Euro Car Exports

[Rembrant]

Hi Folks,

I'm just doing a little research this morning and thought one of you fine folks might have some knowledge on the topic of exporting/shipping a car from Europe (Germany) to North America. Do any of you know what costs are involved (ballpark)? I'm in an east coast port city, so that is no problem...the big RO-RO ferries arrive here from Europe every day with loads of...whatever (Audis, VWs, Porsches, BMW, etc). I guess what I'm curious about is finding a dealer in Germany to deal with, help locate a car, and then to get the thing to port and export it. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Thanks in advance. I'm just curious at the moment. If it's cost prohibitive, then it will be easy to dismiss.

 

[vreihen]

Maybe things are slightly different in Canada, but it is not easy/cheap to do in the USA because the car needs to be updated to 100% match the specs of the equivalent USA model. If there is no equivalent model, look at what Bill Gate's fortune could not accomplish with his Porsche 959 back in the day. I believe that the only exception is for cars that are more than 25 years old, or for cars brought over on racing exemptions that cannot be driven on the streets.

One manufacturer (BMW?) used to offer a European delivery program to USA customers, where you could order a new American-spec car from the factory and pick it up over there. After cruising around on your European holiday, you brought the car back to them and they handled shipping it home for you. Don't know if they are still doing it, though.....

 

[Rembrant]

Maybe things are slightly different in Canada, but it is not easy/cheap to do in the USA because the car needs to be updated to 100% match the specs of the equivalent USA model. I believe that the only exception is for cars that are more than 25 years old, or for cars brought over on racing exemptions that cannot be driven on the streets.

The rule in Canada is 15 years. If I was to import a car from Europe, it would have to have a build-date of 15 years old or older.
That rule doesn't apply for vehicles imported from the USA...it's just everywhere else. I've imported vehicles from the US before...that's not a big deal at all. The model year doesn't matter much, but it does get tricky with regards to warranties, recalls, etc.

I see random Euro-only model Audi's for sale every now and then, and then there's the RHD Japanese cars/trucks...they're relatively common. I saw one today. They were never built for or sold in the North American market.

I just have no idea what it costs to land one here. Being on the east coast makes it a bit easier...I can pick the thing up right off the boat and don't have to pay for any land travel or freight. I'm sure there are brokers right here that can handle the task, I just have to find out what it costs.

 

[Rembrant]

Ok, so I talked to a guy with one of the shipping lines today, and he told me it will be in the ballpark of $2000 CDN to ship a car.
(That's from Emden, Germany).
I can handle the CDN customs/importation stuff myself, that's no problem.
I guess the difficult part would be to find a seller in Germany that would take a car to the port and deal with the export part.