Bringing a car over from the states

PowerHouseDan

Wondering how is this possible and roughly how much you would pay for a standard sports car?ie not a suv

Plug

I don't know anything about car imports but I do know that if you ask them to send it over as a preasent your avoiding a hell of a lot of tax;) Could save yourself 30% or more, tbh it could be very deare to insure cars from there as they consider a 2.5 litre engine small:eek:

crosstownk

Be sure to take into account the availabilty of spare parts here in Ireland and also how hard it may be to find someone capable of diagnosing and repairing faults.

PowerHouseDan

Its a Jap car just cant get it over here.

SouperComputer

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Its a Jap car just cant get it over here.

then surely it makes more sense to import from Japan? Weaker yen, flourishing export market and its already RHD.

PowerHouseDan

Yeah i no, but i would want to buy it custom build... Bodykit etc the car is a Mitsubishi Eclipse

optiplexgx270

Have a look at the Eagle Talon its an identical car to the Mitsubishi Eclipse but quite a bit cheaper. They only have 2ltr blocks with a BIG **** off turbo afaik thus tax insurannce shouldnt be a problem.

Relations of mine had a eagle talon when i was over a while back and was it DAMN fast mind you it was modded to the region of 450hp 0-60mph in about ~4 seconds i recall.

Edit: Looks like the Eagle Talon was dropped in '98 thats the year of his.

PowerHouseDan

Still want a Eclipse.. Anyone have a rough cost how much it would cost to bring it over?

optiplexgx270

How much is it?

PowerHouseDan

The one i am lookin at works out at Euro4930

optiplexgx270

(1) You will have to pay VRT on any car coming into Ireland from any country unless over 30 years old.
(2) You will have to pay VAT on all cars coming from outside the EU, so always buy in the EU as an additional 21% will never bring it under the Irish price.
(3) You will have to pay VAT on all cars under 6 mths old or less than 6,000kms even if they are from within the EU.

https://www.ros.ie/VRTEnquiryServlet/ShowVRT You will most likly have to call them.

Source: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=176389

PowerHouseDan

where would ya pick up an Eagle Talon....

optiplexgx270

PowerHouseDan wrote:

where would ya pick up an Eagle Talon....

TBH I have no idea, I would have thought a Google search would have brought up more than it did. Got this http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=used+eagle+talon

PowerHouseDan

got a quote to bring in the car... 1900Dollars Aint Bad considering the cost of the car its a bargain

dahamsta

[This is based on other people's experiences, not mine. I've kept on eye on discussions about this because I'll be bringing in a yank tank in a few years. You'll get more detail if you ask on the ISRA forum; a lot of those guys have done it before.]

1900 is about right if you're just talking about shipping, but there are plenty of options up for consideration, For example, just in shipping terms:

• Roll On / Roll Off (???)
• Open Container
• 1/2 Closed Container
• Full Closed Container

I'm not even sure about Ro-Ro, I'm only listing it because I've seen other people list is as an option; it seems odd in this day and age for voyages of that length. Open Container probably isn't a good choice for a car simply because it's going to be battered by salt water; plus there's the risk of people nicking stuff off your car. 1/2 container is often only good to you if you have someone to share with; you're shipping something else; or you're bringing in two cars (a lot of people bring in a clunker, for parts).

You also have the option of doing it yourself or paying someone to do it. You may save money if you do it yourself, but for your first car you might be better off paying a professional; I don't think they charge that much above the odds, and there seems to be some really good companies out there. Again, the ISRA is the place to ask for one.

HTH,
adam

Plug

Ask the chap your buying it off to send it over as a preasent, no tax to pay that way:)

Henry Ford III

Don't forget customs duty @10%.

You've got that (10%), + VAT @ 21%, + VRT @30%. Add shipping, lhd, insurance and service issues, and hastle and it becomes marginal at best.

I looked at importing a few new (rebuilt on a period VW Beetle chassis) Porsche Speedster replicas from California, but ultimately the price (including all taxes and add ons) was prohibitive.

peasant

Not to forget the added hassle of NCT further down the line.
They can be real sticklers when it comes to converting lights and such to EU norms.
Most US cars have red combined rear indicator and break lights. Thats a big no-no under EU regs. Depending on the car it might cost you a fortune to convert or you might even have to stick extra yellow indicators on it.
Sometimes the whole wiring needs to be re-done

Similar issues on headlights ...wattages ...beams.

