Cars from the USA - the cost of importation and pitfalls. Guide
Buying cars abroad is still profitable, although the boom in them has already ended. Importing a car from America - instead of buying a similar one in Poland - you can get tens of thousands of zlotys. Assuming the car is top notch.
Cars on the American market - both new and used - are cheaper than in Europe and Poland. In addition, their price is affected by the current exchange rate of the US dollar. The cheaper the dollar, the more we will benefit from the purchase. Typically, the difference in price between a car from Poland and the USA will be a few percent, of course, taking into account the considerable import costs (they are summarized below).
“There is no such demand as it was a few years ago,” admits Jarosław Snarski, head of the NordStar company from Bialystok, which transports and clears cars from the United States. - You can save a lot on expensive cars worth from 100 thousand. zloty. Cheaper, 30 or 50 thousand. PLN, it makes no sense to give, because if you add up all the costs, it turns out that it is not very profitable.
It is worth choosing a model available on the European market, preferably currently produced. There is nothing to focus on the originality of a typical American car. The problem then can be not only with spare parts, but also with the resale of the car.
“U.S. models such as the Mercedes ML, BMW X6, Infiniti FX, Audi Q7 and Q5, Lexus RX are very popular among our customers,” says Bogdan Gurnik from Auto Tim's Warsaw luxury car commission. – Porsche Cayenne and Panamera are also often brought from America, as well as Mazda, Honda and Toyota.
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Purchase options
If you want to buy a car in the USA, you can go there yourself. Only that, firstly, it will be expensive, and secondly, you need to get a visa. You will have to look for a car on the spot and it is not known whether you will be able to find a noteworthy copy. The advantage of such a solution is that we can carefully examine and verify it ourselves. In the same way, if we have a reliable friend on the spot, we will not have to pay as an intermediary.
Using the services of a Polish company that imports cars from the United States is not a bad decision. Convenience speaks for itself, of course. The commission will be several hundred dollars, but the car will be delivered to us at the address indicated in Poland, and only the registration formalities in our country and the corresponding modification of some technical elements (mainly headlights - details below) will be completed.
According to Jaroslav Snarski, the best place to look for a car is online auctions like Copart or IAAI. These are auctions where cars are put up by insurance companies, dealers and other companies. You must be a registered user to buy from these auctions. In this case, you should use the services of a company that will hold an auction for us, or provide a code so that we can participate in the auction. We will pay $100-200 for it.
Yaroslav Snarski advises buying cars issued by insurance companies. Usually these are damaged cars, but those that no one prepared for sale and did not try to hide their defects. You can be sure that what is shown in the photos and in the description of the car is true.
Damaged cars are often brought from the USA to Poland, because then the difference in price is the biggest. The Americans really want to get rid of such cars, because their repair is completely unprofitable for American conditions and we can buy them at a very favorable price.
Note: be careful if you want to be tempted to participate in public auctions. They are often targeted by scammers.
ship transport
After buying a car, it should be transported to the port and, using the services of a shipping company, loaded into a container and loaded onto a ship. It is difficult to determine the cost of domestic transportation, i.e. from the place of purchase to the port in the USA. It all depends on the distance to the port and the size of the car. Prices can range from $150 to $1200.
When choosing a carrier that will deliver a container to Europe, it is better to rely on American companies than on Polish ones. According to Snarsky, they are more durable. We will pay from 500 to 1000 dollars for sea transportation. The duration of the cruise, for example to the German port of Bremerhaven, is about 10-14 days.
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The vehicle title deed must be delivered to a US port. If we send the car from there ourselves, then after customs clearance by American services, we must get it back, it can also be sent along with the car.
You must be careful that this document does not indicate that the car is beyond repair or was scrapped (entries: "Destruction Act", "Damage equal to value", "Parts only", "Non-repairable", "Non-repairable " and etc.). We will not register such a car in Poland because it will be classified as junk. The same will happen if the damage to the car exceeds 70 percent. If the customs authority detects illegal international transport of waste, it refers the case to the Chief Inspector for Environmental Protection. And there is a fine of 50 XNUMX for taking out the garbage. zloty.
The US shipper must collect the vehicle loading document, known as the "bill of lading" or "dock receipt". This is proof that the vehicle has been shipped. It must contain: what is in the container and the contact details of the person receiving the cargo at the port of destination, the container number.
