Implications of importing a car from the USA

[Tony]

From looking at the cars in my price range ?50k, there seems to be better deals from the USA . If I assume ?2.5 k to covert from LHD to RHD.
Would the import costs etc outweigh the difference?

What are the implications of importing a car (e-type) from the USA

1. Would I need to pay any taxes?

2. Would there be any registrations issues in this country?

3. What are the typical shipping costs?

4. Could I have a registration number from the 60's period or would it have to bear a more modern reg number?

5. Apart from the distance to go and have a look, are there any other problems I should be aware of?

Questions , questions , questions

Regards

[MarkE]

You have to pay 17.5% VAT on the value of the car. That is normally based on the invoice you present, or if the Customs guys think you?re cheating them, the value THEY think it?s worth. And they are pretty clued up!

There are no registration issues in the UK so long as the car is substantially original. Even with a Chevy V8 fitted it?s not a problem. I bought a S3 2+2 a while back as a rolling shell?no bonnet, doors, engine or box. That was built up from parts over here and has just been registered with no issues at all.

Shipping is now a lot cheaper than it was. Assume ?1000 from the East coast, ?1500 from the West. Remember that the car has to get to the docks, so if it?s in Texas, add a few hundred more.

You will get an age related non-transferable plate?one that wasn?t issued at the time.

Bottom line is that the authorities over here are very good and well versed in the importation of cars from the US. If they think that it?s stolen or there?s some dodgy dealings going on, all hell will break lose?but 99 times out of 100 it?s a very simple process.

Any more things to look out for? As there are far more E Types in the states to buy, it stands to reason that there are far more dodgy ones. And a few more dodgy dealers. Rusty heaps from the eastern seaboard that are being sold as dry-state cars, accident damaged and poorly repaired cars, and of course, stolen cars. Make very sure of your source, and make very sure you know what you?re looking at when buying.

[daverawle]

Tony,

1. There will be taxes, not significant in the overall scheme of getting an E-Type on the road

2. You will need a form from C&E showing that VAT has been paid (if it?s a VAT registered trader then it?s C&E 389, different for a private importer), you can?t tax it without the form. You need a document from Jaguar showing the build date of the car, best to get a heritage certificate as they also supply a copy which DVLA will stamp all over.

3. Not sure but I guess a half container would be around 1k?? Marine insurance extra 5 to 10%

4. Once you have documentation from 2. DVLA will issue a year dependent number.

5. Thousands.

Dave

[1954Etype]

From looking at the cars in my price range ?50k, there seems to be better deals from the USA . If I assume ?2.5 k to covert from LHD to RHD.
Would the import costs etc outweigh the difference?

What are the implications of importing a car (e-type) from the USA

1. Would I need to pay any taxes?

2. Would there be any registrations issues in this country?

3. What are the typical shipping costs?

4. Could I have a registration number from the 60's period or would it have to bear a more modern reg number?

5. Apart from the distance to go and have a look, are there any other problems I should be aware of?

Questions , questions , questions

Regards

Think carefully before you convert it from LH to RHD. If you are going to use the car for Continental runs (which is where the E is best) leave as is. If you think your usage will be in the UK only, then convert it.

[Tony]

Now you have me worried. I suppose the message is be careful when buying from abroad. Thanks for all the advice

[MarkE]

No, it's be careful when buying!

[Moeregaard]

I'm going to briefly hijack this thread to touch on a few points about E-Types coming from the U.S. I've mentioned these before, but they're worth repeating if they keep any of you guys from getting burned.

1. Salty dogs. It goes without saying that the northeastern and midwest states are where the road salt is. Most of the cars that were driven in those conditions have either gone to Jaguar heaven, or have been fully restored and never see winter road conditions. The ones worth watching out for are those from any beach town. Once north of San Francisco, the west coast gets progressively wetter--same story back east. I've seen cars that have spent their entire lives in California need new sills and floors. A car originally sold in California will have a small metal tag riveted next to the chassis plate with a "J" followed by a two-digit number for the year, e.g., "J66." Our DMV mandated this for reasons all their own.

2. It's worth checking in with the DMV of the state where the car is registered, just to see if it's stolen or has any liens on it. We've all heard the stories about the jilted wife selling her husband's pride and joy, most are urban legend, but it's still a good idea to ensure that the car is "clean." Most states will allow a car with a salvage title to be re-registered, but it will carry this "scarlet letter" on its papers. These are usually cars that have been flooded, or have been assembled from a number of cars.

3. Shipping. I've used Passport Transport twice to ship cars across the U.S. They use fully enclosed trailers and work with Federal Express. My experiences with them have been very positive, but I'm sure the other carriers over here are as good. I brought my car from Michigan to California for $1,400 US, in 2005, and I suspect a coast-to-coast run today would be around $2,000.

