I am not sure what you do for a living, but, you are a great communicator, and though I have not finished this videos series, you have done a great job. Thank you for this content.
Excellent first video! Miss having my pansy since I moved from the U.K. To Arizona and been looking for some personal incite into what's needed to bring me some home comfort... and something to tinker with at the weekends !
Will Hendrick@ Defender of Defenders, specializes in import law, best person to talk to before importing a vehicle and you have no experience at all. All the vehicles I have ever imported , I used in the country in which they were coming from. In Europe my vehicle was registered and titled in my name already before shipping. It was easy and I did not use a broker.Lots of good info here. thanks.
Thank you for this video! Very valuable information. I am looking to buy a vehicle from the UK and import it into the US. I am skeptical of doing this now
Defenders in Brazil are getting 25 years old and they are in pretty good shape due to the fact Brazil is a non snow country and LR here are driven by people as the 2nd, 3rd, 4th car of the family.
Nice Video! I see the Defender all over the world, but unfortunately this great vehicle is not available in North America. Also we are missing out Pajero ( Montero) & Land Cruiser
I think the swapped VINs will be less of an issue on Defenders as the 1990s become 25 yrs and meet the import exception, although now they are even more rusted out....Too bad customs is basically working on behalf of the car mfgs here to prevent new vehicles that are not sold here from being imported.
True - the Series Land Rovers that predated the Defender were imported into the US up until 1974. Defenders - the NAS models, were imported into the US between 1993 and 1997. The Defender 110 was imported into the US for one year in 1993 and then the Defender 90 was imported from 1994 until 1997. The US implemented air bag requirements beginning in 1998 and the Defender didn't have air bags and so could no longer be imported into America.
GREAT information! How can I confirm all the original parts? Any idea if a heater modification would cause problems? Maybe adding an air conditioner? I'd like to remove the rear cross member behind the seats (LRD90). Now watching your video has me not wanting to make any modifications. I'm living in Italy now and will be exporting it in 2019 if all goes well. Is there a packet of documents I should start working on now? I'm purchasing it from a dealer used, should I get anything additional from them?
AJ - Lots of good questions but there isn't a ton of definitive information being put out by Customs. The issue for you becomes that there are the known things that you can't do - which I discuss in the videos and then there are things like painting the exterior, adding side steps and such that have not caused problems in the past but it can come down to the particular customs officers that are reviewing your vehicle as to whether they believe the modifications you have made are such that the vehicle can't be imported. I am definitely not an expert on those finer details and so I would encourage you to reach out to Will Hedrick and ask him your more detailed questions. As I have said in other posts, he is very helpful and probably knows more about what is allowed and not allowed than anyone else I have dealt with. The numbers that you want to check are all of the VIN numbers on the vehicle. You can get a copy of your vehicles original certification that will list the original parts numbers (engine and transmission), paint color, etc., from the British Motor Museum (www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates) and then you can match all of the numbers that will be critical for importing the vehicle to make sure nothing has been changed, but again, I would encourage you to work with someone with experience in importing your vehicle. You can start now (even though you won't be importing it for a few years) so that you know everything is going to pass inspection. That way you won't dump a bunch of money into the truck only to find out later that something was done to it that will make it a challenge to import. Best of Luck!
Can I do all the paint work (body & frame) and electrical work before importing ? As in install new painted doors, bumpers, hood, new lights etc & leave the motor & tranny as is ?
I believe you can do the exterior paint and repair work before you import it and I did have mine painted before it was shipped. With the frame, I believe you need to keep the original frame and so you need to be careful if you start replacing parts of the frame for any reason. Also, you don't want them to paint over any of the VIN numbers that might make it harder to validate the parts are original. While I was happy with the paint job they did in the UK, my Defender did suffer some slight body damage during shipment and I had to fix that once it arrived. If I were to do it again, I would have them replace exterior parts (fender, door) while it was in the UK but then wait and have the vehicle painted after it came to the US and after I had whatever else I wanted done to it completed. That way, I could make sure the paint job was done to my satisfaction - rather than relying on the UK seller. Just my two cents - good luck!
