Any one ever import a car from over seas?

[deevergote]

Cars that are 25 years old right now were not subject to ANY computer controlled emissions standards. There was no OBD in 1984.

I have a feeling that ODB1 cars such as ours will not be fully exempt when they turn 25. Especially since there is a significant focus on "green" thinking these days.

[DA92CB7]

Cars that are 25 years old right now were not subject to ANY computer controlled emissions standards. There was no OBD in 1984.

I have a feeling that ODB1 cars such as ours will not be fully exempt when they turn 25. Especially since there is a significant focus on "green" thinking these days.

I love how our cars are still way more emissions and fuel efficiant than 75% of the cars that are on the market

[lil_dcb7]

9 Austin Minis? What the hell are you going to do with 9 of them (sell them, obviously... but what sparked this venture?)

There are so many cool old cars I would love to get... many over 25 years old as well.

What sort of costs are involved in the importation process? Say I found a car for $2000 that I liked... how much would that end up costing me in the end (25+ years old... so just the customs BS)

My friend is a huge austin mini nut. He's had like two of them. He wanted a partner to get everything done and approached me. I saw just how much money could be made (Austin Mini's in the UK are like Skyline GTS-T's in Japan. a DIME a dozen over there WHOAMGWTFBBQ expensive over here, and for GOOD reason) So i decided to dive into it.

We contacted an individual on Ebay.co.uk who was selling the mini's directly. We asked if we could work out some kinda package deal etc etc. He was cool and obliged. Payed a VERY good price per piece and gave him a commercial address to send the shipment too. (Yes, you're going to need a commercial address)

Now these cars are no newer than 1982. Which means they are exempt from applicable federal DOT and EPA laws. Unfortunately not in california. There are four Minis I believe that fall under that 1975 grandfather exempt law, but the other five cannot be registered for California road use unless they are modified to meet DOT and EPA Regulations. (California does not have the revolving 25 year old law that the rest of the states follow, so deev, your 1989 R32 will be completely legit in four years! But California's exemption year is STUCK at 1975.

Ok, heres the gist of how importation works,

Your container or car, if just transporting one, will come into your nearest point of entry. I dont know what the east coast is, but here in Southern California is the Long Beach entry terminal. ARRANGE A CUSTOMS BROKER PRIOR TO YOUR CAR ARRIVING I cannot express how important this is. Pay the shipping fees RIGHT AWAY if not done already prior to shipment. The shipping company will hold the Bill of Lading and what should be the Commercial Invoice (or a bill of sale) until they receive payment. Once you have made payment, they should send you (either e-mail or snail mail, I got ours through e-mail as a PDF) a COPY of the Bill of Lading and the Bill of Sale. You give your customs broker copies of this documentation (get a broker local to the Point of Entry, the closer he is to the container, the better)

From there on, the broker submits paperwork, and completes DOT and EPA paperwork, etc, arranges customs etc.

As for fees. Get ready for this shit. If you have a container, the local transport company (at long beach is APL, American President Lines) will charge you for unloading your cargo. If its a single car, Im not sure what the charge will be for driving the damn thing off the ship, but if you have a container like us, APL charged us $600 dollars to use their crane.

Depending on the POE and their policies, you will be given a certain amount of "free time" Ours was seven days. This is the time you have in order to file your paperwork. Which your customs broker should have by now, if not, Start fucking drinking energy drinks and prepare for no fucking sleep if your trying to contact your shipper in Japan or the UK, which is a nine hour difference.

If you do NOT provide Customs with the appropriate documentation (which also includes a TITLE. NO WAY AROUND IT. NO BULLSHITTING YOU NEED A TITLE. MAKES LIFE MUCH EASIER) It'd be easier to make a list.