To Poland, Germany or the Netherlands
The most popular destination ports are Bremerhaven in Germany, Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Gdynia in Poland. “I recommend sending cars from the USA to Bremerhaven and customs clearance there,” advises the head of NordStar. - From there it is relatively close to the country, the procedures are faster and easier than with us, and even cheaper. In Germany, we will pay less, also because VAT is lower than in Poland - 19, not 23 percent.
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There is no need to pick up the car personally, as this is associated with additional, unnecessary costs. It is better to use the services of a company that will take care of all customs and transport formalities for us.
The cost of unloading the car from the container, together with the passage of customs formalities, ranges from 380 to 450 euros. The cost of transporting a car to Poland is about PLN 1200-1500. If our car is a large limousine, SUV or boat, we will definitely pay more, the price is usually set individually.
We cannot come to the country in an imported car, because without a technical inspection it is not allowed to drive in Europe. We strongly do not recommend transporting the car yourself, for example, on a tow truck. The German inspection services (police and BAG) are very strict about the use of a tachograph for sets of cars plus a tow truck with a permitted gross weight of more than 3,5 tons and no license when the transported car does not belong to the driver. In this case, fines can reach up to 8000 euros.
In addition, in order to drive in Poland, we have to pay viaTOLL tolls on national roads. Failure to comply with this requirement entails a fine of PLN 3000. The time of customs clearance is approximately 1-2 days after the provision of all documents.
In Germany, the amount of customs duties is calculated from the value of the car on the purchase invoice plus the cost of sea transport. The duty is 10 percent and VAT is 19 percent. GST is added to the invoiced value of the vehicle, plus shipping and customs fees. After payment, the car is already a Community good. Then, after delivery to Poland, we have to go to customs within two weeks.
There we will place, among others, a simplified declaration of intra-union acquisition of AKS-U, pay excise tax, then carry out a technical inspection. In the tax office we get a VAT-25 certificate (exemption from VAT), pay an environmental fee, after which we can register the car. See what are the procedures for importing a car from the European Union.
to customs
If the car is delivered to the port of Gdynia, at the local customs
final customs clearance is possible. After completion of the relevant formalities and payment of customs and tax payments, the car will be allowed to auction.
You can also clear customs in transit at any customs office in the European Union. If someone, for example, is from Bialystok, he can do it in his city. However, he must provide security for the payment of customs and tax payments.
“The deposit must be paid in the amount of the expected fees for customs duty, excise duty and VAT,” explains Maciej Czarnecki, a representative of the Customs Chamber in Bialystok. - The deposit can be issued at any customs office. In the case of transit clearance, all formalities related to the release of goods for free circulation are carried out at the customs office of destination.
After payment, we receive a document upon presentation of which we pick up the car in Gdynia.
Fees to be paid:
* customs duty -
10 percent customs value of the car (customs value: the purchase price plus the cost of transportation and insurance to the border of Poland or the European Union - depending on the port where the car arrives);
* excise duty: for cars with an engine capacity of up to 2000 cc inclusive - 3,1 percent of the customs value, increased by the duty payable and possible transportation costs within the country, for cars with an engine capacity of more than 2000 cc - 18,6 percent. the customs value, plus any applicable duties, plus any shipping charges;
* VAT: 23 percent customs value plus due duties and excise duties and possible domestic transport costs.
For the diagnostic station, but first rework
The next step is the technical inspection of the car.
– It costs 98 zł. In addition, you need to add PLN 60 to determine the vehicle data, explains Marek Laszczyk, head of the Konrys inspection station in Bialystok.
– If the documents indicate that the car is after an accident, then an additional PLN 94 must be paid for a special examination of the damaged cars. If, after importing the car from the USA, we install a gas installation in it, we will pay an additional PLN 63.
Cars bought in the USA often do not meet the requirements for driving on European roads. Therefore, without appropriate modifications, they will not pass the inspection. In cars from the USA, the headlights are symmetrical - they shine horizontally. In Poland, the right headlight must illuminate the roadside. The rear direction indicators in American cars are red, and the front ones are white, in our case they should glow yellow.
– The direction indicators in the headlights on US vehicles are also position lights. With us, they should be separate,” adds the diagnostician. You also need to install a rear fog lamp, which is not available on American cars.
