Importing a 'stang from the states
Discussion
I have been mulling this one over myself, whether to go through a specialist import company over here or attempt to drag one accross the pond myself.......... despite the very favourable exchange rate right now, would it not work out a better deal from a specialist because of the volumes of cars they buy they may get a better sticker price than little ol' me whos buying just the one car?!?! What do you think? 
steve.c said:
still will work out cheaper to do it yourself i say! for a start you have no 'dealer mark up' to pay, and as already mentioned in this thread it really is a simple task to import yourself
You have all the help and advice you need right here.
These guy's are more than willing to share their experiances, good and bad.
Go for it, do it yourself.
G.
Can you import a second hand one? It would seem that you cold do it for under £10k !? eg
http://autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/detai
http://autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/detai
you can import a 3rd hand car if you like! for the one you have listed the purchase price would be approx £9-10k add on to that shipping/dock fees (approx £1k) then add on 10% import duty,then to that total add on 17.5% vat,then of course the sva requirememnts,but should still save you approx £3-5k over buying one 2nd hand thats already here
I've just come back from Orlando with a few friends we went around 5 dealerships, all were keen to export either new or used and had exported before, the US car market is slow at the moment so maybe that helps to get a bargain
My friend test drove a GT, nov 06, 2500 miles, with factory red interior and a borla exhaust, the salesman came down to $23K. The nack is to buy near a port to save on transport costs
My friend test drove a GT, nov 06, 2500 miles, with factory red interior and a borla exhaust, the salesman came down to $23K. The nack is to buy near a port to save on transport costs
Hi - sorry to dig up and old subject again....... Looks like me n' the missus may be going back to Wilmington in North Carolina again this summer, following a great holiday over there last summer (Wilmington is where they filmed Dawsons Creek - she's a big fan!!) Am in the process of pricing up a Mustang in advance and visiting the dealer whilst out there.
Some people have commented on how Texas is a good place to purchase a car for export. Is NC any different? Im guessing as your not paying any taxes on the car it makes no odds which state you purchase it within!?!?!
Ive spoken to a dealer in NC who are happy to do an export sale. It has a large container port not far away (NC is on the East Coast) so Im guessing that transportation costs from dealer to dock will not be excessive.
Any thoughts on all this would be appreciated. Im quite keen to have a go at doing this myself rather than going through a broker in the UK.
Finally...... I was in Manchester over the bank holiday weekend and I spoke to a guy at Bauer Millett about a Mustang. He said that he orders directly with Ford US rather than through a dealer. He also commented that by doing this, whilst they do not publicise it, Ford US offer Bauer Millet a one year export warranty. Which there workshops are set up to bill Ford US directly for any warranty work as if the car was in a US dealer. But once this warranty is up, you can only extend cover with an aftermarket warranty company, like any other import company offer. Have you guys heard of this before?
Some people have commented on how Texas is a good place to purchase a car for export. Is NC any different? Im guessing as your not paying any taxes on the car it makes no odds which state you purchase it within!?!?!
Ive spoken to a dealer in NC who are happy to do an export sale. It has a large container port not far away (NC is on the East Coast) so Im guessing that transportation costs from dealer to dock will not be excessive.
Any thoughts on all this would be appreciated. Im quite keen to have a go at doing this myself rather than going through a broker in the UK.
Finally...... I was in Manchester over the bank holiday weekend and I spoke to a guy at Bauer Millett about a Mustang. He said that he orders directly with Ford US rather than through a dealer. He also commented that by doing this, whilst they do not publicise it, Ford US offer Bauer Millet a one year export warranty. Which there workshops are set up to bill Ford US directly for any warranty work as if the car was in a US dealer. But once this warranty is up, you can only extend cover with an aftermarket warranty company, like any other import company offer. Have you guys heard of this before?
The availability of the specification of the car you want will be the key. For example, it's harder to find a manual as Ford production is over-geared to automatics. Most are also specified with the UK-useless Sirius satellite radio system so if you're thinking about ordering a car they have in stock, you may need to do your homework first so you don't end up with stuff you don't want. If you're going to order one and wait, it's not so important but again, they have to fit your order into their manual production if you want a manual box. From that point of view, have a look at stock Saleens as they tend to be manuals and I was once offered a good deal on one off the showroom floor although that was in Florida. Saleens are more expensive to start with but have better suspension, 20" wheels and so forth. Much depends on what you want.
