Importing a WRX (97) from UK - will TÜV **** me ??

[edjza80]

Ive had a good read around the webs on this one, and am still quite lost as to where to start...

Firtly, long story short, im a aussie now living in germany. my german language is average to bad, but getting better. Im looking around at various cars to use as a track day vehicle, but remaining road registered for convenience sake. Of all the 'fast cars' you can buy, it seems the UK used car market has the best bang for buck at the moment, plus the pound/euro conversion is still quite strong.

Anyways, im settling on a 97(ish) wrx sti ra. 1100kg 320bhp 4wd with close ratio box for €7.5k ... hard to say no.

assuming i can get it home to germany from the uk with minimal fuss, what exactly is TÜV going to bend me over for? TÜV themselves have been nearly useless, and my germans not up to scratch to read a lot of german technical documents on the web, so i need a little help!

SO! questions...

• 1997 - being an older car (?pre 2004), i assume doesnt need to meet euro 4 emissions? what benchmark do they use?
• Certificate of European compliance? whats that and where do i get it? (does that state the relevant emissions rather than euro 4?)
• does the vehicle need to be in the TÜV database? whatever that is? and what happens if its not?
• need a letter from flensburg stating the car hasnt been rego'd in germany before?
• swap the headlights to LHD and fit a rear foglight?
• reasonable assumption that any mods are going to be without an ABE? so what does TÜV do with those?
• perhaps better to buy a near stock example with orig engine/exhaust/suspension etc?

thoughts? corrections or additions?

for the price difference between what a 'good' performance car can be bought for from the uk, compared to whats a) available in germany, and b) the much higher prices, im prepared to put in a bit of work to get one through. Im not a turkey with cars, and have built a few of my own in the past, so up for the challenge, just need to figure out what the rules are, and how far the goalposts sit!

cheers
ed

[edjza80]

schlüsselnummer? hmmm, never heard of that before. where do i find that, considering i havent bought a car yet? a european type number...? but if the vehicle is of japanese origin and not normally sold in the EU? I know i CAN do that with a UK delivered P1 STI... but jap import?

i know i cant get an EU COC for the car im looking at (again jap import), so what happens then? does one simply take the car to TÜV and give them lots of money to do a huge inspection on it?

[edjza80]

where do you find that number?

whilst i dont have a car at present, i do have access to registration papers and vin etc from the UK such that i can talk to TÜV with sufficient detail

cheers
ed

[edjza80]

Jap Import = no EU COC

my research has found that the UK allows their egistration via 'conformity by similar standards' for cars over 10 years old. ie, they recognise jap certification of standards.

TÜV does not (so it appears)

they can do a full assessment on the car inc emissions and standards testing, but thats likely to run into the €1-2k territory. or i can pay a private company to do it, and thats around €1k

for comparison, i can get a type UK 2004 sti for about the same final money, and that has an EU COC

gah, what a PITA