Shipping Personal Vehicle to the Philippines 

It is more cheaper to import in the philippines than buying one here. But it is only applicable when your vehicle is used and old. It is much cheaper when you buy a vehicle new in abroad. The depreciation is calculated to the ad valorem tax, which mean when it got old or even when you didn’t even use it, it will still lose it’s value. And according to the blue book, it will be depreciated by year, 10 percent each year. So if your car is 5 years old it will be 50 percent much cheaper, which means much cheaper import tax. But the duty will still be 40 percent and VAT is 12 percent, which also means 52 percent will automatically added to the computation. And another cheat code will be, if your car is a hybrid or electric model. There are no excise tax or ad valorem tax for electric vehicle and 50 percent of ad valorem tax for hybrid. In hybrid models, the depreciation will be 70 percent maximum. I think buying new and let it depreciate, given that you are a returning or immigrant. But buying used car would still be more cheaper in the philippines. I hope I could be help. I don’t mean to be a smart ass, I want to be of help 😊. When you want to import a vehicle, you need to consider that you can only import 1 vehicle per household. So choose wisely what vehicle you want to import. Like a rare car or something 😂. But buy a car with a dealership available in the Philippines.

You can check a law that says, a balikbayan can bring a vehicle in the Philippines w/o paying tax. The rule is: She/He can do it once in his lifetime and won't be allowed to sell it whatsoever. And if you decide to do it call Tulfo TV program to assist you to avoid any lagay or redtape from custom officers.

I looked into this a while back and I'm sure there was also a limit on engine capacity. I can't seem to find it now but you could forget any ambition to import your 5.0 litre Mustang. This might not be the case now. However, it's all very troublesome and expensive. I don't plan on bringing anything that won't fit into a Balikbayan box.

The requirements are just written but actually there is more to pay at the customs than what the government specified, aside from customs tax and duties, 40% etc, to get out out of the custom "Lagay of 10,000 mininmum.." Not Worth shipping car to Philippines " buy Brand new car there.

It is not worth anybody's time, money, headache, heartache, blood, sweat and tears to even DREAM of bringing one's car to the Philippines. Dealing with the shipper/freight forwarder, customs, taxes, sleepless nights, bribes, lost at sea, potential damage/theft on your car while in transit are some of the things you DON'T NEED IN YOUR SHORT LIFE! People are better off selling their car first and buy a spanking brand new car in the Philippines, if they convert their US$ into pesos they might even come out ahead.

Much much cheaper to buy your car in the Phil. instead of shipping it and dont want to deal with corrupt phil. govt agencies.

I think its' a good idea. Because its' your personal vehicle. And you still want to continue using your personal car for essential purposes. And its' one of your personal belongings.

Gusto ko din sana iuwe ng pinas ang aking sasakyan kaya lang sobrang mahal ng taxes saatin. Nabasa ko na din ang mga terms ng customs about importing the car to the philippines. Kaya hindj ko na din itinuloy at inalis ko na sa isip ko ang pag import ng car. Better to buy nalang in the pinas 👌

Thank you Sir Danny great information! 👍👍👍 Interesting because I inquired about the same time 1.5 years ago and saw the 5 year rule. If this has been eliminated like you said, this is a huge benefit because we know the value of a car significantly depreciates after 5 years and the tax needed to pay is much less then, even if your car is still in really good condition. So I will look into this again, as it may worth it now. I don't really want to drive around in a tiny used or re-manufactured Chinese multi-cab. Yeah, you need to know its not going to be delivered at your front door in PH because the two companies I found will only ship to Cebu or Manila, and you gotta find ferries or other connections to get it where you are (like Mindanao for me). FYI for those considering this... the shipping company will definitely need a Proof of Purchase and clear title before they will ship, which means you have to own the car paid in FULL and cannot have a car loan or lien holder on it.

This is a very informative. It is a good thing I read this. I wanted to send my car soon. I changed my mind. Thank you for this info.

not worth the headaches trying to get it out of customs.

There was never any limit as to how old the vehicle has to be. It was more about the fact that the used car value can only be depreciated to a maximum of 5 yrs. So, if the car is much older, the taxable value remains the same as a 5 yrs old car. It's really good that they're now using red book or blue book value.

Thanks for this, finally someone made a video on this.

Thank you for taking up that topic. I was actually thinking of having my car be brought to the Philippines. Just like you I am also retired. Now, its a dead plan. I am looking forward to seeing you on a vacation trip

What a fantastic Video. It surely can get expensive to bring your car here. Then you have to think of parts to repair it, they may not be readily available here. I truly feel your better of buying new here. But I have to say I thought of buying a 20 foot storage container and put it in inside with all my other belongings, not sure how that would fly.

