The process of importing a car from europe is not as difficult as one might expect, however, the time frame you are dealing with is considerable. From the time you find your car to the time you are enjoying your truck on the trails in Moab is at least 3 months and often longer. It takes around a month to ship, a month to federalize and then another month for the required federal holding periord. The Registered Importer (RI) will keep the truck during the holding periord. The rules of importing a vehicle are specific despite any creative ways people dream up. These creative ways could end up with not so creative jail time - so its best to go by the book. As a general rule anything that is 25 years or older you can import without any restriction. Obviously, this is not an issue for the G community since G's aren't 25 years old yet, but it is something to consider in the near future. This leads to the question "What can I import then?"
Finding the actual car is secondary to contacting and developing a relationship with a Registered Importer. These are the people that control everything from the cost of conversion, the quality of your conversion, to when you will actually be driving your new G. Do not neglet this process!! Take the time to understand all the cost from conversion to shipping to bonding. Its also not a bad idea to visit the RI shop to see the efficieny of their operation. Another item to consider is whether your selected RI is a certified and capable of doing the EPA testing on-site. I'm not sure about most, but I do know that Wallace and G&K have their own labs, but check with the others, there are more now than when I imported. Also understand that the quote is based upon your truck being perfect and does not include items they need to replace, such as fuel injectors or perhaps a new exhaust.
A list of Registered Imoprters:
-http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/RIlist0206.html
Now that you have contacted an RI and developed an initial relationship
its time to start looking for G that can be imported. Read the link
below and any G that isn't the 463 chassis do not import unless it
meets the 25 year mark.
- http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/ELIG0206.html
Important Note:
Since I imported my truck, a few newer years have been added, ie
1999-2000 to the list. According to my RI (G&K) anything that was
newer than 1995 needs to have OBD II completed. OBD II is "On Board
Diagnostics" 2nd Generation. OBD II adds a major expense to the
conversion process. Check with your RI for a better explanation.
After you have a full explanation and understanding of all relevent costs you can begin your search. I located my truck via www.mobile.de. I found this to be an excellent search as you can search in English, but be sure to change the country to all countries or it will just search England. I bought my truck sight unseen and the truck was in the exact condition as the seller represented it to me. I just got lucky! GO over there and check it out first!
Sending money is an obvious conern. My RI suggested I use an escrow service and even supplied the name and contact info. This just adds to the cost, so I decided to buy the car on a credit card, so I simply sent one of the checks that the credit card companies send you for balance transfers. I wrote the check in US currency based upon a prearranged exchange rate. The benefits in my opinon were no cost of transfer of money, no cost insurance because I used a VISA card, and somewhat protection from fraud if the truck never showed up. However, your pretty much on your own on this one. Your RI should be able to assist you if you choose to go with a company that speciallizes in international many transfers and thinking back is really a more stable route.
After the seller received the check, I was fortunate enough that he agreed to drive the car to the port. My RI arranged shipping from the German port to LA. If your not fortunate enough the RI has contacts that can prettty much arrange everything. I'm not sure if they will arrange it for you or just provide you with the contacts - I'm sure it depends.
Once the truck was on the boat, I just waited and sent the RI money whenever they asked for it. In my particular case it was half up front, 25 percent when it arrived at the US port, and the remaining balance when I pickup up the truck. Expect the cost of importation and shipping to be around $15k unless you are doing a diesel engine or OBD II (both more $$ - California is more money as well). If you're planning on bringing in a 25 year old G in the near future expect shipping to be around $1200 for drive on drive off and more for a crate. Remember always have your selected RI check the vin before you spend any time or money on your truck and arrange everything with the RI before purchase. Your RI will provide a release date for you. Its really up to the amount of work they have and the us govt. Be patient, the quality of work is key. Your RI should handle the US Customes Paper work including any duty as well as bonding. Most RI's work with Customs Brokers that they are familiar with to expedite the process. Customes fees are based upon the value/price of the vehicle itself. Be sure to ask your selected RI what US Customes costs are they covering in their fees.
On a side note, it's a good idea to check with your state requirements
on grey market vehicles. If your in California your truck will need to
have California Smog Cert which will have to be performed by the RI.
Insurance may be another conern depending on your company.
- http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/
Over all, I found the experience to be pretty easy, but I was lucky enough to have an honest active seller. If you dread the process of buying a car to begin with, then importing is certainly not for you. There are many Gs already in the states. The cost savings of importing is all realitive to the opportunity costs (your money sitting with somebody else for 4 months vs the bank etc etc.) and the condition of G that you find here. Most Gs imported by Europa were owned by people that took great care of their trucks. I hear German weather is pretty hard on vehicles. I was lucky, mine was owned by a golf pro that drove it to the green in the summer months. As with everything there are trade offs. In my case, certianly saved money by importing myself, but the wait seemed to last forever.