The Carnet Deposit: What Drives the Cost and Why It Matters

Fewer topics get more repeated questions on overlanding forums and groups than the Carnet de Passages en Douane – What is it? What countries require it? It costs how much!? Briefly, just to ensure we’re on the same page, a quick definition. It’s a guarantee, backed by either your money or that of a carnet issuing agency, that you won’t sell your vehicle in another country, bypassing their tariffs and undercutting the local market.

For this article, I’ll only be discussing the cost aspect – what drives the upfront layout, how the carnet deposit can be funded, and implications for your route and return.

The cost of the carnet deposit is determined by the value of your vehicle and the countries you intend to visit. Some countries have a notoriously high carnet requirement – Pakistan requires a deposit worth 200% of your vehicle’s value(!) Regardless of the number of countries you intend to visit, the country with the highest carnet requirement will drive the cost of your carnet.

(Don’t be tempted to fudge the value of your vehicle in an effort to reduce the deposit. The internet exists everywhere, and a savvy bureaucrat could notice the discrepancy and end your trip then and there by impounding your vehicle.)

There are two ways to fund the carnet: Either with a cash deposit, or in the form of a bond paid to a carnet agency. With a deposit, the money is returned to you when you return the carnet and every “in” country stamp has an accompanying “out” stamp. (Note that the refund can take quite a bit of time to be processed. The Czechia Autoclub, who issued my last carnet, took 26 weeks to issue the refund. It was stated up-front in the paperwork, so fair play; but they took the entire 26 weeks, nearly to the day.) The bond payment method is essentially an insurance policy against you selling the vehicle while traveling; and while it costs less, there is no refund. In either case, there will also be a non-refundable admin and processing fee of up to a few hundred dollars.

One advantage of funding the carnet with a cash deposit is that it serves as a forced savings account for when the trip ends and you find yourself back in your home country, ready to re-start what passes for normal life. A cash infusion can be just what is needed (literally). The obvious downsides are that the money is tied up in the carnet issuer’s bank, not gaining interest or dividends. It’s also not accessible, should you need it for an emergency.

The bond payment’s main advantage is the lower up-front cost. This is especially salient as the value of your travel vehicle climbs; it’s not inconceivable that the cost of a trip could double because of the cost of the carnet deposit. The bond payment is “one-and-done”, eliminating a significant variable from an already complex budget.

Something worth considering: Once you’ve established which countries are to be included on your carnet, making changes on the road can be difficult. For example, your intended route through Central Asia to China becomes a no-go because of political turmoil, natural disaster or a poorly-timed pandemic, and your only eastbound diversion is through India, which isn’t on your carnet. Options are to get a second carnet specifically for India, with the associated costs, or return your existing carnet, assuming it is not currently in a “carnet country”, and deal with the logistics of sending & receiving documents by courier and moving money around from the road. If you are in a “carnet country”, you’d have to exit and get your carnet “stamped out” before it could be refunded, which could mean living in “no man’s land” between countries while it all gets sorted. Not an enviable position! Give extra attention to the potential “pinch points” along your route – the places where a closed border could result in a major trip disruption.

The cost of the carnet touches all major aspects of your intended trip – the budget, the route, the timing, and the vehicle choice. That’s a lot for a document that most early-stage trip planners aren’t even aware of!