Can I bring my car with me?

December 17, 2008 11:52 AM

I love my Peugeot, but I might be moving to the USA. Can I bring it with me or am I just stupid to want to?

I didn't think I was that attached, and it's not that valuable, but I just like it a whole lot. I understand that Peugots are not sold/present in the USA; French car parts are also expensive and far away, as are, presumably, mechanics who know about French cars. (So far away that Peugeot's "USA" webpage is defunct.) Solution?

And what about actually getting it there? I googled around and it seems like people put their crazy expensive vintage/custom/luxury vehicles in cargo boxes for extremely high rates. Isn't there a ferry across the Atlantic I can just drive it onto? Seriously, what's the economical way to do this? (The car is only worth about $8,000 for the record.)

Oh yeah, and won't there be some customs issues? Duties and inspections and such? This is all very expensive and stupid, non? I will appreciate being informed nonetheless. Thank you.

posted by xanthippe to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

I looked into this for my car, which still has a support network this side of the pond (BMW), when I left the UK. It was getting to be over $2K just for the actual container. Plus insurance, plus customs clearance, plus...plus....plus...

The reason you hear about "people put[ting] their crazy expensive vintage/custom/luxury vehicles in cargo boxes" is because they are really the only sort of value cars that justify the expense and hassle.

Your Peugeot will cost you a lot to get it here. It will also be worth very, very little when you get it here. Yes, unfortunately, it is expensive and stupid to consider shipping it over. Not least because, with no type approval for that car in the US, trying to get approval to run it on the roads may be a lot of work and papers...

I suggest you sell it before you go.
posted by Brockles at 11:58 AM on December 17, 2008

Unless you're a mechanic, sell the car and get one popular in the US. If anything ever goes wrong with it, you will have to either fix it yourself or throw it out.
posted by Electrius at 11:58 AM on December 17, 2008

In 2010 they may start building 408's in Illinois to sell in South America. Maybe you can get one from there.
posted by Zambrano at 12:03 PM on December 17, 2008

Insuring it in the US might be a problem. You should check into that. I worked for someone who brought his not-to-be-found-in-the-USA auto over from the UK (If I'm not mistaken, he shipped it in a container, on a ship, and it took ages). It was not a valuable car (it was like the UK equivalent of a toyota corolla or honda civic, in fact it was one of those manufacturers, but the model wasn't sold over here) and he had an impossible time trying to find an insurer, and when he did, the cost was insane. It's been 10 years and my memory is a bit fuzzy, so it is possible that the insurance issues were related to the location of the steering column and not related to the fact that they had no other statistics on a non-american model upon which to base a quote.

Either way, check with an insurer (you can probably just use the online customer service chat on the geico or progressive site) to make sure you can get insurance over here.
posted by necessitas at 12:06 PM on December 17, 2008

open the drivers side door of your car. you should be looking at some sort of official sticker that outlines whether the car is licensed to drive on european roads only or on US roads as well. regulations vary between the continents and sometimes it will happen to you that a particular windscreen is just not certified for one side of the pond - it's small details like that. a modern bmw for example will likely have a sticker allowing it to be imported and driven on US roads. if your car is okay to drive in the US then by all means get a container and ship it over. it should cost you US $800-1000 to ship it to the east coast and insurance should not be a problem. if however it is not considered highway safe then you might as well forget about it. california also is a special case as they have different emission standards. a car importer should also be able to tell you whether your ride is good to go on US roads.

also be prepared to have minor changes done like adjusting the speedometer from km/h to mph.
posted by krautland at 12:22 PM on December 17, 2008

If anything ever goes wrong with it, you will have to either fix it yourself or throw it out.
right... I remember that old line from Doc Hollywood where the mechanic says "I always wanted a metric toolset."
posted by krautland at 12:23 PM on December 17, 2008

You'll also want to check with your destination state's emission requirements. Each state has different standards which range from very lax to extremely stringent. Failing to meet a state's emission requirements will make it either very expensive or impossible to obtain registration tags which would allow you to drive the vehicle on public streets.

Googling turned up this link about personal imports of motor vehicles to the US.
posted by jamaro at 12:28 PM on December 17, 2008

Don't bother, sadly. You don't say which state you are thinking of importing it to, but just in terms of emissions it will probably require mounds of paperwork, tests and hassle at best, or impossible amounts of work to convert the engine to their satisfaction at worst. Not to mention the cost of importing, duties and the aforementioned insurance hassle. Also, isn't there an issue of the differences in US and European gas (petrol) requiring some tweaking to the engine?
posted by Joh at 12:36 PM on December 17, 2008

Of course you can always sell yours, and keep your eye open to buy another one once you are here. (I would assume you'll buy a more practical car right away.) They do exist, although you might have to do some searching. You will obviously have the same potential issues with repair and parts, but the liklihood is that when you find one, you will also likely find an enthusiast's club who can help you with the support you need.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 12:45 PM on December 17, 2008

I used to live near a dealership in NJ. It's still there.

Ramsey Peugeot
1355 State Hwy No 17
Ramsey, NJ 07446

201-818-1129
posted by Zambrano at 12:52 PM on December 17, 2008

Yeah, this is going to be pretty much impossible, since there isn't a comparable model for sale in the US. Therefore, there haven't been any Federal crash tests or EPA certifications. The DOT doesn't recognize European crash tests (even though they're probably more stringent), so you'd have to provide several samples for testing.

The only loophole is to get a "Show and Display" exemption, which is issued to limited production vehicles of historical importance. It's really the "Bill Gates Loophole", so that he could get his Porsche 959 over here.

Somewhere on the DOT's website is a list of cars that can be imported into the US. If it's not on the list, well, hopefully you like the rusted out mid-80s Peugeots that you can get here.
posted by hwyengr at 1:04 PM on December 17, 2008

Vehicle Importation Regulations

Here's the list. If it's not on here, well, we have many fine automobiles in the United States.


List of Nonconforming Vehicles Eligible for Importation (PDF)
posted by hwyengr at 1:10 PM on December 17, 2008

I considered this for about 0.2 seconds with my Alfa Romeo before moving out to the US; I very rapidly abandoned the idea for many of the reasons outlined above.

Which Peugeot do you have, perhaps we can point you at something vaguely similar.

My suggestion would be to look at Edmunds.com or a similar website for a fairly comprehensive rundown (including reviews, in most cases) of the cars available over in the US. Autotrader can then point you at second-hand stuff available in the appropriate area of the US, if that's what you're after.
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 1:21 PM on December 17, 2008

While rare, they do sell Peugeots in the US. Maybe a used one would work out for you?
posted by fructose at 5:20 PM on December 17, 2008

It's a 206 CC, which is kind of awesome, but also has lots of sentimental value (i.e. I won't be satisfied with replacing it - I wouldn't bother, in fact.)

Thanks for all the links. Any tips on shipping companies I could get quotations from? I requested quotes from several of the ones I found online and never got any replies.
posted by xanthippe at 10:06 PM on December 18, 2008