Purchasing a car in the US then importing it.

RoboCod

RoboCod

RoboCod

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Has anyone here had any experience of importing their own car from the US to the UK? How difficult was the process? What costs were incurred? Any tips? I'll be in the US myself driving the vehicle over there for some time 1st until my return to the UK.

As far as I can understand I can avoid any tax and duty if I keep the car for a certain period after importing?
 
Have a look on HMR&C web site.
Everything you need to know's on there.

AFAIK if you're moving, you can bring your car with you without incurring any import charges provided you've had it for x amount of time beforehand.

What is it out of interest. Is it really worth the faff? Unless you've got a container going empty..
You'll be stuck with LHD, and then you'll have to get some fog lights on it, yada yada.
 
It'll cost you about £750-£1200 to have it shipped, depending on method, and usually you'd pay an extra 30% (import and VAT) of whatever the original purchase price was - but I don't know how that'll work in your case.

You'll then have to IVA the car (does vary depending on age), MOT it, register it and then tax it :) (I think that's the right order!)
 
MrLOL said:
what car are you planning to import ?
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mjt said:
Have a look on HMR&C web site.
Everything you need to know's on there.

AFAIK if you're moving, you can bring your car with you without incurring any import charges provided you've had it for x amount of time beforehand.

What is it out of interest. Is it really worth the faff? Unless you've got a container going empty..
You'll be stuck with LHD, and then you'll have to get some fog lights on it, yada yada.
Click to expand...

Well my train of thought is to get the sort of car I wouldn't usually drive in the UK, so I am eyeing a Challenger RT, Mustang GT or Camaro SS. Nearly new in either model they're around $30k. On PH and AT imports of the same age seem to be going for £30k ($47k). If I work on a projected depreciation of 35% over 3 years that means the car would be worth $19500 (£30550). Accepting a cost for shipping and (possible) tax does this mean I could potentially drive an awesome muscle car for 3 years for just running costs or am I missing something?

Lashout_UK said:
It'll cost you about £750-£1200 to have it shipped, depending on method, and usually you'd pay an extra 30% (import and VAT) of whatever the original purchase price was - but I don't know how that'll work in your case.

You'll then have to IVA the car (does vary depending on age), MOT it, register it and then tax it :) (I think that's the right order!)
Click to expand...

The tax and duty issue is what I really want to get to the bottom of. How stringent are the rules? How easily could they trace that I sell the car immediately upon import?
 
RE : Import Duty

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/sectors/consumers/personal-vehicles.htm#3

Importing your motor vehicle to the UK from outside the EU
If you are permanently importing a motor vehicle into the UK from outside the EU you must declare the vehicle to customs, and you must fill in and sign form C104A and present it when you bring the vehicle into the country.
You don't have to pay duty or VAT on the vehicle provided you meet all these conditions:
you are moving your normal home to the UK
you have had your normal home outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
you have possessed and used the vehicle for at least six months outside the EU
you didn't get the vehicle under a duty/tax-free scheme
you're going to keep the vehicle for your personal use for at least 12 months after it's imported
Click to expand...
 
Pity your not in the US Airforce, sister in law had both her cars shipped back from Germany for free when she was posted back here.

I do love the look of the challengers though, esp the State trooper ones they have around here.
 
Lashout_UK said:
It'll cost you about £750-£1200 to have it shipped, depending on method, and usually you'd pay an extra 30% (import and VAT) of whatever the original purchase price was - but I don't know how that'll work in your case.

You'll then have to IVA the car (does vary depending on age), MOT it, register it and then tax it :) (I think that's the right order!)
Click to expand...

According to HMRC the Duty rate is 10%

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...CE_CL_000282&propertyType=document#P286_32237

then obviously 20 % more on top of that for VAT.

So as an example, your £1000 car becomes £1100 with duty, then becomes a £1320 car.

So its actually more like 32 %.

Its also worth noting

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...CE_CL_000282&propertyType=document#P319_34475

That the duty is based upon the invoice price, and the cost of shipping and insuring the vehicle as well. So you pay VAT & Duty on your shipping fees and insurance. Nice !
 
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doofski said:
Pity your not in the US Airforce, sister in law had both her cars shipped back from Germany for free when she was posted back here.

