Importing a 911 from Europe to the USA?

[blau911]

Just wondering what others think about the possibility that some of the early 911 cars that went back to Europe (Germany) over the past 5 years due to the exchange rate, may come back to the US now that the exchange rate has come back toward parity.
The current exchange rate is $1.06 to the Euro. That makes a €30.000 Porsche in Europe only $31,800 dollars. Given the scarcity of good supply in the States these days - and no bargain prices here, the idea doesn't seem too absurd. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[johnsjmc]

There are also cars in Canada now worth re importing A typical Cdn Pcar isn,t winter driven and many originated in the states anyway. The Cdn $ is now worth about $.80 US. I have a 95 993 I will be selling in May (I am in Fl now and the car is stored up north)
CBP has a FAQ page about importing a car about 2/3 way down it discusses reimporting a US spec car. There should be no duty as I read it.
A ROW ,non US spec car is a different matter.

[KNS]

Interesting question but it won't mean anything unless those European owners are willing to sell, I'd bet many of them were bought as keepers. Perhaps in another 20 to 30 years when their owners are too old to enjoy them and their kids don't have any interest in them.

[pu911]

There will be plenty of buyers and sellers, especially for models like the 964 RS when they can legally be imported into US.
Phil

[techweenie]

Yes, Phil is spot on. There are people planning (2 years) in advance to bring 964 RS cars.

Meantime, for more ordinary Porsches, there are a couple scenarios: Car imported from the US that cost the buyer $30K here... +$2.2K for transport & insurance + 16-19% import duty + cost of TUV compliant headlights & tires = $39K landed cost.

The other scenario is that the car was always in Europe. The older cars often have serious chassis rust issues (the reason they buy US cars). For a newer car, there is DOT compliance for 1990+

Either way, to bring it here, add $2.2K shippping and insurance and (3%?) US import duty...

As the Euro gets close to parity with the dollar, this is definitely going to happen.

[Nate2046]

Originally Posted by techweenie

Yes, Phil is spot on. There are people planning (2 years) in advance to bring 964 RS cars.

The 964 limited run cars were under the radar for so long, but man have they taken off! Would love to have gotten my hands on one a couple of years ago. RS's on the market now in the UK;

155,995GBP
Used 1992 Porsche 911 [964] for sale in North Norfolk | Pistonheads

144,500GBP
Used 1991 Porsche 911 [964] for sale in North Norfolk | Pistonheads

Auction car (couldn't find the result)
Used 1992 Porsche 911 [964] for sale in Surrey | Pistonheads
edit; found it, sold for 157,480GBP

[Matt Monson]

I don't really think 964 and 993 RS variants qualify under the strong dollar category. That's about waiting for them to get old enough to bring them in cleanly.

I suspect some top condition cars will come back, but do you really think it's going to get cheap enough for people to bring in SCs and Carreras? I don't. Even with the flippers and hoarders there are still plenty of cars availae without the hassle and 10% extra cost of importing one.

Canadian cars are another story though.

[touringteg]

Just 2.5% duty to import a Canadian car to USA Zero if its a former US car.

The cdn loonie is down to 78 cents us today. The trick is finding a good one as supply is low.

Try craigslist, kijiji.ca and autotrader.ca

[johnsjmc]

Originally Posted by touringteg

Just 2.5% duty to import a Canadian car to USA Zero if its a former US car.

The cdn loonie is down to 78 cents us today. The trick is finding a good one as supply is low.

Try craigslist, kijiji.ca and autotrader.ca

Also consider Canada had 930,s all thru the 80,s where they weren,t sold Stateside from 80-85.
Many 911,s in Canada are former US cars anyway. My last 4 were.
"Trader.ca" ,Not "autotrader.ca."

[mattC2993]

Originally Posted by touringteg

Just 2.5% duty to import a Canadian car to USA Zero if its a former US car.

The cdn loonie is down to 78 cents us today. The trick is finding a good one as supply is low.

Try craigslist, kijiji.ca and autotrader.ca

Lots of WTB ads and few FS ads out west.

[Dominic]

I'm currently living in the U.K. and I can tell you that all aircooled 911's in general are a rare sight and fetching top dollar. We have a much better selection in the U.S. and our prices are much lower. The only thing cheap over here are newer H20 cooled Porsche cars. If you found an old aircooled 911 over here it's most likely rusted to hell. I've seen driver quality 911SC's from the 80's that need full rustorations. Stick to the U.S. when looking for a Porsche, we are fortunate that we have a large amount of cars to choose from. Most of the older cars here are imported from the U.S. these days. Just my $.02