Importing Alfas UK-> US

["Nicholas Fosteras" <fosteras@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 Paul, I'm moving from Britain to the US in the next few weeks and had planned on bringing my 1972 Spider along with me, so did all the research.  As long as the car is more than 25 years old it is indeed exempt from all the DOT / EPA requirements.  There are several DOT and EPA forms you need to fill out anyway.  I got a copy of them from the customs division of the US embassy in London.  The car cannot be a 'gross polluter' though and can't be smoking from the exhaust.  (Don't know how they deal with non-runners). There are two ways to ship - container or Roll-On / Roll-Off (RORO).  The RORO is how they transport new cars and the car goes in a sealed 'car ferry'.  Has to be a runner obviously.  It costs about #750 ($1200) for the service from Portsmouth / Southampton to the East Coast (not that much more to the west coast).  In addition you have to pay marine insurance (2-2.5 % of value) + dock charges on the US ($75) + Customs agent fee ($150 to handle the clearing process
  which you can do yourself).  If you need to car transported to the port in the UK they typically charge about #150 ($160) for a driver to pick the car up and take it to the port (or a little more for a transporter). A container service costs about #1,500 for the basic service plus the port fees are more expensive and there are uncrating fees, etc. to be paid (an additional $800). Take a look at the following websites:http://www.kingstown-shipping.co.uk/  (I believe have a lot of experience importing classic and valuable cars)http://www.karmanshipping.co.uk/http://www.autoshippers.co.uk/http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/importfaqs.htmlhttp://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/ The prices are a lot lower for a car to go from the US to Europe.  I guess there are more European cars sold in the US than vice versa, so the car ferries are going back empty to Europe and charge less for the additional casual importer business. Good luck importing your car.Nick
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