SSO

Has anyone tried to import a CGT from Europe to the US? Any idea on cost and complexity?

C.J. Ichiban

In order to federalize the car you have to send it to someone like JK Tech who has imported cars like Enzo's etc. it's probably about 50k for that. Plus 2.6% import tariff. Other than that, that's the basic difference between usa and eu cars. For shipping I have used CARS UK and CARS Europe previously.

So, a 700,000 car turns into 775+ really quick.

Driftking

Sterling Sackey

USA-spec production numbers are quite high for the CGT (in relation to total production) - around half of them came here. So, unless the circumstances are very specific, it probably doesn't make sense to bring one over - money-wise or time & hassle-wise.

SSO

The CGT I ran across is Euro 450k ex VAT, issue is it is high mileage

My challenge is budget for a CGT is $600ish K

unotaz

There is nothing nice for 600k nowadays. Try upping your budget to 700K for a nice GT Silver one.

SSO

Mid 600Ks is about as high as I can go.

pors9

Its not just the money. Anyone who has hands in experience dealing with importing a car and having it converted by JK will have huge reservations about ever going through that again unless its something that is a big must have that simply cannot be bought here. Importing and converting a CGT, for many reasons including several cited in this thread, makes no sense at all. Period.

RS Clubsport

I imported my CGT to Europe from the US 12 years ago, list of works were:

New rear tail lights
Front headlights did not changing (some were flat beam like mine so the same for LHD/RHD some were not so will require replacement)
Do not think that all USA cars have +10mm drop links, not sure this was a requirement
Side markers filled and painted
Rear fog lamp required for EU, means switching out one of the rear lights adjacent to the exhaust dependent on which side you are driving and change the light switch to one with the fog light button - all the wiring is in place

So I think it's feasible to repatriate an ex USA car, like this one:

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=256580712&cn=DE&cn=DE&damageUnrepaired=NO_DAMAGE_UNREPAI RED&isSearchRequest=true&makeModelVariant1.makeId=20100&makeModelVariant 1.modelId=20&pageNumber=1&scopeId=C&sfmr=false&searchId=f118af09-c08f-6c9d-14bb-fb1e4daa4578

Based on that plus shipping I'd have thought mid 600's$ may be possible?

I have no knowledge of this car, just an example lifted from mobile.de

pors9

Reimporting an unmodified original US delivery car is a different story. But many exported US CGT's are accident or salvage cars. So buyer beware. And you will pay the 2.5% import duty.

RS Clubsport

My point was that it is feasible and in my calculations I've included shipping and the 2.5% import duty.

Providing the owner retained the original parts as I did, the reversal process should not be complex.

You appear to be the 'font of all knowledge' on most subjects here.

Me&You

The whole re-importation process is definitely feasible, just not reasonable in this case. The car you cited has ~30,000 miles and there's no way a 30,000 mile car would be worth mid-$600s on the market in the US today.

A quick scan of the other listings on mobile.de shows generally stronger pricing than in the US market and that's without considering the added expense and headache of importing, duties, (de)modifying and the overall uncertainty of buying something like a CGT from an overseas seller (it's not as easy as hoping on a flight, seeing the car, and flying home the same day as is possible throughout much of the US). On top of that, as everyone here knows, service and history are paramount to a CGT and have fun trying to later sell your car in the US with a multi-year European ownership history. None of these things are individually insurmountable, but on the whole make for a lot hassle where there doesn't need to be any. If there was a significant savings to be had by going through the process (and the potential hassle in the event of an eventual sale), I'd say it would be worth considering, but as it stands, you'd be pay more, for more work and more hassle... Zero upside.

Jrtaylor9

I must admit, it seems counter-intuitive. CGT market is stronger in Europe than US, in general. And an unusually high % of CGT came to US vs WW production. So, while it might be possible to find an arb, I'm suspicious; because everything is going against it.

CRex

^ This makes the most sense. European CGT prices are at a 10-20% premium to stateside (more in the UK) and the flow is usually OUT of the states not the other way due to value arb.

I'd do extra extra due diligence on any GER/FR/UK car selling cheaper than comparable US listings...

RS Clubsport

And conversely it's not worth bringing a US car back to the UK now. The look cheap even with the lower FX, but you have to add 20% VAT on top of shipping, then 10% duty on top of the lot so they become no cheaper than the EU cars.

When we bought two low mileage GT's back from the US in 2006, we avoided duty because we brought the cars back into the EU within 3 years of them leaving and the FX was 1.95$ to the pound and the cars were just under and just over $300k around 5k and 2k miles.

As you say, best to source one from the US for the US, and vice versa for the UK or EU.