Can I sell a car if it will be exported?

 

By Stuart Johnston

The answer to the question is “yes”. There are currently no laws prohibiting the export of cars out of South Africa. However, some countries to have import laws, so it is best to check if the country you want to export your car to allows for this.

In fact, AutoTrader is a conduit for the export of many South African classic  and more modern collectible cars to countries such as the UK and Australia. Some years ago the writer advertised a 1971 Volkswagen Microbus (Kombi) Westphalia, the model  that sold here as a camper vehicle, assembled by Volkswagen South Africa.

Exporting classic cars  from South Africa has become a popular trend

Once the advert had been placed in AutoTrader South Africa,  the writer  received many more enquiries from overseas buyers than local buyers. I was not keen for the car to be exported, as I believe that classic cars should be viewed as part of our National heritage, and I ended up selling it locally. But there are many people doing business in South Africa, exporting classic cars to overseas countries, where our cars are valued, as they are comparatively rust-free.

Brian Noik, a Johannesburg-based classic car dealer, has exported many cars to the UK and elsewhere. He says that the procedure is relatively straightforward, as long as various legal criteria are met:

There is plenty of documentation that has to be arranged

“There are various documents you have to arrange,  when exporting a car,” says Noik, who trades as Brian Noik Old Car.Co.za. He  emphasises that he much prefers selling vintage and classic cars locally, not least because this gives him to re-sell the same car when they came up for sale later on. Some cars have been sold by Brian three or four times, as they have changed hands locally between collectors.

“Regards exporting, you need to obtain various  documentation. You need to obtain an export  police clearance for the car to prove it has not been stolen, and an export permit. These can be obtained from the various police and government departments. There are various criteria that must be met, regarding the vehicle documentation.

“Then you need to organise transport for the car to one of the South African  ports, using an accredited car carrying firm. You then need to contact a clearing agent, for the car to clear customs here and at the destination, and a shipping agent to ship the car overseas. These organisations will supply you with all the finer details of what you need to do.

“ Although  exporting has become a huge trend, the values of classic cars have gone up in South Africa too, because of international interest. So often a local sale is the better route, as it involves much less hassles. But certain classic cars in South Africa fetch very good money overseas.”

One of Brian’s exported cars was on a ship that sank

As far as insuring a car for the journey overseas, Noik says he sometimes insures them, but often doesn’t. If he does arrange insurance, it is for the value of the whole vehicle, and it is expensive

“It is difficult to get insurance to cover the odd case of damage. In all my years I have never  had any of the cars I have exported damaged. But I did have a car I sent over on a ship that sank in the English channel!

“That was a very famous case, a couple of years ago, and you had these containers washing up on the beach and people rushing to claim the cars as theirs, because there is a certain archaic British law that stipulates that anything that washes up on the beach belongs to the person who discovered it, as long as that person reports the ‘discovery” to a certain Maritime authority.

 So that was a real shambles!”