Importing cars from US

damalo

Hi all,

Here's one. Currently im looking at importing a car from the USA. Its a BMW M3 and comes at a fraction of the price inc VRT because of the exchange rate (dollar /euro) and also cause the car is cheaper

1 - Has anyone imported a car from the states before and if so roughly what are we talking price wise? I've estimated 5,000 but imagine it would be less

2 - As you know the US have left hand drive cars, is it possible to convert it to a right hand drive? Does anyone drive LHD and find problems with it other than when overtaking? I understand converting is a massive job btw

3 - Is there a market for selling on 2nd hand LHD cars?

Cheers!

Skobyonekenobi

Yeah mate

I want to Import a rebuilt Pontiac Firebird with the Hemi engine and everything.

First up I win d lotto or d Yoyomillions

Second on the list is get me jammer from the states wrecks to riches baby!

Better than all that borin sh** that you see on the M50

damalo

Skobyonekenobi wrote: »

Yeah mate

I want to Import a rebuilt Pontiac Firebird with the Hemi engine and everything.

First up I win d lotto or d Yoyomillions

Second on the list is get me jammer from the states wrecks to riches baby!

Better than all that borin sh** that you see on the M50

Hopefully there will be some intelligent replies

Robertr

Don't forget VAT (21%) and import duties.

Skobyonekenobi

Sorry Einstein

I reckon you should get a good deal from any of the Independants down the Naas road.

Eoin

I briefly looked into this, but for a classic.

damalo wrote: »

1 - Has anyone imported a car from the states before and if so roughly what are we talking price wise? I've estimated 5,000 but imagine it would be less

I seem to remember pricing shipping at $2000 or so to the UK.

damalo wrote: »

2 - As you know the US have left hand drive cars, is it possible to convert it to a right hand drive? Does anyone drive LHD and find problems with it other than when overtaking? I understand converting is a massive job btw

I can't imagine conversion to RHD being easy, or anywhere near well priced for it to be worth your while. You may also have to get lights changed etc.

damalo wrote: »

3 - Is there a market for selling on 2nd hand LHD cars?

I'm pretty sure I saw a LHD M3 on carzone for ages, insurance on an M3 is going to be pricey enough for a lot of people, let alone a LHD one.

If you're going to take the LHD option, I'd be surprised if a European model wouldn't work out cheaper. Or you could cut out the middle man and see if the LHD M3 is still up on carzone and make an offer.

ronnie3585

The price of the dollar makes importing a very attractive prospect. Just be aware of the costs involved.

The car will be subject to VAT @ 21% and import duty @ 10%, add in the cost of transporting the car from the US including insurance.

Once you have the car in the country VRT will be payable at the open market price of the car in this country, not the US. As it is an M3 you are looking at, VRT will be 36% after July.

I have to admit I was very tempted at importing. One could pick up a very nice 993 in the US for €30k, however after doing the sums the saving would only be nominal and on top of that you would have no come back in terms of warranty et cetera.

Robertr

But if you were ever going to buy a classic now is the time. There is no VRT on anything over 30 years and VAT and Duty is only payable on the Invoice total so you can probably get that reduced a bit as long as you don't take the piss.

Eoin

ronnie3585 wrote: »

The car will be subject to VAT @ 21% and import duty @ 10%, add in the cost of transporting the car from the US including insurance.
.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think someone said that the VAT is based on the price of the car PLUS the shipping cost?!

landydef

if you've got the importing bug what about importing from south africa? at least it will be RHD and you could drive home if your mad enough! not sure if you'd save enough money for it to worth it though!

ronnie3585

eoin_s wrote: »

I'm not entirely sure, but I think someone said that the VAT is based on the price of the car PLUS the shipping cost?!

I think you pay VAT on the price of the car and on the cost of the shipping.

Plug

damalo wrote: »

Hi all,

Here's one. Currently im looking at importing a car from the USA. Its a BMW M3 and comes at a fraction of the price inc VRT because of the exchange rate (dollar /euro) and also cause the car is cheaper

1 - Has anyone imported a car from the states before and if so roughly what are we talking price wise? I've estimated 5,000 but imagine it would be less

2 - As you know the US have left hand drive cars, is it possible to convert it to a right hand drive? Does anyone drive LHD and find problems with it other than when overtaking? I understand converting is a massive job btw

3 - Is there a market for selling on 2nd hand LHD cars?

Cheers!

Just import one from the UK. Cheaper than here and right hand drive.

damalo

good points - i hadnt factored in the VRT and import duty. The only other thing I could think of is doing a timeshare on a 911 or something that snazz

Got quoted insurance on the M3 at about 2,100 which is slightly more than im paying at the moment on my 2 litre bmw..but its a sweet car so worth it

ronnie3585 wrote: »

The price of the dollar makes importing a very attractive prospect. Just be aware of the costs involved.

The car will be subject to VAT @ 21% and import duty @ 10%, add in the cost of transporting the car from the US including insurance.

Once you have the car in the country VRT will be payable at the open market price of the car in this country, not the US. As it is an M3 you are looking at, VRT will be 36% after July.

