As many of you have probably seen on Facebook we were
finally able to import the Land Cruiser we fundraised for last Saturday. This is a huge answer to prayer as it has
been in port for about a month and a half, and importing it has been a very
stressful process for everyone involved.
We love it – it is perfect for the roads here, and as anyone who has
read The Camry Diaries
knows, I have a soft spot for Toyotas.
(And everyone tells me we will appreciate it a lot more once rainy
season comes).
Unfortunately however, it is not all good news – we had to pay significantly
more than we had planned on (or fundraised for) in order to import it.
There are a few reasons we imported a new vehicle instead of buying used here,
but the biggest one was import duties.
To import a vehicle into Mozambique, you normally have to pay 100% of
the value of the vehicle in duties. This
gets passed on when a vehicle is sold, so even a 10 year old 4x4 with 100,000
miles on it sells for about $25,000. The
road conditions here mean that used vehicles are in much worse condition than
they would be in the US, and most of the time the closest spare parts are in
South Africa, which means it takes a couple of weeks to get them if a car
breaks down.
Ambassador Aviation (MAF’s name in Mozambique) meets the requirements to import
new 10 passenger vehicles duty free, so for $35,000 we could import a brand new
Toyota Land Cruiser with fold down seats in the back to fit 10 passengers (and
it is not hard to end up with 10 people here).
The value of a brand new vehicle that will last much longer with less
maintenance made this a very good choice, and MAF Mozambique imported two of
the same model of vehicle without problems in the last year. And with most of us driving the same model,
when they do get old we can share parts.
When the Land Cruiser we ordered showed up in port though, instead of
classifying it as a 10 passenger vehicle, Customs looked at its 4x4
capabilities and classified it as “Jeep Category” vehicle, which must pay 100%
duty. While this Land Cruiser is a 10
passenger vehicle, it does also meet all the requirements to be considered
“Jeep Category.” Mozambique is going
through a very difficult financial crisis and the government struggling to pay
the bills, so it seems as they have shifted their policy to charge duty for the
higher of the two options when a vehicle can be classified differently.
Diniz, our Mozambican administrator who is AMAZING, worked with a clearing agent for
the last month and a half trying to find a way to reclassify it and import it
for less. At one point they thought they
had figured out a way import it for about $15,000, but after paying that, the
computer system in the capital rejected it, and we learned the only way to
import it would be to pay the rest of the full amount. If you do not pay Customs the required amount
they impound the vehicle and keep it. We
could have applied to get the $15,000 back, but that process often takes one or
two years, and the outcome is not at all sure.
At this point we had about $50,000 invested in the Land Cruiser, and our
choices were to either to lose it all or pay the remaining $20,000 to import
it.
We chose to import it, and now we have two options. If we fundraise a significant portion of duty
fees MAF will help cover them and we can keep it. Otherwise we can sell it for around $50,000,
eat the $20,000 loss, and still need to fundraise about $10,000 to buy a 4x4 in
the 10 year old, 100,000 miles range.
Either way we need to raise some, so MAF has left our vehicle account open, and
we will see what God does with it.
Please pray for wisdom making this decision, and please prayerfully consider
making a donation to our vehicle fund.
We have been overwhelmed by all of your generosity already and we really
appreciate your support and prayers!
If you would like to make a donation towards this (which is tax deductible) you
can do so online here,
by phone at 1-800-359-7623 (reference fund 4986), or with a check made out to
MAF with “Nace Vehicle, 4986” in the memo line mailed to:
Mission Aviation Fellowship
P.O. Box 47
Nampa, ID 83653
Thank you so much!
In Christ,
Grady, Holly, Diego and Lucas