Rob, The same rules and warnings apply regardless of where the truck is sourced from. While I worked with an importer from the UK (Defender's Direct) my truck was actually sourced from France. Most of the importers scour Europe for solid, rust free, Defenders for left hand drive vehicles because those are favored for import into the US. You will most likely pay a premium for a left hand drive over a right hand drive vehicle and you can go to eBay in the respective Country to see what the prices are as compared to prices in the UK for similar models, years, etc. Regardless of where you source the vehicle, your #1 focus should be on identifying a reputable importer because there are lots of shady characters out there that will paint over a rusted body and sell it to you as "rust free" just to make a buck and once you have the truck imported into the States, the cost and hassle of trying to return it is not insignificant! Best of luck.
Just curious, are you allowed to import a defender which has had a replacement engine but the replacement engine is the same model and spec as the original but has been replaced purely do to wear and tear of the original and not for improvement ? The term modify can be used to implicate a change made for improvement vs a change made for necessity .
Jim, I haven't kept up on the latest cases related to the import regulations but a few years ago Will Hedrick was representing a guy that attempted to import a Defender with a 25+ year old engine in a 25+ year old Defender but the engine wasn't the original engine (link to article on it jalopnik.com/the-latest-fight-over-car-importing-1763372806). You should reach out to Will via LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/william-m-hedrick-4a014233/) and see what the end result was and what that might mean for your circumstances. The other thing to consider is whether you are going to be happy with the new engine when the truck gets here but that is a separate question. Depending on the model of the original engine you may find yourself disappointed with its output and dreaming of replacing it anyway. In that case, you will have paid more for a truck with a "new" replacement engine that you will then want to replace again. Best of luck and Will is a huge help and I am pretty sure he doesn't charge anything just to answer a question or two.
@@beamsgr thanks for replying , I'm in Australia and I was asking to satisfy my curiosity , because I have a 2012 90 and have been reading and following the rules and regulations in the states with regards to imports. Thanks for replying and the information and I'll be keeping a close eye on when the new defender is released and how the sales go in the states. And yes your right some of the engines landrover used were definitely on the under powered side 😊 have a great day
I’m curious how it went. My customs agent is telling me same model, regardless of serial number prefix, is considered acceptable. 300 tdi= 300 tdi regardless. I have purchased a defender 110 that decodes as 300 tdi wirh 16L prefix. It was replaced with a 300 tdi with 21L prefix.
Hey Greg! Love the info. Can you help me understand the ‘why’? I assume getting one from the Abroad all in with still be significantly cheaper with fees included?
Seth, I would characterize it as you can get one cheaper by doing it yourself, including paying for someone to handle the importing process (which isn’t that expensive) but that is primarily because you are not going to do a frame off restoration on the vehicle. You are going to import a solid truck (hopefully) that doesn’t have rust or other major issues and then you will fix it/ work on it from there. If you are going to do a frame off rebuild (which is what I understand folks like East Coast Defenders do for you) then I don’t know that it will be all that much cheaper because you are more likely to make mistakes, aren’t going to get anything below full retail in terms of parts, etc. If you have the skills and experience to swap out the engine and transmission yourself, then you can probably save some significant $ but if you have to farm that out to someone else, then you probably won’t end up saving that much. The bigger risk is the truck you import is a bucket of rusty bolts and then the cost blows up and you will most likely never be happy with it anyway. The main issue for us in the States is that it would be MUCH cheaper to have someone in the UK do a frame off restoration and then ship the truck over (new engine, tranny, etc.) but the importation laws don’t allow for that. That means we ship everything over here separately or figure out how to put American engines and tranny’s into these trucks after you get it Stateside and that requires skills beyond most of us, which means we end up paying someone to do the work for us. If you can be happy with a 25 year old truck, 25 year old engine, tranny, interior, etc., then you can get it done for about 1/2 the cost of an East Coast Defender but that means you are driving an amazingly cool Defender that blows all sorts of smoke and struggles to do much more than freeway speed on a flat surface. Best of luck, Greg
Thanks so much for that well thought out reply! I think I am a good candidate for an import because I like vehicles to be utilitarian and rough around the edges so I am looking for a stock early 90s defender. The one exception would be the engine; there is a shop near me that only does LS swaps so my current plan try to find a solid truck from the UK, import and have the local place replace engine and transmission.