You forgot to include the vehicle title as part of the documents you would need - at least you would need it to “export” it out of the country (USA). US Customs typically won’t authorize the vehicle to leave US ports unless you present proof of ownership (title). The vehicle registration is not proof of ownership. If you don’t have a title, or a release from the bank that they permitted you to ship THEIR car out of the country, they may suspect the car as stolen. I imagine Philippine authorities wouldn’t want anyone smuggling stolen vehicles into the Philippines.

Thank you Sir. This is a great video. A big help when you plan to ship car to Phils.

blue book // red book usually cost more than market value. if you buy a lexus for 20k most likely the red/blue book value is around 50-60k as usual for TAX purpose haha

Biggest headache is dealing with Customs...you need to bribe several people

The risk of a problem is extremely high, maybe even 100%. The magnitude of the risk is very high to extremely high. Your vehicle could be held for ransom. Doesn't make any sense to ship a vehicle unless it is a very rare or unique vehicle, which is something you should not take to PI anyway.

Forget it just purchase car in the Philippines simple is that so you don't need Tylenol for your headache

It’s cheaper just to buy a brand new car locally in the Philippines.

I prefer to buy in the Philippines, than bringing it back home, lots of documents to prepare, maybe the value of may car is less than the tax that I should pay

This is great topic. Thank you for giving time and effort in explaining to us.

40% plus for taxes and shipping, buy new in the Philippines

Disadvantages: you have to prep the car to ship and coordinate when it should be done. Once you drop it off for prep, how do you get home? Expenses for rental car until you leave? Once it ships there is a delay 2-3 month before it arrives. Unless you live in Manila or Cebu, you have to travel far to coordinate receipt of the car. Ship to a local mechanic shop to pep for use on road. You can’t use it until LTO give you authorization. Based on LTO delays, how do you get around meanwhile? Tricycle, sicad-sicad, Vhire? I sold my cars and bought 1 week after arriving. Sold the US car 1 week before leaving. If your US car breaks down, figure it could be out of service for months waiting for special parts to be shipped to Philippines. Forget the taxes and duties. You will be inconvenienced for month if not years bringing a car here. Buy a second car here? Consider the added $12k-$20k expense.

Thank you for this video sir, very clear i rather buy another one in Phil.😊😊😊

Back in 2001, I brought a car from Hawaii to Calif for almost 900.00, somehow I’ll rather buy a car in the PI. Unless I need to bring in my Ferrari. Thanks for info

Thankyou for this information, though, based on your research its seems it is much easier to purchase a vehicle in the Phils. It appears, the Philippines authorities introduce all these restrictions to discourage people from importing their overseas vehicle into the country. I had thought about doing just that with our vehicle here in NZ, when we return, but all the rules and costs put me off, so for us, the answer is to purchase a vehicle at Cebu when we come back permanently. Thankyou, Sir. Bob, New Zealand.

It baffles me that in the Philippines almost all the cars you see are at most only a few years old, very seldom to see 20, 30 year old cars like in the USA.

Thank you for the information! Apparently, I can't bring my classic cars there when I move to PH. Sad I have to let them go!

Great!! Thanks for the information. New subscriber living in the UK

I have done it a number of years ago. Was it worth the headache ? Absolutely just be patient and things will fall in place. :)

Why i am here? This issue is only for US filipino residents and i'm here in Canada. Well talking about cars and shipping to the Philippines, i will rather sell my car then buy new one in the Philippines less work and problem . Actually pag kinonvert mo sa peso yong price dito ay pareho lang kung totousin...

Thank you it's very knowledgeable Please try another topic like bringing household items such as sofa ect. to the Philippines

I think it's better to bring used motorcycle than cars since there is heavy traffic back home everywhere and parking is a problem besides car dealers are almost giving it no DP on some brand

I would only do this with my mother's vehicle when she passes away to keep the car as a remembrance of her

So if your car is worth lets say $10k, converted to Peso would be 480k Pesos. Tax is 40% of $10k would be $4000 converted to Peso again is 192k Pesos. The total cost would come out to 672,000 Pesos! Not counting the shipping cost which I heard is around another $2k to $4k with insurance. I don't think importing your vehicle is worth all that cost. And that is probably not counting the bribe fees you have to pay to crooked customs officials too.

It's better to buy used car in Manila. Less headache. You are also not sure if there are available spare parts for your imported car in Manila.

