Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Vehicle rules for our "original" Charity Rally finally released...

We can basically take a commercial van or truck, or find an additional USD 2500 to cover import tax on any of the vehicles that, in my mind, I thought would be ideal - i.e. 4x4s

I have been fannying about, unsure about making the switch to the rival rally until these vehicle rules were confirmed, but feel comfortable now that we're making the right decision. The prospect of trying to get one of the tax exempt vehicles donated to us in the current economic climate and then raising £1500 between the two of us and also finding the money to fund visas, travel, flights etc is just too over-whelming for our first time out.

The new rally means more upfront payment from us, but also allows us to choose our charity and focus all our energies on raising money for a worthy cause rather than trying to satisfy all the conditions to make it to the start line. More to follow once the deposits are paid, but in the meantime, if you do happen to have any of the undermentioned vehicles you'd like to give to the people of Mongolia, feel free to get in touch!
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Rule 1: Tax exempt models for 2010 can be no older than 9 years old, therefore for 2010, your vehicle has to have been manufactured in 2001 or later.
Rule 2: To be tax exempt, your vehicle must be one of the following:
  • Single cab pick-up truck (see models below – if you have a model in mind that is not on our list, email us and we’ll see if we can get an exemption for it).
  • Ambulance [Separate cabin, room enough to carry gurney and medical supplies]
  • Truck/lorry. [Single cab, NTE 3½ tonnes.]
Please find below an indicative table of the models that are exempt. We will supplement this from time to time.

Table of tax exempt vehicles
Make
Tax Exempt Model
Land Rover
Defender Ambulance
Nissan
Navara (Single cab)

Cabster
Ford
Escort

Transit cargo vans

Minibus/school bus

Medium duty trucks

Pickups
Mitsubishi
Canter
Isuzu
Trucks
Mercedes
Ambulance


NON-TAX EXEMPT VEHICLES
 If you really don’t want to take a tax exempt vehicle, no problem! But you can pay the tax man! You will need to transfer the import tax to us before you leave for Mongolia.
There are two tiers of tax exempt vehicles:
  • Preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
  • Non-preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
Regardless of which type of non-tax exempt vehicle you take, your vehicle cannot be older than 9 years old, so must have been manufactured in or after 2001 for the Mongolia Charity Rally 2010.
Preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
You need to:
1. (a) Review the table below of preferred, non-tax exempt vehicles, and if your vehicle falls within it;
(b) proceed to review the tax brackets below to see what tax will be payable on your vehicle.

Table of preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
Make
Taxed Model
Land Rover
Defender

Discovery
Nissan
Terrano

Patrol

Pathfinder

Navara (double cab)

X-Trail
Toyota
Landcruiser

Highlander
Mitsubishi
Pajero
Isuzu
Trooper
Subaru
Forester

Tribeca

Legacy
Jeep
Cherokee

Patriot

Liberty
Mercedes
GLK Class

GL Class

M Class
Honda
Pilot

CR-V


Tax payable on preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
4x4 Import Taxes
Import tax amount (in USD)

Year since manufacture
Size of engine
0-3 years
4-9 years
1
1500 cc and below
500
1000
2
1501-2500 cc
1500
2000
3
2500 cc and above
2000
2500

6 comments:

  1. Ridiculous.

    Like - WHATEVVVA!

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  2. I know! Talk about making life difficult. The other guys have more of a "we'll just flog it for scrap if we can't sell it" attitude, which I much prefer! It's still money for charity they wouldn't otherwise have got, right?

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  3. We're not out to make things difficult, quite the contrary, we're out to make things easier for the Mongolian people.

    The other rally may have the "scrap attitude" but this almost encourages the teams to literally destroy and maim their cars. I can remember a team called Baatar Mobile whose car was literally dragged into Sukhbaatar Square - because their Polo only had one wheel left. They left this crumpled leaking remnant in front of Dave's place. In the end it did make some money - a whopping 21,000 Mongolian Tugrugs, or a little over £9.

    We're doing everything we can to push that profit ratio as high as possible so that the charities in Mongolia get the maximum benefit. We also encourage more team involvement with the charities so you know EXACTLY where the money you are raising is going. They probably didn't tell Team Baatar Mobile where that £9 went; it probably cost more than that to move the heap to the junk yard.

    They other rally won't give you any kind of personal service helping to pick out your vehicle, we will. In fact I'm up most of the night doing just that. The other rally is notorious for their "hands off" attitude, almost proudly including it as part of the "adventure." We'll work with you as much as possible to make your adventure as mutually beneficial as possible: you get an awesome experience and the Mongolians get cars they can sell for thousands and not tens of pounds.

    In the end it's your choice: a little more effort on your part (with our help) to bring a worthy valuable vehicle that will be useful for years, or a lot less effort and bring something that may not last one Mongolian winter. I'm available on Skype as DNAgent; I'll be more than happy to talk to you about how you can mitigate costs. In the end it is about what rally you can afford, but before you make a decision, at least look into the options and how the vehicles we're recommending are going to be used in Mongolia.

    I'm always very happy to help you and the other teams as much as possible, after all, it's my job.

    Fel J. Cruz
    The Big Kahuna
    Go Help

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3:02 am

    Wow. Tattie - are you for real? You think driving a piece of sh1t to another country, leaving on their doorstep and calling it "charity" is kosher? As a 2009 rallier on the Mongolia Charity Rally, the rules were a bit more relaxed but at least I saw where my vehicle went. The Mongol Rally scrap-yard is a sight for sore eyes at the border. Enjoy the Mongol Rally - if you just want a joyride and don't give a sh1t about charity, they're just waiting for you. JD

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  5. Hey Fel and anonymous, thanks for your comments. Fel, I hoped to reply to Steven's email last night but unfortunately didn't get the chance - will do so today. T.

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  6. Anonymous - I obviously touched a nerve with my admittedly flippant remark about flogging it for scrap. What can I say, I sometimes forget I'm not just talking to my mates on here and I was at the height of my frustration / disappointment with how the Vehicle Rules for the MCR had panned out.

    To clarify: we are not planning on driving a "piece of shit" car anywhere, we are not planning on "dumping it" on anyone's doorstep, and - as it happens - we are not planning on taking part in the Mongol Rally.

    Congratulations on completing the 2009 Mongolian Charity Rally.

    ReplyDelete