Amadiez

Hello!
My husband accepted a job offer this morning and we will be moving to kL in from the UK in August with our 5 and 3 year old. I have never been to Malaysia before and I am not really sure what to expect! Is it a challenge to settle in? Are there certain things we should try and bring? We were thinking about shipping our car over as have heard they are very expensive, would this be a good option? I plan to take 6 months to help settle the children in and then work myself (I am a teacher so hoping that finding something won't be too difficult). Any advice on any of this would be really appreciated!

Thanks x

bakedbean

Hi there and welcome to the forum I'm not in KL so cannot answer many of your questions. There are, however, a LOT of existing threads on this forum of life in KL, schools in KL, so do please have a good look through the Malaysia section. You'll probably find some answers here already.

Re importing your car, I would have thought that that would attract a big lump of tax to pay, but maybe someone else can advise on that. Do also read through threads about travel in and around KL. The traffic can be horrendous and I guess you may wish to consider carefully where to live (proximity to schools, proximity to your OH's work).

That's just my 2 ringgits worth. I shall leave you to the KL residents who I am sure will be along very soon. Happy planning.

Oh...by the way...the PM function on here will only work for you once you've done 3 posts. (It's to deter spammers.)

Bluenose1

Hi Amadiez,

AS BB suggests, shipping your car over will be very expensive! There are 3 duties/taxes (although I cannot remember which is which) - firstly you have to start with the invoice value of the car. Then you add the cost of shipping it to Malaysia plus the insurance for shipping it. That's called the "landed price" (as in landed in Malaysia). Then you add as follows:

The landed cost plus 10% = A
A plus up to 105% (depending on the engine size, the 105% applies to anything above 3 Litre - there is a sliding scale below that. I think the minimum is about 85%) = B
Lastly, B plus 30%.

Other rules include that you must have owned the car for at least 3 years before you ship it and you then cannot sell it within a year of arrival in Malaysia.

Foreign-brand cars are expensive to buy in Malaysia - the reason being that the government want people to buy Proton (which is wholly-owned by the government) cars such as Persona, Saga, Wira etc.

The only way to avoid the import duty & taxes would be to import a car after having obtained the MM2H Visa, as it doesn't cost anything other than the shipping plus insurance. However, I guess MM2H probably won't fit your circumstances.

Jasonargonaut

Hi

We are in a similar situation- moving to Malaysia in August from the UK with 2 children- aged 6 and 3. I will be teaching at an international school. We are currently trying to decide where to live, and have advice about different regions. We are just accepting the fact that will need a car pretty much straight away. Any questions please feel free to communicate.

Thanks
Jason

Mikkamakkamoo

I am also in a similar situation. Do you know which school your children will be going to? We have decided to live in a compound that is a five minute walk from their school (BSKL) as we've also heard that traffic can be a nightmare. My husband and I managed a long weekend in KL a few weeks ago to try and find accommodation, as we didn't want to be house-hunting with two jetlagged children (mine are almost 5 and 3). We also looked at cars while we were there and it seems fairly straightforward to get a loan. mudah.com.my is a great place to look for second hand cars.

Mikkamakkamoo

(We currently live in Beijing which is how we managed a trip over!)

Jasonargonaut

Hi
Our children will be going to nexus school in putrajaya but I've heard it's not the best place to live ( a bit dead and empty?) so we're looking at other areas- Puchong perhaps. Thanks for the website for second hand cars! We won't be there till mid August and it seems we will only have 2 weeks to find a place to live, get our things out of storage and set up a bank account etc.

Amadiez

Hi thanks for advice everyone, it seems shipping a car is not a sensible option! We are both teachers and my husband will be teaching at an international school, I plan to be a lady of leisure for a while at least! We are looking at mont kiara or desa city at the moment but having never been to KL these are just guesses really and I think we will need to have a good look around when we get there. Nice to know there will be some other newbies! We will be moving from Kent

Jasonargonaut

We will need a car fairly soon after arriving- mainly so we can get out to view some properties. There should be quite a few second hand cars for sale. Have you looked into using a shipping company? We were recommended Anglo-pacific and I'm in touch with them, they seem very professional with good rates.

Amadiez

Thanks, I will have a look at that one, are you planning to ship furniture etc? Not sure if we should try and rent fully furnished or take as much of our own stuff as we can. So much to think about (and 7 weeks of the last term to get out the way!)

Amadiez

If anyone has any information on Sri Hartamas as a possible place to live any advice would be very much appreciated :-)

jarkulka

Dear Jasonargonaut,
I would like to ask you how your kids like Nexus so far? We are moving to KL beginning of November and we apllied our 3 kids there. I´m considering Puchong Lake Edge for living. Can you give me some advice for a good place to live between Nexus and the KL city where me and my husband will work? Thank you.

bakedbean

Hi jarkulka.....just to say Welcome to the forum . Hope you enjoy KL.

marisavillar

HI
I GUESS YOU ARE THERE ALREADY
I AM MOVING TO KL WITH 3 & 5 YEAR OLD IN 5 WEEKS.
ANY ADVICE? SO CONFUSED WITH SCHOOLS, ETC..
MARISA

jarkulka

Thank you a lot. Dont you know anybody having kids in Nexus and living in Jade Hills Country Heights area ?