Izmir Travel Forum

Hi, I am moving to Izmir in a couple of months and I am so excited! I have heard that the majority of the vehicles are small, compact cars. I have a newer Tacoma truck that I want to ship to Turkey. Can anyone tell me if this is a bad idea or not? Will my truck get all wrecked up, or should I purchase a compact car if I can? I appreciate any help, or tips anyone can give me!! Thank you!

Turkey has a reputation about gasoline prices, it costs 1.66$ 1 liter, in other words 1 gallon costs 6.28$(not ~2$),because of that there are plenty of small cars and the owners who dont like to pay a fortune .So if you dont care about paying a compact car price for Tacomas annual gasoline consumption and taxs and fighting with many official procedures then it may be good idea shipping it to Izmir;).Don't worry about the roads conditions..

Izmir is a big city and if it's anything like Istanbul then lots of people are getting 4wd SUV's.If you buy a car here then you don't pay the local taxes being a foreigner,so it's cheap as the tax makes up around 50% of the price here.

Thanks for your help! I truly appreciate it! I guess it will be safe to bring my truck as long as I can pay for the large gas bill!

im living in izmir. its not only the oil prices but theres also trouble in parking. you cant take your truck to the city centre. But if you have a compact car, you are lucky that some suspicious man can take your key and 10-20 YTL and look after your car if you wish. besides truck is not the kind of vehicle we drive here. if you are used to big vehicles you can easily buy any any kind of 4X4, and/or BMW, saab, volvo, mercedes, audi which are the most appriciated big cars. I completely agree with mark. High taxes is the reason for dearth but you dont pay taxes.
if you wonder anything about izmir please feel free to ask me.

if you are a surfer, you will love alaçatı windsurfers paradise( number one in europe) near izmir:)

Yeah, I didn't think that very many people drove trucks in Izmir. What do you mean by the city center? Is that the whole city, or just a part in the city? (Sorry I am not used to big cities). So you suggest that I not bring my truck? I am trying to buy a compact car before I leave, but I'm not sure if I will have time to because I leave for Izmir in 2 months! Oh, and yes, I absolutely love to surf! If there is a place to go, I will bring my surfboard with me :) Thank you for your help!

Yeah, I'm moving too over there and I'm bringing my Hyundai Sonata. My car has limo tint on the back window and back passenger sides-are they very strict on tint issues? Should I have them removed here or wait till I get there? They're charging me $60 here at the Bay Area.

Wouldn't worry about the tint,by the state of some cars still on the road and the way they're driven,as long as it's got 4 wheels then you can drive it.I will send a picture to show what i mean.

Hi, just came across your posting. The No Trucks in the city of Izmir applies to large commercial vehicles and applies to Karsiyaka also. I notice that nobody mentioned to you that you will need what is called a Blue Carnet which is required for vechicles registered outside Turkey and those belonging to foreign nationals with resident and work permits and are valid for one year( and can be extended). Check out: www.eura-relocation.com/countrypages/turkey.htm. Fuel was around 1.73 YTL per litre for unleaded petrol when I was in Izmir in August. The consensus would be to purchase a car/ jeep, etc in Turkey and sell on at a later date as they really hold there value - unlike here in Ireland!