French camarades -- importing boxster to France

[karlusmagnus]

Cheres camarades, and or anyone with info who can point me in the right direction .... I have a colleague at work who is considering getting a 2005 or so Boxster, and subsequently importing to France next year or the year after, when he finishes here and returns to France. Where can I help him find out what is involved in the import process etc?

Thanks.

J'ai un colleague, qui vit et travaille ici, et il veut acheter une boxster 2005, l'utiliser jusqu'a son expatriation se termine, et dans un an ou deux, le ramener avec lui.
Ou est-ce-qu je peux trouver l'info en ce qui concerne procedure/ couts (et homologation pour les autorites, si necessaire, mais probablement pas necessaire).

Merci.

[silver911]

One aspect that may/ may not influence his choice is exactly when he is planning on returning...

The reason being is that in the EU there are different rules applicable to property owned for different amonuts fo time.

So a car owned for 12 months or more is deemed to be something that people own (rather then import and sell on) and may attract a lower taxation rate....similarly if he is prepared to keep the car for an additionla year once in the EU taxes may even be waived...(certainly that's how it worked for me..)

The other issue is the basic spec of the vehicle itself...modern P-cars for the Us market have specific bumpers, ride heights, spring rates etc.. which may serve to increase insurance premiums...as the French spares network would not have them in stock and if he wants to sell it might appreciably lower the value... certainly when looking at US imports of moderns the US imports are less expensive than other LHD cars because of this (I've only really looked at 993s..).

Whilst not directly relevant as its a UK base, but here importing a US car attracts both VAT and import tax.. which add as much as 20-25% to the US sticker price....plus shipping and insurance. All good for a long hood, but not necessarily a good idea for a Boxster...

Hope that helps...

[karlusmagnus]

Silver911, thanks. Yes it does help. And I believe that he would buy it to use in the US for a year or more, and also keep over there once he returned. If it goes well with the boxster, i will try and convince him to join the longhood crew
Anyone else, feel free to jump in.