Turkish customs admit a car from the Kingdom in two cases only, and those are the cars we ship: a Turkish national settling back home after two or more years away, whose car is a recent model no older than three model years, has stood in their name for half a year before their latest entry and is presented inside six months of their return; or a foreign resident, whose car may enter on a temporary basis lasting as long as the permit. Gulf International Shipping picks the car up in your city, delivers it to Jeddah Islamic Port, straps it into a closed container and sends it via Suez, reaching Mersin after some five days at sea or carrying on to the Marmara ports near Istanbul; door to door that is roughly 14–32 days depending on the loading city and Turkish port. A sedan costs SAR 5,060 and up wherever in Saudi Arabia it starts, before the special consumption tax (ÖTV) and VAT that are paid in Turkey.
“Car shipping to Turkey” draws plenty of searches, but Turkey is one of the strictest countries for used-car imports, and many adverts sell the service without saying who can actually use it. So this guide starts with the question that comes before price: are you allowed to bring your car into Turkey at all? Then it covers the taxes, exporting the car through Absher and Fasah, how it is secured in the container, transit times, cost, where it clears and how you collect it.
In short
- Who qualifies: returning Turkish citizens, and foreign residents on a temporary import tied to their permit
- Car age for returnees: no more than 3 years by model year, registered in their name 6 months before last entry, once every 5 years
- Taxes: duty is waived for returnees; ÖTV (scaled to engine and value) and then VAT still apply
- Method: sealed container out of Jeddah, the car covered, chocked and strapped
- Transit: Jeddah to Mersin 14–20 days door to door, to Istanbul 18–28 days, plus 2–4 days from Riyadh, Dammam or Tabuk
- Price: from SAR 5,060 for a sedan; a 40 ft container for car plus furniture from SAR 6,440
- Saudi side: vehicle export on Absher, Fasah export declaration, bank release for financed cars
Route: your city → enclosed carrier to Jeddah port → container via Suez → Mersin or the Marmara ports → vehicle customs office → handover · From SAR 5,060 · 0568829975
Is shipping a car to Turkey from the Kingdom possible?
Yes, but for two defined groups rather than everyone. The first is a Turkish citizen who has lived outside Turkey for at least 24 months and is moving back permanently; this group may import a car permanently and register it on Turkish plates. The second is a foreigner holding a Turkish residence or work permit, who may bring a car in on a temporary basis that ends when the permit does. Buying a used car in Saudi Arabia to sell in Turkey falls under a permit-based import regime that individuals rarely get through, and we advise nobody to ship a car hoping it will “get through” customs.
So before quoting, our team asks you three things: your nationality and residence status in Turkey, the car’s model year, and the date it was registered in your name. Those answers tell us within minutes whether the car can go, and spare you the cost of moving a vehicle that would only end up stranded at the port.
Who can bring a car into Turkey?
Conditions are confirmed before shipping
The rules above come from summaries of Turkey’s customs exemption regulation published by customs-broker associations and Turkish consulates, and they can change. We therefore check your case with the broker at the Turkish port before the car leaves your driveway.
The returning Turkish citizen’s conditions in detail
Time abroad: you must have lived outside Turkey for at least 24 continuous months; short visits home do not break that period unless they exceed 6 months a year. Proof is your travel history printed from the Turkish e-government portal plus a relocation certificate obtained from the Turkish diplomatic missions in Riyadh or Jeddah.
Age of the car: no more than 3 years counted by model year, meaning a car whose model year is the current year or one of the two before it. An older car does not qualify under this concession, however good its condition.
Time registered to you: the car must have been registered in your name in Saudi Arabia for at least 6 months before your last entry into Turkey. Buy it two months before you fly and it will not qualify, which is why we ask for the registration card before anything else.
Window to import: the car is presented for clearance within 6 months of your last entry into Turkey. Since the voyage alone takes weeks, we start the Saudi export paperwork well before you travel so the window is not lost.
Once in 5 years, private cars only: the concession cannot be used again for 5 years and does not cover commercial vehicles. After import, specialists note that resale is restricted for a period, so do not plan to sell the car as soon as it lands.
Foreign residents in Turkey: a temporary import tied to the permit
Holders of a Turkish residence or work permit who are not Turkish citizens, Arabs included, get temporary import: the car enters and you use it while your permit is valid, you ask for an extension before the permit expires, and the car leaves Turkey or its status is settled when you leave. You must attend clearance in person, and a deposit set by the car’s age and engine size may be requested. You may not sell or lend the car to anyone resident in Turkey.
This suits people moving to Turkey to work or study for a set number of years who want their familiar car. It is not a route to owning the car on Turkish plates, so if you plan to settle permanently, do the sums calmly: selling in Saudi Arabia and buying in Turkey may be simpler.
Car taxes in Turkey: ÖTV and VAT
What surprises returnees most is that the exemption covers customs duty only. A returning citizen’s car pays no duty, but it does pay the special consumption tax ÖTV, followed by VAT calculated on the value after ÖTV is added. ÖTV rises with engine capacity and with the price of the car, and for big engines it climbs so steeply that the tax alone may outstrip what the car is worth.
So we tell every customer: before asking about freight, ask a Turkish broker to estimate the tax on your car by engine size and year. A small-engine car may carry a reasonable bill, while a large-engine SUV can make shipping uneconomic. The Gulf International Shipping freight charge is entirely separate from these taxes, which are paid straight to Turkish customs.
