vanagon.com - Importing a Vehicle into the United States

Importing a Vehicle into the United States

It is not easy for US citizens wanting to bring a car or van into the US. Depending on the specific situation, can range from a mild hassle, to hard, to very difficult, to impossible. You will have to deal with Environmental Protection Agency emission issues and Department of Transportation requirements for safety equipment and standards. Of course, you will have to pay duty on the vehicle as well, 2.5% for a car, 25% (!) for a truck, and no, I do not know how they classify that Vanagon you are lusting for.
Start out with the U.S. Customs Importing a Car page. A good description of the basic process, step by step, pitfall by pitfall.
Then check out the DOT's National Traffic Safety Administration's Vehicle Importation Regulations. Good information about what it takes to bring in a car from Canada and elsewhere (many cars imported to Canada, including some Vanagons, were built to US specs, or close to it). There is also a list of registered importers, the folks you might have to hire to bring that dream machine into conformance. You will also find a current vehicle eligibility list, which shows the make and models of vehicles built for non-US markets which have already been determined as suitable to conversion to US standards by registered importers. This seems to be based on whether or not a manufacturer certified a similar model for the US market, and thus it would be relatively easy to convert an imported unit to US specs. The list does not include Vanagons, of course. This does not exclude them, it simply means someone else has not already done the work and expense of getting them onto the list. Note, if you bring in a car that does not meet the standards and needs 'conversion', you have to post a bond of 150% of the vehicles value with customs until the work is done. Whew!
Emissions. If you are thinking about bringing in a vehicle with an engine that was not certified in the US market (like that Turbo Diesel), you will need to meet the emission standard that was in effect in the year the vehicle was built. You can start to research this problem at the EPA Office of Mobile Sources Vehicle Emission Certification page.
Thats enough for now. I would appreciate comments (5/13/97).
3/6/2001 Note: BenT from the Syncro Mailing List has created a great resource page for people interested in importing vehicles into the USA from abroad. It lists all the government agencies, as well as listings of safety standards, regulations, etc. Click here to be taken to the page.
Copyright 1997, Thomas F. Forhan