'83 Urq For Sale !!

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

>
>Date: Mon, 06 Dec 1999 10:22:32 +0100
>From: Aleksander Mierzwa <alexaudi@kki.net.pl>
>Subject: Re: '83 Urq For Sale !!
>
>At 16:45 99-12-03 +0000, Carl B. Dietersson wrote:
>
>>Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know anything about import taxes In
>>the US. But I think the shipping price would be around 3000 $.
>
>Are you sure? Last time I checked, shipping a car from USA to Europe costed
>only $600-$1000 depending on size of the car.
>
>- --
>Aleksander Mierzwa
>Warsaw, Poland
>87 5KT


OK team Audi, reality check here . . .

Shipping is the LEAST of the problems, and it is far from trivial. True, it
isn't very expensive to ship a car from Europe to the US, but that is from
one major port to another. The car would have to go from Iceland to
somewhere in Europe (whaddaya mean I can't fly direct?), then from that
somewhere in Europe to one of the major east coast USA ports, then from
that port to the ultimate buyer (who might be in Kansas, add another
$900!). I'd get FULL shipping costs nailed down VERY carefully - and
remember that there are ALWAYS extra costs in customs paperwork, etc.

Example: Shipped three cars from Daytona Beach to Anguilla . . . $100 to
deliver car to dock in S. Florida, $50 to clear customs, $900 from S.
Florida to St. Martin, then $500 more from St. Martin to Anguilla, all of
ten miles. Plus a 25% import duty on their idea of the value of the car
PLUS what it cost to get it there, payable in cash before you can get a
license plate on Anguilla - which is why everyone there drives junk - no
one can afford all that on a new car. And times three, because we did three
cars.

And the cars were delayed almost three weeks because of hurricane damage to
the port in St. Martin.

Now, once you have the shipping all sorted out, you will still have major
EPA/DOT problems in front of you. This car will have to be brought into
compliance to match that year's USA spec version of the same car. Remember
that no one at NTSB really has any idea what this car is supposed to have
in the way of compliance items, and if they are the LEAST bit unconvinced
about ALL the "t"s being crossed and the "i"s dotted, the car will
absolutely sit until they are happy. Think about bumpers, smog, padded
dash, fuel tank vents, tires (!), headlights, tail lights, all the glass,
this begins to not look like such a hot deal any more.

I imported a 1968 280SL and federalized it - fair to middling size PITA,
and the height and weight of the paperwork matched the height and weight of
the car before I could drive it. Never did get a correct title, and wound
up re-exporting the car a year or two later. Differences betwen US and Euro
spec 280SL were minor (and I had to use up my one-per-lifetime EPA waiver),
but by 1983, there would be BIG differences which will cost BIG bucks to
address, especially on a model which hasn't been federalized often in the
aftermarket - there are companies that do Ferarris and Porsches, and you
can bet they will charge a bundle for sharing their learning curve -
where's the company or person who KNOWS about federalizing a 1983 UR-Q?
Sounds like several weeks with the family album and some REAL deep pockets
for parts (many of which will by now be unobtanium) are in order.

Quite frankly, the value of this car isn't high enough to make the expense
worthwhile. (Oh, the horror, the horror!) This car needs to go someplace
where the various safety requirements are considerably more relaxed than in
the US of A.

Please understand that I'm not trying to rain on the seller's parade, but
he's going to spend a lot of time on the phone/fax/e-mail with people who
will promptly back out after they find out the true costs of this package.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but this will save a lot of people a
lot of time and money.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman