madmogman

Hi.
Have any of you guys heard of anyone returning to the U.K. by driving their Saudi registered car from Riyadh to the U.K? (probably via jordan Turkey Greece etc?)
Thanks.

still.unsure

i've heard of a couple people discuss it before, and there's some colleagues that regularly go to lebanon and jordan overland from riyadh. there are car shipping services that ship to the saudi-jordanian border, you then fly there, grab your car, and keep heading north.

depending on what you do with your car when you get to the UK, i think there's some tax/duties implications as well (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...icle/index.htm)

what route were you thinking?

madmogman

Hi.
My intended route is:


saudi/buraydah-hail-badanah

jordan/amman

syria/damascus-alepo

turkey/adena-ankara-lstanbul-edirne

greece/thesalonika-larisa-volos-athens-patra-zante-kefallonia

ltaly/brindisi-bari-sorrento-naples-rome-firenze-pisa-genova-milan-monte blanc

switzerland/geneva-lausanne

france/dijon-paris-calais

england.

I am fairly sure there won't be any duty/import taxes as my car is 2 years old (not classed as a new import) but I will check. Thanks for the link.

My main concern is getting into Turkey, I have heard that the border crossing can be rather expensive, especially if the officials happen to be short of cash!

Robbies

if you have owned the car for more than 12 months there is no duty to pay (AFAIK) so long as you do not sell the car in the following 12 months

still.unsure

shall ask a friend about the turkish border, but in any event, you're in the ME, of course there's a bit 'extra' to pay!

Bodach

Years ago a guy from Aramco did it on a goldwing bike, I saw his presentation and Aramco had backed him, must be someone remember's the trip, up to Hammerfest in Norway for the midnight sun, then down to Newcastle, only time he had an accident was when he dropped the bike coming off the ferry at Newcastle.

finleysj

Sounds epic!
Email the BBC Top Gear Dept, have a race with the Stig!!!!

madmogman

Hi.
Thanks for all the advice, I was a bit concerned that people would say "don't even think about it" but it sounds like it's worth persuing, any further info would be great.
Don't think I would be any match to the Stig!

still.unsure

there's lots of ME expats (jordanians, lebanese, etc.) that regularly drive from Riyadh to their respective countries, so the infrastructure and facilities are there. i haven't heard about the need for any back-handers at the borders, but then again, they haven't gone as far as turkey.

so, start collecting your visa info now from the DQ on the countries you'll cross and set a date! (and don't forget to give regular updates!)

nottmbantam

Was talking to couple of friends the other day, and they are also thinking about driving to UK - taking a very similar route. They are both teachers, so have a very long summer holiday and can afford the time.

If I had the time, I'd do it too.Go for it.

madmogman

Hi Folks.
I have refined the date of my drive home to 28th of August (start of Ramadan, just to make it more difficult!!) so if your teacher friends are leaving around that time, maybe we could team up. We would probably stand more chance of success!

scrubbedexpat068

Should be no problem two years ago i drove from London to Mongolia in a French 2cv, Turkey was lovely, we only paid 10 Dollars for the car import and and 20 dollars each for over land visa. no worries, Graeme

diablo

I think you'll be paying more to Syrians - they are always short of cash.

I understand you are 'returning' to UK - meaning one way trip. Make sure you get all the papers you need; Saudi guys on the border with Jordan are not likely to speak any English; you gonna spend 4-5 hours on the border getting your clearance papers. You'll need to get those special plates in Saudi - black ones for export I think; and then those guys on the border will want to take them so you'll be wandering how to continue.

I drove my car to UAE from Dhahran - spent 12 hours on the border with UAE

Good luck anyway.

madmogman

Hmm! sound like there's a broard spectrum of experiences, from 'what's all the bother?' to 'nightmare!!'
Ive seen the export plates, they have a Grey band down the right hand side and a black triangle pointing to the left.
As far as passage through Syria, I have heard that I should make sure I have a police escort, is it really that dodgy?

madmogman

Hi folks
Well I'm on my way, have to say it hasn't been easy so far, there was a cock up at the Saudi customs end, they were supposed to give me a temporary Iqama book when I exited the country...but forgot! and I didn't know I was supposed to have one as I though my tripyik was all I needed, any how managed to overcome this by impotrting and exporting at each border crossing, I'm in Syria now and will be travelling with a convoy of lorries to the Turkish border at 9 tonight...well, thats the plan!!