i have plans to perchase a mini in germany and then ship it over to myself. however i have heard that it has to be older than 20 or 25 years in oregon.
if any of you have any info or know where i could get some info on this subject please let me know

 

Fed regs state a car must be at least 25 years old to be exempt from DOT regs and 21+ to be exempt from EPA regs. You can search the dept sites for details. You will need to check Oregon state laws on your own.

Unless you know Minis and what you are looking at, and are willing to go through the hassle of importing, I strongly suggest hooking up with local Mini owners who can assist you in locating one in the US and in inspecting its appropriateness for your intended use. Email racerkoi@aol.com (Jeff) who is in Oregon and can advise you.

Why not try SAMOA mini owners club ( http://hoffard-blaauw.com/seattlemini/ ) or Vancouver Mini owners( http://www.vancouverminiclub.ca/ ) for cars first? Also, there are plenty of Minis for sale here in the states. Check the other threads for website info.

http://www.djminis.com
http://www.minimania.com/ClassDealers.cfm
http://www.craigsauto.com/forsale/ads.html
http://www.minicityltd.com
http://www.turkys.com
http://www.miniguy.com/

UK

http://planetmini.tripod.com/
http://henleyclassicminis.com/
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I assume you are talking about a New MINI....original Minis are kind of a gray area and there are plenty of '97s, '98, and '99s running around as 1973s. If it's a new MINI, you really only have one option, and that would be DOTs new "Show and Go" importation type, which is what allows the odd Porsche 959, Ferrari F40, or Pagani Zonda you might see running around. The limit is you are only allowed to drive it to and from shows, racetracks, etc, and a maximum of 1500 miles of year. Special insurance must be obtained as well, although I'm sure that isn't too big of an obstical. Or....you could buy the Mini, take it apart, ship the parts over and import it as a kit car, and then put it back together. But I think you just might lose a little refinement in the processs.....

I tried to import a Land Rover Defender a few years ago, and believe me, it is way too much trouble then it's worth, unless you go the show and go route.

Hope this helps, and by all means don't take what I've said as the last word...it's been a while and I'm relying on memory.

Happy Motoring!

Brian

 

Greetings Amy,

We have been importing classic minis form over seas regularly for 2 years, and it can become very complicated very quickly. The first rule for purchasing minis for importing to the U.S is that they do HAVE to be 25 years or older (from the date of manufacture). This rule covers the entire country (it dose not vary from state to state). That is one of the most common misconceptions concerning importing cars. I know this to be true from speaking directly to the D.O.T (Department of Transportation) in Washington. You will also need a reliable freight company to handle all of the other legal documents and transportation of the vehicle. Also you will need to decide which way to transport the vehicle, roll on roll off (cheaper but not very secure (not recommended) or consolidating it in a container with other shipments.

Now comes the tricky part. Minis were manufactured from 1959 to 2000 and esthetically they did not change much. So many people have been illegally changing the V.I.N (Vehicle Identification Number) of cars that are older than 25 years with cars that are newer than 25 years and importing them to the U.S. This is a federal offence and if you are caught it can result in jail time, fines, and the car will be impounded and possibly destroyed (paper weight = mini squared). Even if you personally did not make the change and are caught trying to import the car you can be held accountable.

Then to make it more confusing people have been re-bodying minis with later model shells due to sever rust to the original body. Which makes it even more difficult to tell the difference but not impossible to the trained eye. I am currently working on a quick reference guide to aid in identifying all classic minis. It will be available at https://www.northamericanmotoring.com on this forum. This guide will be essential in identifying the cars to avoid.

A lot of people have adopted a care free attitude when it comes to these illegal cars. Because it is not very hard to do and they think “I’ll never get caught” but it is illegal, unethical and eventually the will get caught. In my opinion this practice ruins the integrity of the marque that we all love and work so hard to preserve.

So in closing you can successfully import a classic mini yourself but as in any venture it is very important that you have all the facts. Some times it is just easier to leave it to the professionals. That is why we have worked very hard to make sure that we conduct our selves legally and ethically to provide our customers with peace of mind that there baby will arrive safely. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me directly toll free at 1-866-5SP-MINI

Sincerely,

Michael Barton / Owner S.P. Imports

 

>>>The first rule for purchasing minis for importing to the U.S is that they do HAVE to be 25 years or older (from the date of manufacture). This rule covers the entire country (it dose not vary from state to state).

Yes, the federal law applies everywhere. HOWEVER, your state laws can be MORE stringent than federal law. Take for instance California where people are now having problems getting cars from the mid seventies registered because of state EPA/CARB rules. These cars are legal under fed law but not state. See the threads at http://www.minimania.com classic site. PLEASE check out Oregon statutes. I have given you an excellent referral in racerkoi who does import cars from the UK and elsewhere.

 

HI I JUST GOT MY 1979 MINI FROM THE ENGLAND AND GOT THE NEW JERSEY TITLE AND PLATES YESTERDAY I HAVE ONE MORE THAT WILL BE HERE NEXT MOUNTH -- FROM ENGLAND IT WAS EASY --THERE ARE A LOT OF MINIS THERE
LOTS O' LUCK SLIM Mc

 

WHY ARE YOU YELLING???

 

Why are you bumping threads from 5 years ago??

 

That was some good info. Glad it was bumped.

 

I would love to get a classic imported 1 dayor even buy a project car for cheap........I can only dream!

 

Why not bump it? I brought my car back from Germany.. although it was bought in 06 and shipped in 07. Really didn't have any issue bringing it in the states, it was registering with miniusa that was a pain for my warranty... took a few tries but eventually they were able to get it done. Now my neighbors in Germany had a classic that they wanted to bring back.. but the answer to them was no.. I don't recall the reason. If something is worth the time and the work to you.. then like someone suggested.. research research research!

 

Hi I have a 1983 Mini mayfair with only 31000miles it is a nice clean car red and white rims, spot lights and bucket seats with a new jersey title next week it will go on ebay lots of luck SLIM Mc.