Using A Carnet & Left Hand Drive

[gasguzzler]

Hi Everyone,

I've been observing this forum for a couple of days and it seems pretty active to actually be of good use.. Keep it up guys. I was just thinking of the possibility in getting a carnet de passage so I could use my Dodge RAM truck in Sri Lanka during my next visit. However is there any sort of restrictions on using a LHD temporarily ?

Happy Holidays Everyone !!

[Sylvi]

  On 12/22/2011 at 8:12 PM, gasguzzler said:

Hi Everyone,

I've been observing this forum for a couple of days and it seems pretty active to actually be of good use.. Keep it up guys. I was just thinking of the possibility in getting a carnet de passage so I could use my Dodge RAM truck in Sri Lanka during my next visit. However is there any sort of restrictions on using a LHD temporarily ?

Happy Holidays Everyone !!

'gasguzzler'

I don't think you will have any problem. Because you are taking the vehicle back.

If you want to register same you have to pay duty and convert to RHD.

Get in touch with AA Srilanka they ill advice you.

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Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[racerx]

please let us know if you are successful because I was told only RHD can come on carnet.

[Sylvi]

  On 12/23/2011 at 3:45 AM, racerx said:

please let us know if you are successful because I was told only RHD can come on carnet.

'racerx',

Yes I drove down a VW van totally covered with Carnet years ago, toured down India and used same for some time with foreign number plates. Then got it registered as a passenger van after fitting glass windows.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[gasguzzler]

Greatly appriciate the response Sylvi ! However the VW van you drove in india, was that a LHD or RHD.. By the way I emailed AA and will post the response up here as soon as I recieve it.

[Sylvi]

  On 12/23/2011 at 6:14 AM, gasguzzler said:

Greatly appriciate the response Sylvi ! However the VW van you drove in india, was that a LHD or RHD.. By the way I emailed AA and will post the response up here as soon as I recieve it.

'gasguzzler',

This was bought in UK by my self RHD and got four friends (Indian to save their Air fair) to Drive down to India Delhi. I took over from there.

They took 10 days to come to India overland.

I gave power of attorney to one of them who had a international driving license to use same.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[racerx]

thanks sylvi but ur car is a RHD which is possible to keep in SL upto two years. overtaking would be next to impossible with a LHD. ur

[gasguzzler]

Hi Guys

Here is the email response I recieved from AAS, however the reply is kind of vague and the statement is untrue because as far as I know you can bring down a LHD but the issue is to register it if your going to keep it. Also many RHD countries like UK ,AUS allow LHD Carnets although they may not allow Imports. You might need a sign posted on the car stating that its a LHD though. I have also sent a request to the North American AAA who unfortunately is not available for carnet inquiries till the 3rd due to the holidays. Will keep you guys on the hook !

Dear Sir,

Our country does not allow LHD vehicles to be brought into the country.

Secretary, AAC

[Sylvi]

  On 12/24/2011 at 5:09 AM, gasguzzler said:

Hi Guys

Here is the email response I recieved from AAS, however the reply is kind of vague and the statement is untrue because as far as I know you can bring down a LHD but the issue is to register it if your going to keep it. Also many RHD countries like UK ,AUS allow LHD Carnets although they may not allow Imports. You might need a sign posted on the car stating that its a LHD though. I have also sent a request to the North American AAA who unfortunately is not available for carnet inquiries till the 3rd due to the holidays. Will keep you guys on the hook !

Dear Sir,

Our country does not allow LHD vehicles to be brought into the country.

Secretary, AAC

'gasguzzler',

I saw few months back one van LHD in Srilanka AA. Statement is not true, as you get this vehicle for your personal running in srilanka and you will take back after you go to your country.

I will veryfy on tuesday as we are closed till 27th for holidays.

Complement for the season.

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

[SeanD]

  On 12/24/2011 at 5:09 AM, gasguzzler said:

Hi Guys

Here is the email response I recieved from AAS, however the reply is kind of vague and the statement is untrue because as far as I know you can bring down a LHD but the issue is to register it if your going to keep it. Also many RHD countries like UK ,AUS allow LHD Carnets although they may not allow Imports. You might need a sign posted on the car stating that its a LHD though. I have also sent a request to the North American AAA who unfortunately is not available for carnet inquiries till the 3rd due to the holidays. Will keep you guys on the hook !

Dear Sir,

Our country does not allow LHD vehicles to be brought into the country.

Secretary, AAC

The only LHD vehicle I've seen here are hearses and the handful of American cars you get here. This is discounting the ones brought here for conversion. I really can't see why you would want to spend so much shipping an LHD to SL, specially when most of our roads are not catered towards the Dodge RAM You're better off leasing something for the duration of your stay.