I do love the look of the challengers though, esp the State trooper ones they have around here.
Click to expand...

Are you thinking the Dodge Charger? Bit different to the Challenger. Im in the UK forces, I will have to ask our movers if they would ship my car back. I don't know if I fancy leaving the keys with those guys though :D

Yep, as expected I'm completely confused about what I would be taxed, if at all, to import a car I have owned for nearly 3 years in the US. I could do with talking to someone who has done it themselves.
 
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Captain Planet said:
MrLOL, I shall fulfil all those criteria bar the last one, I probably won't keep it for 12months after I import it. I don't fancy running a 6l V8 on whatever the petrol price will be in England in 2014! :eek: What I wan't to know is how do they enforce that you keep it for 12months and if you were to sell it privately how would HM Revenues know?
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At a guess when the new owner registers it with the DVLA
 
Wyvern971 said:
At a guess when the new owner registers it with the DVLA
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Yup, no-one will buy the car if you don't let them register it in their name, and there's a good chance that when they do, HMRC will come after you for the money. They'll "estimate" what it is, then throw interest on top.

You'll also need to do some conversion work and pass the new IVA since they're under 10 years old. Some parts of the IVA test can be avoided if your car complies with US standards, but others are still required [IVA Guide].

For example your car will need a rear foglight fitted, and if it's one that flashes the brake lights rather than having a proper orange indicator then you'll need indicators fitting too. A common way for doing that is to convert the reverse lights into indicators using orange bulbs, then fit one reverse and one foglight to the bottom of the rear bumper.

edit: Apparently you might need to fit side repeaters too, according to this site which talks about converting a Camaro.
 
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Lum, that site is rather useful and looking at the quote I think it's quite reasonable given it all looks quite hassle free...

Insured Delivery to US Port (subject to conditions) 395.00
US Customs and Loading Fees 145.00
Container Shipment to UK 545.00
Full Marine Insurance 258.06
Unloading fees at UK port and UK customs clearance administration 355.00
UK Transport to our workshop 245.00
Full Modifications for UK Homologation, including taking the Chevrolet Camaro to test station 895.00
IVA Test Fee 199.00
MOT Test Fee 50.00
12 months road tax and DVLA registration 260.00
Administration fee for entire service inc. number plates, paperwork, test visits etc 195.00

Sub-Total £3,311.23
VAT £230.83
Total £3,542.06

Import Duty and VAT Estimations:
To calculate Import Duty and VAT we have used an exchange rate of $1.55/£, we have also added on to the value of the car a nominal amount for shipping and insurance charges
Import Duty £0.00
Import VAT £0.00

It would then come down to running the car for a year in the UK and selling. I guess I can't figure if that is all that is worth it until near the time of return to the UK. If not then I would have to just sell in the US and swallow a loss.
 
So add the £3,542 to the purchase price of the vehicle

and thats what you'll pay your duty and VAT on.

As already said if somebody else registers the vehicle within 12 months, you'll get an invoice for the duty / VAT retrospectively.
 
It does look like they do a good job, and having euro spec lights made up for the car, rather than a crappy bolt on foglight has got to be a bonus, especially on such a brand new car.

The car I brought over from Japan was much easier, just needed a foglight and it only had to pass an MOT, so I just bunged a red bulb in one of the reverse lights and wired up a switch. The alternative is a bolt on kind like you see on a caravan which will ruin the look of the car.

One thing I would recommend is getting the car undersealed as I understand this is optional in America as only some states salt the roads.

I used this guy. He charges 500 quid but he has a very good reputation with the Land Rover people and the classic british car enthusiasts. I figure if he can keep British Leyland cars from rusting then he must be doing something right. I've been through 1 1/2 winters now and so far so good. :)

Container shipment for £500 is a good price too! You'll probably find they use a full size container and put 3 cars in it, but that's fine so long as they strap them down. Keeps the salt off which is the important thing.
 
Shipping it a lot more than the stated £1500 above. A full quote from someone like Schumacher cargo is probably best, but expect to pay at least double that
 
£500 seems a realistic price for shipping TBH. Like I said it cost me £700 to ship a car from Japan, which is a much greater distance than from the US east coast. No pirates on that journey either.

You'll almost certainly be sharing that container with two other customer's cars, but so what?
 
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