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Most cars go the other way, the Germans come over here for clean cars. Tells you something
i think you'd be ahead buying a sunroof car here and deleting rather than the cost of the extra due diligence you'd have to do to prevent buyers remorse
i mean with smog, duties, title all transacted from another continent, what could possibly go wrong?😱
Go for it! 94s are the sweetest 993s! OBD1, just a simple key operated immobiliser that works so well that most rennlisters don't even believe 94-95 993s have an immobiliser at all! ROW suspension, no bumperettes, and last but not least the highly sought after G5021 gear box!
Well worth the effort and a factory non sunroof 993 beats a car with a retro fitted non sunroof roof panel all day value wise, the non sunroof and G5021 gearbox will make the car so attractive it weighs up the import cost!
This is what You want, this is not what You need!...
Most cars go the other way, the Germans come over here for clean cars. Tells you something
This is not true. Here in Germany the re-imported (mostly from the US and JP) cars command a significantly lower price than cars first delivered here. The reason for the re-import numbers over the last decade is rather that there was a really high demand for these cars in Germany.
In the last couple of years there is a shift that cars tend to go the other way over the pond (especially for very exclusive cars).
The problem I see is rather finding a clean car without having someone you trust in the country do a PPI.
This is not true. Here in Germany the re-imported (mostly from the US and JP) cars command a significantly lower price than cars first delivered here. The reason for the re-import numbers over the last decade is rather that there was a really high demand for these cars in Germany.
In the last couple of years there is a shift that cars tend to go the other way over the pond (especially for very exclusive cars).
The problem I see is rather finding a clean car without having someone you trust in the country do a PPI.
True! Just too often the seller does not mention that the car is a US import and the photos are taken from strange angels that does not show bemperettes and som on! I spoke with a guy that went all the way to Germany from another country just to realise that the 993 that he was looking at was a US import. He went home without the car.
"Going all the way from another country" depending on where he came from, could have been just a short drive, like me driving into Mass from NH. My cousin sometimes drives to Luxembourg to fill up his car ( lives in the Trier area).
That is shady, deliberately trying to hide the origin of the car.
I would think carefully about recourse. If the car is not as represented, AFAIK, you have little or none. Typically the seller wants a wire transfer with all the money in hand before the car is shipped. I've done several sales for friends, domestically as well as to Germany, Norway, and once to an ex-pat Brit living in Saigon, with nary a problem, BUT always with full disclosure up front and brutal honesty.
Importing a car over 25 years old from the date of manufacture (not model year) is relatively easy HOWEVER you are in California and and any car made from 1968 on still has to comply with California emissions standards (third link below). You need to research this further.
My last 911 ended up in the Netherlands at a SIGNIFICANT premium- 1985 Targa for 65K Euros I believe. It was converted to EU standards, but original POE was California. Seems to me that EU commands bigger $$'s for these cars that US- supply and demand I guess?
Most cars go the other way, the Germans come over here for clean cars. Tells you something
They were probably going the other way in the not too distant past due to the Euro v. $ exchange rate, a gap which has now narrowed.
Additionally, there were so many 993s sold in the US that it makes it easier to target this one semi-homogenized market (one language, standardized Federal export regulations, standardized DOT regs which yield a car of known quantity standards-wise) rather than shopping all over the world, especially with convenient shipping lanes readily available. In every year but '94, the majority of 993s were sold in the US/Canada ('95 coupes: Carrera - US/Can: 4139 ROW: 7018, '96 coupes: US/Can: 3671 ROW: 6762, '97 coupes: US/Can: 4972 ROW: 5794).
04-15-2019, 10:34 PM
Thoughts on buying a car from Europe?
My cousin sometimes drives to Luxembourg to fill up his car ( lives in the Trier area). 
