NineMeister

We have clients in the US asking us to source a LHD 964 in the UK, rebuild the car to 9m standards and ship it to the US. All good so far. I can work out shipping, handling and insurance costs, what I'm not sure about is the registration procedure once the car lands on US soil. Does anyone have direct experience of this and know what is involved to import a UK or European registered 964 into the US? Any genuine information would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

chsu74

Been trying to understand the exact process as well because I can import it myself but never done it with vehicles; globally sourced products for decades from over 30 different countries and imported them into US and Canada. Saw an interesting '94 993 w/G50/21 gearbox in Europe but did not go through with it because some regulations are still murky to me.

Here is what you will encounter on vehicles both on a federal and state level.
Federal:
Clearing customs - Believe customs duty is 2.5% of value of vehicle plus entry($150) and logistical costs(few hundred.) The gray area is paying duty on cost of conversion in addition to value of donor ROW car. Other charges like merchandise processing and harbor maintenance fees are less than 1% of cargo value.

EPA - 964 are over 25 years old so it is exempt from federal emissions.

State level:
Most no longer require emission testing once vehicles are 20-25 years old and that exact year varies by state.

California is a potential problem due to CARB regulations. I know for a fact that models like 964RS will never be able to be registered in that state economically. I have heard Japanese 964s(regular C2 and C4s) registers in California but I don't live in CA.

Am curious to hear other people's knowledge in the matter. My biggest concern is that using a ROW car instead of US car limits CA out of the picture for resale if it is a problem.

Donor cars in the US are typically cheaper and shipping a car to UK in a 20' box is maybe $2K from the West coast or half of that from East coast so cost is a non issue there.

I know 9m has done work with US donor cars shipped to UK. Their input will help clear some of these questions. I think the two big questions are California registration and paying the duty on both vehicle(due to change in owner name) and conversion costs if its a ROW car.

Svensk_Cal

Good afternoon,

Going through the information search process now as I "dream" of importing my 964 from Europe (already own the car).
As stated above, no issue for all states if the car is >25 years old... except California.
For California sounds like you have to go through an official certification lab to be able to register the car - $$$.
Detailed post on Pelican parts forum: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/pors...alifornia.html

I sent a mail to CARB to get confirmation, will share once I get an answer.

Thanks.

Svensk

No_snivelling

The best option might be to use an importer who specializes in car imports.

Svensk_Cal

For the import side I will definitively use a professional importer to go through all the customs paperwork.
For the registration the process is not that complex and could do it myself, just big $$$.
But once in for $3-5K for transport and import duties + $10k for CARB modifications and certification, I might just pay a few more $ hand it over to a professional from A to Z...
Do you have reputable importers to recommend?

Thank you.

Svensk

No_snivelling

I did my own USA to Canada import so I don't have any specific importer to recommend. A buddy of mine used an importer and was very happy but again that was for a USA to Canada import.
Surely some Rennlisters will chime in with advice on a Europe to USA importer.

darylbowden

I know of a few Mizwa Japanese cars here in Los Angeles, that are properly registered in CA (not Montana, etc). I can ask next time I see one at a cars and coffee or some such.

FWIW, even the 964 RS can be registered here (I know of at least 2) but it won't be easy. The ROW cars which had a version sold here are MUCH easier.