Dear all,

My boyfriend and I live in the Netherlands and are now busy with opportunities to work and live in Ethiopia. Today I heard that I probably will have a job in Addis Abeba for about 6 months, starting in April. We would also like to have a car there, to make some trips to the rest of Ethiopia and East Africa during holidays. We are currently looking for an old 4x4 in which you also can sleep. Cars that we like are for instance Nissan Patrol and Toyota Landcruiser (HJ61 or HDJ80).
In Europe (Netherlands) you can find these cars for 5,000 to 10,000 euro. But then you have to arrange a lot of things: ship the car, import it (or use a carnet de passage?) etc. It will cost a lot of time to arange all these things, and my job will already begin within 8 weeks. We therefore also thought about buying a car in Ethiopia itself. But on Ethiopian websites (e.g. Mekina.net) the cars are very expensive (landcruisers are even more than double the price than the same car in Europe). We wonder if the prices on these websites are representative for the prices of cars in Ethiopia. Do people know more about that?
Another option is to buy a car from an 'overlander'. Buying such a car would mean that we do not have to arrange all the shipping things and it is relatively a cheap car. However, I wonder whether it is easy to change the owner's registration, is there a difference between buying a car from a dutch person (since we are dutch and the car is dutch) and a person from another country, and how it works with the carnet de passage (since that is only valid for 1 year)? Do people know more about these issues?


What would you guys advice us to do? I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Annelien

Hi Annelien,



Just a thought:

you could try Wim Holland's House in Addis Abeba, an overlanders hotspot. When I was there some four months ago, their "campsite" was cramped with overland vehicles left by people who had stalled their car there. Ask Rahel (Wim's widow) if she knows of someone who is selling his car.

Cheers,

Gee

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Cars are probably expensive in Ethiopia because compared to Europe there's not that many of them for sale and import tax is high.

Are you planning on just staying for your 6 month contract or longer? If it's a short stay maybe renting a car when you need it is a cheaper option.

Contacting Wim’s is also a good idea.

This is an anecdote so please treat it as such, but if you do end up buying maybe look for petrol rather than diesel. An Ethiopian tour guide I got talking to told me that he only runs petrol 4wds as the diesel fuel is such poor quality that diesel engines need regular rebuilds.


Good luck with it whatever you decide.

Hey Annelien,

I know of a lovely dutch couple back here in Jinja, Uganda that are selling off their Land cruiser VX. Its a really fantastic car and they have kept it very well maintained. The gentleman is called Wim and his mobile number is +256 782 392 347. Please drop him a call!

They also own a beautiful park where you can stay during your short visit to Uganda. Its called HOLLAND PARK and the website:Accommodation In Jinja Uganda At Holland Park

You can drive the car back to Ethiopia through Kenya. Its an adventurous trip you shall enjoy!

Go for it!

Cheers,

Kabira