MarkLB

My fiance and I became officially engaged and we hired an attorney to help us with our application for a K1 Visa and it is in the works now! I will hopefully be moving to the US (San Diego) in the autumn/winter and I've been thinking about the vehicle situation.

I'm comfortable driving in the US now having been there several times with both automatic and manual left-hand drives so I would not have a problem purchasing a US car. My fiance purchased a european-like Chevy at a great price; half of what a new car would be in England. I'd like to purchase something similiar since I can't really share my fiance's car during my eventual work and since we'll have to be careful with our money initially I've entertained the idea of importing my own car and how much it might cost. Has anyone else thought of this or actually done this? I've not come across any rough estimates yet and although it's unlikely to be cost-effective and a paperwork headache I'd still like to find out more and curious. Any links or experiences are appreciated!

penguinsix

http://www.autoshippers.co.uk/UK_Car...toms_Links.htm

If you got the car at a good discount, I'd consider selling it and buying a new car in the US. With the £-$ difference, you might end up with something substantially better.

http://www.kbb.com gives you the estimated prices of US cars around the country by make and model. Take a look there and then figure out the value in the UK and see what's what.

Good luck.

CarlM

Not cost effective! Plus emmissiosn rules are stricter so even US cars from outside US may need adapting. Plus police clearance, container shipping, insurability etc...

theres plenty of cheap cars here already - honest!

MarkLB

Thank you for the links! I agree that a new car is the best way to go but I'd still like to check out this route for a comparison.

Big D

Really not worth it unless its a classic - cars are much cheaper over here (cue debate ) but if you are bringing pound notes you really will get a bargain here.

Problems with converting bits, enabling it to run on piss weak fuel, insurance etc - not worth it. Plus a grand or two to get it here.

CaliforniaBride

Have a look here, http://www.cars.com/go/index.jsp and judge for yourself the price of cars here.

MarkLB

Yeah, I totally agree I was amazed to see how much my fiance bought her brand new car for! I was curious, it's a run-of-the-mill 6 year old car and since I have no problems with driving over in California it makes perfect sense to bring pound notes over and make a large downpayment on a new/used car.

Tarkak9

CarlM pretty much hit it right on the nose... they are really strict about it and if there is one thing out of line with the paperwork, eligibility etc customs can and will impound the vehicle and there is nothing you can really do about it an you're SOL. The vehicle must meet emission regs and safety stnds too. The only known "exception" per se is that if the vehicle is a "specialized" vehicle then its easier... I had at one time thought of bringing over an exmod surplus lr defndr 130 (which was also a bullet proof) which met the criteria.. still if the vehicle is atleast 25 yrs old then you can pretty much bring in anything you want. I think that one caveat is that the vehicle has to leave the US after 1 year - so many people run for the border for a day and turnaround to qualify it to have been out of the country. May not be the case though, I have heard people doing that.

Save your dosh, sell it and buy another stateside etc. Before you ask about insurance... search this forum!! (there's heaps of threads about it)!!

Vimto

FYI importing your car web site
http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm...ingyourcar.htm

apart from proving at the POE that your vehicle meets US EPA and CARB emissions and DOT bumper safety regulations it looks quite straight forward. Of course trying to find spare parts when and if you need them may not be easy, reasonably priced insurance of a unique import may also be tough.

I think 'leave it at home' is a good idea

CaliforniaBride

Not to mention driving on the right in a right hand drive vehicle?

Like Cambodia. Driving on the left with left hand drive vehicles. Scarey!!!

basementwaj

The fuel thing really gets me here. The diesel is completely different and european cars will just die if they were run on the dirty shite they pump here. I just wish they would introduce some good diesel and then we could run the great VW/Audi/Volvo diesels and get 40mpg.
I explained to a neighbour about the VW fox diesel which was tested and delivered an amazing 78mpg, he called me a lier!
I know of a few people that have started driving diesel golfs and run it from bio diesel which is becoming more popular now. They are getting in the region of 50 mpg which in real life is better than a prius.
So to sum up my off topic wandering...... buy a car here, get the best mpg car you can find (dont be tempted by the big heavy gas guzzlers that do 9mpg) and lets all save the world!

Hug a hippy!

Bob

Unless it's a classic motor, it's not worth the hassle and costs involved...plus wrong hand side drive will kill any re-sale value you have...just not worth it.

Mad Max7

If I were in the market for a new car i would still by a European car though, they are better made and may well be more reliable. I know its not European but the top selling vehicles here are Japanese and that (in the country of the big three) says it all!

dbj1000

I can't be arsed to look it up, but recently I saw a large sticker on a Texas diesel pump stating that "it is against Federal law to use this fuel in any passenger diesel car manufactured after 2008"... which is in the future. Apparently there will be some change in Diesel standards next year to introduce Low Sulphur Diesel like in Europe, and to use it in all diesel passenger cars.

Google must have info on all this... but since I drive a turbo petrol engine it's not of much interest to me... yet.

another bloody yank

How 'bout the other way around? Does anyone plan to take their dually back with them?