Importing Land Rovers to USA
Discussion
A friend of mine is looking to import a pre 1991 Land Rover into USA from UK as I understand they were never really homologated over there, but at 25 years all duties and taxes are waived.
Got me thinking what other cars were never sold over there? I know M3 CSL is one and suspect at 25 years prices will jump!
sounds a good business opportunity!
Got me thinking what other cars were never sold over there? I know M3 CSL is one and suspect at 25 years prices will jump!
sounds a good business opportunity!
Short version: There is no business opportunity.
Longer version:
If Americans wish to do a personal import of a non-homologated car, they must wait 25 years. Furthermore, many of the non-homologated vehicles are only slightly different to ones homologated and sold in the US. This is not always the case (for example: JDM exclusives). But often it is.
Thus, the market is limited and of a niche nature. Where there is any money to be made, private businesses are already trading. Many of these businesses must do something else to sustain them; the importation of niche 25-year-old cars is not a big money spinner.
Beware: The federal government personnel who enforce all of this are funded better than some militaries. They don't just check VINs; they perform partial disassembly to examine obscure parts; they have experts on all manner of automotive arcana.
They are humourless and relentless -- regularly making a show of confiscating and crushing non-compliant imports. See video here. And here.
Non-compliant vehicles are confiscated without remuneration. And both importer and buyer can be slapped with criminal charges and fines. So there.
I believe Land Rovers have a bit of a bad rep with US Customs, I'm sure I saw a thread on a US Land Rover forum where a few people had US Custom turn up and confiscate and destroy their Defenders having owned them (probably illegally) for a number of years.
Edited by AndrewEH1 on Sunday 8th May 11:26
AndrewEH1 said:
I believe Land Rovers have a bit of a bad rep with US Customs, I'm sure I saw a thread on a US Land Rover forum where a few people had US Custom turn up and confiscate and destroy their Defenders having owned them (probably illegally) for a number of years.
It's worth noting your addition there of confiscation occurring years after purchase. Edited by AndrewEH1 on Sunday 8th May 11:26
As you'll see on various US car forums, the feds will show up on your doorstep at 9:00am and ring the doorbell -- any number of years after you've already been driving the car around. In some cases, they inform you that you have 30 days to export the vehicle. In other cases, they are asking you to move your vehicle out of your garage and on to the street, as they are preparing to lift it on to a flatbed truck. Right then and there.
On the other hand, I would imagine that, as more Land Rovers become 25 years old, there will be some demand for those vehicles and for their parts. I suppose that well-established UK companies will be the primary sources of both.
matt21 said:
Fair point on the customs but that's for cars illegally bought in. Surely 25 years plus is more straight forward?
I think that's the thing. They've been bringing in cars with components mostly less than 25 so getting a legitimate one in is now a ball ache as their assumption is that it'll be a fraud. Here is the US government site that explains the rules.
There is one possibility. But, despite the love that some Americans have for some Landys, this possibility may not be of tremendous volume.
Nevertheless, here it is:
All US-based parties are desperate to prove compliance with the 25-year threshold. As others in this thread have noted, the Landy is something of a notorious topic nowadays. Abuse by US importers has resulted in checking and double checking, even for compliant vehicles. Delays can be significant.
Consequently, any UK exporter that goes the extra mile to document compliance will be very much sought after.
Imagine a UK company that makes a business model of exporting only 26-year-old Landys. They add an extra year -- to be clear in their compliance. Next, each vehicle or box of parts that is exported to the US is shipped with a dossier that documents -- in writing and with photographs -- the tell-tale signs of compliance.
These tell-tale signs -- parts, features, etc. -- might even be tagged by the exporter. A tag with a logo and ID number on it. The UK exporter is going above and beyond what is required by the US authorities. The UK exporter is figuratively taking the US feds by the hand and saying, "Look here, Mate: We've tagged and photographed all the relevant bits. There can be no question about compliance. We've gone the extra mile to assure this."
Any UK exporter who redefines the opportunity from one of export to one of assurance... that UK exporter will probably find a ready audience of stakeholders in America.