Hope this information is useful.

[Tony]

Mark (Moe) Moeregaard

Being a local lad to the USA, what do you think of this one?. I appreciate you probable live a million miles away.


http://www.jameslist.com/advert/54892/f ... all_images

[1954Etype]

[quote="Tony"]Mark (Moe) Moeregaard

Being a local lad to the USA, what do you think of this one?. I appreciate you probable live a million miles away.


http://www.jameslist.com/advert/54892/f ... all_images[/quoteTony, from the photos the car looks good (odd that!). However, I would like to see a lot more detail shots of the engine, back axle, underneath etc. Is it a matching numbers car? I don't think it is a standard colour combination either. The front bumbers are all over the place (not too big a problem but if they think the front is a good selling point and judging by the number of photos, they do, you would like to believe they'd get that right!).

A lot more info needed (why has it got sunvisors - 65 cars didn't have them. Ok, they are easy to retrofit but it just raises questions).

[Moeregaard]

It looks like a nice car. If someone paid to have it restored professionally, they are way upside down with this one, but the current economy has done this to a lot of people. Since it's in Texas, I'd be interested to see if Classic Jaguar's fingerprints are on it. If they did the work it will be a first-rate job. I'd ask to see photo documentation of the restoration process, regardless of who did the work. That is a non-standard colour, but these things happen. Many non-original details can get incorporated into a car during a rebuild.

Being in southern California, that one is a long way away for me! I'd have to cross two states--Arizona and New Mexico--before I'd even see Texas, which is so big you can watch your dog run away for three days!

[Tony]

Thanks for the replies Lads. I have tried e-mailing them for more info but I never get a reply, so I presume they are not interested.

I will never get use to the size of America. If I go 500 miles in any direction I fall into the sea, and I live on the coast.

[GSR 54D]

The engine



John H

[Heuer]

A car to avoid! Horrible colour - not a standard E-Type one (why do that?) - and given they cannot be bothered to reply to you or provide more pictures best to stay well away. Oh and the cylinder head should be painted gold - if they can' be arsed to even get that right what other horrors are there!

[Tony]

John,

How did you manage to get the picture, I cannot even get a reply, unless there is something wrong with my e-mail.

David, I accept the colour is not standard and moving away from originality, but I must admit I do like the colour even if it's a bit glittery and shiny.

If it was in this country,it all stacked up and the under body etc was all as good as the outside looks, I would be tempted.

I think the odds are it would prove to be over my budget of 50k to get in into this county after I had paid all the duties, taxes and and left to right conversion etc completed.

I suppose it all down to personal taste, now where did I put my sequin coat.

[steve3.8]

If you are a private individual i dont think there is any gain sourcing a finished car from the states at ?50K ,to break even it would have to be at least 35% cheaper than a UK car and it will always be rightly or wrongly tainted by being an import,cost of VAT-Shipping-Inspection-Viewing-Conversion- 10% lhd-rhd devaluation [JEC].Unless you have a good knowledge of e-types at that level of spend you would need to do an independent inspection in the states-by who?,alot of hassle and probably no useful dealer warranty once back in the UK .Harry has a few ots for sale between ?65-?75K!

http://etypeuk.com/for_sale_etype__s1_1 ... dster.html

Steve

[GSR 54D]

Tony

From the "John Eagle European" website

http://www.johneagleeuropean.com/web/959/vehicle/437789

John H

[Tony]

John,

That's strange, when I go on their web site it has a lot of those photos missing.
It will be a good exercise for future reference to see if the car numbers stack up. Is there a web site that interprets these numbers, I am sure I a have seen a reference on the forum somewhere?


Steve,

I beginning to see the costs of importing a car mounting up. I really like the cars on the Etypeuk site but it is another 15to 25k which over budget. As I promised my wife to spend the same on the house as the car , the lump sum retirement package would taking a pounding.

Not to worry, it's a steep learning curve.

[GSR 54D]

Tony

Spend time looking on xke-data, good source for information.

http://www.xkedata.com/cars/detail/?car=1E10262



John H

[Tony]

OK, my starter for six

Car No IE 10262 means it a LHD, OTS , years 1964-67, with a 4.235 engine

The separate tag J66 mean it a car first registered in California in 1966

Still working on the meaning of the Gear Box number EJ641 and the Engine number 7E1 629-9 are these supposed to match? The body number 4E 20 356, does this mean anything other than a number?

The original colour code must be somewhere?

How am I doing out of 10

[GSR 54D]

Tony

Start here

http://www.xkedata.com/catalog/numbers/

John H