[mashy1987]

Hi,

I own a Caterham in the US and recently had to move to India due to visa restrictions. It's a left hand car and i was told we can't import those here.

Wanted to check on the feasibility of stripping down the car to parts and then shipping it to India? Has anyone had any experience doing this or have contacts? I know a mechanic there who can help with this but need someone to help with shipping.

Mahesh

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by mashy1987

Hi,

I own a Caterham in the US and recently had to move to India due to visa restrictions. It's a left hand car and i was told we can't import those here.

Wanted to check on the feasibility of stripping down the car to parts and then shipping it to India? Has anyone had any experience doing this or have contacts? I know a mechanic there who can help with this but need someone to help with shipping.

Mahesh

If you must bring it, take it off the road and convert it and then import it however, you will have a lot of navigation to do in estimating duties etc. and RTO compliance

As for stripping down into parts - you pay big duty for used parts and customs get very suspicious and can block. I know a person who converted a Lancer to Evo spec by importing all the components but it took a lot to get there.

There were cases of Hondas being dismantled, brought in and sold. This became a customs case and all loopholes were closed

Even if you got the parts in - how would you register the car without a Bill of Landing, Compliance certification etc.?

[Turbanator]

Almost impossible unless it’s vintage or import by consulate due to left hand drive. As Ajmat has mentioned, even if you manage to get everything, getting car registration without import documents is not going to happen.

If you want to keep the car to use on private property or just for display, it might be possible though handling customs will be a bothersome.

Another option will be to get on carnet but after a certain time it has to be shipped back.

[anjan_c2007]

There are import guidelines that need to be followed if you go by the rulebook. There are professional agents who help in importing cars and for obtaining customs clearance and they are mostly based in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

There are two options :-

(a) the car should not be more than three years old, should be a right hand drive only, subject to fulfilment of other conditions and payment of the stipulated 116% import duty on its cost price.

(b) pre 1950 cars are allowed to be freely imported wef April 2013 irrespective of their engine capacity or whether these are right or left hand drives. The invoice from its country of origin has to be obtained on which an import duty of 116% is to be paid.

You can view further details on this link:-

https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/i...nd-guidelines/

[GTO]

The good news for you is, there are a lot more imports in India than was the case 10 years back. And almost all of them now are clean imports with sorted paperwork, mostly brought in by the car manufacturers themselves. Sell your Caterham and buy a pre-owned one here.

Here are some coupes & convertibles that might catch your eye.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by mashy1987

Hi,

I own a Caterham in the US and recently had to move to India due to visa restrictions. It's a left hand car and i was told we can't import those here.

Since its not mentioned in the OP, any chance you would be going back? If you are, ask someone to stow the car in a rented garage and pay the rent from here.

[mashy1987]

Thanks all for your inputs. I'm reaching out cos it's pretty hard to sell while being here. And I'm not planning to go back anytime soon. That's why trying to see if there are other options.

Looks like there's almost no option to import here in a relatively straightforward way.

[hema4saran]

Where are you located in US and can you please share the model details here? I know a guy who is a collector and he may be interested. I'll share the details to him.

[Livnletcarsliv]

What ever is the case here, importing a used car here, especially a LHD car, is a wrong idea and bad move.

While it is possible to import, it is by no means an easy task. In fact, it is hell of a process to do the paperwork and to complete all the formalities. And while it will also cost you a bomb as well. Also it is not advisable to import a non-homologated car through third party where no-one actually is aware of the full process.

So my advice is to use the car in that country as much as you want and come back to India with bare hands and clean slate.

[mjk24]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

There are import guidelines that need to be followed if you go by the rulebook. There are professional agents who help in importing cars and for obtaining customs clearance and they are mostly based in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

There are two options :-

(a) the car should not be more than three years old, should be a right hand drive only, subject to fulfilment of other conditions and payment of the stipulated 116% import duty on its cost price.

(b) pre 1950 cars are allowed to be freely imported wef April 2013 irrespective of their engine capacity or whether these are right or left hand drives. The invoice from its country of origin has to be obtained on which an import duty of 116% is to be paid.

