Paging Matt Hardigree. Paging Matt Hardigree.

"duurtlang" (duurtlang) 11/04/2013 at 16:41 • Filed to: None

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Currently I'm in the process of buying a BMW E30 Touring (wagon) and shipping that to the US, to a Californian Jalop I've never met. All of this with a very tight budget, about $5k including everything. I think it might be an interesting story for Jalopnik to cover, but we've run into a problem a Jalopnik editor might be able to solve. Does anyone know how to contact Matt? I'm not a Twitter or Facebook user.

ddavidn > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 16:43

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Congrats.

Email him, addresses are here: http://jalopnik.com/about-jalopnik…

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

KnowsAboutCars > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 16:44

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By clicking the headline on FP you can access the jalopnik staffs e-mail addresses.

duurtlang > ddavidn 11/04/2013 at 16:44

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I knew I should've looked harder. That's almost too easy. Thanks.

ddavidn > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 16:44

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Almost ;)

PS9 > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 16:46

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We have Mr. Hardigree. He's sitting in front on a laptop right now waiting for your friend request. He will get that request, hopefully, because if he doesn't, we will execute him at dawn tomorrow. You have until then to sign up for a facebook account, after which, a living Mr. Hardigree will settle the matter with your and this strange elongated machine.

You have eluded us for a great long time, Mr. Duurtlang. But no more. We will have your juicy juicy social metadata, one way or another. Join us....join us...

duurtlang > PS9 11/04/2013 at 16:48

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You can talk all you want. My tinfoil hat will protect me from your siren call.

Matt Hardigree > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 16:53

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Whatup?

duurtlang > Matt Hardigree 11/04/2013 at 17:20

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Apparently I was a bit lazy in looking up contact info. I'll sent you an email within a few minutes.

The Real Dacia Sandero > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 17:27

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So... would you be interested in doing this again for another jalop in the future?

m2m, apex detective > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 17:37

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If this works, can I have a Genesis 5.0R in DE, too? :'(

duurtlang > The Real Dacia Sandero 11/04/2013 at 17:47

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Sure, why not. Assuming it doesn't turn into a nightmare obviously. Hell, if you're interested in a "European Delivery" you could be first. At the moment the financials are the biggest hurdle, as that big ocean prevents a cash deal. This problem is circumvented with a European Delivery type sale. Plane fares are cheap ( $886 two way NY-Amsterdam mid December )!

Edit: I'd guess you could save on shipping costs if you combine multiple vehicles. You could talk to that other guy I was talking to (see link in article) or you could add another vehicle yourself. 1980s LHD Minis are cheap here (but rust prone).

duurtlang > m2m, apex detective 11/04/2013 at 17:52

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I don't see why not. With new cars hiring a professional takes a much smaller chunk out of the budget. You can import anything you want into Germany, right? Without having to pay excessive taxes? I've got a German friend who's got a US import Dodge Magnum RT for years now.

m2m, apex detective > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 17:59

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Well, not "excessive taxes"; it should be but the normal VAT at 19 percent, plus some fees that might come on top of that for getting TÜV approval for road use.

I wish there was something like Geiger Cars for Hyundai models we don't get here. Not even mobile.de has 'em ... I'll look into it some more, even though I can't afford one. ;)

Bird > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 18:14

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Very interested to hear about your experience. I'm the guy that bought the Lada and will be touring Europe next summer with my girlfriend. I'd love to hear what shipping company you guys use and your experience with them as we plan to ship out of Rotterdam. I read through the comment conversation you two had and saw you got a couple quotes. We'd also love to meet up with as many European Jalops as we can!

Hope everything goes smoothly!

duurtlang > m2m, apex detective 11/04/2013 at 18:14

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That's what I meant, the VAT isn't something I consider excessive as it isn't related to cars, you pay the same VAT percentage for a toothbrush. Over the border to your West, in lovely little the Netherlands, you'd have to pay a very progressive CO2 tax as well, just like what we pay for any other car. For a brand new gas guzzler this can be very high, up to €80k for a brand new CTS-V I believe. And €600 for an Aygo. You do get steep discounts on those taxes for used vehicles, 32% discount for one year old, 46% for two years and so on (97.5% for 15 years).

duurtlang > Bird 11/04/2013 at 18:21

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Well I prefer to give the initiative for finding the right shipping company to the future E30 Touring owner, as I only need to drive the car to the port, he wants it to get there in one piece and he wants to pay as little as possible. Naturally. But I'm involved. Have you looked into shipping yourself? I'd be interested in what you've found.

If you come to Groningen , which is a very lovely and vibrant student city, I'll have a beer with you. You could even try my Peugeot 406 coupe, provided I can have a spin in your Lada. My parents had two of those back in the 80s when I was a little kid, I wonder if being in one brings back memories as I was quite small then.

m2m, apex detective > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 18:30

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€80k on top of the actual price that already includes the standard VAT?

