Exporting a car from the UK to the USA

[Haggi]

we used to ship our cars to Australia when we lived out there but since its RHD too its much easier and the reg laws required to import are nowhere near the us ones,

get out get a cooper S and tune the balls of it importing your is not worth it, i know its easy to get attached but if i had to move over seas id sell my mini, its silly money for no real reason

[thetope]

most people in the US lease their cars and I don't think it's too expensive - you might be able to keep your car in storage over here and lease one over there for a couple of years? or is it definitly a permanent move?

[NeuroBeaker]

I agree that if the import and necessary modifications/paperwork end up being exorbitant, then I'll have to sell Zeus here and buy again in the United States (the head will rule, as they say)... however, a couple of links and posts here have restored my hope that taking him with me might be an affordable option after all! So I'm looking into it and hoping there's a solution that will please the heart without making the head scream at it in frustration.

At least I'm exploring every option.

Quote: Originally Posted by thetope (original)

most people in the US lease their cars and I don't think it's too expensive - you might be able to keep your car in storage over here and lease one over there for a couple of years? or is it definitly a permanent move?

Nah, I don't want to get into leasing under any circumstances. Also, I'm trying to get a career with a company/institution, rather than just thinking of it as a temporary job - so wherever I end up for that, it'll be 'permanent' for the foreseeable future. It Zeus can't come with me, I'll have to let him go.

[Haggi]

i do happen to think mini sport have usa spec areo kits with the side markers in already and i think they have some left in IB

[Carlos.]

Surely shipping your car will cost a fortune, with all that additional scaffolding in it?

IMO, 'tis just a bit of tin - sell it, and go get a US spec cooper. Don't put any trust in the getrag box, though.....I managed to break 2 of them

[AprilWhine]

Where in the US?

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by AprilWhine (original)

Where in the US?

Well... either Huntsville, Alabama or the North East (Connecticut?)... it sorta depends on how job prospects go.

[Lorri]

Awwww Andrew, I know it'll be hard but I wouldn't go to all the hassle & expense of shipping Zeus over You'll get to love your new car just as much

[AprilWhine]

Quote: Originally Posted by NeuroBeaker (original)

Well... either Huntsville, Alabama or the North East (Connecticut?)... it sorta depends on how job prospects go.

Good Luck Andrew, let me know where you land. Fuzzy and I passed near Huntsville last week, it's not as redneck as most parts of Alabama.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by AprilWhine (original)

Good Luck Andrew, let me know where you land. Fuzzy and I passed near Huntsville last week, it's not as redneck as most parts of Alabama.

Should be sometime round about April, me thinks.

Erm... thanks I think. Actually, I was born there.

Apart from looking either shipping Zeus or buying another MINI, I need to resist the pressure's of my parents' neighbour (Dealer Principle for Mercedes-Benz) as he tries to get me to buy another German offering.

How many different ways are there to say: "No thank you, I don't want a Mercedes"?

[AprilWhine]

My parents are from Florence AL, and I was raised there. So it's my own relatives in the rest of AL.

Your closest MINI dealer would be the one in Atlanta. Not as far as some. I saw MINIs in Rapid City SD, and their closest dealer was in Denver!

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by AprilWhine (original)

My parents are from Florence AL, and I was raised there. So it's my own relatives in the rest of AL.

Your closest MINI dealer would be the one in Atlanta. Not as far as some. I saw MINIs in Rapid City SD, and their closest dealer was in Denver!

Yea, I went to the local BMW dealer in Huntsville last month when I was over there and they said to try either Nashville or Atlanta for MINI sales. For some reason, their application to BMW to also sell the MINI was denied - on the grounds that "the people of Huntsville are affluent enough to afford the BMW badge and that the MINI badge on offer along side it would detract from those sales". I was a bit surprised for a few reasons:

1. I would have thought this effect would be very small
2. Surely the slight decrease in BMW sales would be worth it for the sales MINI would take from other cars
3. It sounds like someone at BMW is crazy
4. The dealer seemed more candid about the whole thing than I thought they'd be

The only thing that worries me is that if I have to drive to Nashville or Atlanta from Huntsville for MINI sales... will I have to go so far again for servicing / repairs / accessories? And even if I didn't... you always get better service from the garage you buy you car in.

Though, if I need to buy again, I'll probably be looking for a facelift 1st Generation (and will likely tune it a little) - so perhaps that's not as critical.

[dakini]

NB,

yes, you'll have to drive that far for servicing and repairs ... and unfortunately, MINI USA has got very stingy on loaners in the last year. My dealer says the average sales distance is about 90 miles ... meaning that's the average distance of people to the dealer. And they now have to use Enterprise cars, per MINI USA rules, so you pay $15/day to rent a car if yours needs to go in for servicing or repairs. I drive not quite that distance to get to the dealer, but it's pretty much a "plan my day around service" sort of situation.

I asked last time I was at the dealer if, now that smaller cars are "in" if there would be more MINI dealers. The answer was "we've been told no" ...

But, it's not as bad as when I was looking at moving to Montana ... closest MINI dealer was something like 700 miles away. And oddly enough, I saw several MINIs.

[AprilWhine]

Too bad you weren't in the market last month. A friend in VA just sold his well tuned and cherished 06 MCS for a price not much better than theft.

Also, it's been my experience in the US that the sales and service depts are almost independant. The service dept doesn't seem to care where you bought the car. But some dealerships will only supply a loaner if you bought from them.