Buying car from USA

[Toddtheisen]

I had the idea to buy a Volvo XC90 from the US where you can get them for about €13,000 and import it here. I figure I would have to pay about 30% of the value in Finland which is around 40,000€ = 12,000€ import. Then the shipping would be around 1000€ and any changes 1000€ and for 27000€ i have a car worth about 40000€ +. Does anyone know if I am missing something here? Are there other costs, or am I underestimating these costs? Sounds too good to be true, which usually means it is. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Pursuivant]

car needs to have the CoC paper or you can't register it in the EU...

[Toddtheisen]

Can you get an EU CoC paper on a US spec car after changing any differences?

[sinikettu]

car needs to have the CoC paper or you can't register it in the EU...

What is a COC?
A COC is a Certificate of Conformity. If you buy a vehicle from a dealer, you must get them to provide you with this certificate or you will be unable to register it in the EU.

[Toddtheisen]

I understood that there is a different CoC in Europe from US. If not, all the better. Do you think my calculations add up, i.e. does it make sense to buy this car in the US and import it here?

[Pursuivant]

why do you think everybody else is not doing it?

BTW there is a difference between the treatment of "import" and "removals" vehichles... www.tulli.fi ought to have something in writing.

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You'd be better off buying one from germany or somewhere in Europe, because you might be looking at $$$$$ to get the europe CoC on a US model, as the regulations for headlights, taillights, seatbelts, airbags etc are all different...

[sinikala]

I understood that there is a different CoC in Europe from US. If not, all the better. Do you think my calculations add up, i.e. does it make sense to buy this car in the US and import it here?

Provided you can get the EU CoC, then with respect to the tax perhaps your estimate is at the low end of the scale.... it seems you will pay between €11k and €17k depending on the age and model... as the value of an XC90 in Finland can be as high as €50k... for examples of recent imports see...

http://www.tulli.fi/fi/03_Yksityishenki ... /index.jsp

specifically the last page of this link there are tax decisions for about 10 XC90s imported into Finland in June 08.

http://www.tulli.fi/fi/03_Yksityishenki ... _fi_se.pdf

if the COC checks out and shipping is not so expensive, then I suppose it makes sense.

[inkku]

I might be mistaken, but to my understanding you need to pay:
- tax (for a car)
- custom duties (for importing outside of EU)
- VAT

Are all these included to your calculation?

[Karhunkoski]

Does anyone know if I am missing something here?

Yes, you're a clown (sh one te, I am starting to sound like Hank too )

Do a search and stop thinking you're a smart Yank, over in Finland to show the locals how it's done

This was last week-ish.

I think Hank's hit the nail on the nail on the head there, in his usual roundabout way.

The thing that always makes me smile on FF threads about buying cars though, is when a newcomer suggest they are going to import one to save some money, it's like perhaps the juntti locals hadn't thought about that option, heh heh, I'm smart, I'll sneak one in under the radar

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32432&view=unread#unread

[raamv]

I might be mistaken, but to my understanding you need to pay:
- tax (for a car)
- custom duties (for importing outside of EU)
- VAT

Are all these included to your calculation?

Yes albeit with a slight different perspective..
and provided the 6 month rule and resident of Finland rule has been fulfilled ( removals : Owned for more than 6 months outside Finland, and if you are already here...Then its import: and not removals as its not possible unless you go expat again)
Tax on the Value of what the customs think the car is worth.. like € determined by Tulli and not a flat 10-30%...

CoC : which means spending € here to change parts of the car not conforming to EU CoC. ( as mentioned before like taillights, headlights etc )

[sinikala]

Does anyone know if I am missing something here?

Yes, you're a clown (sh one te, I am starting to sound like Hank too )
Do a search and stop thinking you're a smart Yank, over in Finland to show the locals how it's done

I disagree.

A large number of Finns import cars from the continent to save money we all know that, I followed their example and imported a German car simply because the choice of cars, and value for money (€s vs. hammer the car had taken) meant I could get a better car for my €s by importing from Germany, than buying over here.

With the weak $ / strong €, your bangs for your € are surely going to be way better on the other side of the Atlantic, better even than Germany - that more Finns don't go to America to buy their Volvos, might have something to do with the impracticality of getting there and back, cost of flights, higher cost of shipping and sorting the CoC is surely a hell of a lot easier inside the EU.

As the overheads (flights/shipping) are going to be high, it would only make sense if you are intending to buy a pretty expensive car, e.g. an XC90. If the person doing the importing is a Yank, who might be visiting the US anyway, and knows the ropes ... e.g. which US car dealers / US shipping companies, then if they want a Volvo XC90 it would seem sensible to take advantage of that to buy the car over there.

[sinikala]

I might be mistaken, but to my understanding you need to pay:
- tax (for a car)
- custom duties (for importing outside of EU)
- VAT

Are all these included to your calculation?

Unless I'm mistaken, the tax / customs duty are one and the same thing. Finland still imposes a customs duty on cars imported inside the EU. Then they charge VAT on that. As I understand it, for taxation purposes, there is no difference on whether it is imported from inside or outside of the EU.

IIRC the EU has told Finland and a couple of other EU countries (Poland?) that this is naughty, and the tax has dropped considerably over the last 3-4 years.

[inkku]

"Tuotaessa käytetty auto maahan, siitä on maksettava autoveroa ja autoverolle laskettavaa arvonlisäveroa. EU:n ulkopuolelta tuotavista autoista kannetaan lisäksi tulli ja maahantuonnin arvonlisävero."

Customs is 10%.

There is actually a lot information on internet in Finnish about importing cars from the USA, eg
http://www.overdrive.fi/forum/viewtopic.php?t=131162

[Rosamunda]

Then they charge VAT on that. As I understand it, for taxation purposes, there is no difference on whether it is imported from inside or outside of the EU.

But I thought that if you buy a car inside the EU then it already has VAT on it. You can't buy a tax free car inside the EU any more. No? I guess the VAT rate might be different, I don't remember what % VAT is applied to cars in France.