Israel Expat Forum

Shipping a car to Israel

3/24/2010 11:59 EST

Can anyone tell me their experience of shipping a car to Israel? I will be working there for 2 years.
What do I need to know?

yana

3/24/2010 14:10 EST

You need> a valid drivers licence (after one year, you need to obtain an israelilcence), a GREEN Insurance form (International Policy saying that Israel is covered) and the registration papers of the car.
Check if you have insurance at all for your car in israel. I had trouble with that and had to change the insurance to cover also Israel.

possibility A is that you RoRo your car (roll-on roll-off). You can travel with it by sea. check www.grimaldishipping.com to see where they load.
cost is depending on the season (we paid in October 2008 EURO 300 for the car and EURO 400 per Person)
Advantage is that you can take a lot of things with you in the car. Disadvantage is that you will be at sea for at least one week.

possibility B is to containerize your car. Get with some forwarders to submit an offer including all costs (and I mean all) from whereever you sit to CFR Ashdod or Haifa. Shipping lines are ie ZIM or MSC. You can ty the car yourself in the container or have somone do it for you.
Once the container comes to Israel you need an Israeli forwarder to custom clear the car (will also cost about EURO 200) , you need to do this with the forwarder together. Cost for shipping is ie from Central Germany to Haifa about EURO 1200.
Advantage is that you can bring even more stuff inside the container - note that you will have to custom clear that too. As it is personal belongings taxes are nearly none (we paid on a VCR once...)
Disadvantage - your car will be at sea for min. 14 to ?? (where you are from) days. ie no car.

Now, once your car is in Israel, you have half a year that you are allowed with your car here. After this half year, the Transportation office will address you and ask you for a bank guarantee for the value of your car (taxes), to extend your car permit for an additional half year.
This bank guarantee must be from an Israeli bank (check prices, should not cost more that 2% a year, plus of course that you have to have that amount of money in your bank account)
I am not sure that you can extend it for an additional (2nd) year - check this with the transporation office at the port of haifa or ashdod.
I am also not sure whether the insurance will allow you to stay that long abroad.

This Bank guarantee issue can only be avoided by getting the car outside of israel for min. 3 months. and then reentering (ie get out to Taba, Cyprus, Jordan..and have the ca parked there for 3 months...)

Hope to have helped.

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Igor1919

1/18/2011 23:16 EST

If you really plan to go through hurdles of importing car to Israel,
you might want to visit this page: http://used-cars-for-israel.com
This is the only place I found where you can see all car models officially imported in Israel.
They also have average prices, pictures and technical specifications of all cars on Israel market.

aliyahlift

1/23/2011 10:49 EST

The information that have gotten is good so far.

If you are interested is a price quote for shipping your car to Ashdod, please send your zip code and make/model/year of car. Contact information can be found here > aliyahlift.com

All the best!

hemiltonfleming

4/13/2011 22:55 EST

I always used dependable car shipper a couple of years back to move two of my cars from the East coast to Denver http://www.shipping-your-car.com/ . I got a quote from them directly. They were kind of pricey..but I believe quite a few moving companies use them.

yana

4/14/2011 07:39 EST

The best shipping rates you get from forwarders directly. shipment from South Germany to Israel in August 2011 was EURO 1200 in container.
DO NOT GET SCREWED! check several offers.
Or ship it Ro-Ro

Learn More Get a Quote

edison

4/30/2011 23:54 EST

If you are looking to ship your car to Israel from Florida, contact Nobel Van Lines at: http://nobelvanlines.com/moving.services.php

Jaschase

7/2/2015 12:32 EST

Well, for one, it's not easy or cheap. Even for a 6 month temporary stay, I think you still end up paying a massive tax on the vehicle so make it's worth your time and money to do it. This page has some relevant information that you may find helpful https://www.a1autotransport.com/ship-car-to-israel.php Ultimately, you'll need to contact a shipper to have your questions answered anyway, so you may as well start. Contact several before committing to one and never pay for an estimate.

Airsifter

6/3/2016 13:37 EST

Yana left some good advice that covers most the issues you might face. In my experience a good company will be able to help you greatly in figuring out the details of whats required and how much it will cost. I've used this service before https://www.a1autotransport.com/ship-car-to-israel.php and found them to be very knowledgable.

sensualspirit

6/3/2016 14:23 EST

Hi,

If you want a 2nd price quote, please PM me.

Michal

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