My 110 import story ...

[Retrofit]

Just got my 110 CrewCab fresh from the docks at the Halifax harbor. Here is how I did it.

I found a decent 110 on ebay.co.uk that was advertised at the end of March. After discussing the thing with the wife and reading too many posts from DWeb and D-90 I decided to go ahead with it. I got in contact by phone with the seller and asked for all the informations I could think of. And got pretty much all the aswers and pictures I needed and after 9 to 10 days we got settled on a price tag for the 110. I was aware that I was probably paying an extra 10 to 12 % for the fact that I was not in a position to negociate too much. After that I got on a plane on my next days off and found myself in Lincoln England to have a last look at the truck before I would by it. Having talked to the seller but never actualy meeting him it was quite a leap of faith to go there not knowing with who you are actualy dealing. But I am a great believer in life. Prior to leaving I had made all my shipping arrangements for the truck, and in the unfortunate event that I would not buy the truck I would have had a 500$CDN penalty.

Turned out the 110 was as described not perfect but something strong to build upon. I had brought with me a bill of sales that I had made from the law depot UK. And also I was going to pay with travelers checks.

Once the transaction was done, the truck was picked up by a transport float trailer and was brought to the docks in Southampton where it was to board a Ro-Ro boat to make a 7 day journey to Halifax, Nova-Scotia.

Once the truck was dropped off in Halifax it was time for the paperwork nightmare. But with a good attitude and a smile on my face, the customs people of Halifax were realy nice to deal with and so were the people at the Nova-Scotia Vehicle bureau.

Finaly after having the truck cleaned and disinfected the real adventure started. The 12 hour drive from Halifax to Quebec City.

It went prety well considering the fact that I drove back with a seized alternator and not fan belt.

For now it is sitting in my driveway, I was out of town for the last week.

I will have it inspected next week and should have a licence on it by then.

If anyone needs help with the "how I did it" PM me and I will gladly supply all the info.

I will be posting pics in the upcomming weeks.

Now I just cant wait to drive it around.

Thanks for the support all.

Pat

 

[dieselrover]

Nice... that's the beauty of a 15yr import law instead of 25...

 

[JSQ]

Congratulations.

In the US or Canada if you're really willing to do the leg work and pay a little it can all be done.

but, my god, the effort.

worth it though right?

 

[AndrewClarke]

Hi Pat. Congratulations once again! Thanks also for all your time on the phone over the weekend. I've decided against picking up a vehicle in the next few weeks from the UK, as I want to put my wife in a RHD vehicle here for her to try out before I buy one myself. Pity we're not closer to Quebec!

I'm still scouring the net and asking family in Europe to keep on the lookout for a LHD D110 200tdi, so I'm sure one will show up in the radar eventually. Then like you I'll be ready to jump on a plane and ship it back.

That's intresting you got yours on eBay though. How did you deal with concurrent bidders? Sounds like you ended up buying it outside eBay. I've seen some possibilities on eBay (all RHD though) but wasn't sure how to handle the "bidding before seeing" problem.

For one example check out http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4638190871&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 for a vehicle that might have been OK. I was also following http://cgi.befr.ebay.be/land-rover-110-td-9-posti_W0QQitemZ4638589503QQcategoryZ29748QQcmdZViewItem but ?10.5k is too rich for me. Plus the timing was off.

Merci encore et f?licitations! Vous avez une belle auto.

- Andrew.

 

[TN-LR3]

is their anyway to trick U.S customs and say that a 91 LRD defender 110 crew cab is older than 25 years or is this impossible

 

[JSQ]

is their anyway to trick U.S customs and say that a 91 LRD defender 110 crew cab is older than 25 years or is this impossible

trying to "trick" customs is a good way to get burned.

 

[TN-LR3]

trying to "trick" customs is a good way to get burned.

true

 

[dormobiledisco]

As in registering it as a Series III or something? That's how a lot of them get over here. It's a hoot to read the eBay listings for those trucks..."The VIN # does not appear for a CarFax check, as this vehicle is registered as a 1974 Series III. But it's registered and insured!"

Yeah, and then you crash it into someone, and you're looking at being thrown into a deep pile of crap. Kind of like the Defenestration of Prague, except without the windows, church officials or Thirty Years War.

Wait a few years...get an early one...bring it over 100% legal. It won't be long, and we can all have all the D110s we want.

 

[Retrofit]

Congratulations.

In the US or Canada if you're really willing to do the leg work and pay a little it can all be done.

but, my god, the effort.

worth it though right?

Yes ! It was worth every phone call, every form filled, and every minutes of those 6 hours plus flight.

 

[Retrofit]

trying to "trick" customs is a good way to get burned.

Here in Canada things can go two ways when you bring a car in.

