Why are cars so cheap in Somalia?

[Shimbiris]

I'll ask around a bit myself soon to find out why but why are cars so cheap here in Somalia? A normal sedan will go for like 1-3K USD and you can get some pretty nice SUVs for 7-11K USD. I remember seeing a nice little Mitsubishi 4x4, asking my cousin how much I could get one like that for and he explains it would probably go for 3-4K USD. Coming from the UAE I'm pretty flabbergasted.



Are they all used? Is it cos there's not really taxes and tariffs they have to go through? Why the hell are the prices so low?

 

[Yaraye]

Something seems off, i can't place my finger on it

 

[webslooth]

I'm assuming because the roads are dangerous to drive maybe they made cars cheaper there?

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Mostly 'cos cars are much older with very high mileage, with durability being the ultimate factor, and comfort being a non-factor.

The most popular are the 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser Haice 4WD just under 30,000$ i.e. one with => 200,000 miles fetches 27,000$.

My favourite is this monster. I rented it for a month, and it drove on rough roads like a turbo on an ombudsman (by a local driver of course, for I could not even attempt to drive it more than half a mile).

 

[Johnathan Smith]

Are you sure. I heard cars there are extremely expensive. There’s cars like this going for 2-3k

 

[onthecloud]

Cheap Chinese cars

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Funny story: there is a Chevy (could not recall the model), left rotting on the side of the road from Bosaso, and when I enquried the locals said: this was the first and only American SUV car, and after a few months, it broke down, and the local mechanics did not even know how to pop the bonnet, let alone what the coils were for - there are more familiar with spark plugs in Japanese motors, the reason you hardly see any American motors on the roads.

 

[CDG89]

because you are risking your life everytime you are in one lol.

 

[Burnt Cambuulo]

Cheap Chinese cars

Somalia and Africa in general Chinese vehicles have no presence on the roads unless of course you’re talking about heavy duty commercial vehicles like trucks. Toyota which is Japanese is king in Somalia and Africa at large, it’s very common you won’t go two steps without spotting one. Even the army uses Toyotas because they are too darn reliable and cheap

 

[Burnt Cambuulo]

Funny story: there is a Chevy (could not recall the model), left rotting on the side of the road from Bosaso, and when I enquried the locals said: this was the first and only American SUV car, and after a few months, it broke down, and the local mechanics did not even know how to pop the bonnet, let alone what the coils were for - there are more familiar with spark plugs in Japanese motors, the reason you hardly see any American motors on the roads.

There’s similar stories like that even in Kenya, the other issue of not finding mechanics that can fix the cars is that the prices of spare parts are expensive on top of that the parts are not readily available, your forced to order from overseas, most just give up and let the car collect dust or even sell it for parts or scrap

 

[𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒔𐒖𐒕𐒈]

Somalia and Africa in general Chinese vehicles have no presence on the roads unless of course you’re talking about heavy duty commercial vehicles like trucks. Toyota which is Japanese is king in Somalia and Africa at large, it’s very common you won’t go two steps without spotting one. Even the army uses Toyotas because they are too darn reliable and cheap

Actually I have seen more Chinese lorries in ardu Somali, and locals say they prefer them now to others.

There’s similar stories like that even in Kenya, the other issue of not finding mechanics that can fix the cars is that the prices of spare parts are expensive on top of that the parts are not readily available, your forced to order from overseas, most just give up and let the car collect dust or even sell it for parts or scrap

Garages in ardu Somali are now directly ordering from Japanese, and Chinese factories, with agents and distributions centres in Xamar, and are no longer going through 3rd parties in Dubai, as has been the case in the past. Cheaper, quicker deliveries, and more reliable (7 days, I think for Nissan, and Toyota).

 

[Shimbiris]

Mostly 'cos cars are much older with very high mileage, with durability being the ultimate factor, and comfort being a non-factor.

The most popular are the 1980s Toyota Land Cruiser Haice 4WD just under 30,000$ i.e. one with => 200,000 miles fetches 27,000$.

My favourite is this monster. I rented it for a month, and it drove on rough roads like a turbo on an ombudsman (by a local driver of course, for I could not even attempt to drive it more than half a mile).

So I got chatty with a taxi driver yesterday and it seems you're mostly on the mark. He said that mostly all the cars here in Somalia are used and are otherwise also old models. He said he'd be surprised if you could encounter a car beyond 2012 in dating unless you specifically imported it yourself for a pretty penny. So that's mostly why they're so cheap here.

 

[reer]

So I got chatty with a taxi driver yesterday and it seems you're mostly on the mark. He said that mostly all the cars here in Somalia are used and are otherwise also old models. He said he'd be surprised if you could encounter a car beyond 2012 in dating unless you specifically imported it yourself for a pretty penny. So that's mostly why they're so cheap here.

to be fair uk cars are also cheap. you can easily get a small old car for under 1k usd or around 500 uk pounds.