How to bring your car to Saudi Arabia

Bhavna

Fully endorse BDULWAHAB advices and would add the following:

1. Not sure where you coming from but in KSA, we drive on the left hand side of the road and if you own a RHD, that may not even be possible - even if it was - STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST IT as driving habits here are very bad and you would be seriously endangering your life and your families'.

2. Not sure what cars you drive but cars are cheap here and many expats take this as an opportunity to get a nice 4x4 SUV (which is my recommendation from a safety point of view) or sports cars as well (that you likely would not be able to afford in your home country).

3. Parts and maintenance - sometimes GCC specs of the same model of car you may drive DIFFER and the parts for your car may not be easily available here. This may also affect the resale value of your call in the local market.

Makes proper sense to buy your vehicle here rather than import it. Same goes for all other household stuff in my view.

Bhavna,

I don't know the answer to your question but the question itself is perfect. Covering all aspects of the matter. But, probably a logistic company could reply it.  Plus, when you export your car to another country, that country matters !. Each country has its own regulation, tax, and import duty.

I agree with the point don't import your car to Saudi. You will stuck up with lot of paper work and not advisable. Better you buy the car locally. Safely point of view go with  4x4 SUV. May be go with the lease car with full insurance.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your valuable inputs. Very much appreciated.


Bhavna

Bringing the car to Saudi arabia is a  very complicated process.
It is not worth the hassle.
Moreover a person without family cannot register 7 seater or SUV in his name.
Also you cannot bring the car when you come to Saudi for 1st time on employment visa or while entering saudi arabia on a visit visa.
You must have an Iqama (Residence Permit) + driving licence from Saudi arabia to import your car to Saudi arabia.
Only one can be imported and the car must be LHD( left hand drive).
If you want to import more than 1 car, then it is considered a business process and you must have the business licence to import more than 1 vehicle.

GCC citizens and residence can bring their vehicle to saudi arabia on visit visa.
Have a nice day.

Hi,

I agree with that, it complicated procedure, but there is a lot of agencies able to do that on behalf of you with affordable price,

And you can register the 7 seater cars if you don't have family, there is some agencies or offices can do it for money, if you want I can send you contacts for this

Good luck!

My advice is - DON'T - hire a car, that way if you have to leave or you have an accident you don't have too many hassles to get it sorted.

Good Morning,

As a matter of fact, I didn't bring my car with me from home, because it is going to be very expensive to do so. But anyway in order to bring your car with you there are some conditions to do so.

1- Your car model shouldn't be later than 5 years from the present time.
2- You should have a permanent residency in the country
3- In some GCC countries Expats are not allowed to do so, only citizens can import cars from abroad
4- If you do import your car into the country, you have to pay 5% of the car's worth as customs
5- If you do get your car into the country, you can not sell it unless it has been in the country for 5 years or you are leaving the country on final exit.

But generally speaking, you don't need to bring your car with you, because cars are very cheap here and there is a huge variety to choose from German, Japanese, American, Korean ....etc. And cars are usually in good condition with low mileage except for Saudi.

So if you are in Saudi always go for a brand new car or a car not older than 3 years from present day. It is always preferable to buy a car from an expat because they always look after their cars not like the citizens who look at cars as an abundant thing they can replace or just throw away at any price to get the newer model.

I hope that helps.
Cheers

HI..
Dear I sugest you that no need to import any car in saudi arabia because here in Saudia you can buy any car with a low price and one thing you should must keep in your mind Female are not allowed to drive car in Saudi Arabia if you are....

thanks..

Would not advise to export the car since the car is relatively cheap in Saudi. Furthermore dealing with the respective department can be a hassle.

Hi,

Please share the contact information of those agencies to import vehicle in Saudi.

Am thinking to buy something (Suv/Sedan) from Dubai and ship it here. I have iqama + saudi driving lisence + family.

Thank you.

Bhavna wrote:

Hello everybody,

If you exported your car to Saudi Arabia, were there any formalities that needed to be completed beforehand? What were they?

What is the best way to export your car? Is there a limit on the number of vehicles, or perhaps the age of the vehicle? Are there limits on emissions or emission controls in Saudi Arabia?

What are the expected costs of exporting a car? In your opinion, is it worth it?

Once you arrived in Saudi Arabia, what were the applicable taxes? What was the customs process like?

How do you go about registering an imported car in Saudi Arabia?

Is it best to buy a car once you have arrived or to bring your car with you, in your opinion?

We look forward to hearing from you!

Bhavna

The procedure for importing cars is different, depending on the country from where you are bringing the vehicle. If you are going to import from any of the GCC countries, then the following documents have to be submitted:


1. A valid vehicle ownership document issued by the traffic police of the country from where the car is being imported

2. Customs declaration from the exporting country's Customs department


In case you are importing the car from anywhere else in the world (note: cars from Israel are not allowed), the following would apply:

1. A legal document proving the ownership of the vehicle, translated in Arabic and attested by the Saudi Embassy in the country from where you are going to export the car from.

