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Once upon a time, it was easy to import any vehicle you desired from overseas. By the mid-1980s, Americans were annually bringing in as many as 60,000 of these so-called gray-market cars, creating a thriving conversion-to-U.S.-spec industry and denting dealer sales. Ostensibly to save consumers from sloppy modifications and itself from litigation (and lost profits), the auto industry, led by Mercedes-Benz, lobbied Congress to clamp down. The Imported Vehicle Safety Compliance Act of 1988 basically ended the gray market by requiring manufacturer certification of U.S.-bound cars. Is it impossible to gray-market a car today? Officially, the government says self-imported cars are welcome. After you pay $2000 to $3000 to ship a car to the U.S., above are the rules, pitfalls, and hurdles you’ll face.
Illustration by Ryan Vulk
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