-Title or previous owner certificate of some sort
-A DETAILED bill of sale/Commercial Invoice with approximate value of your car, noted with its chassis and registration number, AND model year that MUST correspond with your Bill of Lading and the Title,
-Commercial Invoice/Bill of Sale
-Title of the car.
The Bill of Sale author MUST match the name on the title. If it does not, be prepared for more head aches and more waiting.
-Copy of the Bill of Lading
-Cargo Arrival Notice

If you don't give this to your broker, and you broker doesnt forward it to customs in your allotted "free time" You will being occuring "Demurage Charges" In our situation, its $110 a day for 14 days max. Our demurrage total is currently at $1070 If we dont get the container through customs by friday, it goes to a third party, and it shoots to $275 a day. Get your shit together WAY before the shipment arrives.

I will copy and paste the fees from an e-mail i recieved from my broker. Your fees will vary on state and taxes, look them up.

Estimated fees are as follows:



- entry fee $350

- Additional vehicles $200 per vehicle.

- Customs duties 2.5% of vehicle value + harbor maintenance fee .125% + merchandise processing fee .21% **minimums apply***

- Customs bond $5 per each 1,000 covered with a minimum of $50. bond must cover 3 times the value of the vehicles.

- Messenger fee $45

- Pier pass fee at the terminal for 45’ containers $100 + $20 handling fee to Nik & Associates.

- Clean truck fee to terminal for 45’ containers $70 + $20 handling fee to Nik & Associates.

- G.o. release $50



**truck delivery/unloading of container is not included*** **any fees to steamship line, g.o. charges, exam fees or any other fees to any other parties involved are not included on this quote.

Important Notes:

PAPERWORK MUST CORRESPOND WITH ONE ANOTHER. If there is an inconsistency, Customs will halt the entire process and it may take days to get any of the found inconsistencies cleared up. And guess what happens if this isn't taken care of within your free time. Yes, say hello to daily demurrage charges. EVERYTHING MUST BE ACCOUNTED FOR. MAKE SURE YOUR SELLER/PROPRIETOR PAYS ATTENTION. Once you receive paperwork, CHECK IT ALL and make sure its all consistent. Better you catch it, than a customs agent.

Have the title, Bottom line. IF you are trying to bring in a PARTS CHASSIS, it MUST BE DESTROYED IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. Customs classifies a chassis as follows, NO DRIVE TRAIN MAY BE PRESENT or the car HAS TO BE MODIFIED IN A WAY TO MAKE IT UNDRIVEABLE. We have four parts chassis minis. They do have the drive trains, but the roofs have been cut off at the base of the pillars in order to be stacked ontop of one another. Cut off at the base of the windshield? Yeah, that thing is never going to see a road. By the way, a parts CHASSIS does not necessarily need a title, only a bill of sale. But it makes things more simpler if you have a title. I emphasize Chassis because customs makes a big deal out of a chassis, or a car. Big difference to them.

'tis all for now. Its nearly three in the morning and Im tired.

I took all of this time and effort do make this sort of.. right up for people who may want to learn about this sort of topic and can benefit from it. I had NO IDEA WHAT I HAD TO DO. All of this i learned the hard way.

After going thorugh all this bullshit, I asked myself it it were worth it.

I've decided that if its for a car you really want, if its for your personal use, and its something you love, absoloutely.

If your trying to turn a quick profit.

Fuck no.

You're going to need at least seven cars for it to be worth it.


OH, i was just reading all this, and i forgot to mention one thing. Your local entry company (APL) WILL NOT ALLOW the cargo to be relased untill you pay their maintenence fee, as well as to provide the ORIGINAL, HARD COPY Bill of Lading, which has to be overnighted to them by the shipping company.

Also, my broker told me some interesting tips about getting a COUGHCOUGHJAPANESECARCOUGHCOUGH through customs. Things she wasnt supposed to tell me, but I think she liked the way i flirted with her, so she told me.

If your interested, just shoot me a PM and I will fill you in, I dont know if i should post it out in the open

Oh, and when i mentioned a parts chassis must be damaged in some way, im not talking about accident, front/rear end damage. Im talking about cut. Front cut, half cut, roof cut.. etc.

Ok, fuck this, Im going to bed. Night.

Deev, I really hope you learned something

[deevergote]

Thanks Danny! That was really helpful! I've researched importing a car before, and you filled in a lot of the gray area that I couldn't quite figure out! I'm going to have to save this info, since I'm sure I'll need to refer to it in the future.