I have been considering an idea for a while but it was not until a friend decided that he wanted to do something similar that we agreed to go for it, and share the price of the container.
My master plan is to buy an old Land Rover, either a 1996 Defender 90 or a 1998-2000 Discovery which should come in at about the same price of about £2500.00 if you shop around a bit. Then have it done up ready for the African Bush. By this I mean
Recon engine, gearbox, diffs, prop shafts, brakes.
Raised suspension with all the correct ancillaries associated with that to help you over the lumpy bits.
Front guard incorporating winch to pull you out of the squidgy bits.
All the under body guards to protect the tender bits.
Roll bar to protect the occupants when I get a little over zealous and also to stop elephants squashing the cab when they sit on you.
Rock runners with jacking points to change the tyres that have just been holed by the acacia thorns.
A decent set of wheels and tyres to grip the surface of Africa.
And all the other little bits and bobs that end up costing and absolute fortune, lights, poly bushes, water pump fan and new radiator.
For those of you who have no interest in cars, I apologise for boring the pants off you for the past few minutes. (I expect I will continue to do so for the next 10 as well. Sorry) I will try and not to get into specifics any more. The long and the short of it is, that I want to bring in a car (Land Rover) in that looks like crap, is over twelve years old, but runs like a dream and will do for another fifteen years.
The thing with this is that when vehicles come into the country they get valued, and those who do the valuing have their own rules, laws and weird idiosyncrasies. So much so that a good friend of mine bought a Toyota Prado in the UK for an absolute snip and brought it over here.
The problem was, that although he had the genuine receipt for the vehicle. It was in such good condition it was decided at the border that this car was far too good to have cost that so they banged on another £4,000.00 to the value.
You may not think that is too bad, but the problem comes because you then have to pay duty, on THEIR value + the cost of getting it there, and then you have to pay Vat on the cumulative amount of that.
Let me explain better.
Cost of Car £ 5,000.00
Cost of transport here £ 1,000.00
Customs value cost + £ 4,000.00 (that’s the scary bit)
Total duty value £ 10,000.00
Duty @ 25% £ 2,500.00
Sub total £ 12,500.00
Vat @ 16% £ 2,000.00
Grand Total £ 14,500.00
So as you see the good value car you bought in the UK cheap, has all of a sudden spiralled out of proportion and turned into an expensive one.
My plan is instead of having a car that looks great, have one that looks tatty at best. Bring it through at the value I bought the vehicle for and have the body and paintwork done over here where it is about a quarter of the price of the UK.
The other thing is that if you sent over a commercial vehicle. Duty is only 15% not 25%. If you sent over the parts separately most are at 25%. Fit them to the car and they are also 15% as they are part of the car.
This means.
Cost of Land Rover. £2,500.00
Cost of doing up. £ 4,000.00
Cost of transport here. £ 900.00
Customs value cost (minus ) £ 4,000.00
Total duty value £ 3,400.00
Duty @15% £ 510.00
Sub total £ 3,910.00
Vat @16% £ 625.60
Grand Total £ 4,535.00
What spend doing up £ 4,000.00
Total cost of vehicle here £ 8,535.00
So the long and short of it is for a car that costs £1,500 more you actually end up spending nearly £6,000 less.
As to whether this idea will work, who knows. But I think it has got to be worth a go. If it does I will drive the vehicle for a few months while I have the next one built. Then do it all again.
And besides at the end of it, I end up with the ultimate Bush vehicle and I will end up never selling it. Which was not the plan.
Denzil Bark
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