The government on October 17 2024, announced revised regulations relating to the returning residents and diplomats cars through statutory Instrument 172 of 2024, along with SI 54 and SI 111 of 2024.
The announcement provided clarity that inherited cars and those from returning citizens and diplomats as defined by Customs and Excise regulations, are no longer included from the ban on importing motor vehicles older than 10 years with specific mention on clause 3B which includes antique, classic, vintage and historic vehicles that are at least 25 years or older from the date of manufacture that should satisfy particular characteristics.
I must say this was a long awaited clarification regarding the returning citizens and diplomats cars because the law had created a huge ambiguity that literally made every diaspora left with some questions about that.
It was indeed befitting for the diasporas’ to be allowed to bring their cars irrespective of the age and the requirement to have owned the vehicle six months prior to claiming the duty free facility that was very complicated for many.
On the other hand, allowing the antique, classic, vintage and historic vehicles that are at least 25 years or older from the date of manufacture was also necessary as countries like South Africa, irrespective of their strict Motor Industry Development policy, that prohibits the importation of used cars in their country still allows these types of used cars.
I also know that majority of African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania to mention a few also allows their citizens to bring their cars upon returning home irrespective or their age limit regulations.
However, when l analysed this benefit, there are many dynamics that the returning residents and diplomats should consider when making the decision whether to bring the car home or not.
Off course, the circumstances differ from the location where the returning resident is coming from and but it is important to connect that decision to among other things;
- Advice to returning residents on duty free benefit
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Brand popularity
The brand popularity in the home country where you are returning is important to check before making the decision to take the vehicle with you.
This is critical as it connects to the availability of spare parts, knowledge to service and repair it and value of the motor vehicle.
If assuming the brand is not so popular back home, then the first step is for you to check the market price of your car in your country of residence and make a comparison with the same back home.
In majority of African countries, some of the car models such as GWM, Mazda, Citroen, Chevrolet, BMW, Audi, VW and Mercedes Benz, among others, lose value rapidly compared to other models.
This informs the lack of interests from the customers whether they are right hand or left hand drive vehicles.
Market value
Your car is your asset and assets are about the value stored in it. If the value of the car in your resident country is much higher than the home country, it is advisable to sell it and buy another car when you settle down.
Considering that there is a cost of transporting the car back home although l know that diplomats don’t use their own money for that.
The math’s must make sense otherwise you may spend more on shipping costs and other applicable taxes on a car that can only fetch less in the market when you decide to sell it.
Driver’s side
Different countries have different rules on which side their cars drive on.
In USA, France, China, Nigeria, Russia, Ethiopia, Brazil and Dubai they use left hand drive cars. So if you are coming back to Southern Africa or East Africa except Rwanda and South Sudan the cars there use right hand drive.
So the question is do you really have to bring your Left Hand Drive car from those countries and use it in a country driving on the right?
The values of cars that drive on the opposite side of the road don’t have a market.
I have been to South Sudan and although the country allows right hand drive cars to be driven on their roads, but the challenge is on the market values.
The same 2018 Toyota Landcruiser Prado TX-L the left hand sells for more and right hand drive sells for much less because majority of the rich people only want the left hand ones.
So when selling the right hand drive you are forced to reduce the price to attract customers.
But l like the Kenyan laws which allows the resident returning from a country that operates left hand drive (LHD) motor vehicles to be allowed to import a replacement right hand drive (RHD) from any other source within a period of one year after returning home.
The laws dictates that the replacement motor vehicle current retail selling price should not exceed that of the previously owned left hand drive vehicle.
The returning resident should show proof to the customs authorities that they owned and personally used the left hand drive vehicle in the country of former residence for a period of at least one year, prior to their return.
They must also provide proof of disposal (transfer of ownership) of the previously owned vehicle before changing residence from the former country of residence.
This really helps its citizens to avoid brining the left hand drive cars completely and escape from the predicaments l have covered above.
Current condition
The present condition of the motor vehicle is also one important aspect to consider if you should take your car with you back to your country or not.
Assuming it had an accident before or it had a major makeover including changing the engine and the body was repainted.
In such circumstances it means that your car is already compromised to fetch a good market value and hence you are going to run the risk of the costs of transportation and additional taxes being higher than the value.
On the opposite side if your car is fairly new and still in pristine condition then obviously this is an idle situation for you to bring it back because it still has more life.
But l also understand that people do get attached to their cars which sometimes makes it difficult to apply logic in what l am sharing with you.
However, it is my advice for you to try and limit having an attachment with your cars because there is a particular scenario where a colleague returned back from USA and he brought along his left hand drive Ford Explorer.
This Ford Explorer was a 4.0litre engine and obviously the fuel consumption was not friendly at all. The complication came when he wanted to sell it.
He failed to sell it in Zimbabwe completely and he took it to Mozambique to try and get a buyer.
He failed to sell it again and came back with it. After six months he took it to DRC and that is where he finally managed to get some cash out of it.
This experience confirms what l am talking about that we seem to think about the market interest and the value at the end of the tunnel. I am sure it felt all good to friends and relatives to show them that you were indeed in the diaspora by coming with a foreign car model and perhaps floss around in the big machine. But this fun soon varnishes when the realities of the local dynamics begin to kick in.
In USA, Europe, Asia and South Africa there are dealers and Auctions that can either pay you cash instantly on your vehicle or it can get sold within the same week.
Such business structures do support the fact that your car is an asset that you can turn into cash in respect to the current market price. But this is not the same in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda or South Sudan just to mention few countries.
The process to try and get cash from your car is cumbersome to a point that sometimes it takes six to 12 months to get a buyer.
So the duty free facility for the returning citizens also requires a bit of some logic before jumping into utilizing it blindly.
I, therefore, recommend that the Zimbabwe government to consider adding the same rule by Kenya that allows its citizens to dispose of their left hand drive cars and import the right hand ones within one-year duty free and include it in our customs regulations.
And if you are driving a car that is not so much in good condition you should consider planning ahead and buy a better condition car perhaps one year before returning back home to avoid bringing in ramshackle in its end of life.
*Stanley Makombe has 24 years’ experience in this industry, provides online car sales training and business coaching to entrepreneurs struggling to run profitably. He writes in his own capacity and can be contacted on +254 743 900 590, on X @Stan_Carsales; email: stanley@stanleymakombe.com, www.stanleymakombe.com