It depends on all sorts of variables - the two biggest of which in my mind are the condition of the truck you get and the costs of storing it. I don't have experience with military spec vehicles and so you will want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting and how different (or not) they are from the civilian models. These trucks rust really easily and are known to be leaky and so if it sits outdoors in the rain/wet, it is highly likely to have rust issues. If you found a truck in amazing condition and could store it indoors for cheap, then it might be worth it. If its an average truck that will need tons of work (which most of them do) and you have to pay to store it - then it gets harder to justify. I haven't kept up with prices but since they aren't making the classic Defenders any longer, I expect prices will only go up and so you have to balance that as well. Finally, keep in mind that once you get it here, you will probably have months to years of additional work before it's truly road worthy. From start to finish mine took 3 years from the time I contracted with Defenders Direct in England until the truck was here and fully updated and I was able to use it as my every day driver (which I still do). Good Luck!
I am not sure how your citizenship impacts the application of the regulations. I expect that if you are not a resident in the U.S. in some way, then importing an F40 or any vehicle, might get to be harder. You should reach out to Will Hedrick who handles all sorts of imports. Will is an attorney and I expect could answer your question and point you to the regulations or laws that govern non-US citizens importing vehicles into the US. Best of luck.
Jeroen, I have never found an "official" list printed by Customs of when a particular vehicle modification will always cause Customs to reject the vehicle. The major components that have identifying numbers (engine, chassis, etc.) stamped onto them are directly compared to the vehicle manufacture paperwork when the truck is imported and there are a lot of examples of trucks being rejected when these are changed (although exact replacements (19J turbodiesel replaced by a 19J turbodiesel) may be acceptable). If you switch a RHD to a LHD (or vice-versa), then the paperwork won't match because it will list which drive the truck was originally manufactured with. Could you import the truck and have an inspector miss this or not reject the truck because of it - sure, it could happen but I don't think the odds are in your favor. From what I read on the forums when I was looking for a Defender to import, the switching of a RHD to a LHD was not allowed. Here is a link to a very long thread where they talk about what is allowable and not but all of this is based on people's experiences and those can differ because they went through different ports, had different inspectors, etc. I understand you can get a private letter ruling from Customs ahead of time regarding a modification where they will inform you if its okay or not but I don't have experience with that process. Defenders Source thread (www.defendersource.com/forum/f8/whats-legal-frame-swaps-importing-etc-13713.html). Hope this helps.
Gregory Beams thanks so much! Maybe to clear my question: I have a original right hand drive 110 in Europe. Original engine, axles etc. I hear you say that’s not allowed to import right hand drive cars in general. Is that true? Have a nice day!
Joren - sorry for the confusion. You definitely CAN import a right hand drive Defender into the US - as long as it was originally a right hand drive - which it sounds as though yours was/is. You simply can't change it from its original configuration and then bring it into the US. When I was looking at Defender's to import I considered a right hand drive Defender because they are allowed as long as they are original and meet the other "substantially unmodified" requirements already discussed. Since yours is and always was a right hand drive - then that shouldn't stop you from importing it into the States. While I have not worked with these guys at Safari, they indicate that they do custom builds and you can see from their website - lots of right hand drive builds and so clearly you can import a right hand drive Defender. (safarihp.com/defender-gallery-2/) Best!
Yes, once the vehicle is registered in the US - cleared customs and licensed in your state - then you can do whatever you want to them - just like any other car. If you are buying one that someone else has imported - just make sure it was imported correctly and its already licensed. Canada has a shorter period before a car is considered a "classic" and so newer Defenders can be legally imported into Canada before they would be legal in the US. I have heard stories (don't know if they are true) of Defenders driven across the border and then sold to someone in the US as if it was a legal import but just because the vehicle is physically here, doesn't automatically mean it's legally here. No problem if you import it yourself - then you should know its all good. Best of luck.
