My friend I have been planning to get a C class coupe myself and I have done extensive research on how much importing it would cost me. I am very sure this article will give you each and every detail.
First of all cars can be imported either under a special or normal regime. Both regimes cover different types of cars and Each regime levies duties accordingly. I ll keep this discussion restricted to c class to save time.
The key to the whole game is the displacement of the engine. Trust me that makes all the difference in the price. The oldest car that can be imported is max 5 years old. The clock starts clicking from its month of registration abroad. There is depreciation @ 1%/month currently to maximum of 50%. SO ideally to get the best deal, the time period between the first registration of the car and its landing at Karachi port should be 4 years and 2 months. I will go into the details on depreciation in different regimes later.
Now we come to the customs duty.
Under the special regime there is fixed duty for different engine slots up to 1800cc cars for asian makes and up to 1600 cc non asian makes. It doesnt matter what is the price you paid in uk or japan or what additional accessories it has or the value of the car in the year of its manufacture. Now the depreciation is applied to this fixed custom duty,@1%/month. Look at the next example carefully.
1.A honda civic 1.8 with no optional extras registered in dec 2009(total of 34 months) will have its fixed duty cut down by by 34%.
2.A mercedes benz c class 1.6 with everything like leather seats panoramic sun roof registered in jan 2012(total of 10 months) will have that fixed duty cut down by 12%.
Now between 1500cc and 1600cc, the fixed duty is 18,700$. for 1600 to 1800(asian makes only), the fixed duty is 23,500$. Now you add the cost of shipping and insurance, the passport guy for gift scheme, and of course the cost of the car and you have your car here in Pakistan.
For Non Asian make brands between 1600-1800cc, the car is covered under Normal regime which levies the duty at 117% of the total value of the car when it reaches Pakistan. This value assessment is done by getting the quote from shahnawaz i.e the cost of the car when it was manufactured which would also include the cost of all the optional accessories etc. The depreciation in this case is done on the value as estimated by shahnawaz.
For example a C class 1.8 registered in feb 2012, will have its value depreciated by 9% as was determined by the price of the car in feb 2012. The duty applied would be 117% estimated value regardless of the actual cost of the vehicle. These value dont include the passport guy or the transport charges. Keep in mind that the value after depreciation is more or less the same that you pay abroad for the car so not much technicality in that. So at the end you pay [price of the car+ (117% x estimated value of the car)+transport+ passport guy]
For cars greater than 1800cc both asian and non asian makes, normal regime is applied but the duty goes up to a staggering 275% of the orginal cost. So at the end you pay [price of the car+ (275% x estimated value of the car)+transport+ passport guy]. If you can afford this man you must be really rich.
the good news is that the new C180 is available in 1.6 ltr eng giving 154 bhp whereas the older C180 available in 1.8 ltr eng is 156 bhp. C200 and C250 are both 1.8 ltr eng giving 184 and 204 bhp respectively. C 350 is a 3.5 ltr eng.
Hope this article helps. This was my first ever post on a blog like this. For further queries, my email address is hassan.khalid.aku@gmail.com
