Mongolia is about as far from a coastline as a country gets, so the first worry is usually whether a car can get out at all. It can. It just has a longer road to the sea than most, and we plan that leg before anything else.
The second thing people ask about is the steering wheel. Mongolia drives on the right, but a lot of its cars are right-hand drive imports from Japan. Which one you have changes the work at our end, so this guide covers both.
- Port
- Shanghai
- Guide shipping price
- From £3,575
- Transit time
- Usually 4 to 8 weeks
- Steering
- Right or left-hand drive
- Import tax
- 20% VAT + 10% duty
Getting the car to the sea
Mongolia has no coast, so a car first has to travel overland to a sea port. Our route runs from Ulaanbaatar to the Port of Shanghai, and we confirm exactly how the car gets there when we quote. If the car is valuable, ask for enclosed transport on the quote form.
The Port of Shanghai sits on the Yangtze River estuary and has several port areas. Vehicles shipped by RoRo go through the Haitong International Automobile Terminal at Waigaoqiao. There is more on our Shanghai port page.
Container or RoRo
From Shanghai, a car can travel in a shared container, a container of its own or by RoRo. Transit is usually 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the sailing. A container keeps the car sealed for the whole voyage, and a shared one keeps the cost down. Our guides to container, RoRo or air and shared or sole container set out the differences.
Mongolia has no guide of its own on the My Car Import site, and we will not pretend to know the local export formalities in detail. What we can say is that we ship from far more countries than we have written up, and we work through the export side with you before the car moves.
Right-hand drive or left-hand drive
The steering side decides how much work the car needs to be legal on UK roads.
| Feature | Right-hand drive | Left-hand drive |
|---|---|---|
| Typical car | Used import from Japan | Built for driving on the right |
| Headlights | Usually fine as they are | Adjusted or replaced for driving on the left |
| Speedometer | Converted to mph on cars under 10 years old | Reading in mph needed |
| Rear fog light | The most common change | Fitted where needed |
A right-hand drive Japanese car is the simpler of the two at our end. If it started life in the Japanese market, our guide to importing a car from Japan covers a lot of what applies. For a left-hand drive car, see speedometer and headlight conversions and left-hand drive cars in the UK.
Testing and registration
- Under 10 years old: an IVA test
- Over 10 years old: an MOT, with changes generally coming down to the rear fog light
- Over 40 years old: no MOT needed, and the car can be delivered before registration
We run one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain, with the DVSA on site every week. Every car and manufacturer is different, so if yours is something unusual, ask us before it ships. Once it passes, our dealer-level DVLA account lets us register imported cars within 10 working days. The IVA test explained guide covers the test itself.
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Before it moves
Quote and plan
We confirm the overland leg, the shipping method and what the car will need at our end.
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Overland
To Shanghai
The car travels from Mongolia to the port and is loaded, by container or RoRo.
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4 to 8 weeks
At sea
The car sails for the UK.
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Arrival
Customs and NOVA
As HMRC CDS authorised agents, we make the customs entry and tell HMRC the car has arrived.
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At our site
Changes, test and registration
Our team makes the changes and tests the car on site. Once it passes, we register it within 10 working days.
Import tax from Mongolia
A car bought in Mongolia pays 20% import VAT and 10% import duty. Both are worked out on the price of the car plus the transport, with VAT charged on top of the duty. If the invoice is more than 3 months old, a recent valuation is used instead. The UK has no trade agreement with Mongolia on the government's current list, so the standard rates are the ones to plan around.
A car over 30 years old pays 5% VAT and no duty. A car that was registered in the UK before may come back tax free with its UK purchase invoice and old V5C. Our worked tax examples put the rates into pounds.
Moving to the UK
If you are moving here after more than 12 months abroad, and have owned the car for more than 6, Transfer of Residence can bring it in with no import tax at all. You apply online with HMRC before the car arrives, and the reference goes to customs when it lands. Our guide to moving to the UK with your car covers the rest of the move.
Customs and NOVA
We clear the car through UK customs ourselves. HMRC also has to be told within 14 days that the car has arrived, through the Notification of Vehicle Arrivals (NOVA), and the DVLA will not register the car without it. We submit it as part of clearance, and our NOVA guide has the detail.
What it costs
Mongolia falls under our rest-of-world guide. As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping starts from around £3,575. That is shipping only. It excludes registration, other services, import tax and any remedial work. The overland leg to the port is priced into your quote, along with your actual car and route.
See our shipping costs page for how the figures are built, or the Mongolia country page.
Questions people ask
Can you ship a car from Mongolia to the UK?
Yes. Mongolia is landlocked, so the car travels overland to Shanghai first, then by sea to the UK. We confirm the overland leg when we quote.
How long does it take to ship a car from Mongolia?
Sea transit from Shanghai is usually 4 to 8 weeks. The overland leg, customs, changes, testing and registration come on top, so ask us for a timeline for your car.
My car is right-hand drive. Does that help?
Yes. A right-hand drive car skips the headlight work a left-hand drive car needs. The common changes are a rear fog light and, on cars under 10 years old, an mph speedometer.
How much does it cost to ship a car from Mongolia?
As a guide, built from a year of real jobs, shipping from the rest of the world starts from around £3,575. That excludes registration, other services, import tax and any remedial work.
Do I pay import tax on a car from Mongolia?
Usually 20% import VAT plus 10% duty. Cars over 30 years old pay 5% VAT and no duty, and Transfer of Residence can make it tax free if you are moving here.
Send us the car's details on the quote form and we will price the whole job, from Ulaanbaatar to your drive.
