Tell me all about auto importing

"DanPadge" (danpadge)
09/16/2014 at 14:44 • Filed to: imports, importation, auto, car

I've noticed that there is a lot more money being spent on cars lately and a lot of people willing to open up their wallets for cars not found here in the USA. Of course there's Skylines, but this site (and others) have also featured Fiats, that Czech-Fiat, original Minis, E30 wagons, FD RX-7s, Honda CRX's and countless others. I've also noticed that a lot of the current importers seem to have some shady undertones (to put it politely) and almost none of them include dealing with US Customs, leaving that to the buyer.

My wife is an import specialist, specifically Asia to USA, and she's damn good. We can't figure out how the costs can be kept down enough to make the landed price of the car still reasonable.

So, I'm reaching out to fellow Jalops in search of info. Who's imported a car? Or, even better, is there anyone here who is an importer? If you've bought a car from an importer, tell me all about the customs process, from where it landed to where it ended up and how much it cost. If you're an importer, do you have an import specialist on staff or someone you contract with? Do you have an average customs cost?

DISCUSSION (14)

duurtlang > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 14:45

*bookmarked

ApexMoustache > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 14:56

you should just import something for yourself and use that as a base, and you get an E30 wagon out of it. How can you lose?

Scorpio GTX1 > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 15:02

I used to read a lot about it back in the day. To import a car to Canada cost about $5k through an importer. If you were doing all the paperwork and arrangements yourself, you could save about a thousand of that. It's never been a cheap process, and a lot of people end up selling their grey market cars soon after anyways because they find them difficult to maintain.

nermal > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 15:06

The short answer: Don't.

Acknowledge that the forbidden fruit will be just that, and look for something domestic.

In case you need reassurance, ask the guys who have had their grey market Defenders or Skylines impounded & crushed about their experience.

mcseanerson > nermal
09/16/2014 at 15:08

My understanding is that was due to importing before they were legal.

duurtlang > nermal
09/16/2014 at 15:12

Where's your sense of adventure? Anyway, if you do it right and avoid the usual suspects which are likely to be affected by VIN fraud (like the Defender) and deal with someone you can trust you should be fine

mcseanerson > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 15:12

I can't imagine importing a car here that was sold here unless it is just super rare. For example I would try to find a stateside Alfa GTV before importing one where as I would import a Lancia Delta Integrale Evo II if I had the means in a heartbeat.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > nermal
09/16/2014 at 15:24

Or just don't be dumb and try to get a skyline in before it's 25 years old. Those guys have no one to blame but themselves.

DanPadge > nermal
09/16/2014 at 15:40

Done correctly (ie. not grey market), it's pretty safe. Anything over 25yrs old to the build month is fair game, provided you have the proper paperwork.

DanPadge > ApexMoustache
09/16/2014 at 15:52

Legally, I don't think I can. As far as the wife and I can tell, without a broker's license (which my wife doesn't have), you can only be a self-importer, meaning that you're employed by someone who is importing something they've purchased themselves. This is why importer dealers register the car themselves and then sell it to you, even though they want payment upfront. Dealers can do the whole process themselves, as you don't need anything special to be a self-importer, but I suspect very few do. There are others ways to do it, but then you're starting to skirt the rules and that's when you start getting into grey/risky areas.

DanPadge > mcseanerson
09/16/2014 at 22:51

Well, it's not for everyone but there are quite a few cars I've seen that were sold here but are more common and therefore in better shape and similar in price in other countries. Once the '90s become eligible I think there could be a huge surge in importation.

mcseanerson > DanPadge
09/16/2014 at 23:03

I just don't think all the extra hassle is worth it for importing cars that you can get here. If they're rare here they're bound to be semi-rare elsewhere.

DanPadge > Scorpio GTX1
09/16/2014 at 23:07

Ya, that's what the Mrs and I are seeing. Basically, you have a freight forwarder, which charges a ton unless you can fill a container or do regular, frequent business. Then you have the actual shipping cost, which is high unless you do volume and can negotiate a decent rate. Once it lands you have the duty fee which is a percentage of the value and you need to pay someone who's allowed to go into the port and bring it outside the gates.

This Oppo post has been super helpful: http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/importing-a-ja… but the numbers listed seem really low. If anyone can point the people who mention having experience (Kanaric, Bird & Ferrero1911) that'd be great!

DanPadge > mcseanerson
09/16/2014 at 23:24

The idea is that its not a hassle for the customer. There's lots of people willing to buy a classic car that's registered, legal and in-country. The key is to figure out how to do that, make money, stay legal and keep the final cost reasonable.