My Quest to get a RHD Car

[RadQuinn]

Here's my story.

I've been active in the auto market for a little over two years and it's been that long for a very good reason: 95% of used cars in the United States are either over priced or complete rubbish. The other five percent are cars that you'll most likely never find. I can list thousands of examples, including a 95' Chrysler Sebring for $6,000, and a 99 PT Cruiser for $9,000, not to mention the fact that Mini's don't seem to depreciate.. ever. Now that I have a family it is about time that I upgrade to a nicer vehicle mainly for safety reasons and also so that when my little girl is old enough for school I don't embarrass her *too* much. I might be in the market for a hot hatch so I can get things done at light speed when I don't have the baby, and have room and safety for toting the wife and kid around all other times. However I also would not mind a cheap'ish four door Monaro, Merc or BMW. I just need something safe, reliable and decently speedy.

I've never been one for the non-original and most certainly never one who follows the crowd. My liking for a RHD car originated from a friend who had a pristine R34. Since he was tragically killed in a drunk driver related accident and the car was totaled with it, it's also a bit of a tribute to an old friend. Here are the problems I'm facing.

-There are very few Independent Commercial Importers in America and the ones I do know of will not return any phone call or email.
-Shipping companies take a decade and a half just for a quote, but it's very hard for them to quote when I can't give them specific details.
-The NHTSA cannot work on a petition for a car to be added to the Import list without a VIN number and manufacture date: getting that kind of information isn't easy, as I've asked over 20 independent sellers in the UK for that information and all refused or didn't respond.
-I don't know anyone in the UK who might be able to 'help' me get the car from the seller to the docks.
-Many other things.


My main question is: Has anyone here done this and succeeded? I could definitely use the help.

[Roo]

Shipping is easy.

We ship from the East Coast to the UK frequently for +/- £1,000.

Transport in the UK to the docks is not excessive. I pay £250 for transported vehicles from Southampton to me in Kent. Quite happy to point you in the direction of my transport company if that helps.

You're biggest problem is going to be finding a car the NHTSA will allow into the country.

[jeff m2]

I'm not sure how long you've been in the States (assume you are an import like me) but....
R34...not on the list, show and display maybe.
Holden....you are making it difficult for yourself.

Substitute for a R34 would be a Mazda R7 twin Turbo or maybe a Nissan Z. As you are probably aware the Nissan substitute for the Skyline in the Infiniti G35, I'm guessing that's not the look you are after.
GTR would be a nice choice, but once your daughter is out of kindergarten I doubt you'd get her in the back.

Personally I would give some thought to owning a grey market import if this is going to be an only car. Actually the same is true for R7.

Get yourself a 2 to 3 year old daily driver with the balance of man warranty, then go for a toy.

[RadQuinn]

Roo said:

Shipping is easy.

We ship from the East Coast to the UK frequently for +/- £1,000.

Transport in the UK to the docks is not excessive. I pay £250 for transported vehicles from Southampton to me in Kent. Quite happy to point you in the direction of my transport company if that helps.

You're biggest problem is going to be finding a car the NHTSA will allow into the country.

Thanks for the info on shipping. I might be in touch if everything eventually works out.

jeff m2 said:

I'm not sure how long you've been in the States (assume you are an import like me) but....
R34...not on the list, show and display maybe.
Holden....you are making it difficult for yourself.

Substitute for a R34 would be a Mazda R7 twin Turbo or maybe a Nissan Z. As you are probably aware the Nissan substitute for the Skyline in the Infiniti G35, I'm guessing that's not the look you are after.
GTR would be a nice choice, but once your daughter is out of kindergarten I doubt you'd get her in the back.

Personally I would give some thought to owning a grey market import if this is going to be an only car. Actually the same is true for R7.

Get yourself a 2 to 3 year old daily driver with the balance of man warranty, then go for a toy.

I'm not actually looking for a 'toy,' or even anything remotely close to a R34. I'm looking, as I stated, for something a lot more sensible than that. Two to three year old cars in the United States are outrageously priced usually, and if they're not overpriced they're at least usually out of my budget. I really do think I can get a car from the UK that is better and cheaper than one I can get in the states.

And to add a comment about grey market vehicles, I cannot find a single bit of information anywhere on how to actually *get* one.

Edited by RadQuinn on Wednesday 19th October 05:27

[jeff m2]

RadQuinn said:

And to add a comment about grey market vehicles, I cannot find a single bit of information anywhere on how to actually *get* one.

A Grey Market vehicle is one that was not originally manufacted for, and sold in the States through a Dealership.
If at some point it breaks down, as all cars do, it can take longer to get parts.
Also some mechanics will not entertain Grey Market cars as they don't want it sitting on their lift of taking up a bay.
So.....if this is an only car and you rely on it for work you can see the potential for a hiccup.

I'm not saying don't get something from England, just be aware of the possible problems.

[vetteheadracer]

RadQuinn said:

Here's my story.

