Hi everyone, could someone give me a quick overview of the documents and tariffs (taxes, customs duties, etc) associated with importing a late-model Mini to the US? For example, let's say one of the last classics off the assembly line featuring driver's airbag, front and rear seatbelts, etc - most of the modern safety equipment, either MY2000 or MY2001 ('X' reg cars) . Say the price is 10,000 USD. To avoid the 25-year or older rule, 'should' I title it as an older Mini or ? What if I say it is a genuine 2000 model Mini.....what are the penalties?? Thanks in advance.

 

Customs is very likely to seize the car and crush it into a little cube if they find that the vin number has been monkeyed with.

I do think that people get away with it all the time, but I'd buy one that was already imported with clean US title if I was trying to do this.

I have seen a 2000 Mini at a show with full airbags and such. Pretty neat, but I'm not able to risk a lot of money for it.

 

Personally I'd get a re-shelled - using heritage shell - Mini from the 70's. No issues with importation at all. re-vinning has been done a lot, but customs are on to it, it it not worth losing the investment.

My father is going to re-shell a '68 Cooper for me in a couple of years when he has finished his MG, then ship it over. 100% legal, 100% perfect too......

 

So what happens when you tell customs the car is a real late-model car and hasn't been messed with at all? Can you import it using the real VIN? What is the % you have to pay to get it in?

 

You can't get it in permanently. It could be brought in for promotional reasons with the proper paperwork, but would have to be shipped back out within a year. Got to see a friend's beautiful new MG that way, but it's already gone back home.

 

How would they know you have to ship it back? Would you just not be able to register it? I assume the Car Police won't show up at your door with a portable crusher....

 

Really if you want a Mini, legally, you only have a couple of options.

1) buy one that is already here - of course it is really hard to figure out what you have, bearing in mind the degree of re-vinning that happens, but at least you will have a Mini.

2) Buy a legal one and have it shipped.

There are, as I said, Heritage shells available - these are brand new shells specifically for the purpose of replacing damaged, rusty originals. My father has re-shelled a small number of MG's using these shells and the quality is arguably better than the original shell. In his retirement he has shipped one MG per year to the US that he has bought, re-shelled and painstakingly restored. The customs people get to see the purchase docs, the invoices for the new shell and all of the legal bits and pieces that are required. Sure this is expensive, the MG that he shipped in August cost its buyer about $70K, but it was essentially brand new and absolutely to the buyers specification.

I have been trying to persuade him to do this for Minis, but I am not sure of the market - would someone pay $40K or more for a perfectly restored, brand new shelled, Mini with perfect 1970's everything? He has promised to do at least one - in 2009/10 for me, maybe if there is a market I'll set something up with him......

 

FYI - I hear the modern heritage shells rust sooner than the original ones (something about different steel in modern shells). If you go this route, be liberal with the anti-rust primer below the paint and be vigilant with your anti-corrosion protocols, lest you find rust blooming in a few short years. There are TONS of threads about this issue on UK-based Mini forums, and it seems like a controllable issue if you just get on top of it early.

 

You will never get a title for a late model Mini. They have not passed Federal crash test standards and may not be emissions legal in some states. Since they were never sold here, you would have to give 5 or so of them to the government and let them crash them. The only way to legally have a Mini in the US is to have one over 25 years old.

Your best bet is to find a car in the US that already has a Title. Trying to slip a new car past customs would be a gamble.

 

...tho there are companies that do this for you, for a HUGE fee

there's a list of cars that can be legally imported into this country, but most of 'em are cars that have already been federally certified and the one you bring have to meet or modified to meet whatever standards it take. otherwise the car cannot be imported; it's technically illegal to even have it physically on a road. like someone else said, it can be seized and crushed. unless you're in the know, the easiest thing is to find one that's already here. i've seen a number of late-model rover mini's legally registered even here in california. if you do it, make sure you know exactly what you're doing and anticipate everything that can come up. just 'cuz it has airbags and a cat doesn't mean it'll clear customs and the dmv, etc.

 

I was poking through the dmv website earlier today, to see if it would be easier for me to ship the 96 cooper I just picked up for parts over to the states and do my swap there, but no go. Pretty much I would either have to cut the shell in half, ship the car and the eng/trans in two seperate shipments, or just send the parts I need/want.

Also I noticed on the site that to ship a last year model rover mini, it has to be one of the last 50 built.

 

Why?

 

Because that makes it historically significant. There was a guy on the Mini Mania board that did this with one of the "last 50" Minis.

 

Fugedaboudit!

Not only is Customs more aware, but so are states. They can check your VIN in minutes. I would strongly advise against risking your money in this manner.

$10K can buy you a really nice legal car in the US or the UK. Or, as suggested buy one already here & titled.

As far as the "last 50 cars" or historically significant, or any other loophole - it ain't gonna happen with a Mini...

Also 90's Minis rust pretty quick. You may not be getting a better car at all. Some relate that as production dropped, so did quality.

 

Hmmmmmmmm, I thought the rules had changed recently, where you could import 1 car in your life time. It doesn't have to meet some modern requirements, but it has to have DOT approved lites, windshield and so on.............check the US customs site and see what they say.......

 

Being honest and up front about it won't convince them to let you bypass what they enforce as the law.

 

This is the form that covers the basics of what can and can not be imported

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/hs799short.pdf

Form HS-7

 

I'm pretty sure you can get one of the "last 50" in. It probably is a pain in the ****, but do-able.

 

Looks like the last 50 would only work as a show and display. 2500 miles per year....

 

21 October 2007
Mini Cooper Sport



2000 'Y' Tahiti blue/silver, alloys, black/silver leather interior, aluminium dash MOT until Sept 08/ 6 mths road tax £5,500 ONO. Tel: (01925 ) 226476. (Cheshire) (P)

• Price: £5,500
• Telephone: (01925 ) 226476
• County: Cheshire
• Mileage: 35000 miles

Yum! Not sure it's one of the last 50, but it is a Y reg.

 

First you would have to find one of the last 50.:impatient Likely at a premium price since you're not the first to think of it and the last one was produced seven years ago. Then you'll have to find a way to prove it to Customs satisfaction. Then you won't be able to actually drive it on the street for pleasure. And finally pay to ship it back and dispose of it.... Doesn't seem worth the effort when you can find a similar car here...

 

I never said it would be practical...just that it is possible. Probably best to leave it to an eccentric collector with more money than they know what to do with.

 

I've only heard about the Heritage shells for the MGB (I didn't even know they made them for the Mini), but I thought one of the big advantages of the new shells was that because of the electrophoretic primer process, they were supposed to be *less* prone to rust, compared to the original shells.

 

Great responses, everyone! After doing lots of research over the weekend and emailing a connection I have from the former John Cooper Garages (I visited JCG-Sussex England in Sept 2004 and the MINI factory in Cowley/Oxford ), I was told that I could import one of the 'Final 50' classic Minis on the special show-and-display-2500-miles meal ticket . Of course, you are very limited in what you can do, drive, etc but still very .

For those of you who don't know, the 'Final 50' classic Mini was a 2001 Rover Mini Cooper Sport, all with the 90hp JCW conversion, some on the 'X' plate (registration) and some on the 'Y' plate, with all the trimmings from the final models such as two-tone black and silver full leather, aluminum dash-pedals-shift ****, some had white roofs and mirrors, others had silver roofs and mirrors. There may be a few with the 5-speed gearbox fitted at JCG but I dunno as all of them came with 4-speeds.

I have pictures of #49 and #50 from my trip in 2004.....basically Mike Cooper's personal cars

 

Official list from Uncle Sam:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...st07312007.htm