Importing american Classic Car

Lindopski

I notice plenty of adverts at the moment with American Wild Western Desert scrapyards selling old american classics very cheap - things like a 70 dodge charger,59 caddy or a 65 mustang going for $5k for example - cars that would set you back about £30k+ over here.
I appreciate that these old scrappers need work though some are running cars and being desert based have pretty much no rust - just plenty of sunburn.

I was just wondering how much it actually costs to ship these old wrecks over and get them UK legal - I recall you used to have to !!!! around with indicators etc once upon a time to make the DVLA/C who-ever happy.

Its good to know a little in advance though this is something I cant do for some time yet. 50s and 60s mechanics is a bit more my level (less computers)

Hintza

You will need to fly out an pick your scrapper then contact shippers in the US, have it transported in a container to a port then shipped to the UK. They will then ask how much it cost to buy + shipping and charge you 20% VAT, there might also be an import charge.

Once you get it here you will need to organise for parts to be sent from the US paying import duty and VAT on them too.

Doddle!?

forgotmyname

It used to be your $5000 car would cost £5000 by the time it reached these shores, Then you have issues with swapping lights and a few other MOT bits. Registration etc. Not sure how new rules apply? Standard MOT or stricter check?

For $5000 im guessing it will be an absolute wreck and need new everything....Unobtainable trim or expensive remanufactured parts.

Where do you get £30k+ from? One of the rare models? Your not going to get one of those for $5000.

Checkout ebay £8000 will get you a legal ready to drive 1965 mustang. 64-66 for £7000.

To get something worth £30k you will spend £50k+ on work.

Ever watch Mark Evans? ( i think) Rebuilt an Etype cost over £85k and sold for £43k when finished.

Lum

I've done similar to what you are planning to do, only I imported from Japan, and the car I picked was a runner that had a valid Japanese MOT. I can give you a rough breakdown of the process based on the car I imported. Can't really help you on parts, repair, or arranging an overseas inspection.

I found the car for sale on a website that indexes used cars for sale in Japan, and then approached a company that specialises in importing from there. The one I used only deals with Japan so you'll need to find someone else.

The fee structure they used was a one-off £350 fee and then they will pass on all invoices to you at cost. The price quoted for the car was "FOB" Free On Board, meaning it includes the cost of transporting the car to the docks and driving it onto a boat (or into a container) of your choosing. If yours is just the price of collecting it the yard you will need to pay for someone to take it on a flatbed to a dock on the east coast!

My car was 250,000 yen, which at the time was £2000, and it took about a week or two for the company to arrange the purchase and a suitable boat. The boat left Japan late December 2008.
In February the boat arrived in Holland, it was a few days late so my car missed the boat it was due to connect with, so it sat in Holland for a month and finally arrived in Bristol mid-March 2009.

While it was en route to Bristol I was sent a bill for £750 for the shipping. I was actually quite pleased with this as the cheapest I was able to find shipping for myself was £1300, so even with their arrangement fee, I came out on top.

When it landed in Bristol I was sent another bill for the import duties, this one is a triple whammy that will take the unprepared by surprise.

Import duty is calculated at 25% of the combined total of the purchase price and shipping, so that's (2000 + 750) x 25% = £687.50

VAT is added on top, that's 20% of the combined total of the purchase price, shipping AND duty, a tax on a tax, it works out as (2000 + 750 + 687.50) x 20% = another £687.50

You'll then need to collect the car from the docks as I'm pretty sure there's storage fees. The car will not be legal to drive at this point so you'll need a flatbed lorry, or possibly a trade plater, not sure if trade platers are legal for this.

As you're importing a car over ten years old, the only test it will need to pass is a normal MOT. For a Japanese car to pass the MOT they need a rear foglight fitted. My understanding is that for classic American cars the indicators need to be converted to flashing amber instead of flashing red. One way I have seen this done is to fit a single reverse and foglight under the rear bumper, stick amber bulbs in what used to be the reversing lights, then wire them up to suit. I have no idea what this would cost.

Once you have an MOT certificate, you will need insurance. Most insurers will let you insure a car on just the chassis number. Any insurer that specialises in American imports will let you do this. I used Direct Line!

You now need to take all the paperwork to the DVLA, you need the export/deregistration certificate (I also needed to provide an English translation for them) the MOT certificate, the insurance certificate and the completed form for registering a vehicle. You pay a £55 registration fee and either six or twelve months road tax.

So to break it down:

Purchase price: £2000
Agents fees: £350
Shipping: £750
Duty: 687.50
VAT: £687.50
Conversion and MOT: £400
Registration and 12 months tax: £250

Total: £5125

After this, it's important to note that, like a Japanese car, an American car that's spent its life in the desert will not be undersealed and thus its first winter in the UK will see the tinworm attack hard. You'll need to get it to somewhere like Before'n'After in Warwickshire for a bloody good coating of underseal.


If you do decide to go ahead with this, I'd love it if you could post updates here from time to time, really curious to see how you get on.


As an aside, I was warned by the company I used, not to attempt to stash any car parts or any other goods at all in the car before sending. Apparently the shipping companies really hate you doing that and will remove them and leave them behind. They also recommend removing any accessories such as gauges, turbo timers etc. as the people who do this aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the box and have been known to just rip them out anyway.

Strider590

Remember that what seems "classis" or "exotic" to you, is in fact the American equivalent of an old Ford Focus. Don't expect great things from these cars, they'll have had a much harder life than you'd expect and American's do literally run their cars beyond the point of being death traps, because they don't have anything quite as stringent as our system of car MOTs.

Lum

Actually the American equivalent of an MOT can vary immensely depending on what state you're in.

Some states are really strict on emissions, some don't care. Some do safety inspections and some do not.

At this point what I'd be doing is looking for a forum that caters mainly to American members and ask them for advice. They wont know much about the export process but they will know about the likely state of the car and things to look out for when buying it.

If you're lucky, someone might even agree to go and check out a few cars for you if you paypal them some money for gas.

forgotmyname

Or buy one from autotrader/ebay for a lot less money?