Hello, I am planning on importing a vehicle into the United States. Is it possible to exchanges correspondence via email to gather some advice from you. Thanks
Misrepresent!! No mate all landrover rust from the uk ,Salt on roads and they get used to near death as far as body rot goes steel and alloy dont mix well .But enjoyed your post hopefully you live in a dry salt free roads area 😁
Douglas , Thanks for the post and yes, the UK sourced Defenders are A LOT more likely to have rust issues. Luckily, since most of the US market wants a left-hand drive truck, the majority of Defenders being imported to the US come from other sources - often Europe. Mine came from France, was imported into the UK where the base restoration work was done and then shipped to me in the US. But as you point out - where the Defender was sourced is important to know.
Surly whats legal is what written in the rule book nor what a lawyer says you cannot say anything different than whats written. Who did they change the vin number 1 its on the vin plate then it stamped into the body work in the engine bay in the rear of the car And on the chassis so how would you cut all these out. Plus you can tell if the vin plate has been tampered with because the it will show damage. Uk car you cannot change or swap the vin plates because it would not pass annual inspection and the paper work log book v5 would tell if the vehicle has been rebuilt and lost any of it original vin ids so you talk rubbish there. About update uk vehicles. The uk has been dealing with doggy cars a long time we are good at it remember the vin is stamped is several different places across tge car and chassis to stop this. It very normal to have the engine change legally and uk documents will be change engine failure on these cars is regular and a factory swap is do legally and you change the documents so you avoid these cars. This happens more with v8 than diesels.but gear box swap happen all the time landrover do because it cheaper than repair. You never buy unseen
Hi Keith, I am not an expert on how the VIN numbers were being changed back when that was being done. I assumed it was being done at the time the vehicle was being shipped and so the vehicle was no longer subject to the UK vehicle inspection process. Since Customs was able to detect and confiscate the Defenders where this was being done, my guess is that before Customs started focusing on Defenders, the importers either weren't changing all of the VIN numbers (and Customs at that time wasn't checking all of them) or the changes were detectible. In any event, Customs is clearly checking all of the VIN numbers now and to your point, they can detect if the VIN numbers have been changed. The problem with the importation rules is that they are very brief and basically say that the "classic" vehicle being imported needs to be substantially in its original condition. That is pretty vague in terms of what exactly they mean by "substantially in its original condition". While I believe Customs has some internal guidance they follow, different Customs officials at different ports of entry may interpret that guidance differently. This is one of the reasons I used an experienced attorney to help guide my Defender through Customs - so that he could respond to any questions Customs may have had and explain his experience with any particular modification they were questioning. Having said that, I know of people that have imported their own vehicle and not used an attorney or anyone else to help them. Hope that helps and thanks for the comment.
John, I had a G Wagon for a number of years - great vehicle - will go anywhere. My only frustration with the vehicle was that I am not a mechanic by trade and the G Wagon is so elaborately built that I couldn't hardly change a light bulb without a special tool and more skills than I have developed. The Defender is much simpler and other than the major mechanical things, I can modify the truck myself almost anyway I want. That has been the biggest benefit of the Defender for me (and the fact that Defenders hold their value better. :)
I am not sure what you do for a living, but, you are a great communicator, and though I have not finished this videos series, you have done a great job. Thank you for this content.
Thx Greg. I’m been thinking of purchasing a defender from overseas for years. Your video has made me a lot more comfortable moving forward
Excellent first video! Miss having my pansy since I moved from the U.K. To Arizona and been looking for some personal incite into what's needed to bring me some home comfort... and something to tinker with at the weekends !
Tony Kenn
Great video, after a lot of searching it is exactly what I was looking for.
Thank you so much for sharing, that was very informative!
thank you for sharing - very informative!
Thank you, very informative!
really helpful!! thank you for putting this up
Excellent video....
Great content thank you so much.
Great info, thank you
That video of the Defender being crushed is why I support defunding the EPA.
It was sad to see that done,however the big crane or whatever that crushed it killed the body but the chassis looked fairly untouched 😜👍
defund liberals and we will save the defenders and all those like them
Defund the Democrats
Thanks for making this
Great video thank you
Will Hendrick@ Defender of Defenders, specializes in import law, best person to talk to before importing a vehicle and you have no experience at all. All the vehicles I have ever imported , I used in the country in which they were coming from. In Europe my vehicle was registered and titled in my name already before shipping. It was easy and I did not use a broker.Lots of good info here. thanks.