I have to admit I was very tempted at importing. One could pick up a very nice 993 in the US for €30k, however after doing the sums the saving would only be nominal and on top of that you would have no come back in terms of warranty et cetera.

damalo

landydef wrote: »

if you've got the importing bug what about importing from south africa? at least it will be RHD and you could drive home if your mad enough! not sure if you'd save enough money for it to worth it though!

Any idea where you'd search for SA based cars?

If I had to wait a few months for it it would be sound - wonder if import duty is a factor there aswell

Max_Damage

You might even find an M3 in Japan.

damalo

Max_Damage wrote: »

You might even find an M3 in Japan.

would that effect insurance or VRT - I notice its a question thats always asked on VRT calc an by insurance companies?

Alun

Max_Damage wrote: »

You might even find an M3 in Japan.

The problem with that plan is that, rather bizarrely, many european cars in Japan are deliberately bought as LHD versions. It adds some weird kind of 'authenticity' to them apparently.

astraboy

I'm unsure of exactly what taxes apply, but that question has already been answered by other posters. On your other questions:

As for converting a LHD car to a RHD car, it is possible, and indeed there are several specialist companies in the UK that do this as their business. It has several disadvantages however. It is costly, and often leads to a reduction in power as engine components like the power steering pump need to be moved. This is not an issue with a production RHD car as its designed with these things in mind first day. Also, the wiring and new dash required make this a messy job. Again, it can be done, but driving a LHD M3 over here would not be so bad, you have plenty of power to overtake which would be your main concern.

As for sourcing a decent M3, I know there are companies that will undertake finding the car, shipping it etc. A quick google will find them. I'd recommend being choosy if you are importing from the US, most people, especially high end car owners, look after their cars very well. However, the harsher winters and road salting may increase the chances of rust. Also, you will need to make some modifications, mainly to the lights(many cars in the US have red indicators) to ensure the car is road legal in Ireland and passes the NCT.

Hope that helps, good luck with your venture.

Max_Damage

Alun wrote: »

The problem with that plan is that, rather bizarrely, many european cars in Japan are deliberately bought as LHD versions. It adds some weird kind of 'authenticity' to them apparently.

True, but some are also RHD.

OP, try Canada too, the Canadian dollar is worth feck all these days. You might get yourself a bargain.

vibe666

Plug wrote: »

Just import one from the UK. Cheaper than here and right hand drive.

if you really want one from the USA it would probably work out cheapest to import it from there to the UK and then just pick it up there and drive it here.

they have some American cars in Australia already converted to RHD if you wanted something from there. New ones and classics.

ronnie3585

damalo wrote: »

Got quoted insurance on the M3 at about 2,100 which is slightly more than im paying at the moment on my 2 litre bmw..but its a sweet car so worth it

Couldnt agree more. The M3 is a superb car, as it will be a few more years before I can afford a 911 I'm actively looking for an M3 in the UK.

There is definitely a saving to be made by bringing one in from the UK, however be very wary if you decide to purchase there. After a few weeks of research I can tell you first hand there are a lot of sh1t M3's being sold. Also, I read a stat in a magazine that approximately 30% of second hand cars in the UK have been clocked, I would tend to agree with it, there is a lot of dodge stuff out there.

Slidey

Vibe just got in before me. M3s are quite common in oz and very good roads if you get a city car. Oz dolar is quite good value and shipping a car is 4000 dolllars..
Monaro instead...?

nmacc

Surprising cars can be imported from Japan. Webcars.net are just down the road from me and they often bring in European cars sorced in Japan. They usually stock Minis and MX5s, but recently they had an immaculate 1.9 205 GTI with only 40k from new.

There are also a few companies who have regular shipments from the US to the UK. I can't remember them offhand, but a quick look through the shelves at Easons will help.

VRT is based on figures supplied to the Revenue by SIMI and there is very little room for manouvre unless you're bringing in something a little unusual which isn't on the list.

The Duty referred to by previous posters is the Common Customs Tariff chargeable on anything not previously registed in the EU. Then there's the usual 21% VAT. Both of these are charged on the Landed Value of the car, which is the invoice price plus shipping. So, if you pay 10,000 for the car and 2,000 for shipping, you will pay 1,200 CCT and then 21% VAT on the total of 13,200. Yes, they tax the tax, or rather they did the last time I imported a car directly from Japan myself; but that was quite some time ago, so I'm open to correction.

It's actually quite easy to bring in your own car from Japan; you can buy the car and book shipping over the net, altough of course you are buying sight-unseen and sending your funds into the ether by credit transfer. There are regular shiploads of cars travelling from Japan to Ireland and some of them stop off in South Africa on the way.

Oilrig

Importing from the US is best done by first importing & registering in the UK, then shipping to here. VAT is charged on the total - ie including - shipping cost.

BTW, the M3 that the US got was a watered down version of the real item...:eek:

astraboy

Oilrig wrote: »

BTW, the M3 that the US got was a watered down version of the real item...:eek:

Really, which version, E46 or E36, or both? I would have thought they would get as close to the Euro model as possible. Except with an auto gearbox of course.

Max_Damage

astraboy wrote: »

Really, which version, E46 or E36, or both? I would have thought they would get as close to the Euro model as possible. Except with an auto gearbox of course.

Americans are big on emissions (especially the Californians), so they've bigger cats on there cars, as far as I know.