Imports from Italy

[Adam427]

Hi folks,

Being the Fiat Abarth enthusiast I am, I'm wanting to get something a little more classic for a winter restorer/summer enjoyer. I'll be looking at getting a Fiat 600. Most of the ones I see already in the UK are a bit 'crusty' and the nicer examples are not budget friendly.

So I'm going to be looking at importing a reasonable example from Italy, be that shipped or going over myself with a trailer.

Has anyone that's done this before got any pointers and advice on the documentation side of things? Whats the process I've imported my Evo 6 from Japan but all paperwork and registration was already done for me.

If you're interested in why a 600, I'm wanting to strip and rebuild it into either a 850tc or a 1000tcr replica - I know, I'm sorry but they're cool little cars.

I'm interested in hearing your stories if you have went to Italy and sourced your own cars, I'm sure there's some wild adventures!

Thank you
Adam

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

I bought my van from Italy in 2011. I found it on autoscout24, found a guy in PL that said to be 'fluent' in buying and importing cars from Italy. First of his lies. Nevermind.

Being in Italy he went to check / inspect the van. I've paid for this inspection.

Then all the rest was done via email / phone / post.

In fact it was a company to company purchase, because it was easier and a little bit cheaper (history of VAT difference + Polish excise duty). The Italian seller company made an intracommunity invoice without VAT and then the Polish company made an invoice with the Polish VAT for me (with his service fee). The van was registered in Italy prior to purchase, so the seller needed to go to a local traffic office to unregister the van. He got a new document (equivalent of the V5C) with the information saying that the van has been unregistered and will no longer be allowed to drive in Italy:

That was mandatory to stop the insurrance and any road taxes in Italy.

I've paid the Italian guy for the van via bank transfer (I wanted a direct payment to him to be sure he received all his money) and then the extra costs (taxes) to the Polish tax office, and finally the service fee to the Polish guy.

Then on uship.com I found a transportation company and organized everything with them, so they brought me the van to Poland on a trailer and received all the Italian documents with the van, and the Polish ones by post.

EDIT, just a fun fact When the transportation company arrived, they had a classic 500 on the truck, too I am sure I took a photo of it, but cannot find it Which is strange, as I have all the photos after I've unloaded the van. It was a strange view, the tow truck was a 5 or 6.5 t Iveco Daily with a long bed and a small classic 500 on it and behind a big red Ducato on a low bed trailer They could have loaded the 500 inside the Ducato, but apparently the van was too high to load it directly on the tow truck.

Of course both of the 'car sales experts' overexagerated a couple of things, which should have been mentionned post inspection, and should have been good points for a small price negotiations, but finally the van is OK

It was my only vehicle I bought this way (through a 'specialist') and I know I won't do that never again.

In the last 11 years I've also bought 4 cars + 1 motorbike from Germany, from their owners, part of them via eBay, the rest found on mobile.de, picked them on my own and came back on wheels (my GF's daily in September 2023) or brought them back on a rented tow truck without any single problem.

If you can do it yourself, do it Unless you'll find a reputable and really professionnal company.