Which autos are made for world wide distribution?

This seems an odd idea...Surely European cars are vastly better, and won't the drive under the Atlantic give rust problems at some later date? There may also be service, tax and import duty issues?

Del

The cost of transporting an auto across the Atlantic might be prohibitive. Why not buy a short term car for here, and buy what you want when back in Spain. How about buying a 3 series BMW, and pick it up at the factory in Germany? Makes for some savings, and a nice road trip in a nice car.

First, no car is universal and can be built in one configuration that everyone imports, so you will be forced to have the car converted at importation. You may also have taxes to pay on the car, too.

The answer to that really lies in Spain. You should be able to find importers in Spain that buy American cars and import them. No doubt they must be converted to meet standards there just like we buy cars from abroad and they are converted to US spec.

In the US we call these gray market cars. People import a European car, pay an arm and a leg to convert them, then when they ultimately sell them, take a loss since gray market cars are less desirable.

That's your future in Spain. You import a US spec car and then pay for conversion and when you sell it you sell it at a bigger loss.

The exception to that are specialty cars. For instance, if you want a Porsche 959 in the US then you must buy a European version and have it converted to pass US specs. It costs more to do that, but they are collector cars.

I would never do that with a daily driver. Buy it here, sell it here and buy a European car when you land in Spain. The exception might be if the US dollar is so weak that it works out economically, but I can't image that scenario.

Well you hit one point that none of the other nay-sayers caught on to...... the answer really lies in Spain. I am sending this car over as a tourist car and our dollar is equal to 1.7 Euros so cars cost a lot more in Spain than they do here. Also, our emmision stanards are a lot higher here in the US than just about anywhere else in the world so there are not too many conversion problems to worry about.

I am so surprised that so many of you guys out there still think that you can cheaply (I know; not good English) buy a European sports car and send it back to the states. In case you have not noticed we are on the recieving end of bad deals for now. The Europeans formed the EU just so that they could compete against us. And, yes I can buy a nice used car here for $15/$20 thousand dollars and send it to Europe for less than $3000. That adds up to a real savings for me and I get my car completely decked out the way we buy them here. The fun part of all of this is that my car in Spain will keep it's Texas license plates (I think). That should raise a few eye brows in Spain!

The only thing you have to do is ask an Spanish importer of American cars, how much it costs to modify it to Spanish?European standards.

The US dollar is so weak!

Hi migo-1,

I don't know much about car models and prices in the US, but here you have a link to compare prices/performances on new or used cars in Spain.

https://www.autoscout24.es/?extcidm=76285216554860

Of course they are in Spanish, but I think prices and trademarks are easily understood.

Kind regards

Dude, when I was in Spain (admittedly 30 years ago) the last thing you wanted was an American car. The roads were narrow, gas was expensive, Spain had very restrictive import laws so that repair parts were mucho expensive and hard to find. Just buy a heap to drive while you are here, save your money and buy a nice Seat upon your return. The Seat was a spanish built Fiat, through some kind of deal Spain had bought a FIAT factory lock stock and barrel, moved it to Spain where they produced a quite servicible auto.

SEAT is actually owned by Volkswagen.

So there cars have the same engineering underneath. This makes for a very cheap and good quality car!

Dude, yes things have changed in the last 30 years and I never said I was planning to take an Anerican car to Spain; I am looking into taking a 2005 model Toyota or something similar.

Well, you're definitely thinking ahead with a Japanese vehicle because they are vastly superior to euro autos . Toyota or Honda if your looking for longevity and quality, Nissan, Suzuki or Mazda if you're looking for longevity only.

Hola 'Migo.

Getting your car "matriculado" here is a nightmare. Unless the prices are fantastically cheaper (inc shipping) it's not worth the bother. I have just imported a van with Guernsey (tax haven) plates to Spain and one year later I'm still waiting for the paperwork to get passed so I can put my Spanish plates on. In the meantime I am reliant on little slips of paper from the gestor stating that the paperwork is in process.

Indeed smart to limiting your choices to Japanese makes only. A friend of mine collects european cars (40+) and he spends most of his time working on them, but then again it's a labor of love for him. And like most Americans I won't even imagine owning an American vehcile. Well except Jeep that is...

I commend you on your decision to consider a vehicle that has some time on it instead of the latest rat trap on the market. Heres why. First of all, a vehicle that is at least 2-3 years old will most likely have parts available or at least within a reasonable shipping distance as well as cost. Service manuals will be available, and hopefully parts will be made in a part of the world not affected by conflict. We had a pretty good fire engine that we didn't really want to get rid of because crews really liked using it. However, we discovered that certain valves in the plumbing circuit were made in Iraq. Design tolerances dictated that either we were stuck with the design or remove and replace the plumbing with more readily available components, and that would not justify when stood up against the value of the truck, so,...it got a new home. Functionality of the vehicle and your intended purpose is another consideration that will play into the longevity of your choice. I have a buddy that has a retired Swedish fire truck manufactured by Moog and he's having a heck of a time getting a right front part for the right front axle, (4x4) so there it sits, going on 3 months now. When it was operating it was a great truck for his use, but now it's not even a decent lawn ornament, know what I mean? I would also consider reviewing the track record of your vehicle of choice to see how often repairs have been required on what components, and how many recall issues have been a part of that vehicles track record? Water pump failures, computer failures, steering or braking component problems, fuel problems just to name a few that cross my mind. I would also recommend staying with the fuel that it was originally designed to use and avoid any conversions unless it was absolutely necessary. Green might be the rage, but is it really feasible to make the changes? I agree with one of the other comments as to your choice of brand. The Japanese vehicles are well designed, have a decent track record for longevity overall in time, repairs and are usually user friendly. I had a Toyota pick-up that I finally sold with 246,000 miles on it, bought it new, and having only tune-ups, carburated not fuel injected, along with some sheet metal and a couple of windshields and about 6 sets of tires were the only repairs with the exception of a new radiator from salt air corrosion and oil changes allowed me to use a good little truck for 22 years. Just some thoughts for you to mull over. Good luck.