Importing a used car from the US to Egypt

Why young US cars carry the risk

US insurers sell cars they’ve declared a total loss through salvage auctions such as Copart and IAAI, and many of those cars are only a year or two old. Repaired, they can pass for a clean car. When the age rule pushes you towards the newest model years, it also pushes you towards the cheapest of them, and those are the ones to check hardest.

Egypt also limits how old an imported used passenger car can be. A shipping company’s 2025 guide describes the limit for personal imports as the current or previous model year, with a longer allowance for electric cars. We couldn’t confirm the exact wording from a government text, so get the limit in writing from a licensed customs broker, and read the model year from the VIN yourself with our VIN year guide.

The personal import rules since December 2024

A Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade decision that took effect in late December 2024 tightened imports of cars for personal use. As reported by YallaMotor:

• Each importer can bring in one vehicle every five years.
• You must show a bank statement proving you can afford the car.
• Payment goes through Egyptian banks with Form No. 4. Diplomats and Egyptians working abroad can pay from overseas.
• Cars already shipped, or paid for by letter of credit, before the decision took effect were exempt, as were vehicles for embassies and international organisations.

ACI: the shipment is registered before it sails

Under Customs Law No. 207 of 2020, the Egyptian Customs Authority runs the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system, mandatory for sea shipments since 1 October 2021. The commercial invoice and bill of lading must be available at least 48 hours before the cargo is shipped, so customs can assess the risk first.

For a car, that means the paperwork describing it is filed before the ship leaves the US. Check the car before then. In early 2025 Enterprise reported cars piling up at Egyptian ports for months because owners had registered passenger cars under other vehicle categories to get round the ACI restrictions; the authority later let them go against the duties owed and fines of up to EGP 10,000 a car.

The expat scheme has closed

The 2022 scheme for Egyptians abroad let them import a car, new or used, by depositing the customs, VAT and other charges in US dollars, to be withdrawn in Egyptian pounds five years later. Cars had to be manufactured in 2019 or later, and payments were due by 28 February 2023. That window has closed, so don’t plan a purchase around it unless the government opens a new one.

Ports

A car from the US comes in by sea, through a Mediterranean port such as Alexandria or Port Said. The Suez Canal Economic Zone lists a 600-metre RoRo terminal at East Port Said. Your shipper will tell you which port its route uses.

Before you send money

1. Decode the VIN with the VIN decoder and check the model year against the limit your broker gives you.
2. Run CARFAX or AutoCheck for total-loss, salvage and flood records, and for the mileage trail. Low miles on a young car can still be wrong: see the odometer rollback check.
3. Pull the auction record and look for water lines and silt under the seats. Our flood damage guide shows where.
4. Make sure the invoice and bill of lading describe the car as a passenger car, with the right VIN, before the ACI filing.
5. Confirm the personal import conditions and the full duty with a broker.

What we sell

CARFAX and AutoCheck reports for vehicles sold in the US and Canada, with title brands, total-loss and auction records and the recorded mileage. The auction report shows a Copart or IAAI lot as it sold: photos, recorded damage, title and odometer reading. We don’t file ACI, handle customs or ship cars.