FR-MKT · BEIRUT · 19 Oct 2026
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What a US auction car costs landed in Beirut, and why customs ignores your bid
Sources last checked 19 October 2026.
This guide goes through every cost between the hammer and a car registered in Beirut, and marks which numbers are sourced and which you fill in. For the full rules, see Importing a US auction car into Lebanon. Nothing here is customs advice.
The landed cost, line by line
1. Hammer price + buyer fees (you enter). The hammer is your bid. Buyer fees come from the auction's own published schedule and depend on the auction, your account type, the price and how you pay. FlipRadar doesn't publish auction fee tables. Use the fee the auction shows for your account.
2. US inland transport (you enter). Towing from the yard to the export port. We found no sourced public figure, so get it from your transporter or forwarder (many bundle it into the freight quote).
3. Ocean freight to Beirut (range, not a price). Shared container about $1,800–$2,600 per car from the East Coast (Seaway Export), from $2,500 NY/NJ and Baltimore, from $2,800 Texas (BR Logistics). RoRo from $1,255 (BR Logistics, East Coast/Galveston, cars up to 650 cft) and about $1,300–$1,700 (BidGoDrive). Transit about 20–35 days (Seaway). All accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally.
4. Port and clearing (you enter). Clearing-agent and port fees: Not found as public figures. The agent's customs table explicitly excludes them, so ask your agent.
5. Customs, consumption fee and VAT (formula on the reference value, not your price).
- Customs duty: LBP 500,000 on the first LBP 20 million of value, then 5% above. Internal consumption fee: LBP 4,500,000 on the first LBP 20 million, then 45% above. VAT 11% on value + duty + fee. (Lebanese Customs, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
- At the official 89,500 LBP per USD (BdL, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally), LBP 20 million is only about $223, so for almost every car the percentages apply to nearly the whole reference value.
- A 3% import fee on VAT-able imports runs to 31 Dec 2030 (Budget Law 2026, Art. 42). (ALDIC, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally) Whether the agent's table below includes it: Not found, so ask.
- Don't apply these percentages to your hammer. Use the reference value your agent quotes, or the official used-car fee calculator.
6. Registration (you enter, with one reported example). Registration is at the Traffic, Trucks and Vehicles Management Authority (Dekwaneh). The fee is proportional to the official value. One reported case: a 2020 car bought for $8,000 paid about $3,300 in 2024 fees. (Mizan, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally) That's a different car from the examples below, so don't copy it across. Periodic inspection has been suspended since May 2022 (Mizan · estimate — confirm locally). RHD isn't accepted. (IAM, accessed 19 Oct 2026 · estimate — confirm locally)
7. Repair (you enter). Repair has to clear the damage rules above. Structural, flood and fire history is the problem, not just the cost to fix. Published garage prices are weak sources, so we don't quote them here.
Worked example 1: 2018 Toyota Corolla LE, RoRo
Car choice and route are illustrative. The customs figure is the agent's table value; freight is sourced. estimate — confirm locally.
| Line | Basis | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Customs charges (customs + consumption fee + VAT) | Agent table 04/2026, at 89,500 (Hassan Barakat) | ≈ 5,950 |
| RoRo freight | from $1,255 (BR Logistics) | from 1,255 |
| Sourced subtotal | from ≈ 7,205 | |
| Hammer, buyer fee, US inland, clearing/port, registration, repair | You enter (illustrative) | — |
Timing warning: a 2018 car is at the age line. It passes the 8-year rule in 2026, but a forwarder says 2018-and-older cars are refused from 1 Jan 2027 (Ghanem). A car still at sea on 1 January could miss it. estimate — confirm locally.
Worked example 2: 2022 Toyota Camry SE, shared container from the East Coast
Illustrative choice; sourced figures. estimate — confirm locally.
| Line | Basis | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Customs charges | Agent table 04/2026 (Hassan Barakat) | ≈ 9,950 |
| Shared container | $1,800–$2,600 (Seaway) | 1,800–2,600 |
| Sourced subtotal | ≈ 11,750–12,550 | |
| Everything else | You enter | — |
In both examples the customs charge is set by the model and year, before you've bid a dollar. That's why the warning at the top matters.
