Importing a car to the Netherlands

[Dennis Kalma]

Just wondering if anyone had done this.


Situation is as follows. I have a Dutch passport, own propery and want to ship my '75 911s there to use as transport when I am visiting. The car will be "decontented", namely I am pulling many of the special parts like the 930 braking system, SSi's, Recaro's etc and downgrading most stuff to the basic '75 equipment.

Since it is older than 25 years it should not attract road tax. Since it is in perfect shape, the APK ought to be pretty straightforward. I am prepared to hold the car indefinitely (and have owned it for 23 years already).

Anyone do this and who can offer advice?

Dennis

[Joeaksa]

Dennis,

I know a gent in Holland who has done this with several cars from other parts of the EEC. Want his email?

Joe A

[spuggy]

Dennis, I went back to the UK for over a year and took my 911 with me. Drove it legally on US plates without re-registering it.

If it's the same in Holland (and I think it'd be pretty similar, as most of the law seemed to be EU law), the important thing to remember is that you're NOT importing the car, as that implies permanently importing it. If you did that you need to pass local inspection, register it to put it on local plates (which implies surrendering the title with the export Customs stamp) and tax/insure it - and THEN go through the reverse fuster cluck if you return it.

At least in the US, Federal/EPA regulations REALLY have the potential to ruin your day coming back, as even if most Customs folks think old cars are exempt, they're actually not (reading the regulations is quite scary). Re-importing the car also probably won't be easier if you're turning up with a EU-issued title (having surrendered it in the EU to register over there), as opposed to showing your locally-issued one with the local Customs export stamp on it on re-entry...

If it's a temporary import, it stays on the original plates, no need to tax it, no duty to pay and it's perfectly legal to drive on the road over there so long as you keep your state/province tabs up-to-date. Pretty much the same terms and arrangement as someone from France driving their car to Germany to live/work there for a few months.

You might need to do things like fit Euro rear lenses, use the city lights in H4's and disable the yellow marker lights to comply with local traffic laws. I had mine inspected as well, (even though UK law says nothing about it being a requirement), simply because it would have been easier than arguing with the Polizei at the side of the road.

Another advantage of sticking with your original plates is that you become pretty much invisible to the Police, unless you do something outrageous. They'll eyeball you with interest, but they really don't want to deal with the potential for lots of extra paperwork...

Insurance can be a pain, because most local companies will insist that you have to register it, that it needs to be on local plates or they can't cut a policy - which is actually untrue, but you'll never get to talk to anyone with the ability/authority to write the policy, so it might as well be.

I ended up using GEICO, who have an International division who started because they'd write ex-pat policies for military types - who also aren't required to register vehicles for temporary stays of a fixed duration. Expect to have to buy auto cover in whatever periods are usual locally (it's a year at a time in the UK) - but it's refundable when you return, of course. I also used them for the Marine insurance (in case the ship sinks, or the car falls off the dock).

Happy to share if you got questions.

[Joeaksa]

Had a friend I flew with in Berlin who brought a frigging Ford Pinto with Texas plates on it with him. He drove that car for years, asking family to re-register the car at home (no inspection) and just kept pasting stickers on the license plate.

It finally rusted out but he drove it on a US plate (using USAA insurance) for a long time, just as the above poster mentioned, with no problems.

[Dennis Kalma]

Joe, yes...I would much appreciate his email address.

I wasn't terribly clear in my post, I would be moving the car to Europe permanently. We have a place in the Hague that we plan on visiting for a few months in the year (or at least once I have really retired).

Alternative is that I buy a buzzmobile (e.g. Volkswagen Polo or something), but I most definitely cannot work on it myself, it will attract road tax until it is 25 years old and is generally not a lot of fun, albeit practical.

Right now I have two 911's, one that is done....see pic....



that will be obsoleted once my '89 project is done. Don't need two 911's in the same country, I was planning on selling the current one, but then the idea came up of moving it to NL to use as transportation.

Just want to explore the difficulties/challenges of getting a car into this country (NL) and see if it makes any sense...

Thanks for any help anyone can offer..

Dennis

[Joeaksa]

Dennis,

The Europeans (especially the Germans) are extremely difficult about letting any car in the country if its going to be registered to their system if there are any parts that are not first factory Porsche, and second on the master list provided by Porsche showing that "this part is allowed" on that model car.

For instance you have different wheels on the yellow car. Without a TUV approval for that car to use those exact wheels it would not be allowed. Same with the ducktail. Any non-factory parts would have to have been approved by the maker to TUV for use on that model car. For instance if its a non-factory ducktail then the maker where-ever you got it would have had to apply to TUV in Germany for approval on a 1975 911S.

Not sure if Holland is as difficult as Germany but my contact would know. cooper997 AT hotmail.com (replace the AT with @ He is a big Mini fan as well!) His name is Arnoud and just tell him that Joe A from the Jaguar list gave you his contact info. His English is perfect but if you speak Dutch...

He has been doing a lot of really complicated stuff like "lumping" a 1980's Jaguar with a 2000 Jag engine, computer systems and all, so is a good tech person.

Also, not sure about Holland but several years ago I was looking at moving to Denmark. They have a law in place that if you are moving there you are allowed to import ONE car without taxation. As their tax was 100% on imported cars, this is a big savings. If Holland has this limitation, make sure that you import your nicest car first and pay the duty on the lower value cars. Like I said, not sure if Holland does this but its worth checking.

I have an old friend living in the Hague area. Let me see if I can get ahold of him and see if he has any info. He works at the US Embassy so has diplo clearance on his company car but not sure about the rest. This is a nice area of Europe. I used to live 100 klicks East just over the German border and really enjoyed my time here.

Joe

EDIT, would totally agree with getting a Polo or the like as you will need something like that for the city. Would also suggest a diesel version. My dentist in Berlin has one and drives up and down the autobahns at 120-140 klicks getting 45 mpg in his. For Europe its just a really neat car and affordable.

Regarding driving the S model over there until you get the other car finished, you could take it over there on Canadian plates (or US) and drive it there until you are finished but the expense of taking it back and forth might not be worth it. A lot would depend on how easy it would be to register there as if its a problem then it might be difficult to sell for what its worth.

[Peterfrans]

I am under the impression that the Dutch are more relaxed comparing to the german situation where each change needs to be approved by TUV and added to the registration papers.

There are a lot of companies specializing in importing new and second hand cars into the Netherlands. With a favourable exchange rate and cars generally being much cheaper in the US this is a good business model. You could contact one of those companies and ask them to arrange everything. Alternatively you could handle things yourself. In that case it would be wise to contact the RDW, in these days I hear they are becoming quite service oriented. This link contains some info on the proces and requirements.

http://www.rdw.nl/nl/voertuigeigenaar/auto/invoeren/invoer_personenauto_uit_land_buiten_EU.htm