The cost of all modifications is difficult to determine, because they depend on the scope of their application and car model. You can pay both 500 zlotys and several thousand zlotys.
“But it may turn out that the purchased car was imported into the US from Canada and thus complies with Polish regulations,” notes Piotr Nalevayko from Konrys.
Translation and processing fee
Before contacting the communications department – county starost or city office – you must translate all documents in a foreign language with the help of a sworn translator. We will spend about PLN 150 on a set of translations.
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We pay PLN 500 for disposal to the account of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The account number can be found, for example, on the website: www.nfosigw.gov.pl. In the name of the transfer, indicate the "utilization fee", the model and make of the car, VIN number.
“This ensures the cost of dismantling the car in the future,” explains Witold Maziarz, a representative of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management.
Register
To register a car imported from the United States, the owner of the vehicle submits an application to the registration authority (city government with the rights of a poviat or a poviat headman), which is joined by:
– proof of ownership of the vehicle (e.g. purchase invoice),
- a registration certificate or other document confirming the registration of a vehicle issued by an authorized vehicle registration authority in the United States,
- dishes,
– an act on the positive result of the technical inspection of the vehicle,
– confirmation of customs clearance of imports,
– translations into Polish by a sworn translator of documents written in a foreign language,
– Vehicle registration fees – PLN 256.
– In the case of importing a car from abroad without license plates or the need to return these numbers to the registration authority of the country from which the car was imported, the owner of the car encloses a corresponding application instead of license plates – recalls Agnieszka Kruszewska, inspector of the vehicle registration department of the Department of Resident Services Bialystok Municipal Administration.
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At the registration office, we immediately receive license plates and a temporary registration document (the so-called soft registration document). After 30 days, and in practice even after two weeks, we collect the so-called hard registration certificate. Before the trip, do not forget to insure your liability to third parties.
Opinion - Wojciech Drzewiecki, Samara Institute for Automotive Market Research:
– Before deciding to buy a car in the US, you need to calculate all the costs. Prices are lower there, but let's not forget about transport or modifications so that the car passes inspection in Poland. You should pay attention to the quality of the car and check its technical condition in the USA. It is good to have a trusted person or company that will confirm that the source you want to purchase the car from is identified. However, there is always a risk that something will be overlooked.
Petr Valchak
Summary of expenses:
The total commission of a Polish broker: usually around 500 zlotys (several hundred dollars) - then the car will be delivered to the specified address in Poland.
Payment for the company only for holding the auction: about 340 PLN ($100-200)
Internal vehicle transport, i.e. from the place of purchase to the US port: PLN 2300 (approx. USD 669)
Transport to the port of Bremerhaven:
Sea transport: PLN 2600 (approx. USD 756)
Unloading the car from the container and clearing customs formalities through an intermediary in Bremerhaven: PLN 1800 (EUR 419 - at a sale price of EUR 1 for PLN 4,30 in Polish exchange offices)
Toll payment in Germany (for a car worth 30 103200 USD, i.e. 3,44 10580 PLN, subject to the sale of the dollar at PLN 2460 at Polish exchange offices): PLN XNUMX (EUR XNUMX)
VAT payment in Germany: PLN 22112 (EUR 5142)
Transportation of cars from Germany to Poland: PLN 1300.
Payment of excise duty in Poland (taking into account that the car has a 2,5 liter engine): PLN 19195.
VAT-25 VAT exemption certificate: stamp duty is PLN 160.
Transport to the port in Gdynia:
Sea transport: PLN 3000 (approx. USD 872)
Transportation of the car to the place of residence: PLN 600.
Payment of customs duty in Poland (for a car with a 2,5 liter engine, worth 30 103200 USD, i.e. 3,44 PLN 10620, subject to the sale of the dollar at PLN 21282 in Polish exchange offices): customs duty – 31211, excise – XNUMX XNUMX, VAT – PLN XNUMX XNUMX
Expenses after customs formalities:
Modifications to adapt the car to Polish regulations: PLN 1000.
Technical inspection: usually PLN 158
Translation of documents by a sworn translator: PLN 150
Disposal fee: PLN 500
Registration: PLN 256
Additional Information:
Car passage through Bremerhaven – PLN 62611.
Car passage through Gdynia – PLN 70821.
