A question. importing a vehicle from the states

[BLUETHUNDER]

Ive been looking at some vehicles on American e-bay. Ones that are being sold by dealers that ship world-wide.

What i would like to know is. Whats involved shipping wise. Will they deliver to a port and me collect from this side. Whats the general cost of shipping??. And what rate of import tax do i pay. How much is it to SVA. And finally to cut a long story short. What would be all this additional cost on a vehicle where the purchase cost is £11,500???.


Thanks in advance for any help or advice given

Mark

[Roo]

BLUETHUNDER said:

Ive been looking at some vehicles on American e-bay. Ones that are being sold by dealers that ship world-wide.

What i would like to know is. Whats involved shipping wise. Will they deliver to a port and me collect from this side. Whats the general cost of shipping??. And what rate of import tax do i pay. How much is it to SVA. And finally to cut a long story short. What would be all this additional cost on a vehicle where the purchase cost is £11,500???.


Thanks in advance for any help or advice given

Mark

Shipping will depend on whether you use container or roll on - roll off, but anything upto around £1,500. Transport at either end will more than likely be down to you.
Import duty will be 10% of purchase price. Add this to the cost of the car, and normally all shipping costs, then add VAT at 17.5%.
If its' classed as a commercial vehicle it will need an SVA test which is very simple to pass. If it's a car it will need an IVA test which is a lot dearer and more difficult to pass. Light conversion costs will be dependant on the vehicle. If it's over ten years old all it will need is an MOT. You need to make sure you get clear title in the US or you won't be able to register it here.
We use Kingstown Shipping for all our stuff and haven't had a problem. There are quite a lot of specialists though that can help.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Roo. You have mail

[LuS1fer]

What Roo omitted is that commercials actually attract 22% import duty.

I've imported a Z06 at $800 ro-ro but add on marine insurance for any damage/loss en route.

[BLUETHUNDER]

LuS1fer said:

What Roo omitted is that commercials actually attract 22% import duty.

I've imported a Z06 at $800 ro-ro but add on marine insurance for any damage/loss en route.

I suppose a Hummer is classed as a commercial??. Someone i know reckons he imported a WW11 Jeep. Value £9000. He reckons he paid £900 through an agent that included shipping an all dutys and taxes paid. I cant see this to be honest.

[LuS1fer]

BLUETHUNDER said:

LuS1fer said:

What Roo omitted is that commercials actually attract 22% import duty.

I've imported a Z06 at $800 ro-ro but add on marine insurance for any damage/loss en route.

I suppose a Hummer is classed as a commercial??. Someone i know reckons he imported a WW11 Jeep. Value £9000. He reckons he paid £900 through an agent that included shipping an all dutys and taxes paid. I cant see this to be honest.

The 22% came in a few years back so pre-2004-ish I think it was still 10%. It used to be possible to import cars of historic significance at 5% import duty but because everyone took the p***, they clamped right down on that and now it has to be something like a historic race car to qualify. A genuine WW2 Jeep might well qualify as they must be getting rare. Value is based on what you pay in the US so get a seller to give you a $9000 invoice and assuming the valuation isn't ridiculously low, they will base the duty on that - but be warned, if they don't believe you they have power to value it themselves.

The dollar exchange rate also affects the value here. I imported at 1.7 to the £ but last year it was over $2 to the £.

It's also possible to avoid duty if you lived in the US, imported it as a personal import and kept the car for at least 12 months. So there are ways and means but most of the loopholes have been snapped shut as the world has become more savvy and importing more popular. If Brussels have their way, the import of new US cars might be threatened altogether.

Not sure if a Hummer is a car or a commercial to be honest - best to check with Roo on that one. Maybe it only applies to pickups.

[BLUETHUNDER]

I have sent him a mail. I'm looking at 03 year Hummers. So i guess i might qualify for that 10%.

[Roo]

I've replied to your mail.

Hummers are passenger cars unless they are the SUT.