[bigman]

Originally Posted by 1Day

Yeah thats true, how do the customs guys in india check if the docs are in order? do they actually go through the car IDs(VIN / Serial# etc) and use a computer to check the reg against in the country of ownership or they look at the doc in hand and say ok??

They must look at the documents in hand. Thats another thing to prove the registration documents are authentic UK documents you have to get them authenticated by the legalisation department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (easy and quick to do and costs about £20,) then you take them to the Indian High Commission and get them to attest the document (they can be a complete pain in the backside as they make up rules so basically take everything with you, including photocopies of everything).

I doubt they can use a computer to check anything as the Data Protection Act in the UK would simply not permit such access to confidential information.

[1Day]

Originally Posted by bigman

They must look at the documents in hand. Thats another thing to prove the registration documents are authentic UK documents you have to get them authenticated by the legalisation department at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (easy and quick to do and costs about £20,) then you take them to the Indian High Commission and get them to attest the document (they can be a complete pain in the backside as they make up rules so basically take everything with you, including photocopies of everything).

I doubt they can use a computer to check anything as the Data Protection Act in the UK would simply not permit such access to confidential information.

Cool Thanks, this info sounds good...

is there anything else you can tell me about the process since you seem to have done this..it would be be helpful to few people on the board..

(and i still believe there is no way of bringing a LHD car into india right? only on some special policy for few months/ a year or something right? whats the deal with that and what is it called?)

[Sahil]

Man, all this seems really complicated now. When you planning to return to India with the car 1Day? I think i am just gonna wait for you to successfully import the car to India before i start my process coz i have a couple of year left before I return back for good.
Also, wouldnt it make more sense to import a Mercedes instead so that it can be converted to RHD in India itself, that way you skip the hassel of going via UK. A CLS55_AMG for the price of an E280...yeahhh baby!!

[1Day]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Man, all this seems really complicated now. When you planning to return to India with the car 1Day? I think i am just gonna wait for you to successfully import the car to India before i start my process coz i have a couple of year left before I return back for good.
Also, wouldnt it make more sense to import a Mercedes instead so that it can be converted to RHD in India itself, that way you skip the hassel of going via UK. A CLS55_AMG for the price of an E280...yeahhh baby!!

converting a CLS55 AMG would be a mammoth task and not in the capabilities of mercedes india..I doubt it..If thats possible i would take both cars..Z06 is a different animal..and i prefer it over the CLS55, but if i could do the 2nd car and if infact it could be done (conversion of the a mercedes) then may be i will think about it..even i have a couple of years to go, thats why i am asking now, so that i can own the cars in the next 1 yr or so and keep them for the required 1 yr beforing importing them..

[bigman]

Rather than converting why not just buy a used low mileage car in the UK. Conversions no matter how good they look visually are never as good as buying a real RHD. Years ago I saw some of the conversions that used to be done on "dodgy" top end SUV in Dubai (stolen LHD cars shipped in containers would be converted to RHD and then shipped to the UK after conversion). The conversions were very poorly done. Some NRI or PIO in the UK made a fortune shipping these cars in untill he was caught by a television sting.

[nitrous]

The customs have a VIN scanner which will give out the car's details.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by nitrous

The customs have a VIN scanner which will give out the car's details.

They need a scanner to do that ? It is pretty easy to decipher a VIN number.

1st charachter = Country of manufacturer
2nd = Manufacturer (A=Audi, D=Merc, V=VW, F=Ford, B=BMW)
3rd = Vehicle type/manufacturing division
4th to 8th = engine type, model, series, body style etc
9th = check digit
10th = Model year
11th = Assembly plant
12th to 17th = production sequence

One thing to bear in mind is that the VIN contains no details about ownership.

[bigman]

You should be able to get all the information you need from the following pages. If you have any other queries then post on their forum or email them. Calcutta Customs do really put to shame the CBEC lot in Delhi with their web site. CBEC do not even bother to update their web site after budget changes.

http://www.geocities.com/indiancusto...e/misc.htm#car

http://www.geocities.com/indiancusto...agerule/tr.htm

[1Day]

Hey bigman you seem to be really helpful with this importing procedure, another Q for you. How do they know how loaded the car really is? I will give you for example, I was configuring a 911, starting price was 80k and by the time i ended up comfiguring it, I was looking at 115k, so thats 35k of junk..is it possible to pay for th 80k duty and let the 35k slide...i know i am acting like a bad boy, but i was wondering how would the custom guys know...

same with an aftermarket car, i buy a cayenne for 70k and get a techart kit for 30k on it and bring it in, they would only get to know about the 70k right? so you would end up paying duty for that?

