Recently, someone posted about this, wondering what is involved. I think they were thinking about bringing a RHD CSL to the US.
I had a recent experience bringing in an older Alfa to the US from Sweden. I did it as cheaply as I could. I did a roll on roll off carrier from Sweden to Jacksonville, since the paint on the car was rather mediocre. Did not need an enclosed container, which was 3600. Shipping was 1300. I knew the name of the ship it went on and the shipping line, which was Hoegh. The destination was Jacksonville, where they import a lot of new cars. I could google the location of the ship as it went moved. It went to Mexico first.
I was very fortunate to call the customs office in Jacksonville, and I ran across a very helpful employee. He told me what I needed to do on my end. You google DOT form HS7 and EPA form 3520-1, print them, and fill them out as best you can.
You go to the customs office, turn in these forms. You also present the bill of sale, arrival notice from the shipping company, the Bill of Lading which I also got via email from Hoegh (basically describes the car and has the buyers name on it to prove you are the person to whom it is being shipped), your photo ID, and whatever passes for a title in Sweden. You write a check for 2.5 percent of the cars value plus 9 dollars processing fee, and they release the car from customs. The nice lady at customs helped me fill in some of the blanks of the forms, and she just told me to leave some of the other areas blank. She barely looked at the EPA and DOT forms. It was not a big deal at all.
Then I drove to the port terminal, but since it is a sealed facility I could not enter. I had to find an official escort. There are companies that do this. I drove to the escort office, a private business, about two miles off site. I picked up an escort and I paid him fifty bucks. We went through the gate and went to the Hoegh terminal. They have a trailer at their terminal. Went inside and showed the agent the bill of lading and he confirmed that the car was clear through customs. I had to pay another 100 bucks to Hoegh for their service of driving it off the ship I guess. Then I put the car on the trailer and drove away.
As an aside, there were about a dozen other cars being privately imported and sitting in the lot. Two RHD e30 tourings, one four door e30 with a full Hartge package, what looked like "an Italian e30 m3" with the 2 liter s14, a Citroen 2cv, some old Land Rovers, and some old Mercedes G wagons. The e30 is becoming a very popular car to bring in, at least from my anecdotal experience.
Overall, this is an easy process.
I have yet to try title it, but that is next! Should be interesting.
Scott
I had a recent experience bringing in an older Alfa to the US from Sweden. I did it as cheaply as I could. I did a roll on roll off carrier from Sweden to Jacksonville, since the paint on the car was rather mediocre. Did not need an enclosed container, which was 3600. Shipping was 1300. I knew the name of the ship it went on and the shipping line, which was Hoegh. The destination was Jacksonville, where they import a lot of new cars. I could google the location of the ship as it went moved. It went to Mexico first.
I was very fortunate to call the customs office in Jacksonville, and I ran across a very helpful employee. He told me what I needed to do on my end. You google DOT form HS7 and EPA form 3520-1, print them, and fill them out as best you can.
You go to the customs office, turn in these forms. You also present the bill of sale, arrival notice from the shipping company, the Bill of Lading which I also got via email from Hoegh (basically describes the car and has the buyers name on it to prove you are the person to whom it is being shipped), your photo ID, and whatever passes for a title in Sweden. You write a check for 2.5 percent of the cars value plus 9 dollars processing fee, and they release the car from customs. The nice lady at customs helped me fill in some of the blanks of the forms, and she just told me to leave some of the other areas blank. She barely looked at the EPA and DOT forms. It was not a big deal at all.
Then I drove to the port terminal, but since it is a sealed facility I could not enter. I had to find an official escort. There are companies that do this. I drove to the escort office, a private business, about two miles off site. I picked up an escort and I paid him fifty bucks. We went through the gate and went to the Hoegh terminal. They have a trailer at their terminal. Went inside and showed the agent the bill of lading and he confirmed that the car was clear through customs. I had to pay another 100 bucks to Hoegh for their service of driving it off the ship I guess. Then I put the car on the trailer and drove away.
As an aside, there were about a dozen other cars being privately imported and sitting in the lot. Two RHD e30 tourings, one four door e30 with a full Hartge package, what looked like "an Italian e30 m3" with the 2 liter s14, a Citroen 2cv, some old Land Rovers, and some old Mercedes G wagons. The e30 is becoming a very popular car to bring in, at least from my anecdotal experience.
Overall, this is an easy process.
I have yet to try title it, but that is next! Should be interesting.
Scott
