From: Dan [dbrindle@kondratyev.com] Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 3:15 AM To: 928 Subject: [928] Sad Story - Help! A question came up a few months back about importing a 928 from Europe to the U.S. Well I recently put a deposit on a damaged GTS in Europe and started the import process. Here is what I have learned so far. 1. From 1987 on the 928 was designated a Worldwide car. 2. The designation of worldwide car falls into a number of classes for compliance depending on the year model. From 1989 the class improves. 3. Just because the 928 falls into a compliance category does not mean that it meets all of the U.S. specs. Compliance just means that there is a filed plan on what has to be done to the car. Cars older than 25 years are exempt and do not have to meet compliance - of course this does not include the 928.. 4. Porsche North America can issue a Certificate of Compliance based on the VIN number and year. You have to provide proof of ownership as the Certificate can only be issued to the owner. If there is a "ZZZ" in the VIN number then the car is a rest of the world car and considered gray market. 5. There is 2.5% import tax on the car as well as what appears to be a number of other fees of indeterminate amounts like a dock charge in Europe, fees to the EPA, DOT and shipper. These appear to add up to about $1500. Maybe a little less but no one can really say. If the car has to got to a DOT compliance shop the conversion can run $6500. 6. Since the car I am interested in is damaged it immediately does not meet DOT compliance. I was told that the Certificate of Compliance eliminates the car going to DOT and EPA. At the same time I have been told that it will still have to be cleared thru them and since it is damaged will not pass. 7. I can import the car as parts but there must be significant chassis parts missing to insure that the car cannot be put back together. All of the parts must be listed individually with a declared value for each item. Items not listed can be seized or a fine levied. An interior is not a listing. Each separate part of the interior must be listed - like the hand brake handle and the cable separately. I imagine if they are listed in German then that will be a problem but I am not sure.. 8. The motor if imported must meet EPA standards Non-compliant engines can only be imported for off road use and must be declared as such. How this is enforced and what paper work that has to be filled out to comply is still a mystery. 9. As Phil found out the dismantling must be done before the car hits U.S. Customs or it is considered a car and thus must meet compliance. 10. There a group of certified DOT conversion people in operation. Some of these people must be related to Congress people as they appear to have marginal knowledge and ethics. Stay away from these people at all costs. 11. I located a shipper in San Francisco that appears to be very reputable. They were nice enough and told me that we would avoid the EPA and DOT retrofit if I had a Certificate of Compliance from Porsche. Of course since in three weeks I have not been able to get this Certificate of Compliance I am still not convinced that this is true. 12. The people at Porsche North America are very nice but they are not well coordinated and have varying levels of competency and training. In talking to three different people I got three different versions of the story. No one can tell me how much has to be done to a GTS to meet US standards. The compliance people cannot be reached by phone - only by FAX. 13. Operating in a foreign language and having people speak and explain things in English causes a lot of things to get lost. The people that I am dealing with are nice enough, but things are done differently in other countries. There also appears to be a great mistrust of Americans in terms of expecting the words to match the actions. There tends to be a word trust in the U.S. that does not seem to extend overseas. 14. Prices are not much different in Europe than they are here. By the time one factors in the shipping and taxes unless there is something very special about the car to justify the hassle it is not worth it. 15. There is a VAT (Value Added Tax) in the ECU (European Common Market) of in this case 17.5%. If you are a member of the ECU the tax between countries can be waived and then collected in your home country when the car is registered. If you are a U.S. importer you have to pay this tax when purchasing the car and then apply for the tax back when the car arrives in the U.S. The U.S. customs agent I talked with said that they have seen many problems in Americans ever getting the VAT back and suggested that I lie about the purchase price. (Get this over the phone a government employee encourages me to commit fraud) Of course it appears that Customs people have a fair size sadistic streak and would probably love to seize a Porsche that had fraudulent documents. 16. The dealer would cut me a deal on the VAT for tax. It is good to know that Tax Cheating is a universal sport and is still alive and well. The world runs on corruption just there are different rules in different places. In the U.S. you have to contribute to a political party to get things done. 17. In talking with the Embassy in Washington and the European Country both assured me that the VAT would be refunded to me when the car arrived in the U.S. but could not tell me the procedure. First I heard that the country of origin was to refund the VAT. Then I was told that the VAT would be refunded from the dealer from which I was buying the car. Then I was told that the VAT was not to be charged at all it a bonded shipper was picking up the car. It appears that the final answer is correct, yet to convince the dealer is yet another story. 17.5% added to the sale is a fair sized increase in the price of the car and in the end it looked like the dealer was out to make a couple of bucks or just is poorly informed. So that is where matters stand. I am sure that I am still missing some details. The overall is that not only is the process complex with many rules and exceptions and no one really knows all of the pieces. I still have a couple of days to work this one out so if there is anyone on the list that can point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated. I am sure once I am through the process, it will go a bit smoother the next time. But at this point I am caught between a rock and a hard place and the best solution is the just bring in the parts sans the motor. Any one in Europe interested in a GTS motor? Comments are very welcome and most appreciated either privately or on the list. I was in hopes of using the parts from the car to upgrade my convertible. Since I am really rebuilding it from the bottom up why not a complete new interior and running gear and maybe even an upgraded look with air bags.. Oh well. Dan B.