Thanks in advance..

[bigman]

Originally Posted by 1Day

Hey bigman you seem to be really helpful with this importing procedure, another Q for you. How do they know how loaded the car really is? I will give you for example, I was configuring a 911, starting price was 80k and by the time i ended up comfiguring it, I was looking at 115k, so thats 35k of junk..is it possible to pay for th 80k duty and let the 35k slide...i know i am acting like a bad boy, but i was wondering how would the custom guys know...

same with an aftermarket car, i buy a cayenne for 70k and get a techart kit for 30k on it and bring it in, they would only get to know about the 70k right? so you would end up paying duty for that?

Thanks in advance..

Good question. Sorry but I do not know the answer.

I suppose with aftermarket modifications like getting a Techart kit, it would be very hard for your average customs wala to know what you had done unless they were a car connoisseur.

It might be worth sending a private message to Gemballa as he is the man when it comes to prestige cars and may be able to help more with regards to whether customs guys can value optional extras or aftermarket mods.

[1Day]

Originally Posted by bigman

Good question. Sorry but I do not know the answer.

I suppose with aftermarket modifications like getting a Techart kit, it would be very hard for your average customs wala to know what you had done unless they were a car connoisseur.

It might be worth sending a private message to Gemballa as he is the man when it comes to prestige cars and may be able to help more with regards to whether customs guys can value optional extras or aftermarket mods.

Thanks a ton..i will do that..

[gemballa]

short and quick.....if u study abroad buy a car and decide to bring ot back it will cost u a bomb duty on second hand cars is 170%..... ur better of looking at a new car.....as far as a TR goes there is no duty concession unless u plan on taking the car back in a year in which case it would be canee..... a tr just allows u to bring a used car in oposed to only a new one and it can be any valise not a minimum of 40000 us. so TR on used car after college to idea forget bout it when u do the maths it aint worth it..

[bigman]

Originally Posted by gemballa

short and quick.....if u study abroad buy a car and decide to bring ot back it will cost u a bomb duty on second hand cars is 170%..... ur better of looking at a new car.....as far as a TR goes there is no duty concession unless u plan on taking the car back in a year in which case it would be canee..... a tr just allows u to bring a used car in oposed to only a new one and it can be any valise not a minimum of 40000 us. so TR on used car after college to idea forget bout it when u do the maths it aint worth it..

170%

Gemballa , whats the situation with regards to extras and after market mods. Do the customs people bother with these ?

[1Day]

Originally Posted by gemballa

short and quick.....if u study abroad buy a car and decide to bring ot back it will cost u a bomb duty on second hand cars is 170%..... ur better of looking at a new car.....as far as a TR goes there is no duty concession unless u plan on taking the car back in a year in which case it would be canee..... a tr just allows u to bring a used car in oposed to only a new one and it can be any valise not a minimum of 40000 us. so TR on used car after college to idea forget bout it when u do the maths it aint worth it..

If you are studying abroad, doesnt it count as TR when u come back? Or if you study abroad and then worked for a yr would that count as TR, not that any of this applies to me, but i am asking for Sahil, since he said he is studying. I have been working for 5 yrs and by the time i come back it would be 7 yrs, so no problem for me in terms of my situation being considered as TR.

Now about the 170% duty, i know that, I will be bring a car under TR, but whats the rule on that, I live and work in US, I want to buy a nice car in UK, keep it for 1 yr and bring it along with me, when i come back, keeping it and registering the car in UK would make it used.

Now my 2nd Q is, if I importing a car altogether from india under no scheme and want to fully load my car whos base is 80k and i add 50k in mods/pkgs from factory, how would the customs guy charge me duty? How would he know the pkgs on the car? and the mods?

Thanks..

[1Day]

Also if i personally buy the car from UK dealer who is giving me a good discount on the MRP, then would would the customs guy charge duty on? the discounted price or the MRP?