Hello all-- I'm considering trying to get a car to the US from Switzerland or Denmark. They seem to have lots of nice, low mile 244s, which I've had trouble finding in the United States. Does anybody have experience doing something like this? How would I go about it? Simply contact the seller and a shipping company, or does something more complex need to happen?



Here's a picture of one I've got my eye on.

Thanks.

 

Google is where to start. You need to check for US vehicle import regulations (safety and emissions) then you need to determine how to ship (there are car import firms which do this). Finally you should factor in the costs to see if its worth it financially.

https://www.epa.gov/importing-vehicles-and-engines

 

I have done it both ways, import and export. Right now a 25 yr old car can be imported with very little trouble, newer than that, forget it. Apart from that I have sent a couple of 240 to Sweden, rust is a big problem there and older cars don't survive.

Germany and Switzerland seem to have the best selection but they are not cheap. To look at some nice cars go to scout24 or mobile.de. They have all the info there re shipping, etc. I have been considering some Euro 940s that went there till 1998...

 

they still have to be converted to DOT headlights to be legally registered here, don't they?

and don't forget, while we had the B230F engine, europe had the B230E, with higher compression, different ECU, etc. European cars tend to be defeatured compared with US cars, a Volvo is more likely to have cloth or vinyl seats, hand crank windows, manual door locks, and less likely to have air conditioning

 

Nothing needs to be converted if a car is over 25 yrs old. The rest, yes, there is more variety when it comes to equipment, the 940 I am looking at have manual trannies, some with turbo diesels... The 240 generally are pretty bare.

 

the volvo diesels are pretty awful. a 6 cyl stretch of a VW 4 cyl diesel, thats not particularly long lived nor does it have much in the way of any other good attributes.

 

I gotta say, importing a car can be a bit of a hassle, but it's totally worth it if you find the car of your dreams. That Volvo looks sweet, and if you're having trouble finding one in the US, importing one from Europe might be your best bet.

 

Hey there!
I know this thread is a bit old, but I had to chime in because importing a Volvo from Switzerland or Denmark sounds like an awesome idea! That's a sweet looking 244 you've got your eye on.
I've never personally imported a car, but I've heard that it can be a bit of a process. From what I understand, you'll need to contact the seller and arrange for shipping. It might be worth looking into a company like https://www.crosscountrycarshipping.com/ to handle the logistics for you. One thing to keep in mind is that you'll likely have to deal with customs and import taxes, which can be a bit of a headache.