Edited December 24, 2011 by SeanD

[gasguzzler]

Yes Sean, You have a point and I did consider that option but Ironically the price to rent a Range Rover runs around 175,000 per week , which would easily equal or exceed the cost of carnets & shipping, even then your not allowed to even drive the d**n thing and take it offroad. Also my ram is to be moded with a 8" Lift & 37" Tires , Im not really sure I could find anything like it in Sri Lanka. Lol this is why its called a Truck, and in sri lanka we got many trucks too (lorries) so I guess the size shouldnt be a big issue.If by any chance you know of any vendors that would be willing to rent out their 4x4 (a pretty capable modern , safe and powerful one) for some serious offroad use for less than 400,000 per month ill be willing to consider.

Happy Christmas Guys !!

[racerx]

when I was in Sri Lanka I rented a rav4 for about 1lakh a month but the car was 2wd and run down. The AC broke and the car seemed unsafe. How would insurance work when you bring ur car over? How much would shipping the car to and from colombo cost?

[gasguzzler]

Well as for now I have a pretty vague Idea of the costs. It looks like the price would be around $6000 for shipping back and forth from the united states and Insurance can be arranged from my provider (geico) to cover internationally which I havent got the pricing yet. Again im not sure how it works from where your from !! So im looking at a total cost of $8000 across 60 days so thats 4000 per month in theory. PLUS OF COURSE THE HUGE DEPOSIT OF AROUND $90,000 which Im still working on collecting up there is however another option of a smaller deposite but AAA keeps around 60% of the 10,000 or so deposite upon return.

[Kavvz]

  On 12/24/2011 at 6:14 PM, SeanD said:

The only LHD vehicle I've seen here are hearses and the handful of American cars you get here. This is discounting the ones brought here for conversion. I really can't see why you would want to spend so much shipping an LHD to SL, specially when most of our roads are not catered towards the Dodge RAM You're better off leasing something for the duration of your stay.

I'd say a SUV or a 4x4 is great for Sri Lankan roads and outstation driving. Even in Colombo I'd rather be in an SUV/ truck despite it being a bit unwieldy in traffic. The only draw-back I see is the expense and paperwork involved in getting the vehicle into SL and potential hassle during breakdowns / maintenance.

How would you lease? Can you get a lease for a month or two? If so let me know for I've been looking into getting a SUV/ pickup next time I'm in SL but anything getting other than a small car (Suzuki Alto) is super expensive. SUV rental prices are higher than in North America which is okay if the level of service is the same or better, but its not. The vehicles are older and based on my experience last time I rented in SL the onus is on the consumer to get things done.

(To be fair once I complained and brought the situation to the notice of the the owners of the rental company they went out of their way to help out and fix things, but I'm not looking forward to subjecting myself to the whole thing again...)

[Kavvz]

  On 12/24/2011 at 9:28 PM, gasguzzler said:

Well as for now I have a pretty vague Idea of the costs. It looks like the price would be around $6000 for shipping back and forth from the united states and Insurance can be arranged from my provider (geico) to cover internationally which I havent got the pricing yet. Again im not sure how it works from where your from !! So im looking at a total cost of $8000 across 60 days so thats 4000 per month in theory. PLUS OF COURSE THE HUGE DEPOSIT OF AROUND $90,000 which Im still working on collecting up there is however another option of a smaller deposite but AAA keeps around 60% of the 10,000 or so deposite upon return.

Ouch. That's going to be one expensive vacation. Considering if you decided to vacation in Europe or the US you'd be able to get a rental, have it insured and get unlimited km's etc. for a fraction of that price easily...

Edited December 24, 2011 by Kavvz

[gasguzzler]

lol I know Kavvz, Its expensive indeed and to make the best use of it I might plan to visit Sri Lanka via Australia that way the shipping cost can be minimized and I get 2x the value for the vacation.

The issue with rental 4x4 is

(1) Most vendors got fleets with just Toyota Prado's, Mitsubishi Monero's and some other weried brands which are totally not real 4x4s much more luxury oriented and would hardly have any serious 4x4 capabilities. and these would easily run over Rs200,000 per month. The only serious 4x4 that one company had was the hummer h2 but then sadly it costs around Rs 40,000 PER DAY and yet its only CHAUFFER DRIVEN!!

(2) I dont really wanna get any of those axels broken or engines flooded the repair cost on me would be humongous and the rental companies will be most glad to monopolize it. Having my own truck gives me the confidence and the peace of mind i need to do all my offroading the way i want it. On top of that I believe that a repair may not turn up since ill do a complete inspection before shipping, even if it does I can get the part shipped withing a week.

[VVTi]

My 2 cents, if you are prepared to pump that much money just to get a 4WD across here from the US and then use it, why don't you just come to SL, buy one that suits you from the many that are advertised and just use. Then when you are about to go back, sell it off. Simple.

[SeanD]

  On 12/25/2011 at 2:07 AM, VVTi said:

My 2 cents, if you are prepared to pump that much money just to get a 4WD across here from the US and then use it, why don't you just come to SL, buy one that suits you from the many that are advertised and just use. Then when you are about to go back, sell it off. Simple.

