A 23 year old Toyota Corolla

Last month we rented a car.  After 6 months without a vehicle, we finally broke down (we are not the salt of the earth people we were hoping to be).  It is now much easier to get the kids back and forth to various activities and social events and of course easier for us to get to work and be back home in good time. 

 

Our landlord found us a vehicle and we are now the lucky renters of a 1990 red Toyota Corolla.  A very popular car.  According to Wikipedia over 39 million Corollas have been sold as of 2012.

There are many elderly cars roaming the streets of Addis, mostly because the import taxes on new cars are huge. 

Here is some information from the Ethiopian Customs and Duty Tariff site.  A motor car is liable to five different taxes.   An example:  A vehicle with a cylinder capacity greater than 3000 cc is subject to the following taxes:

Duty Rate: 35%
Excise Tax: 100%
VAT: 15%
Sur Tax: 10%
Withholding tax: 3%


This gives a grand total of 163% tax to the assigned value of a car. As well, one is unable to import “old” cars into Ethiopia.  As a result, old cars currently residing in Ethiopia, retain their value quite well.

Mike is the driver of the red Corolla and has an Ethiopian drivers license, valid from 2005-2007 (Ethiopian Calendar).  He is doing an excellent job negotiating the tricky and unpredictable Addis traffic.  The kids and I are the passengers and are doing an excellent job of trying not to be backseat drivers.