Anyone here successfully transferred a car from the US to Vietnam?

Are you first or second generation Viet Kieu?  If so there is a program that will let you or your parents move a late model car into the country duty-free once in a lifetime.  If you are not, the duties will be approximately 100% of value.  In that case you might as well buy a car in Vietnam if you really need one.

Two doors down from our apartment there was a group of young people running a business based on scamming the system by connecting Vietnamese car buyers with Viet Kieu in the US.  The car is purchased to order in the US and the Viet Kieu turn over title once the car is in Vietnam while splitting off a share of the gain in value.  I don't know what the split was but these were all high end cars so the tariff savings were >$40K US per car.

I am first generation. May I ask for the name of this program?

There is an agency that helps Viet Kieu and there is a link to it somewhere buried in one of the back pages.  No time now but if I find it I will post it.

You also could try your consulate if you are in TX or CA or the embassy in DC.

Excuse me for saying "your consulate" as you are apparently a US citizen.

Sorry but I couldn't find the link to that agency in HCMC to assist Viet Kieu.  You might try a PM to someone called Wild_1 as I think he may have been the one who posted it.

Here is a rather old newspaper story (2013) that describes a crackdown on VK who bring in cars for immediate resale.  http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/af … -1114.html

Maybe better to drive it around for a year or two before reselling.  Sorry that I don't know more.

I was curious as we might do this import thing too, so I did a little more checking.  It seems you must be making a permanent move back to VN and either establish your own house book or get put back in the book of a relative.  I don't think you have to relinquish foreign citizenship but you may have to reestablish Vietnamese citizenship if you have not already.  The age rules for the car are a little tight.  It must be over 6 months and over 10,000 km but less than 3 years old so it's a 2-1/2 year window.  There is also a special VAT and some other fees.

Here is an official link:  http://www.dfa.gov.vn/chinh-sach/instru … g-2923.htm
You can flip it back to Tieng Viet if you like.

Article 7, section 3 seems to say that if you sell the vehicle you may have to pay the full duties.  There must be some time where this no longer applies but I didn't see it.

Here is a 2015 news article too:  http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/253373/ov … KltPDR4.97

Just a thought but if the US really does pass the TPP, as unlikely as that seems right now, Vietnam may have to lower its regular import tariffs, making this program less of a savings.