Importing a Mustang from the USA

[moio84]

Hi guys,

I want to buy a Mustang 2007-2009 V8 GT, leather seats, manual, less than 70k mi. In UK these seem to be going for around £15,000.00. The same car in the US is around £8000.00. ($13000)

I got a quote from shipmycar.com of £3000.00 all in and I think that includes everything to get you on the road, inc tax,mods etc! So it seems I'm £4000 better off doing it this way.......hmm sounds a bit too good to be true.

Anyone got any experience of the above? Any tips? I would hopefully buy the car remotely, apparently ship my car can buy the car for me, doing a full check on the car for £200.00

The £4k difference seems worth the headache, but again! Looking for some opinions.

Thanks guys!

Lee.

[gt500nick]

What ever you pay in the USA plus shipping you will then have to pay vat 20% and duty 10%. And then you have the cost of registering and conforming to UK spec. So make sure you do your maths before purchase as it could cost you. It always looks like a great deal when you just look at the dollar price in the states again pound value here. But don't forget the hidden costs.

[croyde]

Isn't the approx cost to take the dollar sign away and add a pound sign. Still makes your US Mustang a bargain but you have to either really trust someone over there or factor in the cost of going over yourself and doing all the legwork.

Good luck though, because if Ford UK take the mickey with the price of the new RHD V8 Mustang I might be tempted to do the same as you.

[steveo3002]

remember the ones in the uk are mostly owned by keen enthusaists so might be above average condition vs in the states theyre common as muck every day hacks so your cheap ones might be well used and abused

[Roo]

That shipping quote isn't enough to include the import duty and VAT which will come to around £2,800 on their own.

Try also:
Kingstown Shipping.
STS Imports.
Golden Chariots.

[gt500nick]

steveo3002 said:

remember the ones in the uk are mostly owned by keen enthusaists so might be above average condition vs in the states theyre common as muck every day hacks so your cheap ones might be well used and abused

yes to this, you are taking a leap of faith with a car in the usa unless you inspect it yourself. i had a inspection done by a local garage and it wasn't worth the price i paid. you really need to test drive a car too to know what its like.

[moio84]

Insured Delivery to US Port (Savannah)
US Customs and Loading Fees
Port-to-Port Shipping (consolidated container) Fully Comprehensive Marine Insurance
Unloading Fees at UK Port and UK Customs Clearance UK Transport to our workshop from port
Full Modifications for IVA Test
IVA Test Fee
MOT Test Fee
12 Months Road Tax
DVLA Registration Fee
ShipMyCar Administration Fee August Deal - FREE Tablet Computer*
Sub Total
245.00 145.00 595.00 158.60 £1143.60
95.00 245.00 895.00 199.00 50.00 230.00 55.00 195.00 0.00 £1964.00
Total: £3107.6

It looks all inclusive, but you're saying on top of the car purchase price there is an additional 20%???

[croyde]

I'm not too sure now but I thought that Ship My car included all the VAT and Import duty. I could be wrong.

Yeah! You have to add Vat at 20% to the purchase price and then 10% Import duty

[Roo]

Can you format that correctly to show what's what as that's just a random load of numbers.

There doesn't look like the figures high enough for duty and VAT.

[gt500nick]

moio84 said:

Insured Delivery to US Port (Savannah)
US Customs and Loading Fees
Port-to-Port Shipping (consolidated container) Fully Comprehensive Marine Insurance
Unloading Fees at UK Port and UK Customs Clearance UK Transport to our workshop from port
Full Modifications for IVA Test
IVA Test Fee
MOT Test Fee
12 Months Road Tax
DVLA Registration Fee
ShipMyCar Administration Fee August Deal - FREE Tablet Computer*
Sub Total
245.00 145.00 595.00 158.60 £1143.60
95.00 245.00 895.00 199.00 50.00 230.00 55.00 195.00 0.00 £1964.00
Total: £3107.6

It looks all inclusive, but you're saying on top of the car purchase price there is an additional 20%???

yes you will have to pay the vat and duty which have not been added to those figures.

[Legacywr]

You will have to pay all the shipping and registration charges, then you will have to pay 10% import tax, and then, 20% VAT on everything!

It's hardly worth it IMO!

[moio84]

Ok, well thats put a spanner in the works! I might as well buy one in the UK. But sadly I haven't got 15k and only want the V8

I might go in a completely different direction and and get the Z4 coupe on a 2007.

[moio84]

Ok, well thats put a spanner in the works! I might as well buy one in the UK. But sadly I haven't got 15k and only want the V8

I might go in a completely different direction and and get the Z4 coupe on a 2007.

[zxttfan]

The main advantage of buying in the States is selection. If your looking for a particular colour, spec, etc, you simply have more options to choose from. While prices are better on average, the best kept cars (enthusiast owned) are priced somewhat higher than the prices quoted in your OP. Those are asking prices in most cases.

Establishing contact with a local Mustang club in the area your looking and having them go look at a car for you is the best bet if you can't fly over yourself. If they can't help, they may direct you to a Mustang specialist that can look at any potential purchase. You can also hire an auto inspector to do it for you as they have their reputation on the line whereas a local garage knows the car won't be serviced there in the future and doesn't care as much.

[Legacywr]

You could get an MG ZT 260, which has a mustang engine in it, and, they are quite highly thought of!

[LuS1fer]

If you want a V8 then look for a 1998-2002 Camaro/Trans Am here in the UK. The Z28s/Trans Ams have in excess of the claimed 305hp and the SS/TA WS6 has around 320 at the back wheels.
They are not everyone's cup of tea but they are a lot less, if you can find one. A friend of mine has just bought an immaculate SS.

[5ohmustang]

The MG ZT with the V8 has the 2V motor which is hard to get power out of. Not worth it in my opinion. The block has a limit of around 500bhp and will never have the wow factor the 3v or 4v has. If I was going to import one with a $13k budget, id go for a heavily modified foxbody, a 98 cobra or a 03-04 terminator cobra.