You can view further details on this link:-

https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/i...nd-guidelines/

Hello, couple of questions;

1. What if the LHD car is intended to be used only on pvt property/track.
2. What if its post 1950 but much older than three years.
3. What value will the duty be calculated on as I had purchased the actual car for a meagre amount but have spent x50 in rebuilding it.

[Haroon]

Dont bother to dismantle and bring the car as there are three major issues in that route-
Firstly, the customs guys are very well versed with what is coming in as they get the shipping manifest in advance and they are a lot smarter these days and can identify its a dismantled car (happened to a friend many years back on a Hyabusa imported in parts and the shipment remained in customs for almost 6 months and with all the penalties etc he could have perhaps bought a small new merc in India back then!).
Secondly, any used parts have to be inspected by a 3rd party evaluator and that whole process not only costs money, but takes about 15-25 days for which you will be forced to pay port demurrage charges which I guess is about Rs 5,000 per day plus other charges after the initial allotted 5-6 days for standard clearance time. I myself imported a used Harley Frame from ebay for a custom bike project at the start of the pandemic and finally had to abandon the frame in Bangalore customs as it would have cost me about 1.5 lacs to clear customs!
Lastly, to register any import with RTO, they need a separate internal clearance from customs for the vehicle and since your vehicle is registered as parts in Customs, thats impossible. And these days both Customs & RTO guys are very touchy with 'private import' vehicles as there are lots of checks and investigations so they wouldn't want to lose their job or get suspended for the greed of a small 'Gratuity'!

[shyamg28]

Originally Posted by mashy1987

Hi,

I own a Caterham in the US and recently had to move to India due to visa restrictions. It's a left hand car and i was told we can't import those here.

Wanted to check on the feasibility of stripping down the car to parts and then shipping it to India? Has anyone had any experience doing this or have contacts? I know a mechanic there who can help with this but need someone to help with shipping.

Mahesh

If you can rack up 10 posts, then I can private message you a contact who can help you with this. Or if you can find any alternate way to reach me out.

[Captain Slow]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

(b) pre 1950 cars are allowed to be freely imported wef April 2013 irrespective of their engine capacity or whether these are right or left hand drives. The invoice from its country of origin has to be obtained on which an import duty of 116% is to be paid.

You can view further details on this link:-

https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/i...nd-guidelines/

Just one question - The original Invoice? I'm sure a car back in 1950s didn't cost much?

[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The invoice from its country of origin has to be obtained on which an import duty of 116% is to be paid.

Originally Posted by mjk24

Hello, couple of questions;

1. What if the LHD car is intended to be used only on pvt property/track.
2. What if its post 1950 but much older than three years.
3. What value will the duty be calculated on as I had purchased the actual car for a meagre amount but have spent x50 in rebuilding it.

As regards your queries:-
1. Yes, it can be very safely used in non-public places. If you have observed the shuttle service buses that ply in Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, these do not have any RTO registrations. No one can debar a vehicle operating in privately owned premises. But the customs officials would put stupid and nonsense queries and the goods would be stuck for a long time at the ports in many such cases unless the services of agents are used.

2. It is not eligible to be imported. Stupid but true !

3. Invoice will have to list the cost of procuring the car as of now from abroad. And the invoice needs to be from that country (of origin) from wherever it is getting imported. Hence, most pre-1950 vintages/classics (you can see a lot of these in the present day vintage events) are restored in India after being procured abroad at much lower prices than whatever they cost in India.

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Just one question - The original Invoice? I'm sure a car back in 1950s didn't cost much?

They always stress for the present cost of procurement as listed in an invoice by the seller abroad, from the country from where the car sets sailing !

[v1p3r]

What make and model of Caterham is it? For most Lotus 7, Caterham or Locost cars, there are a bunch of options to convert to RHD easily. This can be done by a competent home mechanic or any professional. If you do wish to import your car, deregister it and then convert it to RHD. Then you can legally import it as long as you've owned it at least one year and have lived outside India for at least two years.

Originally Posted by Haroon

Lastly, to register any import with RTO, they need a separate internal clearance from customs for the vehicle

Your post is correct, except for a slight clarification here. You don't need a separate clearance, the import documents and duty paid receipts suffice.