Personal import a C6

[K50 DEL]

Hi all

I have a 2005 C6 in Dubai (a GCC spec car, not USA)

I'm considering bringing it back to the UK to run around in for the summer before selling it there.

I've owned it for nearly 2 years so I know there's no VAT or import duty to pay, but what needs to be done to get the car on the road in England... I'm aware there's an SVA? test, but what specifically needs to be done to a C6 to get it through?

[LuS1fer]

The test is now IVA not SVA and there are now additional items, I am sure, including the correct function of all warning lights.
This is my 2004 guide to the C5 Z06 which should be similar in principle:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/627465/2002-chevrole...

[mitch_]

As a Middle East spec car you essentially have half a Euro spec car. You already have headlight washers so things are a little simpler with headlights, you would need side marker indicators and some small changes to tail lights. There is a significant complication though as your car will have an overspeed warning. There is a way of dealing with this as we have gone through the same issue with two ZR-1's but it is very complicated to resolve.

SVA is gone now, we are on to IVA. Similar, but not identical.

[mitch_]

I seem to remember the speed warning comes in at 120kph or 73mph. You'll go insane with that in the UK and I dare say it would be an issue when you come to sell it.

[K50 DEL]

mitch_ said:

There is a significant complication though as your car will have an overspeed warning. There is a way of dealing with this as we have gone through the same issue with two ZR-1's but it is very complicated to resolve.

Please, please fill me in on this, it drives me mad in the UAE, never mind the UK!!

[C5RagTop]

Best person to speak to is Tom at Claremont Corvette. He has a yellow Dubai C6 for sale and I think he may have done the IVA work to get it registered.

[mitch_]

C5RagTop said:

Best person to speak to is Tom at Claremont Corvette. He has a yellow Dubai C6 for sale and I think he may have done the IVA work to get it registered.

Bet he hasn't stopped the overspeed warning....

[mitch_]

K50 DEL said:

Please, please fill me in on this, it drives me mad in the UAE, never mind the UK!!

We re-programmed the BCM for a different country and then amended the lighting as necessary. Requires manufacturer diagnostic equipment though and is nowhere near as straightforward as it looks. This is not a guarantee by the way, this is just how we resolved the issue previously.

[K50 DEL]

mitch_ said:

K50 DEL said:

Please, please fill me in on this, it drives me mad in the UAE, never mind the UK!!

We re-programmed the BCM for a different country and then amended the lighting as necessary. Requires manufacturer diagnostic equipment though and is nowhere near as straightforward as it looks. This is not a guarantee by the way, this is just how we resolved the issue previously.

I thought it might be something like that, I read on a USA forum a long time ago that changing the BCM to Canada was the best way of getting around the speed limiter, but there are apparently other things that get changed by the process as well.
As no-one could tell me what those other things were, I declined to have the job done.

Did your ZR-1s work fine once you'd changed the BCM country code, what else did that change for you?

[K50 DEL]

mitch_ said:

K50 DEL said:

Please, please fill me in on this, it drives me mad in the UAE, never mind the UK!!

We re-programmed the BCM for a different country and then amended the lighting as necessary. Requires manufacturer diagnostic equipment though and is nowhere near as straightforward as it looks. This is not a guarantee by the way, this is just how we resolved the issue previously.

Picking this back up again as the value drop in the car here in Dubai is making re-patriation seem like a good idea.
Mitch, is the speed limiter warning removal and associated works something that you could do for me? if so, can you give me an idea of costs.... I'm trying to pull together all the costs involved in getting the car on the road in the UK to see if it really is worth bringing it back just to sell.

[mitch_]

PM me your contact details and I will put you in touch with my Aftersales Manager. It's not an easy job to quote for but I will ask him to do his best.

M

[ViperDave]

You may want to check you have the FMVSS (federal motor vehicle safety standard) sticker on the car, Its likely there but being an export possibly not, but its that sticker the IVA guy will look for first and when he finds it he will put a line through most of the test requirements and go get himself a cup of coffee and donut as he now has a far easier test to undertake. Without the sticker and if subject to the full test you will probably struggle to get it through.

There is a list of all the test sections the FMVSS covers at the front of the IVA manual

[mitch_]

This has been irrelevant for us ever since the test switched to IVA. Many of the vehicles I source from GM do not have FMVSS labels and still pass IVA. As a Middle East I would not expect it to have an FMVSS label either.