Drive To Marrakesh - Fly home to UK

[Poidster]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice or guidance.

Every other year myself and a group of friends set ourselves a road based challenge to complete.

Next years challenge is to be the first to arrive in Marrakesh in a car costing less than £500 (stupid I know but it keeps us entertained.)

The idea being that we would then fly home, either selling or donating the cars in Marrakesh or just scrapping them, just been reading some forums and its looking that this may not be as straightforward as we thought. Ive read something along the lines of the car being associated to your passport and you are not allowed to leave the country without it.

Has anyone had any experience of taking cars into Morroco or any suggestions as the best way to go about it.

thanks

[Bill]

You've heard correctly. I left a car in India (which is more complicated due to the Carnet) by leaving it with customs and having them stamp all the paperwork.

It'll be worth your while talking to the guys who run the Plymouth-Dakar rally as they do similar.

[MC Bodge]

When I was over there a few years ago old Fiat Unos were Petit Taxi:


Old Mercs were Grand Taxi:


I'd love to drive around Maroc.

[joewilliams]

You will need to remove the car from Morroco, otherwise they get awfully upset.

Take it back to Spain and scrap it there.

[MC Bodge]

Or carry on to Senegal, I doubt they'll be quite as fussy.

[wombat172a]

Senegal = very fussy.

I've read that the import duty is a bit of a nightmare with Morocco, as it's fairly expensive (at least for the locals).

Probably the best way will be to sell it someone official, or very close to customs who will be able to complete the paperwork. Though if they're paying the import duty, the car should be worth them paying that (if they're paying that).

When you enter the country, your car will be registered in your passport, and you'll be in a bit of trouble if you're trying to leave the country without the car, and the passport has not been officially cleared.

[hewlett]

joewilliams said:

You will need to remove the car from Morroco, otherwise they get awfully upset.

Take it back to Spain and scrap it there.

Park it up, walk away. I'm not sure how hard they'd try to find the owner via Interpol and bring you to justice.

[wombat172a]

Oh, and if you're getting the Tarifa-Tangier ferry, part of the immigration process is on the Ferry in a little office near the restaurant.

Make sure you get your stamp there, or you won't be allowed off the ferry!

[Mr Gear]

Leave it with the key in the ignition for 5 seconds in Marrakesh and it will get stolen. Job jobbed.

You may still have to pay a huge amount of tax before you leave the airport - they will accuse you of selling it. A simple bribe will circumvent that problem.

[joewilliams]

hewlett said:

joewilliams said:

You will need to remove the car from Morroco, otherwise they get awfully upset.

Take it back to Spain and scrap it there.

Park it up, walk away. I'm not sure how hard they'd try to find the owner via Interpol and bring you to justice.

I recall that my passport had a stamp in it to say that I'd bought a car in. One part of my paperwork certainly did. It'd flag up at passport control as you try to leave the country.

I'm not sure what happens if the car expires whilst you're there...

[Bill]

joewilliams said:

I recall that my passport had a stamp in it to say that I'd bought a car in. One part of my paperwork certainly did. It'd flag up at passport control as you try to leave the country.

I'm not sure what happens if the car expires whilst you're there...

Tow it to the ferry, then onto the ferry, and off again in Spain. Then relax.

There was someone who posted a horror story here about having their Mustang (IIRC) impounded for lack of an entry stamp or similar that makes me think bribery in Morocco isn't as straightforward as you'd hope.

[MC Bodge]

wombat172a said:

Senegal = very fussy.

I've not been there, but I was thinking that production of a few dollars might resolve any issues.

[wombat172a]

MC Bodge said:

I've not been there, but I was thinking that production of a few dollars might resolve any issues.

Ish. They introduced a rule a few years ago that prohibits the import of vehicles over 5 years old. I'm not sure how easy that is to circumvent, and it's why the Plymouth-Banjul no longer goes to Dakar, and why a lot of overlanders head via Mali.