You may find it harder to buy from a dealer with no export experience. Some will want to charge you the State sales tax which varies between States. Others may just sell you the car and leave the rest to you.
Dealers buy direct from Ford and I'm sure Bauer Millett are recognised by Ford as a dealer but you won't be able to get one direct as "Joe Public". Bauer Millett also ask silly prices.
You may find it harder to buy from a dealer with no export experience. Some will want to charge you the State sales tax which varies between States. Others may just sell you the car and leave the rest to you.
Dealers buy direct from Ford and I'm sure Bauer Millett are recognised by Ford as a dealer but you won't be able to get one direct as "Joe Public". Bauer Millett also ask silly prices.
Hi Lu51fer,
On the subject of your C5 Z
When you put your rear fog light between the exhausts,
Just which route did you take?
I want to get from the dash area under the steering wheel to the rear exhaust.
Which pieces of trim did you lift, and how did you break-out to the outside of the car at the rear.
?
On the subject of your C5 Z
When you put your rear fog light between the exhausts,
Just which route did you take?
I want to get from the dash area under the steering wheel to the rear exhaust.
Which pieces of trim did you lift, and how did you break-out to the outside of the car at the rear.
?
UK_WS6 said:
Hi Lu51fer,
On the subject of your C5 Z
When you put your rear fog light between the exhausts,
Just which route did you take?
I want to get from the dash area under the steering wheel to the rear exhaust.
Which pieces of trim did you lift, and how did you break-out to the outside of the car at the rear.
?
I fitted the switch and the relay on the left of the steering wheel and ran the wires across to the centre console and tucked the wires under the console then under the mat in the boot to the well at the back. I used duck tape to hold the wires down to the floor (which passed SVA but they do tend to insist it is routed around the edge of the boot secured every 30cm or so). At the rear, I believe there was already a hole in the rear plastic wall but if not, I drilled a small hole and fitted a rubber grommet and fed it through and down. Note they're very picky about the angle and the visibility. I mounted mine on a T-bracket but after it passed, I took the bracket off so it sat snugly between the exhausts.On the subject of your C5 Z
When you put your rear fog light between the exhausts,
Just which route did you take?
I want to get from the dash area under the steering wheel to the rear exhaust.
Which pieces of trim did you lift, and how did you break-out to the outside of the car at the rear.
?
The thing with the wiring is that they expect it shouldn't be crushed. Perhaps not having a spare on the Z06 helped but you may find that using some DIY flat conduit might be a solution.
A friend of mine has a post-98 Trans Am and had huge problems getting it SVA'd because all the angles on the car make it almost impossible to get the angles of visibility right. For example, the ducts at the front are too recessed for those lights to be used so he had to buy some Land Rover units and mount them on brackets forward in the ducts and at the back he practically wedged some Land Rover orange indicators on a bracket (Caterham style)just to get it through the SVA before converting it all back. Ironically, it looked a disaster when it passed - more like a badly thrown together kit car. He'll have to restore the lights for the MOT every year. I'm sure there are better solutions though.
Hi lus1fer - thanks for your advice on that - sorry for not replying earlier, couldnt get near a pc again until today!
One last note on the state sales tax issue - as I said, they are familiar with the process of an export sale at this dealer in North Carolina so thats not an issue - I just wanted to clarify if there was any other reason why a lot of people have said that Texas is a good state to purchase an export from - like I say, if the NC dealer are not charging sales tax then the price, in theory should be as good as any from a Texas based dealer right??
One last note on the state sales tax issue - as I said, they are familiar with the process of an export sale at this dealer in North Carolina so thats not an issue - I just wanted to clarify if there was any other reason why a lot of people have said that Texas is a good state to purchase an export from - like I say, if the NC dealer are not charging sales tax then the price, in theory should be as good as any from a Texas based dealer right??
I think quantities and availabilities come into this. Go on ebay and try and find a Saleen S281 oop North, for example, that isn't expensive. Most of the cheap Saleens on ebay are all down South. I don't know why that is, maybe they're poorer down South and cater for Mexico (which is where they build most of theior parts these days). I bought my Z06 used from Maryland purely because the guy I was using to inspect and export the car lives there.
Fortuitously, this has just been posted:
http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14051
Fortuitously, this has just been posted:
http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14051
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