A car for Malawi

[ethomas]

My sister has recently moved to Malawi for a couple of years. She looked for a car over there, but everything is very expensive, poorly maintained, and generally crappy. Plan B is to buy something here and export it. Great I said, a Mitsubishi Shogun or Land Cruiser is what you need. Unfortunately, to avoid paying too much duty, the car should be less than 8 years old, and less than a 2l engine.

So, we are looking for something reasonably sturdy, 4WD, and unlikely to break or need to much specialist maintenance (there isn't much available in Lilongwe). Less than 10 years old, less than a 2l engine, and as cheap as possible. So far the shortlist includes:

• Toyota RAV 4
• Suzuki Vitara
• Dacia Duster

I told you it was a short list . Any other suggestions?

[Grunt Futtock]

Isn't the under 8 years old caveat going to work against the 'no specialist maintenance' restriction? Most modern cars are going to have a fair wodge of electronics going on whereas I would have thought a circa 2000 Pajero/Shogun/Land Cruiser/Nissan Patrol would be much more easily fixable by the local mechanics?

[ethomas]

You are correct, unfortunately the tax on older larger engined cars is ridiculous:
http://www.mra.mw/tax-update/calculation-of-duty-o...

Assuming an old Shogun with a 2.8l engine costs £1500, and shipping it costs another £1000 (guessing), the total tax and excise would be £4781.25. For an 8 year old 1.6 costing £4k, the duty would be £3,306.45. The car will be worth a lot more when it comes time to sell as well since everyone wants newer and smarter cars.

[caelite]

Suzuki Jimny, they have been relatively unchanged since the 90s so easy to maintain, the 1.3 falls well within requirement, they are toughly built for their weight and perform fantastically offroad.

[Grunt Futtock]

caelite said:

Suzuki Jimny, they have been relatively unchanged since the 90s so easy to maintain, the 1.3 falls well within requirement, they are toughly built for their weight and perform fantastically offroad.

I was going to suggest the Jimny but if you want something bigger then the Duster would be a good bet, cheap to buy and Renault have a presence in Malawi.

[Zetec-S]

Grunt Futtock said:

caelite said:

Suzuki Jimny, they have been relatively unchanged since the 90s so easy to maintain, the 1.3 falls well within requirement, they are toughly built for their weight and perform fantastically offroad.

I was going to suggest the Jimny but if you want something bigger then the Duster would be a good bet, cheap to buy and Renault have a presence in Malawi.

Agreed. Jimny or Duster have to be top of the list.

[kiethton]

Jeep?

Compass: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Cherokee (Looks like a Kia): http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Also - Subaru Forester?

Edited by kiethton on Wednesday 9th August 13:36

[ethomas]

Grunt Futtock said:

I was going to suggest the Jimny but if you want something bigger then the Duster would be a good bet, cheap to buy and Renault have a presence in Malawi.

Jimny is an excellent shout. Looks like just the ticket, and it is <1.5l so zero excise duty

[Abbie Wilson]

Hey, I'm out in Malawi with your sister in question (!) and on the quest with her, is there a reason LR Freelanders are not included (I am looking for something bigger than a Jimny and there are not as many of the models you mention on the market. There are though a tonne of Freelanders)?

ethomas said:

My sister has recently moved to Malawi for a couple of years. She looked for a car over there, but everything is very expensive, poorly maintained, and generally crappy. Plan B is to buy something here and export it. Great I said, a Mitsubishi Shogun or Land Cruiser is what you need. Unfortunately, to avoid paying too much duty, the car should be less than 8 years old, and less than a 2l engine.

So, we are looking for something reasonably sturdy, 4WD, and unlikely to break or need to much specialist maintenance (there isn't much available in Lilongwe). Less than 10 years old, less than a 2l engine, and as cheap as possible. So far the shortlist includes:

• Toyota RAV 4
• Suzuki Vitara
• Dacia Duster

I told you it was a short list . Any other suggestions?

Edited by Abbie Wilson on Thursday 10th August 11:18

[ethomas]

Abbie Wilson said:

Hey, I'm out in Malawi with your sister in question (!) and on the quest with her, is there a reason LR Freelanders are not included (I am looking for something bigger than a Jimny and there are not as many of the models you mention on the market. There are though a tonne of Freelanders)?

Hi Abbie. The main problem I can see with a Freelander is that most of them that are less than 8 years old were sold with the 2.2l engine, which means they fall into the 35% excise bracket. It seems that there are land rover dealers there, so as long as parts and servicing are ok, then you should be fine. There is a general feeling that the Freelander is less reliable than similar cars from Japan, but if you get a good one then you will probably have no problems.

Say hi to Jen when you see her