Importing A Very Old Car

[lovinoldcars]

hey,

i have been seriously considering the idea of importing a very old car that i love to sri lanka,a 1967 ford mustang ,to be exact, but from what i have heard,the max age of a car that could be imported to sl is 5 years or less. could somebody please tell me if i could in fact bring down this car and what the tax rate would be? Could i register it?

I am a newbie so i do not know anything about the subject.please advise.

Thanks in advance

[VVTi]

Unless you owned the car overseas and is returning to SL for good, you can't import them off a sale to SL.

[AbeysinghE]

Unless you owned the car overseas and is returning to SL for good, you can't import them off a sale to SL.

Mate.Can't we import it as a gift??? any possibility?

Edited April 20, 2011 by AbeysinghE

[Crosswind]

No expert on this area. But I have seen a few classic vehicles on the road, even with English number plates (modern version not the pre-1972 version). As far as I know, the Classic Car Club of Ceylon used to help the importation of classics by enthusiasts (perhaps they were cars owned by the same owners when they were overseas). You might wanna talk to them about it. Do a Google search for their website and contact information.

[MrCat]

Mate.Can't we import it as a gift??? any possibility?

AFAIK Gift Permit and Blue Permit both allow importing vehicles up to 10 years old. Don`t know whether the legislation has changed though.

Would be interesting to know the current regulations on the subject, difficult to find reliable info on the net.

[VVTi]

No expert on this area. But I have seen a few classic vehicles on the road, even with English number plates (modern version not the pre-1972 version). As far as I know, the Classic Car Club of Ceylon used to help the importation of classics by enthusiasts (perhaps they were cars owned by the same owners when they were overseas). You might wanna talk to them about it. Do a Google search for their website and contact information.

If there is a will, there is a way, but there is a lot of money involved. Lot of red tape and lot of greasing of palms. It will not be worth it as a passing fancy, unless it has sentimental value. Will be cheaper to travel to the US, hire a classic and take a drive and get that bug out of the system.

Most of the old cars with WP plates are cars of the owners while overseas.

[rameez]

If there is a will, there is a way, but there is a lot of money involved. Lot of red tape and lot of greasing of palms. It will not be worth it as a passing fancy, unless it has sentimental value. Will be cheaper to travel to the US, hire a classic and take a drive and get that bug out of the system.

Most of the old cars with WP plates are cars of the owners while overseas.

maybe you could dismantle the car and bring it as parts ,,these are stupid rules by stupid ppl. I went to get the green certificate last month for my car which is old car 8sri to be exact and then they told me that no need to get green certificate if it is to be old, to be frank it should be the other way around.

once when i got copped and i had to go to the fort police to recover the license , there was a queue near a room inside the police station, all of them were getting the photocopy of the charges sheet issued to you , i asked why if we have paid the fine why do you want a photocopy of the charge sheet , the reply was they sometimes by MISTAKE put your case to the courts and then you need to show the charge sheet date, the fee was 10 for a small sheet of paper

then came this rule for the full face helmet, environment tax which is not used for the environment,motorbikes more then 2500 cc not allowed( if the cops cannot ride or are ill equipped what can we do), model planes controlled by radio not allowed still( imagine all the american children told not to play with RC planes after the 9/11 incident), until recent past even paypal was banned, as if the country really prospered by stopping ppl buying stuff from the internet.

and so goes the list.........

[MasterDon]

maybe you could dismantle the car and bring it as parts ,,these are stupid rules by stupid ppl. I went to get the green certificate last month for my car which is old car 8sri to be exact and then they told me that no need to get green certificate if it is to be old, to be frank it should be the other way around.

Why?

[rameez]

Why?

to my knowledge older cars pollute more.....than new ones right??? or there is a higher possibility that they will emit more C02

[Shehan_WCC]

to my knowledge older cars pollute more.....than new ones right??? or there is a higher possibility that they will emit more C02

i disagree !.

the customs have really silly rules but if you got money what cant you get out of customs

[dhejasvini]

u have to get a licence from import control...thats bit impossible unless u hav sum influence...