1 - The car is legit and so is the paperwork, vin and etc ... and comes in with no problems

2 - The car is not legit or missing paperwork or not the right vin etc ... then you can either ship it back to the country of origin (in this case you cannot send back to the UK because it is a PERMANENT EXPORT) or it will be destroyed (crushed) by the customs agency and you will have to pay duty on it and pay for the disposal as well ( no taking it apart to sell the parts seperatly ).

Now that makes you think...

 

[jsonova99]

Is going through a registered importer a good way to go? Seems like they will handle all of that hassle for you so that you don't get burned in the end. I'm talking about bringing in legal trucks, not D90s with sries vins on them

 

[AndrewClarke]

Sure it's probably the safest way to import a vehicle. Skytop Rovers is a registered importer, and you can pick up a 1993 Camel Trophy 110 200tdi for the low, low price of $65k.

Granted, that's a CT vehicle and I'd consider buying it if I was 4x as rich as I am now, but if all you want is a D110 you're better off buying a NAS vehicle to begin with.

Not to rub it in because I feel your pain in the US, but I have to say this makes me glad I've moved back to Canada ... of course Americans got 20x as many D110s to begin with, which is twice the vehicles per capita, and a number of "ours" have "gone south", so to speak, since then, so you have more choice than we do from that point of view if you are in the market for a NAS D110. Plus, a California vehicle will likely be in much better shape than one that's spent 15 years in Canada, Michigan or England.

 

[jsonova99]

Sure it's probably the safest way to import a vehicle. Skytop Rovers is a registered importer, and you can pick up a 1993 Camel Trophy 110 200tdi for the low, low price of $65k.

Granted, that's a CT vehicle and I'd consider buying it if I was 4x as rich as I am now, but if all you want is a D110 you're better off buying a NAS vehicle to begin with.

Not to rub it in because I feel your pain in the US, but I have to say this makes me glad I've moved back to Canada ... of course Americans got 20x as many D110s to begin with, which is twice the vehicles per capita, and a number of "ours" have "gone south", so to speak, since then, so you have more choice than we do from that point of view if you are in the market for a NAS D110. Plus, a California vehicle will likely be in much better shape than one that's spent 15 years in Canada, Michigan or England.

Yeah, but a junker 110 down here is $40k. I'm on the bandwagon to wait for 2008 when the 1983 110 is legal for import. The big questions is what kind of condition are they going to be in, and how ridiculous is the price going to be. I figure they will settle down after a few years.

 

[draaronr]

96 rover, quite checking in england, and check in Germany and Switzwerland, a lot of LHDs and the prices are fair if not cheap. Oh and I speak from experience not wishful thinking.

 

[AndrewClarke]

96 rover, quite checking in england, and check in Germany and Switzwerland, a lot of LHDs and the prices are fair if not cheap. Oh and I speak from experience not wishful thinking.

Sure, find me one please! I'll be in Holland, Germany and Switzerland in 2 weeks and would LOVE to come back with a vehicle. I have a nephew in Germany who's an engineer for Audi, in-laws all over Holland, and a sister in Switzerland and haven't turned one up yet. Granted most of those people wouldn't know a Land Rover from a turnip, but I'm looking pretty hard.

I talked to a guy this morning in Holland who has an '88 110 V8 LHD, but it's in rough shape and he suggested I not buy it. There's a '91 in eastern Germany for sale for around ?9000 but that's a fair amount of money and they didn't answer my email anyway. If you know where I can find a truck in Europe, PLEASE PLEASE email me, PM me or something because I'm looking pretty hard!

- Andrew.

 

[draaronr]

http://cgi.ebay.de/Land-Rover-110-V8-mit-Gasanlage-ehem-Feuerwehrfahrzeug_W0QQitemZ4638300826QQcategoryZ9801QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

this one is sweet.
http://cgi.ebay.de/Land-Rover-110-V8-Feuerwehr-4x4-Off-Road-Gelaendewagen_W0QQitemZ4641657422QQcategoryZ9801QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

here is autotrader germany
http://www.autotrader.nl/

also try this for all of europe
http://www.autotrader.ch/

there is no easy way to find it, unless you go yourself, or have a family/friend to help

 

[AndrewClarke]

Hey. Thanks for the links. The first one looks good but for that price I've seen '91 200tdi vehicles so it's not worth it IMHO. If I buy a petrol V8 I have to calculate the cost of conversion to diesel into my price since that's ultimately what I want. The second link didn't work.

I did just look on ebay.de again and found one about an hour from where my nephew lives that so far isn't too expensive. It's a V8 unfortunately but seems to have really low mileage so I'll call them when my German-speaking wife gets home from work. That's the ex fire engine one which is maybe the second one you sent me.

Thanks a lot for looking,
- Andrew.