I've been active in the auto market for a little over two years and it's been that long for a very good reason: 95% of used cars in the United States are either over priced or complete rubbish. The other five percent are cars that you'll most likely never find. I can list thousands of examples, including a 95' Chrysler Sebring for $6,000, and a 99 PT Cruiser for $9,000, not to mention the fact that Mini's don't seem to depreciate.. ever. Now that I have a family it is about time that I upgrade to a nicer vehicle mainly for safety reasons and also so that when my little girl is old enough for school I don't embarrass her *too* much. I might be in the market for a hot hatch so I can get things done at light speed when I don't have the baby, and have room and safety for toting the wife and kid around all other times. However I also would not mind a cheap'ish four door Monaro, Merc or BMW. I just need something safe, reliable and decently speedy.

I've never been one for the non-original and most certainly never one who follows the crowd. My liking for a RHD car originated from a friend who had a pristine R34. Since he was tragically killed in a drunk driver related accident and the car was totaled with it, it's also a bit of a tribute to an old friend. Here are the problems I'm facing.

-There are very few Independent Commercial Importers in America and the ones I do know of will not return any phone call or email.
-Shipping companies take a decade and a half just for a quote, but it's very hard for them to quote when I can't give them specific details.
-The NHTSA cannot work on a petition for a car to be added to the Import list without a VIN number and manufacture date: getting that kind of information isn't easy, as I've asked over 20 independent sellers in the UK for that information and all refused or didn't respond.
-I don't know anyone in the UK who might be able to 'help' me get the car from the seller to the docks.
-Many other things.


My main question is: Has anyone here done this and succeeded? I could definitely use the help.

I did the reverse i.e. shipped from the US to the UK a lot of time over the past 10 years and always bought privately and used Wallenius Wilhelmsen for the wet bit on the journey. They ship from Baltimore to Liverpool using a Ro-Ro service which takes about 10 days and the last time was about $500 for a Corvette. I would assume they would also ship back the other way buy check out there website for routing details length of trip etc.

As mentioned above, your biggest problem would be titling an import given the potential testing it may have to pass which then begs the question why would you want a Monaro from the UK for example when it is exactly the same car as a Pontiac GTO? Also why get a Monaro from the UK when they are all imported to the UK from Australia? Why not get one from there?

[JDRoest]

RadQuinn said:

-There are very few Independent Commercial Importers in America and the ones I do know of will not return any phone call or email.
-Shipping companies take a decade and a half just for a quote, but it's very hard for them to quote when I can't give them specific details.
-The NHTSA cannot work on a petition for a car to be added to the Import list without a VIN number and manufacture date: getting that kind of information isn't easy, as I've asked over 20 independent sellers in the UK for that information and all refused or didn't respond.
-I don't know anyone in the UK who might be able to 'help' me get the car from the seller to the docks.
-Many other things.


My main question is: Has anyone here done this and succeeded? I could definitely use the help.

Having an equally difficult time taking a Mustang to the US. It's Canadian spec, but I managed with very little effort to get the conformity letter out of Ford. Shippers are difficult at best, but I've got a quote now. Just trying to identify all the third party costs when it lands, plus working out any import duty (it should be zero as I'm a new US resident and I own the car, and it should be zero as it's Canadian).

Getting the car to the docks is easy - drive it to the docks and hand it to the shipping agent. Or get a £1pm transporter off Ebay to deliver the car. From what I can tell, you submit the customs forms and documentation about 2 weeks from the car landing in the US (but i could be wrong).

The key thing about getting a non US car into the US is that it has to be over 25 years old, or needs to be on the NHTSA pre-approved list. Getting a non approved car into the US is both expensive and a nightmare. An RI would have to do the modifications whilst the vehicle is held on a bond with US Customs of 1.5 times it's value. The modifications, mainly airbags is going to cost serious $$$. So the chance of getting a non approved car into the US is next to zero. Oh yeah, and RIs don't return calls or emails. Good luck with that.

NHTSA will entertain a petition, but they say no for nearly everything. The criteria that a petition is granted is for something historically special. There is a public document of what vehicles are on petitions at RIs, and a) there aren't many vehicles b) many are getting rejected.

Ideally you need a manufacturer to give you a conformity letter for EPA and NHTSA standards at time of manufacture. However - good luck with that! VAG refused to give a letter for a Canadian registered VR6 Jetta earlier this year for a friend, I reckon your chances with a full European car is next to nothing.

The only way in would be to bring it in as a tourist on a 12 month tourist deal (like taking your car to France). But after 12 months the vehicle has to be returned to the UK. However, if you don't and it gets caught out after 12 months you'll lose the car. Plus you won't be able to sell it as you wont have the correct documentation from US Customs to title the car in your state properly either. So it's a dead car at that point.

If you seriously crave RHD, then might I suggest an old USPS vehicle )

Edited by JDRoest on Saturday 22 October 04:20

[jeff m2]

RHD.....
Also not so convenient for grabbing a burger and fries or getting cash from the bank, although I suppose you could reverse into the drive through

Toll booths too....