How to Import an Alfa Romeo
So, you're overseas and you've found the Italian car of your dreams. To get it back to the United States, there is a fair deal of hoop-jumping that you will have to go through. Knowing what steps you will have to take beforehand will make the transaction smoother. Here is how to import an Alfa Romeo.
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Instructions
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Make sure that the Alfa Romeo meets current U.S. emission, bumper, and safety standards. Vehicles imported into the U.S. that do not meet these standards have to be immediately brought into compliance, exported or destroyed.
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Make sure that the vehicle manufacturer affixes a sticker on the vehicle's windshield that claims that U.S. safety and emissions standards have been met. This sticker must be in English. Without the sticker, a letter must be obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency claiming that emissions standards have been met.
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Have the undercarriage of your Alfa Romeo cleaned thoroughly before it is shipped to remove foreign soil, as is mandated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Find a company to ship your vehicle back to the U.S. You must know the exact date of arrival in order to make arrangements with customs to clear it. You can also pay to have a customs broker handle your car's entry into the country.
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Gather all necessary documentation for customs. This includes the original bill of sale for the car, the shipping company's bill of lading and the vehicle's foreign registration.
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Apply your $400 dollar customs exemption toward the duty of your Alfa Romeo. This can be done as long as you are a U.S. citizen, the car was bought during your current overseas visit and the vehicle is for personal use.
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Pay the remaining duty on your vehicle. It will generally be 2.5% of the purchase price of the car (minus the $400 exemption).
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File a DOT HS-7 form with the U.S. Department of Transportation when the vehicle arrives. This form confirms that the vehicle meets all current safety and bumper standards.
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Contact your local DMV to find out the policies and procedures of registering a foreign car and obtaining temporary tags.
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Be sure that your vehicle is free of any personal items before shipping. Any items remaining in it must be cleared by customs.
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Comments
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mrunexpected
Sep 18, 2009
This is pure BS. To put it simply, you CAN'T import a car. Emissions certification for an engine family that isn't certified for US sale (no current Alfa engine is) costs millions of dollars and takes over a year. If you want to sell thousands of cars here, you do it, one person cannot. Alfa will never give you a sticker claiming it meets standards. They can't since they never certified it. EPA wont give it to you, since you never gave them the millions of dollars it took to test and "certify" the engine. And thats just PART of the EPA emissions obstacles. There are many others just as impossible for a private person to jump through. The ONLY cars that can be imported are ones that are already sold here, and only those with engines/eqiupment similar to ones sold here. A '98 BMW 5-series from holland can be imported, so long as you can get the paperwork from BMW saying it's simila...
