From the Quay to Your Address
Importing Cars and Trucks Into the UAE
Importing a vehicle is mostly an administrative exercise with a short drive at the end. The vehicle has to be cleared, its value established for duty, and its ownership documented in a way the authorities will accept - and the rules turn on the vehicle's age and specification rather than on what you paid for it. Our own customs team files the entry.
What the Import Covers
Handled End to End
The aim is that you receive a vehicle rather than a set of tasks.
- Collection from the port or terminal
- Customs entry and duty assessment
- Ownership and registration documentation
- Inspection coordination where required
- Storage until you can take delivery
- Delivery to your address
Importing a Vehicle?
Tell us the make, model, year and where it is shipping from
Get an Import Quote Call +971 4 239 7107What Decides Whether an Import Is Simple
Most vehicle import problems are decided before the vehicle ships, by facts nobody checked.
Age and specification
Import eligibility turns on how old the vehicle is and how it is specified. A vehicle that cannot be registered here is an expensive thing to discover on arrival.
Value for duty
Duty is assessed on customs value, not simply the invoice. Establishing that in advance avoids an unwelcome number at clearance.
Ownership documents
Title and registration papers have to satisfy the authorities here, not only the country the vehicle left.
Modifications
Non-standard modifications can affect eligibility and registration. Declare them rather than hoping they go unnoticed.
After it clears
A newly imported vehicle still has to reach you, and often has to be registered first. Delivery runs on our own transporters - see vehicle collection and delivery.
What Arrives How
Container or RO-RO
How the vehicle travelled affects what happens at this end.
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RO-RO arrivals
Driven off the vessel and collected from the terminal - see RO-RO shipping for the sea leg.
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Containerised arrivals
Unloaded from the container at our facility, which is also where non-runners and high-value cars usually arrive.
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Held before release
Vehicles stored with us while clearance completes or until you are ready to take delivery.
Why Cannata
Clearance and Collection in One Company
A vehicle import split between a broker and a transporter leaves you coordinating two suppliers around a vehicle you cannot yet drive.
Entry filed in-house
Our own customs team handles the declaration and the duty, so there is no second agent in the chain.
Collected on our transporters
The vehicle is moved rather than driven by a stranger, which matters for condition and insurance.
Somewhere to keep it
Storage while clearance completes, instead of the vehicle standing at a terminal accruing charges.
Rate Request
Get a price for this shipment
Give us the route and the cargo and we will come back with a rate, usually within one working day.
Our FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What buyers ask about importing a vehicle.
