How to import a car: shipping, taxes and other costs explained

There are many reasons to import a car. You could be moving to the UK and looking to bring your pride and joy along for the ride, or thinking about buying something exotic that isn’t available on our domestic market. Either way, you’ll need to know how to import and register a vehicle here.

Shipping a car might sound scary, but learning how to import one will quite literally open up a world of possibilities. It’s also a more straightforward process than you might imagine, so there’s no need to be put off, as long as you can stomach the high costs involved.

The first thing you need to know is the different categories imported cars fall into. One is a ‘parallel import’, which basically means you’re buying the same car abroad but at a lower list price. This used to be much more common than it is now, thanks to a leveling of price differences between European Union (EU) member countries. 

The other is a ‘grey import’: vehicles sold abroad that aren’t officially available in Britain. These don’t meet UK specifications, so they’re a little more complex to import – but can still be worthwhile. 

How much does it cost to get a car shipped? 

If you choose to import yourself rather than use an independent dealer, you’ll have to accept you might not see the car before it arrives in your possession. You’ll also have to spend a fair amount of money, especially for transport from more far-flung destinations.

Along with the sum you paid for your car, you’ll have to pay shipping fees, which vary wildly depending on where in the world you’re shipping from and the method of transportation. The cheapest is generally ‘roll-on, roll-off’, but it’ll need to be a running car for that, given that the vehicle is driven directly onto the cargo ship. 

There’s the option to have the car shipped in a container shared with other vehicles (sometimes referred to as a ‘consolidated container’), or, if you’re happy to pay a lot more - which wealthy collectors might want to do for especially valuable purchases - have a whole container to itself. 

It’s easy to get quotes online if you’re curious, but to give some idea, by the time you’ve added in additional charges including loading/unloading fees and marine insurance, shipping a car from California to the UK will cost around £2,500. 

It doesn’t end there, though. There’s the cost of getting the car from its point of origin to the port to factor in, and then from where it lands in the UK to your door. This will be a good few hundred pounds on either side, and potentially more if either leg of the journey is particularly lengthy and/or convoluted. And then you need to think about additional fees and taxes.

How much will I be taxed for importing a car to the UK, and what other costs are there?

The standard rates of tax are 10 per cent import duty and 20 per cent VAT on the value of the car you’re importing, but there are some exceptions. If it’s a car over 30 years old, the duty can drop to zero, and the VAT can drop from 20 per cent to a much more palatable five per cent. Depending on where the car is being imported from, if you provide a statement of origin, described by the UK Government as a ‘commercial document that has enough detail in it to identify the origin of the goods’, the import duty will also reduce to zero.

Of course, not everyone wants to import a car because they’ve seen a rare Ford Mustang in Michigan or similar that they really want. If you’re moving to the UK and are having a vehicle shipped over to meet you, it’s possible to qualify for Transfer of Residence (ToR) relief, which removes the import duty and VAT requirements entirely. 

On top of any import duty and VAT you owe, there’s a DVLA first registration fee to pay. At £55, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the other costs mentioned here. There’s the standard rate of car tax to consider, plus the cost of potential modifications to meet UK standards. Headlamps, tail-lights, number plate surrounds, and window tints are among the items commonly affected. You must also inform the DVLA that the car has arrived in the UK within 14 days.

All of this might sound like a lot to organise, but you might not have to lift a finger. There are numerous specialised companies which will take care of everything from the collection at the point of origin to the drop-off at your door, plus all the paperwork and modifications needed in between. Quoting systems will also give you a good idea of the full costs before you commit. 

Insuring an imported car can often be more costly than a similar-spec model that’s registered in the UK. Parallel imports, especially ones that are close to UK specification, tend not to cost much (if anything) more to insure, but a grey import, especially one made outside of the EU, might not conform to safety standards or emissions regulations, which would make it more expensive to get cover for. 

If you’re not buying a brand-new imported car, or are getting one not covered by any warranty, it’s a good idea to get acquainted with a specialist for your vehicle. Sourcing parts for a model not manufactured for the UK market could be difficult, so having a network of independent or main dealers able to help will give you peace of mind.

How long does it take to import a car? 

Shipping times for cars range from a matter of days for Northern European countries to several weeks from places like Japan and Australia. 

That’s only one part of the process, though. On top of that, there can be long waits before the vehicle is even loaded on a ship, potentially as much as a few weeks after the process starts. Factor in all the processing required once the car lands in the UK, and you’re in for a long wait. 

An import from Japan could take anything from three to six months, for example, and although it’s generally a bit quicker to import from the USA, at the very least it’s going to be a couple of months. 

Although road transport from a lot of European countries takes only a matter of days, you’ll still be waiting a few weeks overall once processing times on either side are taken into account.

Best countries to import a car from

Perhaps the most obvious choice of countries to import a car from for an enthusiast is Japan. Performance legends like the various versions of the Nissan Skyline GT-R are available in much greater numbers over there, and there’s a dizzying array of models that never officially came to the UK which you might fancy owning. 

Whether you want something quirky like a little kei car or a particular kind of Honda Type R model that was never sold here, you’re well covered by the Japanese Domestic Market or ‘JDM’. Making the prospect even more tempting, cars produced for local use are right-hand drive, so you won’t need to worry about the steering wheel being on the ‘wrong’ side.

Speaking of which, importing a car from the USA will involve a steering wheel on the ‘wrong’ side. But you might be willing to put up with a left-hand drive car given the vast pool of V8 muscle cars to choose from. Shipping costs to the UK from the US can be slightly lower than those from Japan, although you’ll need to bear in mind that as a large country, there will be a bigger variation - expect shipping from the West Coast to cost a lot more than the East. 

The idea of importing a car from South Africa is quite tempting. It’s another country that drives on the left, so most cars will be right-hand drive, and there are all sorts of special models you can’t get elsewhere in the world. South Africa has a particularly rich history of interesting, market-specific BMWs. Older cars will have stood the test of time much better in the UK, too, thanks to the country’s warmer, drier climate. 

Again, Australian cars are typically right-hand drive, and there’s a wealth of locally produced muscle cars from Ford and Holden to be tempted by. 

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