This idea awaits headache, in customs and parts (surely for a car unavailabe in the Phils, which would be the reason for bringing it in, otherwise buy new for a similar one for about or almost same cost)

i just sent my '67 porsche to the philippines. it was loaded in a container in san francisco sometime mid april. it was scheduled to arrive in the port of manila on may 9. then it became june 6 then june 26 and to date, it has not arrived yet! apparently, the ship first went to long beach, ca. from san francisco then to ningbo, china then is now scheduled to arrived on june 26 in malaysia! it seems like the container was loaded on a cruise ship vs. a container ship. anyway, i was quoted by the BOC based on the description i provided them earlier this year that the tax would be around P380K. they explicitly indicated that that figure was only an estimate. my broker quoted me a much higher figure, an amount quadruple to what i was quoted, which obviously includes "grease money" for the customs officials. had i known that the figure was going to be that much, i would have just decided to keep my car in the US. anyway, i'm still waiting for a notice from my broker if my car has finally arrived or not...what a headache!

I figured on taking my car to the Philippines but considering all the dents and scratches it would get I've changed my mind. A cheap car there would probably be less than the tax on my car anyway. My only requirements are ac and automatic transmission.

Thank you sir, this topic is very helpful.

No way...Too much BS at the customs...Its corrupted system...Might as well buy your car in the Philippines...

Pinaplano ko tlagang dalin yung car ko 4 years old na sya kaso mas malaki magagastos ko kesa e benta ko nlng d2 tpos bili nlng ako sa pinas

Hello Sir, Another awesome vlog. I wouldn't ship a car over, Sounds like too much of a hassle. I would just buy one, from the Phils., That is a popular brand bcoz it's easier to get parts for it, less down time and I wouldn't recommend getting a Limited edition bcoz their parts are hard to come by also. Just my experience...

Thanks Dad. This is good news for me.

Thanks Kuya! I looked into this previously and I saw the five year or younger requirement and it has to pass emission test... but back then, Balikbayans can import cars duty free... so this is a whole new lay where uoure levied 40pct tax... It may not be worth shipping my RX350 as they dont have a service station in Negros... So Ive been shipping my stuff three balikbayan boxes at a time... waiting for your next vlog about shipping personal items... Salamat gid!!!

I would rather purchase my vehicle in the philippines.the stress of shipping and retrieving it ,if it ever arrived, may cause one a hear attack or other illnesses.its not like going to ups ,fedex etc to pick up your shipment,there are too many hurdles to overcome.if you have a great connection bureaucratically,then it may be different.i thought of it before,but not worth my life.

Thanks for this very informative vlog. Mabuhay!

very helpful information. thanks sir 😊

I’d love to take my Ford F-150 since that model isn’t available in the Philippines. But the cost would be crazy high.

Sir I want to start cursing at Philippine customs, look at the PIA #4 requirement !!!! "Proof that the vehicle was obtained with earnings abroad."

Very informative. Thank you sir!

I was thinking of shipping my beach buggy , a 67 chassis ,,it could be a tricky one to value

My advice.... Don't bring your car! Sell your existing car and buy there. There's simply too much hassle.

Sooo much information and it helps a lot.... more po sir

Awesome video Danny, Thanks.

I think and hoping that now the customs are not corrupt

Thank You, nice information. My Montero Sport is now $500 in blue book (lol). It's gonna be a nice car in the Philippines. Planning to go tripping all around the Philippines by land. Before I intended to just give it to car donation for tax purposes but now I have a better plan. Vehicle condition still good since I drove it from San Francisco to Seattle (16 Hrs straight) without any issue. Salamat po.

Thank you sir! Your insight in great!

Thats very informative vlog thank u sir!

My left ear really enjoyed this video.

Not worth bringing a car to the Philippines. Very expensive. You have to pay the forwarder. Then his contact in the Philippines to expedite the release will also try to make money from you. DON’T EVEN TRY IT ! I had the worst experience of bringing a car to the Philippines. And you still have to pay taxes based on the blue book value (100% in my case). Too many corrupt people getting involved. If corruption was bad when you left, it is even worst now. It is better to buy one in the Philippines!

The car coming ftom abroad like here in Palau is so cheap.We could own as many as we can under our name..Tne trouble is upon arrival to the custom ..the taxes is much much expensive tjan the car..Better ..just buy in the Philippines🙄

The Phil. charges too much money on vehicle tax. What do they do with the money ?. Manila needs above ground roads. It takes too long to go to point A to point B, altho it is only 10 or 15 kms. Color coded days to drive is good ,but not everyone has 2 cars. Having 1 car alone is a luxury. Like you said, the gov does not allow vehicles older that 5 years. My vehicle is much older and runs excellent. Thanks for the update..

