Newbie from Hertfordshire...

[danny_duke01]

Hi,
I may have possibly found a '77 Dodge Monaco at long last after weeks of searching for the right one.
It's not a confirmed deal yet,but looking good.

My next issue would be shipping the car from New Mexico,US to the UK.
I have never done this before and have no real idea where to start.
I am under the impression it costs about £2k to ship a vehicle over...does that sound about right??
Could anybody point me in the right direction please or recommend a top company they have used??
How does the payment work??

Thanks

[yabadaba]

I'd say you're in the right ball park with approx £2k. That should cover the actual shipping and import fees at this end. If the car is largely original you should be able to get it classed as classic/historical, which means zero duty and only 5% vat. That will makes a big difference to your total cost so make sure either you or your shipping company apply to HMRC for a Binding Tariff Information (BTI) which will confirm the historic classification and the reduced rates if your application is successful.

But you will also have to consider the cost of having the car transported to the nearest port. That would depend where in New Mexico it is and where your chosen shipping company needs it to be. LA or Galveston maybe? Also the cost of the transportation on this side and then the usual costs associated with getting it UK legal, through an MOT and registered.

I've used Kingstown shipping twice and they were very helpful. The first time I did the BTI myself, the second time I paid them a small fee to do it on my behalf - both applications were successful.

NB: Some of the other guys on here will be far more experienced than me at importing cars (I've only brought 2 cars over) so listen out for their advice when they return from the Nationals!

[Steve Chapman]

Agree with what yabadabba says 100%, brought the van over on a binding tariff , came via Hill Shipping. Hassle free. Most decent shippers can arrange collection and delivery to a US port.

[adrianp]

Hi,

There are a few companies/people that you'll hear on the import jobs, of the regular ones I've seen mentioned:

- Ron Fenton over at STS - http://www.stsimports.co.uk/
- Golden Chariots - http://www.goldenchariotsinternational.com/
- Kingstown Shipping - http://www.kingstown-shipping.co.uk/

If you have a look round on this forum and the Mustang forum as well (http://www.mocgb.net/forums/forum.php) you'll probably see these names pop up and can read of a few first hand experiences.

I've spoken to people who used Kingstown and were happy and Ron always gets a positive mention too. I've used Golden Chariots myself (that was for a AUS->UK import) and that went well for me.

Would advise you shop round, get a few quotes, and just see who you feel most comfortable with. There's usually an amount of the paperwork you have to fill in yourself like the import papers from HMRC so just make sure that who ever you choose can give you a hand with the right codes/details on these forms.

I think some of the process has changed recently too with imports as I was reading something recently on a thread where Ron was mentioning NOVA (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nova/) I don't know if this will impact you or not but if it does you'd just want to make sure who you're dealing with is across any recent changes.

Then it's just a matter of laying out some ££££ popping over to http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ and waiting for your ship to come in

Best of luck !

adrian.

[danny_duke01]

Thanks for all the help and info guys!!
Waiting to hear back for some quotes now as we speak...

[Blue]

I'm in the middle of it right now, used Kingstown after asking around, no problems as yet....

[danny_duke01]

Just had one quote received so far from Golden Chariots.
The quote is £2,232...this is for a shared container as the car is non-running at the moment due to needing a new battery,gasket work and does have a slight oil leak too.
I am assuming container shipping is more expensive than roll on,roll off??

[danny_duke01]

I'm in the middle of it right now, used Kingstown after asking around, no problems as yet....

That's good to hear Blue...i'm still waiting back for a quote from Kingstown.

[Blue]

Ro Ro is cheaper but you risk damage from the herberts loading and unloading it, plus parts will dissapeer if someone takes a fancy to anything.

[danny_duke01]

Ro Ro is cheaper but you risk damage from the herberts loading and unloading it, plus parts will dissapeer if someone takes a fancy to anything.

Yes,that did make me wonder if Ro Ro was such a good idea or not but as it's a non runner,been told container is the only option anyway.

[danny_duke01]

A couple more worries i have as having never shipped a car before is as the seller quoted "how should we handle the vehicle title transfer?" How does this usually happen,assuming it means me signing the log book as such??


Also...the seller has suggested about making the payment through Paypal...is this a good idea and the best safest way??
The only issue i have is the seller only has 1 feedback on ebay... He seems friendly and polite enough and has sent me many photo's and has answered all my questions. Just a bit worried of making the commitment now just incase the seller is a fraud or a scammer??

Any info and advice would be much appreciated please!!

[danny_duke01]

Any help or info please guys...??

[Pete]

Speak to the shipper, they can give you guidance.
There are now a lot of securuity hoops you need to jump through to satisfy the American customs people - all part of homeland security.....

[Dart Vader]

Where is the car Danny? Is there anyone in a club Drew may know that can check the car out for you.

As for PayPal, then yes, I think that's a good idea as it does offer a bit of protection if you bought it on eBay

[danny_duke01]

Speak to the shipper, they can give you guidance.
There are now a lot of securuity hoops you need to jump through to satisfy the American customs people - all part of homeland security.....

Ok thanks,i will do that!!