And you could easily get a fine off roader (bare bones, like an old Landy - if you're so serious about offroading well what better choice?) for the fraction of the cost of just your deposit.

[VVTi]

Sunday papers will get you a good deal. I saw a LR Disco 2 V8 for sale on AL that was for sale. Looks to be in good nick. Perhaps you should give him a call and see. That way, you can get it, do a quick check to see what needs to be done, use, abuse and the put it up for sale when you leave. You will recover most of your investment hopefully if you are patient.

[gasguzzler]

Thanks for all your input, while I did take into consideration that possibility , however its a higher risk, what if im not able to resell it ontime before I leave ? Also i did a check on autolanka and the cheapest barebone modyfied jeep 1976 with absolutely nothing in it other than steering and seats was around 900,000 + the time for the paper work and registration blah blah's I feel its more convienent and cheaper to get down my RAM. Then I would only be able to get 60 days off so all this has to happen within the 60days of vacation out of which I might spend 30 days in australia (Im still 50 50 on if im gonna ship it to and from Auz since I should be able to find a good deal there as for offroad rentals, again the cost will come down a bit if I dont) ! The vacation im planing is for later next year so I got lots of time but plan to explore the best of my options. My main hurdle so far is the deposite however there is some good news as to the online deposite calculation.

Carnet de Passages en Douane - Cost Calculator Results

Your results are based on the Countries selected with the highest fees.

You can lower your fees by deleting higher priced Countries.

Results for a "Used Truck" with a value of "$40,000.00".

Indemnity Option

(Highest Priced Country for this Option: Sri Lanka) CAA Fees Indemnity Option Fee (incl taxes) Total Returned on Discharge Net Cost $650.00 $8,640.00 $9,290.00 $3,720.00 $5,570.00

Guarantee Option

(Highest Priced Country for this Option: Sri Lanka) CAA Fees Guarantee

Required Total Returned

on Discharge Net Cost $650.00 $60,000.00 $60,650.00 $60,000.00 $650.00

Countries selected:

Australia

Sri Lanka

[Scooter]

[racerx]

This is all great but they still wont allow LHD cars into the country.

[VVTi]

  On 12/25/2011 at 2:43 AM, gasguzzler said:

Thanks for all your input, while I did take into consideration that possibility , however its a higher risk, what if im not able to resell it ontime before I leave ? Also i did a check on autolanka and the cheapest barebone modyfied jeep 1976 with absolutely nothing in it other than steering and seats was around 900,000 + the time for the paper work and registration blah blah's I feel its more convienent and cheaper to get down my RAM. Then I would only be able to get 60 days off so all this has to happen within the 60days of vacation out of which I might spend 30 days in australia (Im still 50 50 on if im gonna ship it to and from Auz since I should be able to find a good deal there as for offroad rentals, again the cost will come down a bit if I dont) ! The vacation im planing is for later next year so I got lots of time but plan to explore the best of my options. My main hurdle so far is the deposite however there is some good news as to the online deposite calculation.

Like I said, my 2 cents. Its your money...

Good luck with your plans.

[racerx]

ideally if you didnt have to put a bond down,. You bring ur car and take it back for less than 8k. Id rather have my own car then spend a a lakh a month for an unknown car. But only if I was going to stay there for over a year. I mean how long would u have to wait for ur car to get there?

[SeanD]

Doing the registrations and etc will not take so long for a used car, especially if you go through someone who knows what they're doing. Certainly not 60 days/30 days whatever. I have seen a sale happen and all paperwork taken care of in a couple of days. But as was said, it's your money. And what's 900k LKR++ compared to 140k USD? I'm curious as to what you can do offroad here in a RAM that you can't do in a vehicle you find here. Not to mention the hassle of driving an LHD to get anywhere from where you pick up the car.

Edited December 27, 2011 by SeanD

[gasguzzler]

RacerX , I think your right Im just working with the upper limits so I make sure I don't under budget. The car can ship before I fly so it's there on time

Well SeanD,

Firstly the cost of shipping and all other documentation would max out to $8000 not 140K. (Deposit is refundable assuming I do the full deposit).

The Cheapest jeep 1976 is 900,000 ($9000) and the paperwork to register , then find a buyer , sell and paperwork again. (I would have no time to holiday and im not gonna be based in one location).

As to what you can do with a RAM offroad is more than what a 1976 jeep could dream of power, safety , reliability and comfort wise. (What could a 19XX volkswagen do compared to a modern one ???? well it would do the same thing as take you from A to B but how it does it is a world apart).

I get to drive my own truck and even if i wreck it , im not damaging anyone elses property.

Incase you wander what the RAM is all about watch this factory video with a sotck RAM and see how unsafe and risky it would be to do the same on the 1976 Jeep.