Thank you sir for the information

Thank you. It's still as bad as before. I get the need for Demestic sales, but the Prices are still high in the Pi, and If you want a loan rates are far better in other places. Maybe if banks loosened up credit some, and dealers stopped trying to get max value for every car things would be much better. Seems greed is the biggest issue from pushing things forward here. Maybe make a car locally?

Good info. I'll ride the tricyle or jeepney when I get there . Too much tax I heard the BIR people try to tax your vehicle so much. If an owner can not pay up , these BIR people end up keeping the vehicle. But i know of a person that his Suv was taxed him so high . He was not able to bring the vehicle home to the provincia, his final destination . He had to come up with money. By the time he had bailed the car out, the taxes and fees were much more . The rent was very high if he didn't pay up the day he returned .The people that were working at the BIR would have kept the vehicle for them selves. The BIR and other people see $s sign on the balikbayan ,US visitors. I knew of 2 individuals experienced these. This happened before Duterte's time. I hear the president is trying to clean up the corruptions. He is working hard @ it. I don't know him @ all. These are facts. You probably heard of similar incidents.

Have a great day too, sir.

Salamat Po

Thank you very much for sharing!

my 99 4runner is worth about $5000 and still looks like new that why i wanted to bring it to the Philippines. am i able to shipped my truck

Add: can you suggest any company that does shipping of cars to the Philippines

Paano po pag walang proof of payment kase sa private party binili or bigay lang sayo? I have a 75 280z that i want to bring home.

Hi I have a question about the Philippines. I want to buy a car in the Philippines so I can EXPORT it to my country. What can you tell me about that?

Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge

Thank u for the info sir,i learn a lot god bless.

I have 30 ft shuttle bus in Canada it's a 2003 it's 22 passenger in INCL driver how much I'm in subic Bay

kung may classic car ako na kailangan ko pa restore dyan kasi mas mura, mas mababa kaya ang tax kasi luma at sira sira upholstery

great explanation, thanks

Nice presentation sir, just wondering since you haven't seen in their policy that the card needs to be 5 yrs old. Do your you think I can send my old 1997 Honda CRV which is in good condition. I bought it 3 yrs ago from my office mate and also as per in your experience how much did it cost you to ship your car.

It doesnt make sense to send a car to Philippines, $2500 shipping cost, + customs tax.

That’s good to know

Please do make a video on sending furniture and home goods using container shipping. Salamat po.

Aray ko po 🤣 but so good to know. Thank you po.

How do i get my 2023 Kawasaki 650 KLR Adventure ABS from Toronto Canada to Bacolod Negros Oriental? Costs, duties, etc? Any info would be helpful

can you run in public office (barangay captain, congressman, etc.) when you are a dual citizen?

No ! Don’t do it. It’s a nightmare including the multiple Byzantine taxes. Plenty of cars over there that we cannot even buy here in the USA. If you avoid the luxury cars which are subject to high taxes, cars in the Ph. Are almost as cheap as over here.

How about motorcycle how does work here older motorcycle Suzuki 400 -600cc how much tax would I pay from Canada if the value is $2000

just hire a broker, they take care of everything including processing fees and shipping fees everything.. no headache

So clear, the duty is a little hepty😩

Hi. Can you do video on prices of new / used cars in Philippines

Do I have to pay Tax and duty on my car if I have a SRRV Visa?

Thank you

I would like to ask how much do i need to allocate in importing a used car from Japan? I am planning to purchase a used car worth ¥200, 000, i would like to know how much would be the TAX? and other surcharges? And what are the papers that i need to get or prepare for importing? Besides that it should be right hand drive, not exceeding 3 tons, secure CAI paper, not older than 5 years, and i am not an OFW just an individual that love Japanese mini cars. I hope that you or someone could at least enlighten me about this, thank you in advance!

What if it’s a modified vehicle? Bronco 4x4 with modern high performance drive train? How would the value be determined? 6-7 liter supercharged?

Great info!

I don't know if this was answered or not but, what about Retiring Filipino Balikbayan's, do they have an incentive or opportunity bringing back their old classic cars or a new car without the customs duties for that matter. Thank you.

Good presentation. I don’t understand 3D. You are not the first owner including the dealer. Am I right to understand that you are a first owner if you bought your car from a dealer? How about buying the car from Carmax or direct auto?