Thanks Bernard - couldn't agree more!
You my friend are a hero
Thank you for this video! Very valuable information. I am looking to buy a vehicle from the UK and import it into the US. I am skeptical of doing this now
Defenders in Brazil are getting 25 years old and they are in pretty good shape due to the fact Brazil is a non snow country and LR here are driven by people as the 2nd, 3rd, 4th car of the family.
You should've gone for an Urban Automotive Defender mate. I've got an Urban Automotive Defender 90 and I adore it
Hi Greg, great info.
One thing you didn’t cover was all of the costs. What is the ballpark figure after all of the shipping, duties, fees etc
Nice Video! I see the Defender all over the world, but unfortunately this great vehicle is not available in North America. Also we are missing out Pajero ( Montero) & Land Cruiser
I guess i can see why they miss so many drugs coming into the country. There's way more important things going on then importing vehicles.
I think the swapped VINs will be less of an issue on Defenders as the 1990s become 25 yrs and meet the import exception, although now they are even more rusted out....Too bad customs is basically working on behalf of the car mfgs here to prevent new vehicles that are not sold here from being imported.
Many NAS (north American standard) Land rovers were imported in the 1970’s
True - the Series Land Rovers that predated the Defender were imported into the US up until 1974. Defenders - the NAS models, were imported into the US between 1993 and 1997. The Defender 110 was imported into the US for one year in 1993 and then the Defender 90 was imported from 1994 until 1997. The US implemented air bag requirements beginning in 1998 and the Defender didn't have air bags and so could no longer be imported into America.
6:54 heartache
GREAT information! How can I confirm all the original parts? Any idea if a heater modification would cause problems? Maybe adding an air conditioner? I'd like to remove the rear cross member behind the seats (LRD90). Now watching your video has me not wanting to make any modifications. I'm living in Italy now and will be exporting it in 2019 if all goes well. Is there a packet of documents I should start working on now? I'm purchasing it from a dealer used, should I get anything additional from them?
AJ - Lots of good questions but there isn't a ton of definitive information being put out by Customs. The issue for you becomes that there are the known things that you can't do - which I discuss in the videos and then there are things like painting the exterior, adding side steps and such that have not caused problems in the past but it can come down to the particular customs officers that are reviewing your vehicle as to whether they believe the modifications you have made are such that the vehicle can't be imported. I am definitely not an expert on those finer details and so I would encourage you to reach out to Will Hedrick and ask him your more detailed questions. As I have said in other posts, he is very helpful and probably knows more about what is allowed and not allowed than anyone else I have dealt with. The numbers that you want to check are all of the VIN numbers on the vehicle. You can get a copy of your vehicles original certification that will list the original parts numbers (engine and transmission), paint color, etc., from the British Motor Museum (www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/archive/heritage-certificates) and then you can match all of the numbers that will be critical for importing the vehicle to make sure nothing has been changed, but again, I would encourage you to work with someone with experience in importing your vehicle. You can start now (even though you won't be importing it for a few years) so that you know everything is going to pass inspection. That way you won't dump a bunch of money into the truck only to find out later that something was done to it that will make it a challenge to import. Best of Luck!
Can I do all the paint work (body & frame) and electrical work before importing ? As in install new painted doors, bumpers, hood, new lights etc & leave the motor & tranny as is ?
I believe you can do the exterior paint and repair work before you import it and I did have mine painted before it was shipped. With the frame, I believe you need to keep the original frame and so you need to be careful if you start replacing parts of the frame for any reason. Also, you don't want them to paint over any of the VIN numbers that might make it harder to validate the parts are original. While I was happy with the paint job they did in the UK, my Defender did suffer some slight body damage during shipment and I had to fix that once it arrived. If I were to do it again, I would have them replace exterior parts (fender, door) while it was in the UK but then wait and have the vehicle painted after it came to the US and after I had whatever else I wanted done to it completed. That way, I could make sure the paint job was done to my satisfaction - rather than relying on the UK seller. Just my two cents - good luck!
now if i just had the money
Any tips on importing Left Hand Drive Defenders from Spain/ Italy/ Iceland/ Switzerland, etc?
