V. good (useful) info here.

You can import and register a 2006/12 car as long as it arrives on a ship that was scheduled to dock before the new year begins.

Talk to you exporter and find out the shipping schedule, usually the last ship of the year comes in the second or third week of Dec. Most of the time the ship is full and you won't get space on short notice, however the big exporters pre-book spaces for their end of year customers.

As much as there are good deals at this time of the year, be careful and do your due diligence both abroad and with the local systems.

"For the lowest duty it is advisable to buy a car that is seven years old and has been registered in a month that precedes its arrival month in Kenya, i.e.in October 2010 you should buy a car registered before October 2003"

Now, what happens in January 2014? Does it mean duty being charged now for 2007/01 will also apply till February 1st?

Another one! What duty is applicable for a 2006/12 car arriving in Dec 2013? Is it 7yrs or 8yrs?

you will pay the lowest duty i.e the car will depreciate by 70%


this question is not clear

@jerry, duty for 2007 vehicles is determined by the first month of registration in japan. E.g when we get to january 2014, for you to enjoy maximum depreciation which is 70%, you need to register a 2007/1 vehicle. If a vehicle registered between 2007/2 to 2007/12 arrives in mombasa in jan, the vehicle will depreciated by 60% hence you will pay more duty. You must look at the first month the vehicle was registered in japan for you to enjoy maximum depreciation (lower duty)

@jerry, you should buy a vehicle that has its month of registration very close to the month you want the vehicle to arrive in kenya. Even right now you can buy a 2007/2 vehicle but ask the exporter to ship it in the middle of jan 2014 so that it arrives in feb 2014

Don't forget to screen your car of radiations after the tsunami in japan. The car might be from around there.

Aren't all carts screened by Jevic for radiation?
see here
If any car fails the Jevic inspection for one reason or another (eg radiation or odometer tampering) then it is the responsibility of the exporter to source for a similar car, at their own cost

My first post on the forum and it had to be on this thread. Very informative and great to see the helpful attitude on here. I aim to contribute to this forum in similar manner.

@Vj, Fantastic job by the way...Have a unit coming in Feb with lower valuation based on CRSP value vs. CIF value. Maybe you could drop me a note on kimathi(underscore)murugu(at)yahoo dot com with guidance on how to get CRSP value to stick? Thanks.

@beesknees. Unless you want to be corrupt you just pay duty on higher of CRSP or CIF. I urge you to comply with the law!