Buying used car parts from Dubai for Egypt

Egypt's import regulation, Ministerial Decree 770 of 2005, starts from one rule: imported goods must be new. Used goods are allowed only where its Annex 2 names them or the trade minister approves a case. For vehicles and their spare parts, Annex 2 says the used parts allowed are limited to fenders, doors, engines, gearboxes and body parts other than the chassis, dampers, differentials, rims, dashboards and springs.

That list is short, and it decides what we can sensibly quote for an Egyptian buyer. A used engine, gearbox, door, fender or rim is on it. A used alternator, starter motor, radiator, air-conditioning compressor, brake part, headlamp, tyre, battery or electronic control unit is not named, so under the default rule it would have to be bought new. Whole used vehicles are a separate ban: Egypt generally allows a vehicle in only if it is under one year old.

Two cautions. The English wording above comes from the regulation's published English text, an unofficial translation prepared for Egypt's trade ministry, and only the Arabic is authentic. Egypt's export and import control authority has posted current versions of other Annex 2 entries, amended in 2024 and 2025 for plastic and rubber scrap, paper, rags and glass, but none for the vehicle entry. Even so, your Egyptian customs broker should confirm the current Arabic wording before you pay for anything.

A half-cut raises an obvious question. The list says body parts other than the chassis, so a cut vehicle that still carries chassis structure is not obviously covered, and a whole vehicle is banned. We do not suggest either would pass. Ask your broker in writing first, and ask for the engine or gearbox on its own if the broker says the cut vehicle is not accepted.

Anyone importing goods to resell must be on Egypt's Importers Register under Law 121 of 1982. Companies importing for their own operational use, such as a workshop for its own jobs or a fleet for its own vehicles, are exempt from registering, according to a June 2026 legal guide. We cannot register anyone or act as your importer; your clearing agent or broker handles this.

New car parts carry their own condition. Annex 3 of the same regulation, which Egypt's export and import control authority posted again in amended form in August 2026, says car parts and spare parts other than body parts, bought for trading, must be shipped from the country of origin, from the maker's main centres or branches, from distribution centres the maker owns or certifies, or from the holders of the trademark. On a plain reading, a part made elsewhere and shipped by a Dubai trader that is none of those does not fit.

The regulation also treats imports for the importer's own business differently from imports for trading. It calls spare parts that serve the importer's own activity private use, and the source condition is written for imports for trading. Which side a given order falls on is a question for your broker, not for us. It is the reason to ask before you buy rather than after the crate reaches Port Said.

Every shipment into an Egyptian port must carry an ACID number, the advance cargo identification number issued through Egypt's Nafeza portal. It has applied to sea freight since 1 October 2021. For air freight it became mandatory on 1 January 2026, after a pilot that ran through the autumn of 2025. The importer in Egypt starts the process on Nafeza and passes the number to the party shipping from Dubai.

The party shipping from Dubai then files the invoice, packing list and bill of lading against that number on a platform called CargoX, at least 48 hours before arrival by sea. Documents with no ACID number are rejected, and a container whose bill of lading lacks the number can be returned to its origin. The practical point is simple: get the number from your importer before your cargo agent books space, and give it to the agent in writing.

None of this is our paperwork. We quote the part, and a person tells you when it is ready for your agent. The booking, the ACID filing and the Egyptian customs entry sit with your agent and your importer. If either asks us for a part number, a photo or a description for their documents, we give it.

We do not move parts abroad. A person quotes the unit on WhatsApp, and when you accept, your own cargo agent in Dubai collects it. A Deira cargo agent's published terms list Egypt among the African destinations it serves, quote by weight or volume, and advise buyers to check whether a quote includes destination customs, duties, taxes, port charges and final delivery. Ask for that in writing, because our quote includes none of them.

Engines, gearboxes, differentials and body panels are heavy or bulky, so they normally go by sea, either in a shared container or a full one, rather than by courier. Egypt's Mediterranean ports include Alexandria, Port Said and Damietta, and its Red Sea ports include Suez and Safaga. Which port suits you depends on your importer's clearing agent, not on us.

Sailings between the Gulf and Egypt pass through the Red Sea. In September 2026 container lines were still restoring Red Sea services while the security situation around Bab el-Mandeb remained unsettled, which is why schedules and surcharges move and why a transit time quoted last month may not hold. We give no delivery time; your agent gives you the booked sailing.

Do not put fluids, wet or lithium batteries, airbags or seat-belt pretensioners, gas-charged shock absorbers or an undrained engine on a courier air booking. They are dangerous goods that need a dangerous-goods contract, and a drained engine is what an agent expects to be handed.

Egyptian customs charges belong to the importer, not to us, and our quotes exclude them. VAT is 14% and is worked out on the invoice value with freight and insurance, known as CIF, plus the customs duty and any other taxes. Customs duty depends on the tariff line the broker classes the part under. Egypt's general range is 0% to 60% of CIF, with far higher rates for passenger cars, luxury goods and alcohol.

We publish no duty rate for a part, because the broker decides the classification and a wrong guess on a page would cost you money. Ask the broker for a written estimate against the part number and the price we quote, and keep it with the order. The figures below are the ones that follow a part into Egypt.

Egyptian buyers know that paying for imports has not always been simple. In early 2022 the central bank told banks to finance imports through letters of credit instead of documentary collections, and the used-car-parts division of Port Said's chamber of commerce objected that a single credit took about 60 days to process. In late December 2022 a central bank circular scrapped the requirement and allowed collection documents again.

This is background, not advice. We do not name a payment method on this page: a person confirms how to pay on WhatsApp before anything is collected. Egypt's rules for paying foreign suppliers have moved more than once since 2022, so your bank and your importer should confirm what works on your side as well.

Egypt's new-car market recovered strongly in 2025: sales of new light vehicles reached 163,199, up 68.8% on 2024. Nissan led with 16% and Chevrolet followed with 14.7%, then Chery, MG and Hyundai, and the best-selling models were the Nissan Sunny, the Chevrolet T-Series pickup and the Hyundai Elantra. New-car sales are only a rough guide to what is in service, but they show which makes an Egyptian workshop will see most, so name Nissan, Chevrolet or Hyundai units when you write to us.

Used parts are a long-standing trade in Port Said, where a 2022 report described the Bank Housing area's market selling cut vehicles by the half, the quarter, the door, the roof or the boot lid, from Chinese, German, Japanese and Korean cars. Whether a consignment qualifies at the port is decided by customs and the Annex 2 list above, not by a news report, so read that report as colour about the market and not as a rule.

The UAE reported USD 53.5 million of vehicle parts and accessories exported to Egypt in 2024, against USD 268 million of cars. The statistic does not separate used parts from new ones, so it shows that parts move on this lane, not how much of it is used stock.

Write the car first: make, model, year and, best of all, the VIN or the chassis plate, because UAE stock mixes GCC-spec and Japanese-spec units and the fit must be checked before anything is quoted. Then the part: name it as it appears on the Annex 2 list, add the engine code for an engine or gearbox, and attach a photo of the old unit and its label.

Say whether you are buying for resale or for your own workshop or fleet, name the cargo agent who will collect in Dubai, and say whether your importer already holds the ACID number. If you want a price list or a mixed order from several suppliers, ask for the trade route instead, because that conversation has different minimums.

A person replies with what is available and a quote. We name no delivery time, because collection and freight belong to your agent, and we never state a price on this page: every figure comes from a person on WhatsApp for your car and your part.