Lots of pitfalls there, do your research before you buy.

zilog_jones

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Yeah i no, but i would want to buy it custom build... Bodykit etc the car is a Mitsubishi Eclipse

Wouldn't it be better to import a Japanese Eclipse and then just get the body kit and stuff from the US? It'll be a lot easier to import a car from Japan as there's a lot more people who do it, not to mention it'll be RHD, the lights won't be wrong (US lighting standards are weird and LHD headlights shouldn't be used here without covers stuck over part of them), you'll have a speedo in km/h, and it might be slightly easier to get parts.

smash

In from the US..... left hand drive cars aren't exactly ideal and insurance goes up etc.....

bazz26

zilog_jones wrote:

Wouldn't it be better to import a Japanese Eclipse and then just get the body kit and stuff from the US? It'll be a lot easier to import a car from Japan as there's a lot more people who do it, not to mention it'll be RHD, the lights won't be wrong (US lighting standards are weird and LHD headlights shouldn't be used here without covers stuck over part of them), you'll have a speedo in km/h, and it might be slightly easier to get parts.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse was only built in Illinois, USA and was never sold in Japan or Europe, it was a shared design with the Plymouth Laser and Eagle Talon. All three cars were built in the same factory along side each other.

The nearest model Mitsubishi have in Japan is the FTO:

zilog_jones

The Eclipse is sold in Japan! It may have still been built in the US, but there were RHD models made specifically for the Japanese market. I don't think it shares much, if anything, to the FTO - it's much bigger for starters.

Look at this auction for example: http://english.auto.vl.ru/auctions/mitsubishi/eclipse/
I'm not saying I'd trust Russian auctioneers for buying cars, but there obviously are Eclipses sold in Japan.

smash

zilog_jones wrote:

The Eclipse is sold in Japan! I don't think it shares much, if anything, to the FTO though.

I'd have to agree, it's a completely different car... and it is sold in Japan

bazz26

zilog_jones wrote:

The Eclipse is sold in Japan! It may have still been built in the US, but there were RHD models made specifically for the Japanese market. I don't think it shares much, if anything, to the FTO - it's much bigger for starters.

Look at this auction for example: http://english.auto.vl.ru/auctions/mitsubishi/eclipse/
I'm not saying I'd trust Russian auctioneers for buying cars, but there obviously are Eclipses sold in Japan.

Ok but looking at some of the photos at that auction site they all appear to be LHD. Would be interesting to find out if it was actually offically sold on the Japanese market or are they grey imports from the US?

Regarding the FTO, yes it has very little in common with the Eclipse but what I was getting at is that the FTO is similar in dimentions to the Eclipse and had a similar capacity engine so it might be a more practical alternative to importing an Eclipse. Granted they are pretty common over here these days so the OP may not be interested.

PowerHouseDan

I found a Eagle converted into a eclipse.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mitsubishi-Eclipse-Fast-Furious-Mitsubishi-Eclipse-Replica-Show-Car_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6352QQihZ002QQitemZ4650310095QQrdZ1#ebayphotohosting

Powerful car too

zilog_jones

Interesting - I never noticed that they were LHD though. But maybe it's a similar thing to how the Japanese are complete idiots with regards to European cars - they nearly always get LHD ones (and I'm not talking about imports) because they're more "authentic". Look at any BMW, Audi, Merc, Alfa or whatever over there and you'll see that it's LHD. Maybe they do the same thing with US cars?

Max_Damage

PowerHouseDan wrote:

I found a Eagle converted into a eclipse.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mitsubishi-Eclipse-Fast-Furious-Mitsubishi-Eclipse-Replica-Show-Car_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6352QQihZ002QQitemZ4650310095QQrdZ1#ebayphotohosting

Powerful car too

In all fairness, why the hell would you want a car that looks like someone got sick all over it?

PowerHouseDan

Cos maybe i like cars with sick all over it.