Costs to import a used car into the UK from the US?

[AMG Merc]

Apologies if this has been done to death before but I need guidance on importing from the US. The motor will be LHD between 15-50 years old so no IVA as I understand. What I need to know is all the charges I should budget for to land and drive a car in the UK. Thanks.

[AMG Merc]

Silver C6 said:

Is it a Corvette? If so, always worth joining the CCCUK.

http://www.corvetteclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=146...

Thanks but no, I posted here as someone mentioned a few had imported cars from the US.

[AMG Merc]

Gixer said:

cost of car + cost of shipping (1-2K) + insurance x 10%. thats your Duty taken care of, now X that total by 20% for your VAT (yes, you pay Vat on the Duty, great eh?). Add on some dock handling fees (few hundred) , paying someone to do the light conversion (unless youre doing them) and you pretty much there.

Great, thanks. I thought a bit more for the shipping, insurance seems high (but I suppose you're covering a potential total loss) and I thought I'd heard 30% on top so better than I'd calculated.

So, how do I know if a car is legal to drive in the UK? Apart from the lights being a LHD, do I need to prove anything or pass any inspections? FYI, I'm looking at a 1960s Porsche 356 or a Ferrari 355 at the moment.

[AMG Merc]

Gixer said:

If its an old classic I think you skip the duty and maybe pay less tax. You will need to check up on the gov website for the age of the vehicle to save on the tax.

Shipping would either be putting it in a container or using roll on roll off. Pricing will be quite different. Its also going to depend where its going to and from. Also, where in the US are you looking to buy from? Its a large place so getting it to the docks to ship is something to think about. Its been 3 or so years since I was looking to ship a car over so prices may have changed. If you decide to insure, check the policy your using. Somebody was telling me recently that they didnt bother as if the car went missing it didnt cover it anyway.

Im sure this was discused on here not that long ago and somebody posted a useful link to the HMRC site.

Also duties, taxes etc are calculated to the rate the gov are using on that day, not the rate you got when you bought the car. Again, they publish the rates on their website

Edited by Gixer on Wednesday 9th July 18:49

OK, thanks. The seller will sort the shipping/insurance as part of the shipping fee - apparently they ship globally/to to Europe often.