few diplomatic exceptions.

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Post by Dave954 » Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:52 am

I forgot about the right hand drive. I guess I'll just leave it in the states then. Thanks everyone for replying.

David

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Post by heliotropic365 » Sat, 15 Jun 2013 6:12 pm

if you have one of those yachts with a parking garage in the hull you could float it over in that? 8-) just keep an eye out for pirates, yikes!

seriously though, crazy all the things they do to discourage driving in SG isn't it? and forget about parking. i recommend taxis and car service..

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JR8
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Post by JR8 » Sat, 15 Jun 2013 6:52 pm

heliotropic365 wrote: seriously though, crazy all the things they do to discourage driving in SG isn't it? and forget about parking. i recommend taxis and car service..
Raising taxes from, and discouraging, are very different things.

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