What car shipping to Turkey costs
We set our starting price against the lowest published price for shipping a car to Turkey among Saudi firms, and placed ours below it. The starting figure is the same from any Saudi city; the final price depends on the car’s size and the Turkish port:
Note: loaded at Jeddah, a car is in Mersin after 14–20 days and Istanbul after 18–28; Madinah adds one day, Riyadh or Tabuk two to three, Dammam three to four.
The price covers collection in your city, transfer to Jeddah on an enclosed carrier, covering and lashing in the container, and the sea freight. To compare with other services, see shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Exporting the car from Saudi Arabia: Absher and Fasah
Before the car heads to the port it has to be formally exported from Saudi Arabia. These are the Saudi-side steps as we follow them with customers:
- 1Settle traffic fines
Export is refused while unpaid violations sit on the car. - 2Check the registration is valid
An expired registration card delays export, so renew it first. - 3Bank release for a financed car
If the car is on instalments or lease, get a release letter from the finance company. - 4Request export on Absher
Export plates are issued and the Saudi plates cancelled under the Absher procedure. - 5Fasah export declaration
We file the customs export declaration on Fasah in your name with the container details.
How is the car secured in the container at Jeddah port?
The journey starts with an enclosed car carrier that collects the car from your home in Riyadh, Dammam, Tabuk or Madinah and brings it to the loading yard near Jeddah port, so it is never driven on the highway or exposed to dust and gravel. At the yard the car is photographed all round, its mileage and bodywork noted in a condition report that you also receive, and a made-to-measure cover goes on.
Inside the container each wheel sits on wooden chocks fixed to the floor, and a lashing strap goes over every tyre and is tightened with a metal ratchet, so the car cannot shift however the ship rolls. A 20 ft container usually takes one car and a 40 ft container two cars, or one car with a household. We ask you to leave the fuel at a minimum and remove personal items from the cabin and boot, because Turkish customs treat the car and its contents separately.
Car transit times to Turkey by loading city
All of these are estimates and can slip with ship schedules or slow Turkish clearance; vehicle formalities can add days to normal clearance because the papers are checked and the tax assessed. We check Red Sea shipping conditions before every booking.
Where does the car clear in Turkey, and how do you collect it?
Returning citizens’ cars do not clear at any customs office but at designated offices in Istanbul, Gebze, İzmir and Ankara. We therefore pick the port by the office nearest your city: Istanbul and Bursa via the Marmara ports, Ankara and central Anatolia via Mersin, with the car then moved under customs control to the right office. The owner attends in person or through a notarised power of attorney, depending on the procedure, with passport, relocation certificate and car papers.
Once ÖTV and VAT are paid and clearance is done, the car is handed to you at the yard or delivered to your address on a carrier, the cover is removed in front of you and its condition is checked against the Jeddah loading report. Registration and Turkish plates then follow with the relevant authorities there.
Your car and your furniture together in a 40 ft container
Many Turkish families returning from the Kingdom combine the car and the household in one container, paying for a 40 ft box from SAR 6,440 instead of two separate shipments. The car is lashed at the far end with straps and chocks, a timber bulkhead is built in front of it, and the wrapped furniture is stowed up to the doors. Whether this arrangement is accepted depends on the clearance procedure at the Turkish port, since furniture and car are handled on separate files, so we confirm it with the broker before loading. Furniture details are in furniture moving from Saudi Arabia to Turkey and Turkey used household goods customs.
What gets flown for your car?
The car itself only travels by sea inside a container, but air freight supports it in two ways. First the paperwork: the original registration card, export documents and spare key go by express courier from SAR 46, so they are with the broker before the container lands. Second, urgent spare parts: Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Madinah have nonstop flights to Istanbul as scheduled, and a part arrives within 3–5 working days from SAR 14 per kilo. Lithium batteries and flammable fluids cannot be flown. More on air freight from Saudi Arabia to Turkey.
Documents required to ship a car to Turkey
Costly mistakes when shipping a car to Turkey
- Shipping a car that is 4 or more years old by model year in the hope of an exception, so it is stuck at the port.
- Buying a new car weeks before departure, so it lacks 6 months in your name before your last entry.
- Arriving in Turkey and delaying the car until the 6-month window is nearly over.
- Budgeting for freight and forgetting ÖTV and VAT.
- Leaving personal items or devices in the car without declaring them.
- Trusting an advert offering any car to Turkey at a flat price without asking your nationality or model year.
What you get when we ship your car to Turkey
We check before we quote
Your eligibility, model year and registration date are verified before you pay a riyal.
Enclosed carrier and container
Your car is never driven on the highway and only sails inside a sealed, lashed container.
Condition report
Photos and odometer reading at loading in Jeddah, matched at handover in Turkey.
A price with a number
From SAR 5,060 for a sedan, with Turkish taxes stated separately.
Can your car be shipped to Turkey?
Send a photo of the registration card, your nationality and Turkish residence status, and we will reply with eligibility, price and the next sailing.
Related Turkey guides
- Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to Turkey and furniture moving to Turkey
- By city: Riyadh to Turkey, Jeddah to Turkey, Dammam to Turkey, Madinah to Turkey
- Sea freight to Turkey, household goods customs in Turkey, shipping prices to Turkey
- Car shipping service, customs clearance, all destinations