You've got to cross Mauritania anyway to get to Senegal, where it's probably easier to sell the car. The trouble is though, if it goes wrong you're in the poo. No embassy or British representation, and no ATMs or working Western Unions.

I was toying with the idea of heading down to the Mauritanian / Moroccon border this winter and selling the daily to the customs/police there without even getting the passport stamped. I'd then walk back across the border to Morocco, and fly out from Dakhla. But it's still a bit high risk if it goes wrong.

Last time we were there, there were people in plain clothes running around with machetes telling people that they were customs.

[5lab]

I've done the plymouth-banjul so I can say..

Morocco is very firm - they even checked the vin plates on the car on the way in. That said, they only checked the first 10 digits, so it didn't matter mine wasn't quite the right car

You may be able to bribe an official, or you could get a second passport from the home office and get it stamped in that. Either way, a bit dodgy.

Mauritania - also strict on the way in, but we were able to find a 'guide' who got a car struck from a passport for £100. you probably find this all the way in.

Senegal. as above, very very fussy. You need to be escorted the whole way through the country, so trying to skip something would be a nightmare.

Gambia. we were allowed to leave cars here as it was for charity

you could..

drive to marrakesh, then back to the spanish border, leave the car in 'no mans land' or in spain and get transport back to the nearest airport. the no mans land trick would work in other countries too

set fire to the car, call the police, show them the embers. probably a lot of paperwork

bribe someone

do an official banger rally - julian nowels who organises the plymouth-banjul rally and a bunch of others is a great eccentric - they have some shorter rallys too

finally, don't make it a race. you'll just spend 4 days driving and miss all the fun. Maybe do some checkpoints (chefchuan is great, and the mountains round there are great, if dodgy as hell) but take a couple of weeks and have fun

note * i don't condone any illegal behavior

pics from my trip are at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5lab/sets/72157594523...

yes that is a convertable volvo 360


Made it to the top by 5lab, on Flickr

[JonnyFive]

Why to Marrakesh.. Why not go to somewhere easier, not easier to get to, but not so difficult with laws etc.

[MC Bodge]

JonnyFive said:

Why to Marrakesh.. Why not go to somewhere easier, not easier to get to, but not so difficult with laws etc.

If you have to ask

[stemll]

Bill said:

joewilliams said:

I recall that my passport had a stamp in it to say that I'd bought a car in. One part of my paperwork certainly did. It'd flag up at passport control as you try to leave the country.

I'm not sure what happens if the car expires whilst you're there...

Tow it to the ferry, then onto the ferry, and off again in Spain. Then relax.

There was someone who posted a horror story here about having their Mustang (IIRC) impounded for lack of an entry stamp or similar that makes me think bribery in Morocco isn't as straightforward as you'd hope.

From what I gather, bribery in Morocco is what you need just to get them to do the official paperwork properly and is added to the official fees.

As others have said, your passport will be stamped to say that you imported a vehicle and it has to accompany you out. Also as others say, even if it dies, you still have to remove it from the country, scrapping in Morocco is not going to happen.

[Poidster]

wow thanks for all the replies so quick,

tbh I was leaning towards getting there and walking away from car, claiming it had been nicked, but expect that'll get complicated, especially if all 6 of us do it and get on the same flight home.

Think we may end up just taking 2 cars and share the driving, think your idea of taking our time and enjoying the trip is probably better.

Any chance of taking the car in on the trade slip ?

Again, thanks for the replies, any more suggestions

and why Marrakesh, well cos its there.

[Mr Gear]

I motorcycled to Fez in Morocco (and back) and had a fantastic time. It was an amazing adventure, but I wouldn't have liked to have crashed, broken down or had my bike nicked. It really would have been an unpleasant situation if any of those three things had happened.

There is literally no "plan B".

[Bill]

Poidster said:

Any chance of taking the car in on the trade slip ?

It's probably worth asking the question on the HUBB: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/