I was browsing Ebay Germany and it is sad how many and how cheap the TD wagons are!!!! 80s and 90s TD wagons with various engines!!! What does it take to bring one here? Is it possible? Thanks

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72 280SE His Majesty

The answer is..... Maybe.

Check out the Department of Transportation web-site and the EPA web-site as they have a lot of info on this and what it takes.

I do know that I was looking at bringing over a 110 Wagon once and found that some Station Wagon Mercedes cannot be imported under any circumstances. I don't know if a 123 Wagon is on that list, but any 110 or 111 or even a 108 wagon was.

The years is also important. Anything before 1986 is usually OK, but after that no diesels are allowed. At least that's the way it was a few years ago. These things change.

Good luck, and let us know what you find out.

Bottom line...if you have enough money, you can import anything.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Anything over 25 years old doesn't have to conform to Federal standards, so no problem with Customs or EPA. There may be stricter state laws pertaining to what can be registered, of course.

I wish I could remember his name, but there was a fellow about 10 years ago that did tours of Germany from a Mercedes Enthusiast perspective. It is not as easy as it used to be to grey market a car into the US, but he probably knew the ropes better than anyone.

He used to run an ad in the Star or maybe some other place. You might could google around against things like Germany Mercedes Tour or something and find the guy.

Good luck,

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Your best bet may be hooking up with a G.I., and getting that person to do it. Troops get their cars shipped back and forth all the time when they get stationed in Europe. Costs about $1,000.00 and the process is very streamlined for a soldier.

I'm not sure that would accomplish the mission.

When I left Germany in 1971, the Army shipped my car to the states no charge because I was an NCO. That did NOT allow me to bring a non US certified car back to the states. The car I had was German, but it was a US model, otherwise they would have shipped it, but there was all sorts of falderol I would have had to go through in order to register it.

In 1971 it probably wouldn't have been too big a deal to grey market a non US model, but can you imagine what it would involve today?

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I think this is the guy I was talking about. He would probably take your call and give you the rundown, but he's quite the pushy salesman, so you'll have to listen to his pitch to try to get you on one of his tours.

German Auto Tours: Contact

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Maybe they changed the regulations. IDK ? I know as of late 2002-2003, troops were taking cars over and bringing them back, all makes all models. USAA had all sorts of programs which worked in conjunction with the shipping process. That was 10 years ago, so maybe things changed. Just an idea.

Yes, they had all sorts of programs back then too, but they all had to do with getting only US equipped vehicles to the US. May very well have changed though. Bringing back a nice, stick shift MB of some sort would be a well deserved perc for a GI!

An Army friend of mine had a 250C built and drop shipped to the US. It was equipped differently than it could have been had it been ordered through US MB sales channels, but it still was a US equipped car. He still had the car when I went to visit him in New Braunfels, Texas ca. 2005 or so, albeit in not much more than parts car condition.

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

Take it from a guy that is driving on 90-day U.S. Forces temp tags, it's TOO EASY. It's best to fly over yourself so you know exactly what you're getting. You can contact shipping companies yourself, drive the car to the port and they can take it from there. Yes, it will cost you about $1000 per car, which is what i was just quoted in the last 6 months. I recommend pooling your resources though. I booked a 40' container for $4k and loaded 3 cars into it, plus lots of other goodies. Then again, I was in Germany for 3 years and accumulated a LOT of crap.

Bottom line, if the car is not U.S. spec it must have been manufactured at least 25 years before you import it. Any U.S. spec vehicle can be brought back, regardless of year.

As for service members shipping vehicles back stateside they can ship ANYTHING they want...as long as it's 25 years old and running (for the most part). This is what I just brought back:
2010 MINI Cooper S Clubman (U.S. Spec)
1985 Mercedes 280GE
1985 Austin Mini
1977 Austin Mini
2010 Mini "back-half" trailer (made it myself so it was just considered cargo and not an actual vehicle.

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-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes

If the 2010 Half-back trailer is in good enough shape it would be nice to see a photo of it. I have seen Volvo 245 wagons turned into trailers and when you stack up the price of a 'real' trailer against something like that the Half-back starts to look pretty good.

I have also seen them made out of old Chevy vans. The rear doors are cut off of one van body and then welded on to the front of another after the other van was cut off at the front doors. Lots of access and a chassis that will never bend an axle on you.

A bit of body work is necessary to make it look right, but it came in at far less than the cost of buying a similar trailer.

The trailer isn't photo worthy just yet. I've got a few other projects to complete first...like the VTEC swap into the '85 Mini. Then I'll want to pull the trailer behind it so it'll have to be done at that point.

Here's the '85 G wagon for those curious:

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-James

'85 280GE...sold
'96 Impala SS ~ 6-speed 396
'14 Cadillac Vagon. . . . . . . . . . "Life without knowledge is death in disguise." - Hans-Peter Geerdes

Well, there you go mamali!

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2001 SLK 320 six speed manual
2014 Porsche Cayenne six speed manual

Annoy a Liberal, Read the Constitution

I am a GI who has imported cars and I can tell you that EPA and DoT homologation rules still apply. Usually, the EPA guy told me, it costs about an extra $ 1,900-2,800 to do both and get it in the country.

Just telling you my experience, which is now 7 years old.

Doesn't mean you can't do it, but you do need to weigh the costs.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
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1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
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