Rob, The same rules and warnings apply regardless of where the truck is sourced from. While I worked with an importer from the UK (Defender's Direct) my truck was actually sourced from France. Most of the importers scour Europe for solid, rust free, Defenders for left hand drive vehicles because those are favored for import into the US. You will most likely pay a premium for a left hand drive over a right hand drive vehicle and you can go to eBay in the respective Country to see what the prices are as compared to prices in the UK for similar models, years, etc. Regardless of where you source the vehicle, your #1 focus should be on identifying a reputable importer because there are lots of shady characters out there that will paint over a rusted body and sell it to you as "rust free" just to make a buck and once you have the truck imported into the States, the cost and hassle of trying to return it is not insignificant! Best of luck.
Sweet, Love Defender
Just curious, are you allowed to import a defender which has had a replacement engine but the replacement engine is the same model and spec as the original but has been replaced purely do to wear and tear of the original and not for improvement ?
The term modify can be used to implicate a change made for improvement vs a change made for necessity .
Jim,
I haven't kept up on the latest cases related to the import regulations but a few years ago Will Hedrick was representing a guy that attempted to import a Defender with a 25+ year old engine in a 25+ year old Defender but the engine wasn't the original engine (link to article on it jalopnik.com/the-latest-fight-over-car-importing-1763372806). You should reach out to Will via LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/in/william-m-hedrick-4a014233/) and see what the end result was and what that might mean for your circumstances. The other thing to consider is whether you are going to be happy with the new engine when the truck gets here but that is a separate question. Depending on the model of the original engine you may find yourself disappointed with its output and dreaming of replacing it anyway. In that case, you will have paid more for a truck with a "new" replacement engine that you will then want to replace again. Best of luck and Will is a huge help and I am pretty sure he doesn't charge anything just to answer a question or two.
@@beamsgr thanks for replying , I'm in Australia and I was asking to satisfy my curiosity , because I have a 2012 90 and have been reading and following the rules and regulations in the states with regards to imports.
Thanks for replying and the information and I'll be keeping a close eye on when the new defender is released and how the sales go in the states.
And yes your right some of the engines landrover used were definitely on the under powered side 😊 have a great day
I’m curious how it went. My customs agent is telling me same model, regardless of serial number prefix, is considered acceptable. 300 tdi= 300 tdi regardless. I have purchased a defender 110 that decodes as 300 tdi wirh 16L prefix. It was replaced with a 300 tdi with 21L prefix.
Hey Greg! Love the info. Can you help me understand the ‘why’? I assume getting one from the Abroad all in with still be significantly cheaper with fees included?
Seth,
I would characterize it as you can get one cheaper by doing it yourself, including paying for someone to handle the importing process (which isn’t that expensive) but that is primarily because you are not going to do a frame off restoration on the vehicle. You are going to import a solid truck (hopefully) that doesn’t have rust or other major issues and then you will fix it/ work on it from there.
If you are going to do a frame off rebuild (which is what I understand folks like East Coast Defenders do for you) then I don’t know that it will be all that much cheaper because you are more likely to make mistakes, aren’t going to get anything below full retail in terms of parts, etc. If you have the skills and experience to swap out the engine and transmission yourself, then you can probably save some significant $ but if you have to farm that out to someone else, then you probably won’t end up saving that much. The bigger risk is the truck you import is a bucket of rusty bolts and then the cost blows up and you will most likely never be happy with it anyway.
The main issue for us in the States is that it would be MUCH cheaper to have someone in the UK do a frame off restoration and then ship the truck over (new engine, tranny, etc.) but the importation laws don’t allow for that. That means we ship everything over here separately or figure out how to put American engines and tranny’s into these trucks after you get it Stateside and that requires skills beyond most of us, which means we end up paying someone to do the work for us.
If you can be happy with a 25 year old truck, 25 year old engine, tranny, interior, etc., then you can get it done for about 1/2 the cost of an East Coast Defender but that means you are driving an amazingly cool Defender that blows all sorts of smoke and struggles to do much more than freeway speed on a flat surface.
