My friends and I are planning on flying over to Asia for a road trip across the continent. We are planning to buy a car at one side of Asia, and drive it across and sell it at the other side. We are all american and only have american driving licenses. Which country would be the easiest/cheapest to buy a cheap car, even a small 1 liter car will do. Thanks in advance.
Interesting holiday idea Depending how many people there are, China would be abound with cheap cars, if you pardon the build quality (or lack of it)...
U didn't state what countries that you guys are planning. Just some of my opinions. I would advise u guys to plan carefully & arm yourself with proper clothings, check season (eg. monsoon, tyhoon, drought etc) get flu jabs, medication etc. Some places still have poor quality water & you don't drink from tap or even take their ice. If there's a lot of cross countries, a tough Defender would be ideal & popular to re-sell. It's not about the cheapest but reliability & I think a 1 litre would bore you to death. You should apply for an international driving permit, laminate it & get copies. Bring along spare photos as it can difficult to find an instant photo booth when u need it. India would be an incredible country to visit & so can be Indochina etc.
What he said.........+ - Get a Diesel powered Defender. You need the reliability and the torque and the 'go everywhere' nature. Please remember that not all roads are well surfaced in Asia. Some trunk roads are connected by an offroad excursion that puts the Landrover trials to shame.. - Cars in Asia are er..much more expensive. Countries like China/Hong Kong has a 100% + duties imposed on the cars while India/Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia runs well into 200-300% tax imposed on the vehicles. Therefore, if yer getting into Asia, try to get via Turkey in the EU side. Buy a used Defender 110 Diesel in UK or closer still, in Germany and drive thru Turkey and cross into Asia. - Some countries are Right Hand Drive while some are Left Hand Drive. Turkey is LHD and so does Kazakhstan/Turkmenistan and all the 'Stans except Pakistan which is RHD. India is also RHD and so do Burma/Thailand/Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia. Cambodia and Vietnam right up to China is LHD. - Diesel is readily available anywhere and that's the main reason to go the 'smelly' way. Petrol is available too, but the RON numbers vary country to country and a petrol/gasoline motor is much more susceptible to problems anyway. Heck, you can always buy Diesel off a truck if yer stranded without fuel ... - Check the country's Carnet du Passage or vehicle passage tax. It varies from country to country. Helps if you have solid documentations/affidavits that you guys are on an odyssey of sorts.... Note : I was gonna suggest going Asia via the famed 'Silk Route'...but since you've mentioned it's just you and couple of guys in a vehicle, better give it a pass. It's an elevated place and all the better if the aforesaid Defender is a TDi (turbocharged) versh to help cope with the thin air. The route is very challenging and quite a lonely one (dangerous too, from bandits and the like..) but if yer gunna traipse around Asia, the Silk Road is a must. Not sure of the entrance via West Asia, but methinks it should be from Kazakhstan or somewhere. You will enter China at the Xinjiang side and can proceed to cut across CN downwards towards Laos/Burma/Vietnam and get to South East Asia.... But another time and another day maybe. You'll need a full convoy and ultra reliable vehicles with spares et all to do the Silk Road. Anyways, sounds like it's gonna be a great adventure for you guys. Just be well prepared before embarking on the journey.
Thanks all for your advice and input. Build quality doesn't matter too much. Actually, it would be more interesting to have things break along the way and just barely make it across. Or even if I only made it half way across, it'd still be worth it I'd get a nice story out of it. My main concerns are trying to avoid the high taxes and the feasibility of buying/registering a vehicle if I'm not a resident of the country. I want to do this trip as cheap as possible. I wouldn't mind driving from Europe. Are cars easier/cheaper to purchase in Germany? In SE Asia, is the 100-300% tax something I would get back when I resell the car? I would consider the silk road pass. That's an excellent idea. I love Xinjiang bbq, but haven't had the opportunity to make it yet. Sounds like I might have to wait until Spring time for this though.
Consider buying a China mfr'd Jeep in China. Drive it to your final city and sell it. Do not consider getting tax refund etc. in China. and good luck if you think about bring a Land Rover over and sell it after the trip. To bring it in, either drive it in, or import would be a night mare and at the end of day, just not worth your time. Perhaps you should contact the AA office in BJ for suggestions. If you do intend to drive in China, LHD is the way to go. Most provinces already outlawed RHD years ago. Therefore it is illegal to operate a RHD vehicle without the proper documents etc. Such documents may be valid in one province but not on a national basis. A few years back, Ferrari imported 2 612 for a round China trip. It had support from the Gov't plus the usual commerical sponsors and the cars, if I am correct, were auctioned off locally with the proceeds for charity. It was a marketing success but lots of efforts were behind itto succeed. Also you cannot legally drive with a US licence, nor an international driving licence. You will need to pass the tests etc for a China licence. Check it out with AA. Good luck!!
Oops, didn't know that! I drove in China for a week with a RHD license & no int. permit. Well, like what they say, "you can do anything, just don't get caught!"