However, I can't say what sort of volume is available, even under the best circumstances. Might be a bit small.
There is one possibility. But, despite the love that some Americans have for some Landys, this possibility may not be of tremendous volume.
Nevertheless, here it is:
All US-based parties are desperate to prove compliance with the 25-year threshold. As others in this thread have noted, the Landy is something of a notorious topic nowadays. Abuse by US importers has resulted in checking and double checking, even for compliant vehicles. Delays can be significant.
Consequently, any UK exporter that goes the extra mile to document compliance will be very much sought after.
Imagine a UK company that makes a business model of exporting only 26-year-old Landys. They add an extra year -- to be clear in their compliance. Next, each vehicle or box of parts that is exported to the US is shipped with a dossier that documents -- in writing and with photographs -- the tell-tale signs of compliance.
These tell-tale signs -- parts, features, etc. -- might even be tagged by the exporter. A tag with a logo and ID number on it. The UK exporter is going above and beyond what is required by the US authorities. The UK exporter is figuratively taking the US feds by the hand and saying, "Look here, Mate: We've tagged and photographed all the relevant bits. There can be no question about compliance. We've gone the extra mile to assure this."
Any UK exporter who redefines the opportunity from one of export to one of assurance... that UK exporter will probably find a ready audience of stakeholders in America.
However, I can't say what sort of volume is available, even under the best circumstances. Might be a bit small.
Defenders in America go for big bucks, so to say, but the importation is such a ballache, basically you have to have a vehicle where the chassis number proves that it is X year, the engine has to have a number which proves it is X year, externally it must look like that year of Defender.
For example I could think about exporting my Defender over there, but I would have to put the original grill and light covers on. (This is it in the most simplistic way possible)
People took the piss massively in that they would import a series 3 Defender but they would have someone in the UK fit, newer engine, gearbox, transferbox, interior, they would then externally update it to look like a modern Defender and by the time it was all the done it was just a brand new Defender, so US Customs got annoyed and just started crushing them, the hoops you have to jump through is silly.
Though the prices of Defenders over there does make it tempting
I would advise opening these in a private browsing tab purely because you'll forever end up going to eBay.com not UK when you type it into address bar
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-110-/2...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-/15206...
This one doesn't even come with doors
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-/39144...
For example I could think about exporting my Defender over there, but I would have to put the original grill and light covers on. (This is it in the most simplistic way possible)
People took the piss massively in that they would import a series 3 Defender but they would have someone in the UK fit, newer engine, gearbox, transferbox, interior, they would then externally update it to look like a modern Defender and by the time it was all the done it was just a brand new Defender, so US Customs got annoyed and just started crushing them, the hoops you have to jump through is silly.
Though the prices of Defenders over there does make it tempting
I would advise opening these in a private browsing tab purely because you'll forever end up going to eBay.com not UK when you type it into address bar
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-110-/2...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-/15206...
This one doesn't even come with doors
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Defender-/39144...
k of rules and regulations. No wonder few people bother, Strict regulation was not always the status quo. Indeed, the US was probably the world's largest "consumer" of grey-market cars. And this was happening in recent memory.
Consequently, it's useful to ask: How the heck did we get here?
The answer is... The manufacturers. One of the most vocal advocates of strict regulation was Mercedes-Benz. Grey market imports were hurting their strategies for segmentation and pricing. And grey market imports were damaging their maths on warranties.
Mercedes-Benz and other European OEMs pushed for these strict laws. Meanwhile, a grassroots lobbying effort by American automobile enthusiasts stood on the other side, arguing against these strict laws.
Guess who won? You can find some of the facts, here.
Consequently, it's useful to ask: How the heck did we get here?
The answer is... The manufacturers. One of the most vocal advocates of strict regulation was Mercedes-Benz. Grey market imports were hurting their strategies for segmentation and pricing. And grey market imports were damaging their maths on warranties.
Mercedes-Benz and other European OEMs pushed for these strict laws. Meanwhile, a grassroots lobbying effort by American automobile enthusiasts stood on the other side, arguing against these strict laws.
Guess who won? You can find some of the facts, here.
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