Best of luck,
Greg
Thanks so much for that well thought out reply! I think I am a good candidate for an import because I like vehicles to be utilitarian and rough around the edges so I am looking for a stock early 90s defender. The one exception would be the engine; there is a shop near me that only does LS swaps so my current plan try to find a solid truck from the UK, import and have the local place replace engine and transmission.
Hello would it be worth me buying an ex mil lhd defender 90 a 2000 and waiting for it to mature in 2025 and shipping it over ?
It depends on all sorts of variables - the two biggest of which in my mind are the condition of the truck you get and the costs of storing it. I don't have experience with military spec vehicles and so you will want to make sure you know exactly what you are getting and how different (or not) they are from the civilian models. These trucks rust really easily and are known to be leaky and so if it sits outdoors in the rain/wet, it is highly likely to have rust issues. If you found a truck in amazing condition and could store it indoors for cheap, then it might be worth it. If its an average truck that will need tons of work (which most of them do) and you have to pay to store it - then it gets harder to justify. I haven't kept up with prices but since they aren't making the classic Defenders any longer, I expect prices will only go up and so you have to balance that as well. Finally, keep in mind that once you get it here, you will probably have months to years of additional work before it's truly road worthy. From start to finish mine took 3 years from the time I contracted with Defenders Direct in England until the truck was here and fully updated and I was able to use it as my every day driver (which I still do). Good Luck!
Hi. I'm a British national and I'm wanting to import a F40 to sell in the USA would this be applicable to non US citizens?
I am not sure how your citizenship impacts the application of the regulations. I expect that if you are not a resident in the U.S. in some way, then importing an F40 or any vehicle, might get to be harder. You should reach out to Will Hedrick who handles all sorts of imports. Will is an attorney and I expect could answer your question and point you to the regulations or laws that govern non-US citizens importing vehicles into the US. Best of luck.
Is there really no exception of the right hand drive roule??
Jeroen, I have never found an "official" list printed by Customs of when a particular vehicle modification will always cause Customs to reject the vehicle. The major components that have identifying numbers (engine, chassis, etc.) stamped onto them are directly compared to the vehicle manufacture paperwork when the truck is imported and there are a lot of examples of trucks being rejected when these are changed (although exact replacements (19J turbodiesel replaced by a 19J turbodiesel) may be acceptable). If you switch a RHD to a LHD (or vice-versa), then the paperwork won't match because it will list which drive the truck was originally manufactured with. Could you import the truck and have an inspector miss this or not reject the truck because of it - sure, it could happen but I don't think the odds are in your favor. From what I read on the forums when I was looking for a Defender to import, the switching of a RHD to a LHD was not allowed. Here is a link to a very long thread where they talk about what is allowable and not but all of this is based on people's experiences and those can differ because they went through different ports, had different inspectors, etc. I understand you can get a private letter ruling from Customs ahead of time regarding a modification where they will inform you if its okay or not but I don't have experience with that process. Defenders Source thread (www.defendersource.com/forum/f8/whats-legal-frame-swaps-importing-etc-13713.html).
Hope this helps.
Gregory Beams thanks so much! Maybe to clear my question: I have a original right hand drive 110 in Europe. Original engine, axles etc. I hear you say that’s not allowed to import right hand drive cars in general. Is that true? Have a nice day!
Joren - sorry for the confusion. You definitely CAN import a right hand drive Defender into the US - as long as it was originally a right hand drive - which it sounds as though yours was/is. You simply can't change it from its original configuration and then bring it into the US. When I was looking at Defender's to import I considered a right hand drive Defender because they are allowed as long as they are original and meet the other "substantially unmodified" requirements already discussed. Since yours is and always was a right hand drive - then that shouldn't stop you from importing it into the States. While I have not worked with these guys at Safari, they indicate that they do custom builds and you can see from their website - lots of right hand drive builds and so clearly you can import a right hand drive Defender. (safarihp.com/defender-gallery-2/) Best!
