Importing a car from the US
Discussion
(another import car thread sorry)
Im looking at a car on US ebay that I like the look of, 1970s ford car.
How do I go about getting it over here? Assuming the seller does the deal and I buy the car, I would need someone to go collect the car (mid west), make sure all the paperwork is there i.e. title etc, get it to the boat, ship it to UK and then theres SVA/ MOT etc etc.
How do I make this happen as its all a bit of a risk? Has anyone done it and can recommend what is the easiest/ cheapest /best way to do it?
Many thanks.
Im looking at a car on US ebay that I like the look of, 1970s ford car.
How do I go about getting it over here? Assuming the seller does the deal and I buy the car, I would need someone to go collect the car (mid west), make sure all the paperwork is there i.e. title etc, get it to the boat, ship it to UK and then theres SVA/ MOT etc etc.
How do I make this happen as its all a bit of a risk? Has anyone done it and can recommend what is the easiest/ cheapest /best way to do it?
Many thanks.
Well for your first time, you can get it done yourself. Once the car is here, it needs a valid UK Mot, you need insurance (done on the Vin number) then book it into the local DVLA office for them to check and register.
However the shipping to a decent dock and the shipping can be the only hassle. Finding a company to do this really goes on recommendation.
I would recommend John at Golden Chariots as he has helped me on a number of occasions and is always efficient and well priced. Give him a bell as he is free on advice as well.
http://www.goldenchariotsinternational.com/
HTH
Kev
See if this makes any sense:
After you have found your dream car, you need to get it home. You have a few options here but for the purpose of this I will assume you want to do all the leg work yourself and hopefully save a few £.
The cheapest way to get a quote for the actual shipping of your car is to go directly to the shipping line. There are many to choose from and a quick google search will provide names. For this example I am going to suggest you look at WWL, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. They have a facility to get a quote online but it is also quicker and easier to discuss this with them on the phone.
www.2wglobal.com
This will give you the basic shipping charge but will not include clearing the port on the US side. The local shipping office will provide you with the number of a forwarder who will take care of clearing customs and paying the fees involved. There will usually be a fee for clearing customs, a terminal handling fee and an admin charge to cover documentation.
Your US forwarder will need the original title of the car as well as a copy of the bill of sale.
I have had great success using a company called Seabridge International www.seabrdge.com who will basically provide you with an all in quote for the car to leave the US, ie all customs charges US side and shipping. They also quote the same rates as WWL!
First off, you need to get the car to a port for exportation. You may be able to work out with the seller to drop the car off at the designated port or you might use a site like www.uship.com to find someone to haul it for you. Uship is a bit like Ebay but is a shipping site for people to list items they need moving from A to B.
An important thing to note here is that due to the problems with world terrorism, any person that needs to enter a US port must be in possesion of a TWIC, Transport Workers Identification Credential. One way to get around this is to ask if the shipping line has an off site drop off point. The other good thing about these are that they are manned 7 days a week, 24 hours a day so a vehicle can be dropped off at any time.
Technically, the cost of transporting the car to the docks should be declared for tax purposes BUT if the person dropping off is just doing you a favour...no need!
So, you have bought your car, sorted out shipping and got the car delivered to the docks....now you just sit back and wait right? NO....
Now you need to find a forwarder in the UK port to basically do the same as your US forwarder, ie clear customs, sort out payment of import duty and VAT etc.
I have used a few forwarders and to be honest there is very little between them with regards to cost. For my example, I will show prices supplied by Penguin Shipping.
So now on to the figures and how import duty and VAT is worked out.
Lets assume the cost of your car is $2500.00
To this, you add the cost of getting the car delivered to the port....if you are going to declare it OR if you have employed the services of a US agent who is also handling delivery to the port.
For this example, we will assume it was delivered free of charge.
Now you add the cost of Shipping, US customs clearance fees, terminal handling charges etc.
I recently had a quote of $1297.50 to ship a car from the West Coast ( California ) to the UK, Southampton. This price includes all fees and surcharges incurred.
So we have a total so far of $2500.00 + $1297.50 = $3797.50
A car has a import duty of 10% but you can find what import duty applies to your specific shipment if it wasnt a used car here,
TARIC SITE
Hit the browse button to see what commodities are listed and select yours. Then enter what country they are coming from and it will tell you the Import Duty rate.
To find out how HMRC work out this 10%, you need to know what the exchange rate is that they use in their calculations. On the 1st of each month they set the rate so when your shipment arrives, you simply check the current exchange rate they use.
CUSTOMS EXCHANGE RATE
As of 1st August 2009 the rate used for the USA is $1.6436 to the £1.00
So we can say that our shipment of $3797.50 has a UK value of $3797.50 / $1.6436 = £2310.48
10% import duty of £2310.48 = £231.05
Now we need to work out the VAT. This is done by adding the duty to the UK value as well as adding in any fees and costs incurred in the UK.
