Toyota FJ Cruiser

[dtmpower]

I would be looking to import an FJ Cruiser from the East coast. What is currently involved in importing a recent (under 10 years old) LHD car from the US ?

SVA required ? and if so how much work to get an FJ through ?

Can I buy directly from an New York garage and get it put on a roll on roll off ship to Southampton ?

[dealmaker]

I bought one for my wife - Voodoo Blue - looks ace!- bought it from a dealer in Fort Lauderdale - cheapest deal I could find - I can probably get their details if you want.

The car needs to be SVA'd - I had it taken care of by the outfit who I use for shipping - cost about £900 or so I think.

[dtmpower]

Yeah - details if you could

I have a friend in New Jersey - but happy to buy in Florida if purchase/shipping is easy

[308mate]

There is a dealer on the south side of the M3 about half way up who has had the odd FJ cruiser up for sale, alongside many a 'stang and day van. Cant remember the name though, sorry.

[TheMighty]

Before buying one I'd be tempted to have a google around to have a look at all the incidents of badly cracked chassis' that seem to have been apearing with the FJ.

[LuS1fer]

Check if it's classed as car or commercial as the former is 10% import duty and the latter 22%

[dtmpower]

How can I find out the duty rate for the FJ Cruiser ?

[JenkinsComp]

You'll pay a total of 29.5% import duty on top of the USDollar ticket price, converted to GBP. All new-ish cars pay that total import duty, I can't remember the exact cut off but it is something like cars over 30 years old pay nothing, whatever, it doesn't apply to an FJ. It should cost under a grand to ship it here, plus insurance for the journey here. Budget for about 500-1000 for SVA, it might not cost that much though. If you can prove that you owned the car in the USA for 6 months before it was shipped and then do not sell it within the first 6 months of owning it here, then I think you are not liable to pay the import duty.

You can obviously do all this yourself, or rid yourself of hassle by speaking with a decent importer, such as Newport Imports or American Car Imports (google them)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSell...

Edited by JenkinsComp on Tuesday 15th July 11:18

[dtmpower]

JenkinsComp said:

You'll pay about 29.5% import duty on top of the USDollar ticket price, converted to GBP. It should cost under a grand to ship it here, plus insurance for the journey here. Budget for about 500-1000 for SVA, it might not cost that much though. If you can prove that you owned the car in the USA for 6 months before it was shipped and then do not sell it within the first 6 months of owning it here, then I think you are not liable to pay the import duty.

You can obviously do all this yourself, or rid yourself of hassle by speaking with a decent importer, such as Newport Imports or American Car Imports (google them)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSell...

I thought the duty rates were 10% or 22% (car / truck ) then VAT @ 17.5% on top?

[JenkinsComp]

dtmpower said:

JenkinsComp said:

You'll pay about 29.5% import duty on top of the USDollar ticket price, converted to GBP. It should cost under a grand to ship it here, plus insurance for the journey here. Budget for about 500-1000 for SVA, it might not cost that much though. If you can prove that you owned the car in the USA for 6 months before it was shipped and then do not sell it within the first 6 months of owning it here, then I think you are not liable to pay the import duty.

You can obviously do all this yourself, or rid yourself of hassle by speaking with a decent importer, such as Newport Imports or American Car Imports (google them)

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSell...

I thought the duty rates were 10% or 22% (car / truck ) then VAT @ 17.5% on top?

Somehow they get away with compounding the 17.5% VAT on the price + 10% duty (or the other way around, the 10% duty is charged on the price including VAT). Either way, it's a cheek. So altogether it works out that you end up paying 29.5% instead of 27.5%.

[JenkinsComp]

The good news is that the FX rate is currently 2.01 USD = 1 GBP!!!

[JenkinsComp]

Alternatively, you could try to import one from Japan, the advantage being that you might find a RHD version.

http://www.bonsaicars.com/ can help you locate one and bring it back. Because of the expensive Japanese version of the MOT, second hand cars there are very cheap.

[dtmpower]

FJ Cruiser is a US Model....

[JenkinsComp]

Fair enough!

[Swoxy]

If you're still looking I just saw this.