[spuggy]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

It is easy to get the car shipped (especially from the East Coast) but the real trick is getting it done with no issues. Rotterdam is an obvious choice (probably from Charleston) but the real issue is protecting the car. With a "roll on, roll off" you have to have complete trust in who is receiving the car. You aren't going to be there to receive the vehicle yourself and it has to go through customs.

With RORO, your car will be on the boat for weeks with some bored people with much time on their hands. When I last shipped RORO, I noticed that someone had half-removed the engine air filter and my stereo was missing; about a dozen cars came off that ship missing stereos apparently...

I have been exploring the idea of taking a small group of people and their cars over for a European road trip (Targa Europa?) and one of the big details I've had trouble answering is about what it takes to get the car back into the country. I generally run a B&B exhaust and would there be an issue at customs with re-entry of a modified car? I never got a call back from the specialist at LA customs that would know exactly what is involved and I haven't tried again since then.

Remember that when re-introducing the car to the US you're potentially subject to scrutiny by multiple agencies too - EPA, DOT - in addition to your state.

However, it all gets a lot simpler as EPA/DOT lose interest entirely once the car is over 25 years old - and producing a US title makes it smoother too.

And so long as your customs agent declares it as "returning US vehicle", you probably won't get inspected by your state patrol either.

The temporary import legislation explicitly states that you MUST keep your foreign registration documents - including state tabs - current & up-to-date whilst driving it over there.

You also will need a vignette to drive a foreign-registered car in a country that doesn't have a reciprocal agreement - one of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_vehicle_registration_code

Most EU countries have agreements in place, and US/Canada/Mexico do too. Bu the EU and the US do not have reciprocity; it's also surprisingly difficult to find "real" (e.g. non-novelty ones) for sale in the US on short notice... Sadly, in today's world, there may be some security implications to having that decal, too

For some European countries, a US drivers license isn't enough; they also want an International Driving Permit, according to https://www.autoeurope.com/travel-blog/international-driving-regulations/ - but that's trivial via AAA (don't even need to be a member).

Also you will want insurance and seeing that the car isn't registered over there it will help to have your same US insurance company cover you. As far as I know the only US company that can cover like that is Geico. Their name stands for Government Employees Insurance Company so they cover government employees overseas. I haven't confirmed this personally

I insured my car on US plates in the UK with GEICO in 2006. Pretty darned painless.

I tried to do it again in 2013, and they refused, saying their underwriters would no longer insure a non-UK registered vehicle - that it would have to be re-registered in the UK.

Which takes you outside the provisions of "temporary import for personal use" and into the category of "personal import" - an entirely different thing that requires you to surrender US title....

It's entirely possible that their other offices- e.g. ones based in the EU - might still write this cover, however.

and I haven't discussed this with my buddy who is a Hagerty agent to see what can be done.

Be interesting to see what he can find out; although if they don't have offices/business in those countries, they almost certainly can't write cover for use there. But they may have some partnerships with local companies that could be leveraged...

European countries will want a serious assurance that once the car is in Europe the car won't be sold there. Otherwise they will want you to pay VAT. I believe there is a time limit you can stay and avoid VAT too.

It's just a form, declaring the reasons you're bringing the car in. If you're importing a car less than 6 months old, you pay import duty on the value of the car and the shipping cost. And THEN you pay VAT on that...

But you're not liable for that if it's a temporary import - which basically consists of informing the local registration authority that you've imported the vehicle temporarily for your personal use. There's a simple little form. And then requesting they extend it, if circumstances change - e.g. telling them if you're going to be there longer than they acknowledged/authorized you for.

You're also not liable for tax/duty even for personal (permanent) import, so long as you don't sell the vehicle within 3 years.

Everyone you'll deal with in officaldom will try to make it sound like the time limit for a "temporary import" is six months. But that's simply not true; if you read the legislation, it all hinges on the definitions of "temporary" and "permanent" - which comes down to intent. There is, in actual fact, NO defined time limit.

In fact, IIRC, a specific example provided in the legislation/guidance notes was that of a student coming over to take a college course and bringing their own vehicle; so right there is an example of a 4 year temporary stay...

But do make sure you are very clear when briefing the folks doing the paperwork for you - in both directions. Or things could get awkward...

The last thing I can think of is making sure it costs the same quantity to ship it back as it did to ship it over. I'd guess that we don't ship as much to Europe as they ship to us so it could be cheaper shipping to Europe.

Last time I shipped the car back, there was a 40% fuel surcharge, which kind of messed up direct comparisons somewhat... But it was pretty comparable, apart from that.

Shipping to a major port makes the biggest difference - both in # of ships available to take the container (so less time hanging around on the dock going nowhere), and pricing being more competitive.

Also, shipping from the East Coast to Europe is a lot cheaper than shipping from the West Coast...

And if you have success I want to know about it!

Yeh, this