20 years ago, Iranian "Samands" began to be assembled in Belarus. How do they look now and how much do they cost?

Photo: av.by

A Creditable Attempt

The Iran Khodro Samand sedan was created based on the Peugeot 405, which was released in the distant year of 1987. Therefore, the prospect of setting up the assembly of such a car in 2006 immediately raised doubts. But the unknown brand and the very fact of the model's outdatedness were not the only things that influenced the fate of this project.

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Peugeot 405 — a car that was re-engineered under its own brand in Iran. Photo: av.by

It must be understood that until mid-2011, there were quite low customs duties on importing cars from other countries to Belarus. For example, for a 3-10-year-old car with a 1.6-liter engine, one had to pay only 640 euros in duty, and for a 2-liter one — 800.

Because of this, the Samand had very low demand among the population from the very beginning, and state organizations were the main buyers of the French-Iranian-Belarusian car.

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Photo from the Samand presentation

At the same time, the initial plans were quite ambitious. By the end of 2006, they planned to produce 820 cars, and in 2007 — no less than 4 thousand. Along with this, it was planned to achieve a fairly high level of localization — up to 35-50%.

As a result, throughout the entire existence of the project, only about 2000 cars were produced. The new Iranian-Belarusian sedan cost about 12,500 dollars.

How much do they cost now?

Currently, there are 12 Belarusian-assembled cars from 2006-2013 on sale. The cheapest of them is listed for only 850 dollars. This is a 2006 car with a stated mileage of 300 thousand kilometers.

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Photo: av.by

The car is running, but requires major body repair and replacement of the bearing in the rear beam.

Next up are cars for 1300-2000 dollars.

For 6000 rubles ($2067), a car that looks quite decent is being sold. According to the description, its frame rails have already been rewelded and the engine replaced.

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Photo: av.by

The engine, like other technical parts, fits from a Peugeot.

Since it is technically a Peugeot, there are no problems with spare parts. However, with body parts, everything is difficult. They are all their own, Iranian, and these cars, as time has shown, do not resist corrosion very well.

There are also several restyled cars from the last years of production for sale.

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One of the last restyled Samands from 2012. This car is listed for 4400 dollars. Photo: av.by

For a variant with body defects in the form of rust, they ask 3300 dollars, and for allegedly trouble-free variants from 2011-2012 — 4300-4400 dollars.

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