2. Export declaration from the Customs of the exporting country.


3. Invoice and certificate of origin to be attached to the above export declaration.

4. A declaration from the police in the exporting country saying that the vehicle is not in the wanted list for criminal offences

The calculation of customs duty varies on case to case basis, but as a general guideline, you can follow what is given here. The latest price list of all major cars are available and this would be taken as the reference. Depending on the model and the age of the car, depreciation is calculated. Insurance and freight are added to this base value.

In case you are bringing in a vehicle which is less than the first six months of the model year, it is treated as a brand new vehicle. If you bring in a new vehicle in the second six months of its model year, the deduction is 2% per month or part of it. From the 2nd to the 5th of its model year, the deduction is 1% per month or part of it. For cars over 5 years, the maximum deduction is 60% of the original price from the beginning of the model year. The customs duty for cars is 5%.

If the above procedure is mind-boggling, then follow my simple advice. Forget about importing your car into the kingdom. You are better off buying a new car here, which you can sell it while going back. Why would you like to spend your time, money and energy going through all of this, when you don't even know for sure how long you would be here? Afterall, the only thing certain in Saudi Arabia is uncertainty!

I didn't ! One of my friends did!
Not Worth it

The best way to bring your car to Saudi Arabia is by c_cago because is shiper saver and warranty, but it might take couple of weeks depends on wHich country the car is coming from.

The best way to bring your car to Saudi Arabia is by c_cago because is shiper saver and warranty, but it might take couple of weeks depends on wHich country the car is coming from.

i do not advise you to bring your car, the low her will not let you to sell it for three years.
other reasons that you can find the same car you want to bring with much more less price.

authorities will not allow any vehicle older to enter if its more than 5 years. Now we are in 2017 you only can get 2013 and up if you want export your car to Saudi.

If you are going with Iqama you can drive you car to Saudi or ship it, but like the others it make more sense to sale it and buy car in Saudi Arabia.

Hi,

My advice is never bring your car here. First of all, it's a long process. Second, costs a lot of money while importing & exporting. Cars r very cheap in KSA. U can not live in KSA without car. It's a big distance.

And regarding the the process & the paperwork, try to visit any car imports company in KSA.
I hope that could help.
Best Regards

The best is once you land in Ksa then depending on your requirements visit the online sites or car exhibitions. Those used to take place on each weekend.
Gasoline prices are at rise.
So big nice card SUBs are cheaper even by 40 % comparatively.
One can get a Ford expedition around 60K SR..hardly driven 50K and full loaded.
But you need a good family numbers to enjoy its size!
For smaller cars choices are open  fro 10K to 30K.
So best to buy while inside Ksa rather to import.
Thanks

We were looking to bring our SUV over..but need to get in contact with a local Saudi agent for when it arrives... any suggestions?

OR from reading the posts I see most people suggest NOT to bring a car over. Does anyone have any local contacts that sell reliable used cars?

Dear bhavna


I agree with this post. 

Recently we bought car from uae to Ksa.

The process is simple.

First I have to clear all your documents from uae. And put export number which will be collect by uae border customs. 
Then ksa border customs will provide you number plate for 15days.  In 15 days u have time to make vehicle insurance. I will tell you step by step how I did it my friends car until he get registration.

This whole process will cost you bringing car from uae by recovery to ksa Riyadh.  Uae expense and ksa expense all include around 10k

Give me a call on for more details  ***

Hey... i desperately need help finding the place to take the car after it's been imported.

Apparently its somewhere near the MVPI center?

Please help.

dont buy used cars in saudi, you will regret it. Go for a dubai driven vehicle, the import process is pretty straight forward, find yourself an agent to handle all the tedious stuff.

Hi bro.

Where r u located eastern or central.

Give me a call I will explain u everything

I like to bring my 2 cars from Dubai can you please share the steps?

Hi Sunsolaris > please read answers on this thread. You will find information.
Thank you

Hi all,

I am trying to ship my car from Atlanta, GA, US to Riyadh. I have a shipping company from US but having the following questions:

1. I currently only have my work visa and will be traveling to KSA to get Iqamah in the next month. Do you I need to have an Iqamah before I ship the car to KSA? I was planning to ship the car which takes 2 months then immediately go to KSA to apply for Iqamah then ideally claim the car. Not sure if this is going to work.

2. Do I need to have a import clearing agent in KSA to clear the car in Riyadh? If so, does anyone have recommendation on good clearing agents.

3. I was planning to bring two cars - I know KSA Customs only allow one car a year with Iqamah. Is there anyway to bring two cars now that women can drive? I do have family who lives in KSA. Can I have family members clear the car and then potentially transfer the car to me? Is there a work around to bringing two cars?

Send me the contact please.

Hi everyone,

@ Shahfahad77, whose contacts are you looking for ?

Regards,
Bhavna

Can you advice agents to import car to saudi from bahrain, its will be very helpfull.

Thanks

Please send ne the agency contacts who can help me to export my car from Dubai to riyadh
***

Salaam Gazee. need a few pointers of reliable agencies who can help import a car from uae. .. pls if you can share any contact / number

you can direct message so that forum rules are not violated

Kindly share contact numbers of concerned people / agents dealing with this process u r talking about.