Exporting / Shipping to Europe

[Toobin]

Hi fellow PH'ers.

I am sure this has been done before but I couldn't see anything specific to my scenario. I bought an Audi R8 in late December in Dubai, there is no mortgage on the car. It looks like I am moving to Germany later this year, TBC. I love the car and given both countries are left hand drive I really wanted to take it with me. The questions I have:

- Does anyone have a good experience with a company who can manage this for me?
- How difficult is the paperwork? I still have nightmares over arranging a credit card here
- Given I have had the car less than a year, is there tax liability?
- Is it worth doing?

Thank you in advance really appreciate the help of this forum.

[Rich_AR]

I shipped my 911 from Dubai to the UK a couple of years ago. I used these guys: https://www.shipmycar.co.uk/ . They were OK to deal with and they also did ship some of my house stuff in the container as well (plus a motorbike), they also handled the UK registration as well. A friend of mine used them as well, but didn't have the best experience.

Germany might be similar to the UK, but you need to declare you're a returning resident to claim import tax/duty exemption. You need to check the rules on length of ownership prior to import (UK it's 6 months).

Dubai export process/paperwork is pretty simple. The usual pointless inspection before they give you the export plates and you need temp export insurance.

One thing you could struggle with is the missing Certificate of Conformity (CoC). Gulf spec cars don't have them and they aren't easy to get. I ended up registering my 911 in Czechia (after the UK, as I moved there) and needed the CoC. Porsche GB or Germany wouldn't help me at all, so I had to go through various hoops to finally get one created for the car. Once EU registered, I could sell it anywhere in Europe, which I did and it went over to Holland.

Was it worth it? For me yes, although I no longer own the car, but I did make a very good profit.

Edited by Rich_AR on Tuesday 19th May 17:43

[sunbeam alpine]

Can't help with practicalities of moving the car, but COC shouldn't be a problem in Germany unless they made a different model for the Middle East. France and Belgium require a COC per vehicle, most European countries don't.

[Toobin]

Thank you both, I am actually British rather than a returning expat. Very much appreciate the comments, very helpful. The car is GCC spec but my understanding is that 's basically boosted A/C rather than anything different like a US spec car. I really would like to keep hold of it, the thought of driving it through Europe really puts a smile on my face.

[Rich_AR]

Toobin said:

Thank you both, I am actually British rather than a returning expat. Very much appreciate the comments, very helpful. The car is GCC spec but my understanding is that 's basically boosted A/C rather than anything different like a US spec car. I really would like to keep hold of it, the thought of driving it through Europe really puts a smile on my face.

Yeh, i loved driving around Europe in my GCC spec 911 as well, in snow, winter tyres and skis on the roof etc

I think as long as you're a returning resident with resident status in Germany, I'm sure you could bring it back duty-free.

[Toobin]

Rich_AR said:

Yeh, i loved driving around Europe in my GCC spec 911 as well, in snow, winter tyres and skis on the roof etc

I think as long as you're a returning resident with resident status in Germany, I'm sure you could bring it back duty-free.

This is exactly what I was thinking! Would certainly make a change from SZR.

I'm British and will be transferring for work, let's hope that's not taxable

[dxbtiger]

Seek out a gent called Bob Collier, he knows his onions on this.

[shirt]

Rich_AR said:

One thing you could struggle with is the missing Certificate of Conformity (CoC). Gulf spec cars don't have them and they aren't easy to get. I ended up registering my 911 in Czechia (after the UK, as I moved there) and needed the CoC. Porsche GB or Germany wouldn't help me at all, so I had to go through various hoops to finally get one created for the car. Once EU registered, I could sell it anywhere in Europe, which I did and it went over to Holland.

Would you mind explaining how you got the CoC? The issue with cheap lotuses in the region is lack of CoC meaning you can’t take them with you. My elise doesn’t have one (confirmed by the factory) and I know a few others in this situation. As you say, the factory don’t want to know.

[sunbeam alpine]

shirt said:

Rich_AR said:

One thing you could struggle with is the missing Certificate of Conformity (CoC). Gulf spec cars don't have them and they aren't easy to get. I ended up registering my 911 in Czechia (after the UK, as I moved there) and needed the CoC. Porsche GB or Germany wouldn't help me at all, so I had to go through various hoops to finally get one created for the car. Once EU registered, I could sell it anywhere in Europe, which I did and it went over to Holland.

Would you mind explaining how you got the CoC? The issue with cheap lotuses in the region is lack of CoC meaning you can’t take them with you. My elise doesn’t have one (confirmed by the factory) and I know a few others in this situation. As you say, the factory don’t want to know.

Here in Belgium you can do a COC keuring (MOT) at any MOT station. They don't actually check the roadworthiness of the car at that stage - they just note as much detail as they can (things like motor capacity, carbs, wheel & tyre size...). The last time I did it it took about 6 weeks and cost €175. After you receive the car papers from the COC keuring, you have to return for an ordinary keuring where they check that the vehicle is roadworthy etc. Biggest challenge the last few years has been emissions...

I've only ever had to do this for manufacturers who no longer exist, so I can't comment for Lotus (althought there are quite a few driving around where I live).

Belgian COC is also accepted in France. No experience of other countries.

[Rich_AR]

shirt said:

Would you mind explaining how you got the CoC? The issue with cheap lotuses in the region is lack of CoC meaning you can’t take them with you. My elise doesn’t have one (confirmed by the factory) and I know a few others in this situation. As you say, the factory don’t want to know.

https://www.tuv-nord.com

I used this company. It took many weeks to finally speak to the right person in Czechia (I was bounced around between the German and Czech departments), but eventually spoke with someone who provided me the CoC. He had a 'contact' within Porsche who provided him with all the technical details they needed for my 911 C4S. Once I had the CoC, i could register it in Czechia, this also included various technical tests, emissions tests, etc, and they weren't that happy about the Arabic chassis/VIN stickers (I had to grease the palm of someone for them to ignore it!). Then it was simple for the guy who bought my car to register it in Holland. Lots of red tape, but worked out in the end. I would have kept the car if I could have imported it into Canada, but there was no chance.

Edited by Rich_AR on Monday 25th May 20:39

[Toobin]

I’m having no luck finding a company, I’m 2 in and can’t even get a quote. May have to sell, not sure if it’s the current situation making it difficult or just bad luck.

[shirt]

Try Bob as already mentioned. He's shipping a car from South Africa to here for a friend later this month.

You may as well take it with you as you'll take a bath on resale under current circumstances.

BOB COLLIER
[e-mail]
Direct: +971 (0)4 - 3494711
Office: +971 (0)4 - 3457779
Mobile: [phone]

[Toobin]

Thank you

[Sante83]

Hi all, I'm in the process of doing something very similar i.e. import a Porsche 911.1 C4S with GCC specifications into Europe. As mentioned above, there is no possibility for me to obtain a vehicle Certificate of Conformity from Porsche. Could you point me to the relevant department of tuv-nord, or any other third party that could help me in getting a CoC issued following all necessary inspections/testing?