Johannes,
A couple more questions if you will, as you have been so helpful.
My husband is very keen on buying a Mitsubishi Delica. I know it to be a great 4wd car but is not common like the Land Cruiser. Will we have a problem with selling it when our trip is done?
Also, I have heard of people shipping cars into Kenya or Tanzania from Europe as a temporary import, driving them around and then shipping them back. Are you familiar with this scenario?
Thanks,
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
okay Mitsubishi. The Delica is not a coomon car here, we are at present selling all our Mitsubishis because of spare problems. We have one Pajero V6 parking now for one year (!) at the garage (okay, it was also problem of wrongdoing by former garages). Now we are in the stage, that we hope the car will be running in June, when we are back inTZ (cross fingers).
If you like to have only small problems go for a Toyota. To ship a car to TZ I can only say NEVER. It is taking weeks until you get the car out of the harbour at least a fried of mine did this last year with this problem. The problem is, that the cars from Europe are shipped in containers, from Japan in RoRo. I did it once and shipped to South Africa, but you need a Carnet. The ship (Wallenius Line) was like a German train, came to the port in Port Elizabeth morning on the minute, afternoon I drove the car already with all paperwork done. Then we travelled in 5 days to TZ, visiting Victoria Falls. If you like to ship, take my advise and go to SA.
To ship it back to Europe I have no experience, but I know one, who did it, I'll get in touch with him. But also it was from SA.
If you like to buy a car in Japan, go for a Toyota Surf (in Europe 4Runner). It is reliable and no probelm with spare parts. But for me I have to admit that my favoured car is Subaru, I drove in Europe and TZ about 7 cars, at present a Forester in TZ and an Impreza in Germany. It depends what you like to do, for sure the Sernegeti with the corrugation and the crater are not recommendable (even the Landcruisers need after the Serengeti a check), but everything else is fine.
I hope my help was sufficient. Enjoy the planning, it is more then half of the fun.
Johannes
Johannes you are so right about the planning. I love it. thanks to your excellent advice we have decided to import a car from Japan into Tanzania. Now we have one problem. The car we want is not offered through Trust but tradecarview.com and http://nbcjapan.com/
Do you have any experience with these companies?
I had a very bad experience with a trader from UAE, that's why I only use Trust. I can't say anything about these companies, they can be good or bad. I only know that once in tradecarview there was a warning from several companies, I forgot which one, for sure I don't mention NBCJapan. I visited the website, looks reliable. Which special car is this? But you have to be satisfied, and if you are it is okay.
Johannes
Here is a link to the car http://www.nbcjapan.com/product.php?product_id=5146 I welcome your thoughts on this car. It appears to have been used for towing which we wonder about but more importantly we are uncertain about the credibility of the company.
My husband says to tell you thanks for all the help. We would like to buy you a drink after our arrival if your time permits it.
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
I've visited the web site and had a look to the car. I also wrote to know the price including shipping and insurance also about the state of the car. Up to now I didn't get an answer. Good sign or not? To give advise about a certain car is very difficult, becaue cars are like haumans, it is difficould to look in heart and brain. What I can say is, that the 3.4 ltrs. engine is not so common like the 2.7 ltrs. But this doesn't mean it is not good, but it can be that spare parts are not so available. What I can warn you from is the 2.4 ltrs. Diesel turbo charged, likes very much to overheat. In Europe it was no problem, but in Japan the car has automaitc transmission and air condition, this makes the difference. The Surf is reliable, Toyota is also good, but you have to know that some roads are car breaking, so you have to drive careful. Even the Landcruiser Trooper needs maintenance after a Serengeti safari.
Of course we don't expect you to make a decision for us however your insight and experience are invaluable. You mentioned you had a bad experience getting a car from a UAE dealer. Can you elaborate so we know what could happen.
Thanks,
Kelly
Okay, it was the first time to buy a car there, and I bought a Subaru Legacy 4WD. When I got the car it was a 2WD (very rare for a Subaru). And in Japan there are criminals who have a web site just to cash the money, as you have to pay in advance, and this is the last time you heard from this company. And forget police in Japan, you just see neither your car nor nor money again. So that's wjy I trade with Trust, bot there is another I think reliable company (also many cars running in TZ with their sticker, as far as I remember the name is Autotrader (I'm at present on a 3 months leave in Germany). But this nbc is not looking reliable, because no response to my mail about freight or condition of the car you mentioned.
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I have to say sorry about this comment, because I found the mail in my spam folder. The answer was fast. The car is about 5,000 USD, so car, transport and fees until registered in TZ it will be about 10,000 USD. If you are interested in the response of nbc I nee an mail addres, because I cant post it here (long answer).
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Have a nice day.
Johannes
Edited by: johannestz
Thanks so much Johannes, After getting to know these different dealers and reading their reviews we are focusing in on getting a car though TRUST (japanesevehicles.com )as they seem most reputable. As a second option, the reviews for Imperial Solutions Limited were also very good. We found them going through Tradecarview.com. I'll post once we place the order and share how the experience goes until we get the car in Tanzania.
Cheers!
Kelly