Exporting ML500 to USA

[michaellong00]

Anyone got any experience with exporting to USA.

I have a 54plate ML500, decided rather than losing a heap of money selling it will be taking it with me to San Francisco when i move over there.

I have contacted MB uk to try and get the relevant bits of doco but any experiences would be useful.

Cheers

Mike

 

[neilrr]

Very difficult, maybe impossible and very expensive to Federalize and California-ize.

Not DOT ( http://www.dot.gov ) approved I'd guess, nor EPA ( http://www.epa.gov ) & then on a State level you have to deal with the CARB - http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm

Do A LOT of research before you put it on the boat.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Selling here may lose you a packet, but you stand to lose a whole lot more I suspect if you take it to the US.

I would imagine that there is a significantly smaller market for RHD in the US than there is for LHD in UK. Afterall we're close to the continent, the US ain't close to any of the majory RHD markets as far as I'm aware.

On top of that cars seem to cost about half of what we pay here, and the recent rising fuel costs are affecting the popularity of SUVs. And on top of that there is the cost of getting it there and doing whatever is required to get it through any local tests (strict emmissions regs, etc).

I think you may be better biting the bullet here, and buying another one when you get there. All the best with the move.

 

[Rory]

I agree with Bobby D - don't know your circumstances, but most decent new cars seem to be on personal leases in the US and they're staggeringly cheap (I appreciate it may be hard for you to get credit. My colleague runs an E55 at $799/mth and his wife has a Cayenne at (even he thought this was a good deal) $599/mth.

New cars seem very cheap (and you can generally just walk into a dealer and buy one) although I have to say that the odd cursory glance I've made of used car prices in the past is that they don't seem as staggeringly low as the new prices (relatively speaking, of course). If you look, note that all the new prices quoted are without tax, so you have to add several thousand $.

Sp bottom line is cheack what it would cost you to replace you UK ML500 with a US one - it might be preferable (or indeed the only choice).

 

[Flash]

Cars (especially Mercs) are very cheap over in the US in comparison to the UK and free service packages are often thrown in the deals etc. and weekly valets.

US have silly/strict legislations for vehicles in every state and they vary.

Do some research first by enquiring about the cost of a new vehicle in the US and find the best price that you can for yours in the UK and see what the figures look like first.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Agree with much of what's been said above I'm afraid. Cars in the US are cheap, especially new ones, as is leasing.

Regulations and laws vary by state, unfortunatley California is the strictist. My cousin lives in the Bay Area and couldn't sell his Honda Civic when he bought a BMW 325, he had to sell it to someone out of state (Texas) because it wouldn't pass the smog test in CA.

RHD cars will have no value in the US and you may find it extremely difficult to get insurance cover on it. Exporting a LHD car from here is a different prospect.