I really like NL ... but that's quite harsh on people who simply enjoy cars without doing much harm. A question, though, that's been in my head for a while now ... if someone speaks of a "20 percent bijtelling", what does this mean? I've heard it here and there and couldn't make up my mind on what it actully is ... tax deduction/reduction/exempt for LEVs? A subsidy for those eco-friendly cars?

Bird > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 19:02

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I haven't done more than look up various different companies, and I did that a few months ago. When I tried to get a quote, my ship date was too far out. I'll revisit getting a quote when it gets closer to our ship date. I'd take a recommendation I can trust over a cheap price any day!

We'll put Groningen on our list of possible destinations! We have friends in Amsterdam so we might be around a couple days...I think a Peugeot/Lada driving swap might be possible...

duurtlang > m2m, apex detective 11/04/2013 at 19:25

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Nothing like that at all. It's about a company car you can use privately. The 'bijtelling' is the percentage of the value of the car you have to add to your income before income tax is deducted. So, when you pay x% income tax over the top of your wage and you have access to a company car (let's say €30k when new) with 20% bijtelling you can use privately (a form of income), then your bijtelling is 20%x30k=€6k. You'll have to pay x% of €6k extra income tax a year.

Bijtelling percentage is based on co2 emissions=fuel economy. There's 3 classes, 14%, 20% and 25%.

And yes, the €80k is gas guzzler tax only. It's excludingthe price of the actual car and VAT. The CTS V is a very extreme example though

The Real Dacia Sandero > duurtlang 11/04/2013 at 19:36

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Hmm... I've looked into doing something like this, but just don't know anyone in Germany who could translate/ assist in the purchase and everything. I'd like to wait until I'm 21 next year, and turn it into a big trip to drive the 'ring and go to the BMW and Porsche museums.

Spasoje > duurtlang 11/09/2013 at 22:54

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Best of luck! If you (both) are determined, the entire export/shipping/import process will be relatively smooth.

I did the same with a car of mine about three years ago... If you guys need any info/etc., I'd be happy to help. :)

duurtlang > Spasoje 11/10/2013 at 05:05

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Thanks! What part of the export/import were you responsible for? The EU part, the US part or both? I think I've figured it all out from the EU perspective, but I'm not so sure about the US side of things. But that's not my responsibility I guess.

Anyway, I do have a question. How did you arrange things financially? In our situation we're two strangers with an ocean in between, so cash deals are off. We're trying to figure out how A. he's sure to get a car when he's paid and B. how I'm sure to get paid when I ship the car. As I thought this to be an interesting topic for future Jalopnik articles my question to Matt was about if a Jalopnik editor could take a small part in all of this to get an inside look. To be a middle man, basically. You know, watch over the money of my American colleague until he's seen the car arrive at the docks in the US, and then send the money to me. I've sent my email six days ago, on Monday, and haven't heard back, so I guess he didn't consider it a worthwhile idea...

Spasoje > duurtlang 11/12/2013 at 19:29

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Apologies for the delay, I've been renovating... :)

I took care of the entire process myself. Specifically, I imported a classic into Canada from Serbia - while EU-vs-SRB and US-vs-CDN customs have their differences, the 'skeleton' is the same. The shipping 'experience' in particular is the same anywhere!

To answer your questions about the financials/etc.:

A: You'll need to give the shipping company both his and your full contact info. Making sure that your US colleague gets his car is the shipping company's job, as they will email him when it has landed.

Before you guys start anything, he needs to call US customs authorities and memorize the entire procedure on his end! In Canada for example, if your car is dirty when they inspect it, you either pay them an extra $500 to clean it or they crush it into a cube!

Canada also mandates that you already be the owner of the vehicle before it leaves the origin country - if that's the case in the US, you'd need to register the car in your US colleague's name before the car leaves NL.

B: Your US colleague will need to pay you in full before the car leaves Holland. Shipping companies require full payment upfront (i.e. at the moment when you as the sender sign the papers). Also, if the ship were to sink or something, you would receive the insurance payout.

Now, since my people in Europe were family members, I didn't have to worry about that - however, for you guys I recommend PayPal: it's the most secure way of paying somebody you've never even met (and is standard practice for most eBay-like transactions anyway for a reason).

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One more point: the last thing you want is a middleman! One person shipping a car to another across an ocean is already like a game of telephone, so the two of you need to work as directly as possible with each other. That said, the shipping company acts as a sort of middleman: they are in charge of what happens between when you see the car off and when your US colleague picks it up.

In terms of which firm to hire, you get what you pay for. I used and recommend AGS Movers. They're not the cheapest, but they helped me a LOT with the export/import errands and I was informed every step of the way. Never cheap out with shipping on your first time.

There is TONS more to talk about - as such, feel free to ask! :)