Reliable transport California to UK

[Bagspacked]

Hi
Does anyone know of a reliable company to use to transport a 280sl from California to London, United Kingdom.

I’m guessing someone here has used a company before. Looking for a reasonable quote but really important to find someone trustworthy
Thanks

[Cees Klumper]

I have had great result with Direct Express Inc (California) when I shipped a 1973 El Camino to The Netherlands from the US. Chris Ortiz is one of the guys there.

[JamesL]

Kingstown. Shipping.
Everyone I know who’s shipped from the US to UK/Ireland has used Kingstown and been really happy, as well as been happy with the costs. I spend too much time on an old Porsche forum and quite a few cars come this way from the US

Kingstown  use local “counter parties” in (in your case) LA but handle everything including Duties this end.
https://www.kingstown-shipping.co.uk/

[Bagspacked]

Great guys thanks. Just curious if a classic car were to be have been exported from the us to Europe and returned several years later, is there customs and tax payable in the US? I imagine some taxes will have to be paid but just wondering if any exemptions exist to bring that cost down

[Cees Klumper]

Many if not most countries have tax/duty exemptions for cars that are the property of people moving. I.e. when we moved from Holland to Switzerland, there was no tax due on the 3 cars we moved with us, and then again no tax on those cars when we subsequently moved to France. I reckon if I shipped my Pagoda here now to the US, I again would not need to pay import duty or tax, since I own this car since 1999. Most countries do require you own the car for at least some reasonable time before the move, e.g. 6 months, to prevent opportunistic behavior.

[mdsalemi]

...I reckon if I shipped my Pagoda here now to the US, I again would not need to pay import duty or tax, since I own this car since 1999...

Well...yes, and so. Sort of.

Depending on the state you live in or where you register your car, you will indeed have taxes to pay, and some of them rather substantial depending on the value of the car.

Massachusetts has an excise tax on cars registered, which is paid annually. Connecticut taxes vehicles as personal property, and this can be substantial. In 1979, when I bought a BMW 320i for $11,600, the personal property tax in CT was going to be near $1,000. I quickly re-registered the car in my sister's name in NY specifically to avoid that tax which I couldn't afford. New York is gregarious in collecting sales taxes. When my aunt leased her SLK350 in 2015, she had legally changed her residence from NY to MA...but was in the transition process as her home in NY was prepared for sale. Mercedes-Benz financial didn't like the idea that her mail was still going to NY, and sent her a bill for the NY sales tax on the car "to be applied to the next lease payment"; it was 8.63% which was going to be upwards of $5,000. they didn't seem to care that she had a Massachusetts driver's license and legal residence there. Took a lot of phone calls on my part to convince them otherwise. There's a personal property tax on cars here in NC, but not in SC across the nearby border. That makes it a bit less costly to live in SC.

And, Classic or antique vehicles are subject to a 2.5% duty rate on import to the USA from most countries. From Canada, zero duty.