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a car question...

J

jakochampolska

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 31, 2005
324
0
I've look in google and havent found the answer I'm looking for, so this was the next place to look for it :D

So, does anyone know if you can buy a car in europe and bring it back to america? I really like the audi A3...but the european verison (its alot nicer looking), so could I buy it in Europe and have it shipped over to America?
 
jakochampolska said:
I've look in google and havent found the answer I'm looking for, so this was the next place to look for it :D

So, does anyone know if you can buy a car in europe and bring it back to america? I really like the audi A3...but the european verison (its alot nicer looking), so could I buy it in Europe and have it shipped over to America?
Click to expand...

Theoretically, yes but it's gonna cost you a few pennies. You'll probably have to shop around and find out what shipping costs would be but I would imagine that "slow boat to china" shipping with insurance would easily cost you in the many thousands of dollars range. Also if you are going to have it shipped by boat, pay the extra to have the container put into the ship's hull. When seas get choppy, it is pretty common for containers to just go tumbling off the top of the ship and down to Davy Jones' Locker.

Also you should probably find out from your local government if that particular car would be considered non-street legal for some reason or another (although, in this case I would doubt it would be).

I wish I had that kind of cash to ship a car over here because I would really love to get my hands on a TVR Cerbera.
 
The US has much more stringent emission rules and safety regulations than many (not all) european countries. There are usually two reasons why a car won't be sold in america, 1), it's not going to sell very well (something the A3's size might have to do with) and 2) it's too hard to make it legal in the US.

The second catagory is where most non-US cars fall. I would start looking at how to get it actually registered in the states. Shipping might be the least of your problems.

Note: On european delivery, either the car is made to be legal in both places, or small alterations are made after the european delivery before shipment.

Research how to make it legal, those costs might dwarf shipping costs.

Ben
 
saabmp3 said:
The US has much more stringent emission rules and safety regulations than many (not all) european countries.
Click to expand...

This just seems wrong. I will have to look it up, but I'm pretty sure that you have that backwards. I believe the emission levels of industry and autos in Europe are much lower than those in the U.S.

<edit>
Here are some links, since I felt I needed to provide sources for my claims:
Europe
United States
</edit>
 
Another reason not to do it would be the fact that you would not have a warranty on the car. Car mfrs. do not honor warranties from their divisions in other countries. Many people who flock to Canada to buy cars find that out the hard way.
 
I thought cars were more expensive in Canada?

Anyway, I'd love to have an A3. I didn't know they sold them in North America, but I'm glad we finally got them! The European model does look better though. I love the 2 door.

And about not selling certain cars in North America, I really don't see why car manufacturers think that there's no market for hatches. The problem is that there's no options out there. We have what.........the VW Golf? The Hyundai Accent? Toyota Echo? I'm sure there are several more, but there aren't very many models out there. The Echo sells quite well (just a guess, since I did see lots in Toronto last time I was there) because it's inexpensive, and there's no competition.
 
rdowns said:
Another reason not to do it would be the fact that you would not have a warranty on the car.
Click to expand...

Really? never knew that... that sounds plain illegal though.

Situation is different in Europe, in the UK, it's often cheaper to fly out to a European country (usually Holland, Denmark, etc) and buy a car there, even a RHD one, they cannot by law refuse to sell you one, and then you drive it back to the UK running it in in the process.

The warranty remains valid also.
 
jakochampolska said:
I've look in google and havent found the answer I'm looking for, so this was the next place to look for it :D

So, does anyone know if you can buy a car in europe and bring it back to america? I really like the audi A3...but the european verison (its alot nicer looking), so could I buy it in Europe and have it shipped over to America?
Click to expand...

Short answer is "yes, but..."

If anything looks any bit different to the EPA you'd need to adjust the car for smog controls (EPA doesn't care if the EU regs are tighter, it wants things to US spec) which could run about $10,000. If the chassis, transmission and engine combination haven't been crash tested with the NHTSA then you'll have to get a special import vehicle registration that limits the mileage to something like 3000/year.

You'd probably be better off buying the US version and replacing the bumpers and covers to the European ones. That'd run about maybe $2000 for front/back+paint+labour.
 
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