Gregory Beams thanks so much Gregory. The car is indeed born RHD and it’ll stick that way. Thanks for answering, I’ll keep you posted! BR Jeroen
But once the vehicle is in America can you modify it then?
Yes, once the vehicle is registered in the US - cleared customs and licensed in your state - then you can do whatever you want to them - just like any other car. If you are buying one that someone else has imported - just make sure it was imported correctly and its already licensed. Canada has a shorter period before a car is considered a "classic" and so newer Defenders can be legally imported into Canada before they would be legal in the US. I have heard stories (don't know if they are true) of Defenders driven across the border and then sold to someone in the US as if it was a legal import but just because the vehicle is physically here, doesn't automatically mean it's legally here. No problem if you import it yourself - then you should know its all good. Best of luck.
Gregory Beams thank you very much for the reply 👍🙂
Hello, I am planning on importing a vehicle into the United States. Is it possible to exchanges correspondence via email to gather some advice from you. Thanks
Misrepresent!! No mate all landrover rust from the uk ,Salt on roads and they get used to near death as far as body rot goes steel and alloy dont mix well .But enjoyed your post hopefully you live in a dry salt free roads area 😁
Douglas , Thanks for the post and yes, the UK sourced Defenders are A LOT more likely to have rust issues. Luckily, since most of the US market wants a left-hand drive truck, the majority of Defenders being imported to the US come from other sources - often Europe. Mine came from France, was imported into the UK where the base restoration work was done and then shipped to me in the US. But as you point out - where the Defender was sourced is important to know.
The good news is that Land Rover is planning to import the new Defender in 2019..
Agreed - the only question remains as to how much of the Defender we love will exist in the new model ...
@@beamsgr turns out. Nothing.
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Surly whats legal is what written in the rule book nor what a lawyer says you cannot say anything different than whats written. Who did they change the vin number
1 its on the vin plate then it stamped into the body work in the engine bay in the rear of the car
And on the chassis so how would you cut all these out. Plus you can tell if the vin plate has been tampered with because the it will show damage.
Uk car you cannot change or swap the vin plates because it would not pass annual inspection and the paper work log book v5 would tell if the vehicle has been rebuilt and lost any of it original vin ids so you talk rubbish there. About update uk vehicles. The uk has been dealing with doggy cars a long time we are good at it remember the vin is stamped is several different places across tge car and chassis to stop this.
It very normal to have the engine change legally and uk documents will be change engine failure on these cars is regular and a factory swap is do legally and you change the documents so you avoid these cars. This happens more with v8 than diesels.but gear box swap happen all the time landrover do because it cheaper than repair.
You never buy unseen
Hi Keith,
I am not an expert on how the VIN numbers were being changed back when that was being done. I assumed it was being done at the time the vehicle was being shipped and so the vehicle was no longer subject to the UK vehicle inspection process. Since Customs was able to detect and confiscate the Defenders where this was being done, my guess is that before Customs started focusing on Defenders, the importers either weren't changing all of the VIN numbers (and Customs at that time wasn't checking all of them) or the changes were detectible. In any event, Customs is clearly checking all of the VIN numbers now and to your point, they can detect if the VIN numbers have been changed.
The problem with the importation rules is that they are very brief and basically say that the "classic" vehicle being imported needs to be substantially in its original condition. That is pretty vague in terms of what exactly they mean by "substantially in its original condition". While I believe Customs has some internal guidance they follow, different Customs officials at different ports of entry may interpret that guidance differently. This is one of the reasons I used an experienced attorney to help guide my Defender through Customs - so that he could respond to any questions Customs may have had and explain his experience with any particular modification they were questioning. Having said that, I know of people that have imported their own vehicle and not used an attorney or anyone else to help them.
Hope that helps and thanks for the comment.
I'll just stick with the g wagon
John, I had a G Wagon for a number of years - great vehicle - will go anywhere. My only frustration with the vehicle was that I am not a mechanic by trade and the G Wagon is so elaborately built that I couldn't hardly change a light bulb without a special tool and more skills than I have developed. The Defender is much simpler and other than the major mechanical things, I can modify the truck myself almost anyway I want. That has been the biggest benefit of the Defender for me (and the fact that Defenders hold their value better. :)