Selling a U.S. 996 in Europe - Anyone done it?

Hey Guys, I'm occasionally on the 964 Turbo board, but I'm here to get some opinions for a friend of mine... He's currently in the market for a 996 coupe, but will be moving to Europe within a year or so, and plans on taking the car with him. Has anyone taken a U.S. car to Europe? If so, any issues registering it? Also, any problems with selling a U.S. car in Europe? Any insight would be much appreciated.... Thanks, Shawn

I'm constantly moving back and forth. Last time I moved to Europe I took my Viper with me and actually ended up selling it before I moved back to the States. A first thing your friend needs to look into is length of ownership abroad. He needs to have owned it for >1 year and insured for about 6 months. That way he can avoid VAT (20%) and import taxes (+/-8% varies by country). Then you need to obtain a local title. Some countries are easy, others are more difficult. It's a pain though. As a minimum you will have to change your lights & speedometer. Sometimes even the exhausts (cats). Once you have the local title, some countries make you pay an environmental tax (can be compared to the gas guzzler tax in the US). Unfortunately, it applies to all cars and can be significant in case of valuable cars ( I paid about 7000$ for my Viper - this was in Austria). I could go on for hours about this topic... Net, you will end up spending a lot of time fighting local buraucracy. Don't know whether I would do it again...

Many years ago, a friend of mine took his Toyota Paseo (don't ask...) to France. Not only was it costly from a tax perspective (ref. what Yves said) but the mechanical standards were horrendous to comply with. In order to bring it to compliance, he would have had to spend several thousands of $ (remember, we're talking about a Toyota Paseo...). He ended up keeping it licensed under US tags and driving it illegally for a few years. Never had a problem with the police who didn't know better. Bottom line, just know that it's not an easy and cheap endeavor.

It is cheaper and a lot less time consuming to sell the car in the US and buy one in Europe. Plus the car does take damage from travel across the atlantic in a container. I have seen lots of cars here in Russia that were shipped from the US. Rubber hoses and etc get eaten up by the salty air and water.

I shipped my Porsche from the USA to my door in Germany with no problems, just make sure it is in a container and not out in the open. As far as selling a car in Germany it is not difficult at all. The car buyer would have to pay the VAT based upon your selling price, note the selling price is what you put on the paperwork and not what he paid so usually people drop it a couple of thousand dollars to help out on the VAT tax situation. Outside that change from the amber to clear lights on the left and right side and although the speedometer is supposed to be changed out for the Kilometers version you can probably get away without it by switching over the digital display. Note that many Europeans are traveling to the USA now to buy new Mercedes, BMWs and Porsches and shipping them back to Europe paying the conversion and VAT and pocketing the money they save. Seems that although the dollar drop is killing me it is quite good for them and for whatever reason their cars sell cheaper in the USA than in Europe. So my 2 cents is ship your car enjoy it and sell it if you like, you will pay far less in the USA even including the shipping.

Depends where you go too. If you go to Denmark you will end up paying 80% registration taxes to get your plates An environmental tax apparently. Like the guy said earlier, the key is owning it for 6 months or more then you can avoid a lot of ****. I was looking at bring a cayenne from the states to Europe but by the time you paid everything there really is not much in it. Europe is full of cars. Sell and get one here. http://ucl.porsche.de/ucl/plsql/de/c...3AB6A04&sflg_= approved porsches Erstzulassung, year Preis price Version cab or coupe pretty easy

Thanks for all the replies... Sounds like it may not be worth it to transport it and eventually sell over there, but to sell it before he moves. Thanks again!

Hi, I decided to ship my 996 from DC to Spain. Can anyone recommend a shipper and provide any tips? Thanks, winovin

PS I have had it longer than 12 months, and VAT is not an issue.

Hi, I have decided to ship my 996 from DC to Spain. Can anyone recommend a shipper and provide any tips on shipping? Thanks, winovin

No but I am flying to Barcelona in the morning One of the main main transport companies ( they have a huge sign you can see when you fly in ) is http://www.fransmaas.com/default.aspx Dutch company, big and reliable.

Plenty of things have been taken care of in the comments above. Though, don't forget: a.) It will become a grey market car b.) A U.S brand is no big deal, but a german brand, most people see no point in buying one who was sold in U.S when they can get one easily in europe.

curious... sounds like one stands to make quite a bit of $$$ by selling a 996 in Europe.... how much would a used 99 996 sell for on the european market...? I know the price of porsches over there are ridiculous... so can you sell it for double the selling price here?

hey guys, i am pretty deep in that. i am from europe, still hold my 996 c2 there. good thing is, it's in a very good shape, anti-roll kit, 18inch, new tires, new brakes, new engine (THAT special problem) a.s.o. lets call it a garage queen, don't ask. the reason for still keeping it, is the bad value for 996. i mean, compare to 993 which are MORE expensive and 964 it is a real bad value... so back to topic, exporting a car to germany/europe does only make since for 993/964 reasons: 1. bad value 996 2. "grey market" car, without guarantee 3. more than enougth 996 for sale... 4. high value 993/964 just my 2 cents, christoph