Put it into the free calculator
The live max bid calculator is free and needs no account. It's a USD worksheet: max bid = resale − repair − buyer fee − transport − title and registration − target profit. It has no customs or tax fields and doesn't know Beirut. So you add your landed costs to its existing lines:
| Calculator line | What to put in it for Beirut |
|---|---|
| Est. resale | Your realistic Beirut sale price, converted to USD (most Lebanese asking prices are already in USD) |
| Est. repair | Your repair estimate, in USD |
| Buyer fee | Choose "Fee I type" and enter the fee from the auction's own published schedule. The site's bands are placeholders |
| Transport | US inland transport + ocean freight + clearing-agent and port fees |
| Title and registration | Your clearing agent's customs figure for the exact model and year (not a percentage of your bid) + registration fee |
| Target profit | The margin you need, in USD |
Never estimate Lebanese customs as a percentage of the hammer. It's based on a reference value, so a percentage of your bid will understate it on cheap salvage. Enter the agent's dollar figure.
Blank lines count as $0, and the worksheet shows that. A blank isn't a researched number.
Want this inside the browser? The FlipRadar Chrome extension version with Market Profiles (1.1.0) adds USD-first amounts with LBP alongside, landed cost at your port, a walk-away line, and stop-flags for structural, flood and fire damage plus a warning for the 8-year age limit. It's in private beta and not in the Chrome Web Store. To try it, email hello@theflipradar.com and ask for the private beta. To hear when it's released, use Get updates below. Product updates only.
FlipRadar is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any auction company or Lebanese Customs.
FAQ
Does Lebanese customs use my auction price?
No. Lebanese Customs values a used car from published reference guides such as Blue Book and Schwacke, not from the purchase invoice (customs.gov.lb, accessed 19 Oct 2026). A low hammer price doesn't lower the duty. Estimate — confirm locally with a licensed clearing agent.
How do I calculate the landed cost of a US auction car in Beirut?
Add the hammer price, the auction's buyer fees, US inland transport, ocean freight, clearing and port fees, the customs charges your clearing agent quotes for the exact model and year, and registration, then the repair. Freight ranges and the customs formula are from public pages accessed 19 Oct 2026. Estimate — confirm locally.
How much is customs on a used car in Lebanon?
A licensed clearing agent's April 2026 table lists about $5,950 in customs charges for a 2018 Toyota Corolla LE and about $9,950 for a 2022 Toyota Camry SE, excluding clearing, shipping and port fees (Hassan Barakat, accessed 19 Oct 2026). Estimate — confirm locally.
Is there an age limit for importing cars into Lebanon?
trade.gov lists passenger vehicles older than eight years as a prohibited import into Lebanon (accessed 19 Oct 2026), and a forwarder says 2018-and-older cars are refused for Beirut from 1 January 2027. Estimate — confirm locally.
Does the FlipRadar calculator include Lebanese customs?
No. The free max bid calculator is a USD worksheet with no customs fields. Put your clearing agent's customs figure for the exact model and year into its Title and registration line, not a percentage of your bid.
Is there a FlipRadar tool that does this in the browser?
The FlipRadar Chrome extension version with Lebanon Market Profiles is in private beta and isn't in the Chrome Web Store. Email hello@theflipradar.com to ask for the private beta.
Sources (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Lebanese Customs, used-car fee calculator: customs.gov.lb
- Hassan Barakat, licensed clearing agent, American cars 04/2026: hassanbarakat.com
- trade.gov, Lebanon prohibited imports: trade.gov
- Ghanem Forwarding notice: ghanemforwarding.com
- Grand LB (Art. 348): grandlb.com
- BdL rate: bdl.gov.lb
- ALDIC, Budget Law 2026: aldic.net
- Mizan, registration example: mizanlebanon.com
- IAM country guide: iamovers.org
- Freight: Seaway Export · BR Logistics · BidGoDrive