I made it. I moved my 997 from NY to Geneva and registered it at my residence in France. Wasn't easy but worth it as a $90k 911 costs 130k in France, $140k in Switzerland, $192k in Netherlands. The difference comes from currency rates and taxes. I thought some of you would like to know how to do it.

First you need to live in US for some time (expat or contract) or you would pay the taxes on arrival and that's just a show stopper. Anyone who do not live in US and think of coming in just to buy and export a car should just forget it.

Second you need to pay the car in full. The US customs will not stamp the title for export unless they get a "no lien"

Third, you need to own the car in US for more than 6 or 12 months before you move (depending on which country you go) and return home or move there durably, say for professional reasons, or you will be charged duties, import, VAT, pollution, gas gazzler,...You name it they have a tax for it.
Similarly you commit not to sell it back for at least 12 months upon arrival (although no one can check).

Four: The moving. Do not try to save on the shipment. By all means avoid roros (roll-in roll out). Invest in a private single container. Cars in shared containers sometimes crash on each others. Insist on a 20" private one, containing only your car. Take dated and timed pictures of your car when you deliver it, including odometer. Mind the shipping company, mind the logistics. Some containers go to a main harbour, then stay for days or weeks on a dock waiting for a smaller carrier to the final destination. Be sure to insure properly the car to a reputable company for its European value. This is more important than it looks, incidents are quite frequent. Go unload your vehicle yourself (yes you can) and drive home, avoiding further transportation. Some vehicles are earmaked to be stolen on arrival. They are not covered by the shipping insurance once unloaded so be sure you have an overlapping insurance for the destination country. Your US insurance ceased to cover since you left US territory.

Five: EU standards and registration. A 911 is a European car made up for America. So it is no big deal. Differences are with headlights, suspension, catalyst, mufflers and mirrors. Mirror fields are fine. Suspension does not matter. Headlights are identical if you have Xenon but in some countries you may need to prove it. Ask a dealer to check your lights and send the reports to your national Porsche subsidiary or importer. Pollution standards are more stringent in US, no worry here. The only caveat is the noise. You need to be creative here. I can explain more in private messages.
Some say side light need to become turning lights. Wrong. The turning lights are curve shaped enough to be valid on front and side. Some want you to change the rear bumpers to have a long license plate. Wrong again, the EU law tolerates US size plates.
In any case, a car coming from outside EU or Switzerland will need to be tested for EU standards, modified and re-tested until satisfactory.

Total cost: First class shipment plus comprehensive insurance $3k, unloading and clearance on arrival $1.8k, all expenses related to EU standards $2k (plus drive twice to Paris but is that really a problem?), French registration $2k. Total: US$ 8.8k plus brand new C4 US$85k including NY sales tax. Grand total $93.8k.

 

Thanks! Great insight review and experience, good luck with everything in Europe!

 

Thanks for the interesting post. Europe is expensive in a lot of ways. BTW, saw a recent YouTube video of interview in-car with Walter Rohrl and Motor Trend where he says the best driving in Europe is in France (particularly the Alps). Sorry I don't have the link handy. Let us know how you find it there.

 

Great info. and write up.

 

True, it is the last bubble of automobile freedom. Driving up tiny winding mountain roads in the Swiss and French Alps is exhilarating. Just to buy cheese from a farm or enjoying from a pass is more rewarding than playing hide and seek with police and speed boxes on the motorway. I see guys with M5s and S8s. Frankly they buy more frustration than pleasure.

Mind animal crossings however. Wild pigs, deers, foxes are quite frequent and can be dangerous. I use sound alarms to tell me when I'm above 130km/h (80mph) and a second one at 160km/h (100mph), so I don't get my eyes off the road. There are trees out there!

 

But you do now have the option to pop over to norther Bavaria and not having to do that hide-n-seek thing and just let the car run on open stretches of autobahn.

 

Rep to you! Enjoy the car over there -- not that you need any encouragement on that

 

Thank you! Useful info

Do you know about Spain ?

 

Very interesting read. I didn't know you can avoid duty if you've lived in the US for some time and move durably. Did you learn this from experience or did you find this info somewhere? Where can I find info about importing cars into different countries?

I might move back to Taiwan in the next couple years and the duty for bringing my car there is ridiculous (~77% of the cars fair value). I need to look into this a little more. If I can bring the car with me without paying duty that would be great. Unfortunately, France probably has different import laws than Taiwan though...

 

Great intel. I'm in same position with 997.1. Trying to get an accomodating dealership to say my lights are fine or can't be changed. Also have to go to UTAC for mirrors, emmisions weight and sounds. Any insider info would be appreciated.

 

Do you know where you got confirmation on xenon lights. I am in final process at UTAC but don't want to change my lights if there is a chance I can get confirmation.

 

Do you have to move the steering wheel to the other side?

 

Uhh. You realise most European countries are the same traffic side as the US, right? Pretty much only the UK isn't, and he said he moved to France.