For this example, we would have a WWL Terminal Handling charge of £40.00, an admin fee for discharge of £25.00 and the forwarders customs clearance fee, in this case £65.00.
So we add £2310.48 + £231.05 + £40.00 + £25.00 + 65.00 to get a total of £2671.53
VAT on £2671.53 at the current 15% rate is £400.73
So the total prices are as follows.
Car cost $2500.00
Shipping / US customs etc $1297.50
UK Value £2310.48 (A)
Import Duty at 10% £231.05 (B)
UK Port fees and customs clearance etc £130.00 (C)
VAT 15% of totals, £400.73 ( 15% of A+B+C)
Total paid out to collect car from UK docks £3072.23
After you have found your dream car, you need to get it home. You have a few options here but for the purpose of this I will assume you want to do all the leg work yourself and hopefully save a few £.
The cheapest way to get a quote for the actual shipping of your car is to go directly to the shipping line. There are many to choose from and a quick google search will provide names. For this example I am going to suggest you look at WWL, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. They have a facility to get a quote online but it is also quicker and easier to discuss this with them on the phone.
www.2wglobal.com
This will give you the basic shipping charge but will not include clearing the port on the US side. The local shipping office will provide you with the number of a forwarder who will take care of clearing customs and paying the fees involved. There will usually be a fee for clearing customs, a terminal handling fee and an admin charge to cover documentation.
Your US forwarder will need the original title of the car as well as a copy of the bill of sale.
I have had great success using a company called Seabridge International www.seabrdge.com who will basically provide you with an all in quote for the car to leave the US, ie all customs charges US side and shipping. They also quote the same rates as WWL!
First off, you need to get the car to a port for exportation. You may be able to work out with the seller to drop the car off at the designated port or you might use a site like www.uship.com to find someone to haul it for you. Uship is a bit like Ebay but is a shipping site for people to list items they need moving from A to B.
An important thing to note here is that due to the problems with world terrorism, any person that needs to enter a US port must be in possesion of a TWIC, Transport Workers Identification Credential. One way to get around this is to ask if the shipping line has an off site drop off point. The other good thing about these are that they are manned 7 days a week, 24 hours a day so a vehicle can be dropped off at any time.
Technically, the cost of transporting the car to the docks should be declared for tax purposes BUT if the person dropping off is just doing you a favour...no need!
So, you have bought your car, sorted out shipping and got the car delivered to the docks....now you just sit back and wait right? NO....
Now you need to find a forwarder in the UK port to basically do the same as your US forwarder, ie clear customs, sort out payment of import duty and VAT etc.
I have used a few forwarders and to be honest there is very little between them with regards to cost. For my example, I will show prices supplied by Penguin Shipping.
So now on to the figures and how import duty and VAT is worked out.
Lets assume the cost of your car is $2500.00
To this, you add the cost of getting the car delivered to the port....if you are going to declare it OR if you have employed the services of a US agent who is also handling delivery to the port.
For this example, we will assume it was delivered free of charge.
Now you add the cost of Shipping, US customs clearance fees, terminal handling charges etc.
I recently had a quote of $1297.50 to ship a car from the West Coast ( California ) to the UK, Southampton. This price includes all fees and surcharges incurred.
So we have a total so far of $2500.00 + $1297.50 = $3797.50
A car has a import duty of 10% but you can find what import duty applies to your specific shipment if it wasnt a used car here,
TARIC SITE
Hit the browse button to see what commodities are listed and select yours. Then enter what country they are coming from and it will tell you the Import Duty rate.
To find out how HMRC work out this 10%, you need to know what the exchange rate is that they use in their calculations. On the 1st of each month they set the rate so when your shipment arrives, you simply check the current exchange rate they use.
CUSTOMS EXCHANGE RATE
As of 1st August 2009 the rate used for the USA is $1.6436 to the £1.00
So we can say that our shipment of $3797.50 has a UK value of $3797.50 / $1.6436 = £2310.48
10% import duty of £2310.48 = £231.05
Now we need to work out the VAT. This is done by adding the duty to the UK value as well as adding in any fees and costs incurred in the UK.
For this example, we would have a WWL Terminal Handling charge of £40.00, an admin fee for discharge of £25.00 and the forwarders customs clearance fee, in this case £65.00.
So we add £2310.48 + £231.05 + £40.00 + £25.00 + 65.00 to get a total of £2671.53
VAT on £2671.53 at the current 15% rate is £400.73
So the total prices are as follows.
Car cost $2500.00
Shipping / US customs etc $1297.50
UK Value £2310.48 (A)
Import Duty at 10% £231.05 (B)
UK Port fees and customs clearance etc £130.00 (C)
VAT 15% of totals, £400.73 ( 15% of A+B+C)
Total paid out to collect car from UK docks £3072.23
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