1

Some Egyptian residents will probably correct this but I'm fairly sure as non-residents you cannot own a car, you will also need a carnet I believe to go into Sudan

Car ownership in Sudan will probably be fraught with regulations for non-residents too!!!!!!!

Kira

2

Having taken a UK registered car through Egypt on a carnet I can confirm the bureaucracy (and costs) are a bit of a nightmare (far worse than any other African country we traveled through). I expect you will find purchasing/selling a car to be similar if not worse. The cost to put the car on the ferry will be pretty negligible in comparison (NB if under 5m in length = c. 2000 EGP ie $300).

If I were you I would look at hiring a car - perhaps even with a driver. It will probably not work out more expensive.

Another idea would be to go on to this site

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/

and look in the 4x4 wanted/for sale and Sahara sections. I do recall there was an English guy living in Egypt and looking to offload a car which might suit you.

The road has been used (there was a post a couple of days ago) but I suspect the costs will be likely to be far more than the ferry/barge will be.

3

Wow, all really great advice!

This is my first post on this forum, I am very impressed. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Hopefully by the time I am done with this series I will be able to help others as much as you all have helped me.

I will look into everything you recommended.

Thank you!

4

This is directly from our producer:

Thank you for everyone's advice. To help clarify:

• We must start in Egypt. So going to South Africa or starting the journey there to buy a car is not possible.

• We are not buying it just to go to Sudan. It is a 3 year trip in all 54 African countries. So hiring a driver/car doesn't make sense.

• Should we buy it in Greece or Spain and ship the car or drive/ferry it to Egypt?

5

Woah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, that's not what we said!

You first asked for Egypt & Sudan

Where will you enter Africa IF you are seeing 54 countries?

There are a lot of variables on this that you've now thrown up!

START again please, it may help you!

Kira

6

We all understood you wanted to begin in Egypt, that's why we gave the advice that we did, and also the thought that if it wasn't imperative you started there, then buy a car in SA.
If you want to buy a car in Europe, and it would be cheaper to do so, then you still need a Carnet de Passage and it would be obtained usually from the country you bought the vehicle from. The problem with that is you need an address or residency or at least a strong contact in that country. For example, the ADAC of Germany used to issue Carnets to anyone. They did clamp down on that, but what the story with them is now, I don't know.

However, if you balk at the cost for the ferry between Egypt and Sudan, the question is, how will you get the vehicle to Egypt, if not also by ferry from Europe to somewhere in the Middle East, if there are any running at the moment you want to go, (they do stop and start)? And that will be a lot more expensive.
In short, buying the vehicle in Egypt is expensive, buying it in Europe and shipping it to Egypt is expensive, buying a Carnet in any case is expensive (but there are more details on that to possibly help) and I suggest you look at the costs of a Carnet, especially where it relates to entering Egypt (e.g. a deposit was required that was 800% the value of the car if getting from the UK).

7

Importing a car through 54 countries (which is what you'll have to do) is always going to be a challenge.

First line of enquiry should be your home country. Can you buy a car there, organise your carnet there and then ship? This will almost certainly be the easiest as you will be dealing with your own countries bureaucracy rather than a foriegn country's. It may not be the cheapest.

If that isn't an option then, as above, I'd suggest buying in SA (assuming you can get over the non-residency side of things) and organising a carnet there, Google AA South Africa for detail.Egypt would be the very worst place to buy a car I imagine given the overwhelming bureaucracy and corruption.

As mentioned above getting a carnet (think of it as a passport for the car) often involves a deposit which is a multiple of the value of the car. Different multiples apply to different countries. We had to deposit 8 time the cars value (nearly £30,000) to drive between UK and South Africa via the east coast (NB if we had been able to avoid Egypt (which wasn't possible) this would only have been 2 times). You can take often out an insurance policy instead but whereas you get the bond back with the car with the insurance you end up paying quite a lot.

There are of course other mandatory costs eg insurance, road and carbon taxes all of which differ in each country you travel through. Fuel is also suprisingly expensive in most of Africa (though very cheap in the very north).

Your biggest headache I imagine will be trying to get film making equipment across each border. But I imagine you'll be on to that.

BTW 54 countries? Isn't that all/nearly all the countries in Africa? I assume you are aware that for various reasons (civil wars, no road network, undriveable terrain etc) where you can drive is limited. In very broad terms you can circumnvigate the continent but there are VERY limited options to drive across Africa east/west.

8

hello,
i have not driven across africa but as an african i can advise on the choice vehicle a bit. Try and buy a base model diesel Toyota or Nissan. Not turbocharged and one that is manual transmission. examples being the hj landcruisers or lower spec nissan patrols. these are likely to be serviceable in smalltown garages should the need arise.