Shipping car from US to Hong Kong?

[enchant]

Hi Everyone,

I am moving to Hong Kong from US in a few weeks. I am wondering whether anybody has shipped their car to Hong Kong. Or is it a very silly thing to do?

Anyway, I got the following questions : What is the cost? What kind of "import tax" I need to pay? I have a 2005 Lexus RX330. Does anybody know whether you can modifiy the car so that the driving wheel is on the left side?

The reason that I am thinking to do this is that I hate car dealers. And I rather use my remaining time in US to travel instead of selling the car myself.

Thanks,

Enchant

[hello_there]

Can't ship it from the US to HK- sell your car now. You can bring a motorcycle over, with minor adjustments, but the import tax is huge.

[Lammarite]

Are you serious? Subtract the cost of shipping it and the cost of moving the steering wheel over, let's say USD15k all together, and sell it to the first college kid that walks past your window. Use the USD100 left over and take a weekend break at a Day's Inn.

[freeier]

the import tax is going to be more or less economically equivalent whether you import it yourself or you buy from the dealer here.

[hello_there]

If you just had to deal with the import tax that would be right, but its more like 25k+USD when you add import taxes, shipping and costs for car modifications. And, you risk the car being un-registrable here if the authorities don't like the way the steering column was moved. Not to mention the nightmareish logistics - moving our Harley over here was such a pain in the a** with all the paperwork. It would have been much quicker to sell the bike and buy a new one here. Bad judgment on my part.

[wtbhotia]

dont bother bringing it over, its a lot cheaper to buy one over here and less hassle. 2nd hand cars a very cheap over here as most rich people change cars after a few years. cars in HK over 6 years are considers very old and not many people are willing to buy it which is very strange as they are still considered brand new where i come from.

you can get a 2005 rx 300 for US36000 over here, dont know how much its in the states.

if you buy an slighty older version it will be a hell of a lot cheaper

[enchant]

My wife got a dealer offfering us $31,000 which is $5000 less than the kellybook value. My car has only 18,000 miles on it. Anyway my company will pay for part of this loss.

I don't want to offend anybody, but I think car dealership has the highest concentration of dishonesty among all business ( US congress comes a close second ). I hate giving them the satisfaction of ripping people off.

[Lammarite]

Then put an ad in the paper for 32k and be done with it- if it's such a deal then it well sell very quickly.
i find it odd that you can't be bothered to take the time to sell it before you go but are happy to go through the export procedures from that end as well as the import procedures this end as well as the conversion from LHD to RHD and import tax. All this on top of the upheaval that a move would entail.
If you have such a chip on your shoulder about car dealers why did you buy new?
You're making about as much sense as tits on a tennis ball.

[applefan]

My wife got a dealer offfering us $31,000 which is $5000 less than the kellybook value. My car has only 18,000 miles on it. Anyway my company will pay for part of this loss.

If you have a Carmax near you, take it there. I've sold 3 cars there and have been more than satisfied with the process and with how much they paid me. In every case, I got offered more than Bluebook value. Not a lot more, but more.

[Expatriate]

If you want to drive a lexus in Hong Kong you must be loaded.
Just for your info: 1 Liter of gas is about HK$12 US$1 = HK$7.8
Parking: HK$20 per hour; or 3,000 per month, depending on location
Tunnel: HK$ 10

For comparison: I pay HK$ 7.50 for a bus ride to my office (25min). No need for parking, repair, insurance, etc.

Hong Kong is very convenient in regard to transport.