A couple of days ago, an itch I'd like to scratch started when I realized basically every 90's German Euro-market car is now eligible for import... Don't know if it's feasible or realistic (nor has my lack of space been solved), but I'd like to see what's out there... Now off to Google I go while I wait for hive recommendations...
I forget what website I used to use to browse/daydream while I was in Poland.
I think I've used autoscout24 to scour across europe in the past though?
https://www.autoscout24.com
edit:
one of the other sites might have been:
https://www.ooyyo.com
I should note. I never actually bought anything off either site; and definitely didn't try to ship anything over here.
Ivo Christof in the Netherlands is a long time member of the BMW e28 community. He has a company that sells reproduction parts for them, and he also has some cars for sale (mostly vintage BMWs but also occasionally has other makes.) He's experienced in exporting cars to the US, and I *think* he's willing to do some car finding if you have a specific make and model you're looking for. https://www.e28specialist.com I see he has a nice looking e30 316i touring right now.
https://www.theparking.eu/ is one of the largest used car site there. Think like cars.com in the US. Fun to surf and look.
Auto Scout24 is the main one. Willhaben is good for Austria only. You've got several others depending on locale, but I'm more versed in the German speaking worlds.
Couple markers to look for in Austria and Germany. "Export only" means won't pass inspection anymore and isn't roadworthy, i.e they are looking for an eastern European buyer who will take it east to fix it up for Romania or Ukraine. Recent inspections are good, and they are VERY thorough on every component, and on cars older than 5 years they are required yearly. You can often search by hp/kw of the engine to find what you are looking for, it sorts the RS2's from the rest of the Audi 80/100 for instance.
Used to be easy to drive, or ship, to Hamburg and get stuff into the east coast. ~$2-2.5k for RO/RO service to Baltimore. These days it's a toss up whether you do that, or rent/buy a 40' container and fill it up with 2 cars and parts. Been a while (5 years?) since I priced that out with Maersk et al, but rental was cheap, buying a used one was about even if you could store it Stateside.
Location ends up setting condition and upkeep standards. Better upkeep and higher rust potential from Austria north to Denmark. Belgium often has cheap decent stuff. Spain and Italy have sun faded paint, but a lot less rust, and questionable upkeep. Never buy anything from Greece, unless you know the owner since birth. Browsing ads from all over gives you some insight into cultural norms from a lot of places.... Germans are like "this is like new, everything works, but it has this 2mm scratch on the bumper". Italians often never clean the car before taking pics, and it's still full of crap from the last music festival.
The "Easy" (but not cheapest) button is to watch auction sites like Cars & Bids and BAT. BAT usually gets crazy prices, but I have seen a few bargains there. I bought my E36 Touring on Cars & Bids. The advantage is that the importing is already done, and the car will (usually) already have a US title. And you generally have a lot more pictures to judge condition. At the moment, the market seems to have cooled a bit, and many cars are not getting the prices they were a couple of years ago. A lot of the cars that are probably going to sell under $25k are listed at no reserve.
As noted, buying a car already here will likely be a little more expensive, and may be harder to find depending on exactly what you're looking for. The advantage is cutting out all the hassle of dealing with the importing/international shopping and shipping process.
I have 19 years to wait for this. From my limited research, you want the last year made as they got actual Merc engines, not the Nissan/Renault lump the early ones got.
Or I guess get one federalized? I have been hearing that is like 10K to do that.
There are a few cars I've been keeping my eye on for the 25 year law, although realistically I doubt I'd ever pull the trigger. Mostly due to cost, the cars I want seem to be blasting up in value, then add the import and transport fees and they're far past what I'm willing to pay. I've been keeping tabs on a few Euro import companies that seem to have good results and reviews, I might reach out in a few years when the Audi B5 RS4 avants are legal here...
In reply to docwyte :
During my search, I saw a few RS4s for sale. Not cheap, tho...
The car I'm curious about is a VAG B5 3.0 TDI 4-Motion 6 spd wagon (VW or Audi; either works). Back in the mid-00s, a guy on TDiClub built one using a US Passat wagon shell and Euro running gear and everything else. He made it work well, although I never found out how he got it registered. As cool as the build was, it would never fly in PA where cars of that age (at the time) need annual inspections and part of that is plugging the OBDII into a computer. My inspection shop is pretty flexible, but not having the engine match the VIN would be hard for them to let pass.
But now that early B5 models meet the 25 years rule, it might be fun to find a real one. My ex- bought a UK Corrado last year from a guy in western PA who I think is an importer. Might be easier to go that route, paying him to do the leg-work to find a nice one and do all the paperwork.
Orchid Euro I think is in PA and is an importer. I'd also be interested in an Audi S2, a BMW E36 M3 sedan with the euro motor an Audi B7 RS4 avant would be killer....
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to docwyte :
The car I'm curious about is a VAG B5 3.0 TDI 4-Motion 6 spd wagon (VW or Audi; either works).
https://www.willhaben.at/iad/gebrauchtwagen/auto/gebrauchtwagenboerse?sfId=7b32200a-53ee-4c10-a518-6ad284acbf66&rows=30&CAR_TYPE=5&isNavigation=true&CAR_MODEL/MAKE=1003&ENGINE/FUEL=100003&WHEEL_DRIVE=2&TRANSMISSION=180001&page=1&ENGINEEFFECT_FROM=147
You won't find many 3,0 V6 TDI VW's, unless it's a Touareg or an Amarok.
In reply to JFW75 :
It must have been one of the higher output versions of the 1.9. I could have sworn it was a V6, but it's been over a decade since I thought about that car on the TDiClub forums.
Orchid Euro looks like a good option if I happen to find something, although from the sites I've looked at so far, the price of getting the car here may be equal to or more than the purchase price.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Plenty of 1.9 or 2.0 TDI's with that driveline. I vaguely remember the thread on TDIClubs. We did a 1.9 TDI in our GTI rally car (Quantum Rally Sports). Totally a PITA to find axles that would last more than a day though.
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