[SeanD]

model planes controlled by radio not allowed still( imagine all the american children told not to play with RC planes after the 9/11 incident), until recent past even paypal was banned, as if the country really prospered by stopping ppl buying stuff from the internet.

and so goes the list.........

I've seen some recent press on radio controlled planes, even competitions for civilians being held at air force bases. I believe there is not much restriction on this anymore, or how would they expect people to participate in this? In any case, there was a perfectly valid reason for not allowing radio controlled planes. You can't really compare USA (where there was no guerilla war) to here.

Paypal wasn't banned was it? I thought it just wasn't supported, which is more Paypal's fault than ours...

[lovinoldcars]

wow...o seriously didnt expect so many replies in just one day..anyway,thank you guys for taking the trouble to help me out..well,looks like its gonna be the same old sri lankan story of going through a loophole..anyway, will consider all possible means...and thank you for the reference to the classic car club,i did't think of that earlier...

Edited April 20, 2011 by lovinoldcars

[lovinoldcars]

and for the record,radio controlled aircraft are permitted in SL now...there is even a club which you can join if you own one and they go on outings so that everybody could fly their aircraft..there was one such event recently.

[The Stig]

I've seen some recent press on radio controlled planes, even competitions for civilians being held at air force bases. I believe there is not much restriction on this anymore, or how would they expect people to participate in this? In any case, there was a perfectly valid reason for not allowing radio controlled planes. You can't really compare USA (where there was no guerilla war) to here.

and for the record,radio controlled aircraft are permitted in SL now...there is even a club which you can join if you own one and they go on outings so that everybody could fly their aircraft..there was one such event recently.

Yes radio controlled planes are allowed now and there might be a club but AFAIK the only place you can actually fly the plane is in an air force base under their supervision.

so in conclusion you can bring them, you can build them but you cant fly them out side of an air force base.

[heavyD]

Aren't these r/c helicopters available at toy shops now?

[rameez]

i disagree !.

the customs have really silly rules but if you got money what cant you get out of customs

shehan i was referring to the green certificate

[rameez]

Yes radio controlled planes are allowed now and there might be a club but AFAIK the only place you can actually fly the plane is in an air force base under their supervision.

so in conclusion you can bring them, you can build them but you cant fly them out side of an air force base.

yes they were allowed from jan this year if i am correct, but i was referring to the past

[rameez]

I've seen some recent press on radio controlled planes, even competitions for civilians being held at air force bases. I believe there is not much restriction on this anymore, or how would they expect people to participate in this? In any case, there was a perfectly valid reason for not allowing radio controlled planes. You can't really compare USA (where there was no guerilla war) to here.

Paypal wasn't banned was it? I thought it just wasn't supported, which is more Paypal's fault than ours...

paypal was not banned but it was not allowed by the government of srilanka......reason being the money used for terrorist purposes such as money laundering.........

[Simplelife]

Aren't these r/c helicopters available at toy shops now?

Yes they are! I bought 1 for my little one last week from the toy shop in duplication rd for rs.5500/-, you could even find them in those toy shops in Pettah too

[Shehan_WCC]

shehan i was referring to the green certificate

I know buddy , but some older cars dont pollute as much as these government vehicles though.

[MasterDon]

to my knowledge older cars pollute more.....than new ones right??? or there is a higher possibility that they will emit more C02

Yes.Infact I believe 90% of the pre 60's car would fail the green test because they were not made to keep the tree hugging homo hippies happy...

So then what do you suggest we do with the failed cars?Ban them all?

[The Stig]

Yes they are! I bought 1 for my little one last week from the toy shop in duplication rd for rs.5500/-, you could even find them in those toy shops in Pettah too

Hmm maybe the law has changed now, are you sure you dont have to take them them to rathmalana or something ?

[The Stig]

Yes.Infact I believe 90% of the pre 60's car would fail the green test because they were not made to keep the tree hugging homo hippies happy...

So then what do you suggest we do with the failed cars?Ban them all?

good point, so are we suppose to throw away the classics ?

[nexus]

Yes.Infact I believe 90% of the pre 60's car would fail the green test because they were not made to keep the tree hugging homo hippies happy...

So then what do you suggest we do with the failed cars?Ban them all?

nicely said MD :appl: