International Members - vacation from Germany to USA - do I need special plates to drive my car?

I need a few advice's and I hope you can help me.
I will come to the USA on vacation from 6/8-6/18- can't wait to see the country :hail: . I start in Chicago and then I want to drive to New York- ok, now the though part. I want to buy a WS6 in Chicago- drive with this car then to NY and from there ship it to germany.
My first question- did I need special plates to drive with the car to NY? If, where can I get them?
I need some links to find used cars- I already know autotrader.com.
I want a stock WS6 2000-02 Black, Manual with <60k miles, maybe a vert for about 18-19k$- will I find a WS6 for this price?

I hope you can help me- sorry for my english.

Thx in adance and greetings from germany

No you don't need special plates, you'll need insurance, and to pay the taxes and registration fees (and possibly go through a state required vehicle inspection), then you'll get the regular plates.
For links to sites that sell cars, you can always try the Chicago area newspapers, or you can look in the vehicles for sale section of this site, or some Chicago f body boards, or even look on ebay (you might even look at some dealer websites).
As to whether you can find one, for the price you want to pay, it seems likely you'll be able to (might not get a vert)
You could put a Vehicle wanted post on here, might have some luck with that
Good luck in your search, and welcome to tech

nice to see you have a open taste in a good car...Definitely beats driving a VW Beetle convertible...

But like as mentioned above, i think you should find what you're looking for pretty easily...All you'll need is insurance, and temporary registration...

I'd also talk to the consolate or the us ambassador,they'll direct you through everything

Thanks for the tips! Where can I get those temporary plates?

If someone read this and want's to sell his 00-02 Black WS6/M6 in june located near Illinois please send me an PM or wright in this thread.

Again thanks to all for the tips :cheers: - 3 months left

No you don't need special plates, you'll need insurance, and to pay the taxes and registration fees (and possibly go through a state required vehicle inspection), then you'll get the regular plates.

hes taking the car overseas, he dosnt need to get US plates. i wouldnt even register the car if i could.
i wouldnt pay taxes thats for sure lol

brook

Three issues:

1) find car
2) figure out insurance requirements
3) figure out registration requirements

If you want, I have a friend who might know all this stuff. Email me at john@ls1tech.com and I will forward you his email.

Thx for your help Pro Stock John!! I send you an email.

As an example, here is a black manual car for sale in Chicago:

http://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=461687

nice to see you have a open taste in a good car...Definitely beats driving a VW Beetle convertible...

But like as mentioned above, i think you should find what you're looking for pretty easily...All you'll need is insurance, and temporary registration...


yea ask what the gas prices are though?? i'm gonna say at least $3 a liter. When i was in Germany in 96-97 it was $1.50 back then :eek2:

that's why you rarely see a 8 cylinder there :drive:

Right now the gas is about $1.65 per liter. Or from AAFES at $2.85.

The problem comes with you driving it... Otherwise you wouldnt have to register it or pay taxes, not sure in those states though. Ive been around friends who ship cars to Europe from the US, but they rarely drive them, or when they do its just a temporary tag.

Gas in Finland (95 Octane) is about 1,20 euros, so almost $1.50 a liter.

And about gas mileage, on the highway my TA gets more than alot of 90s 4-bangers here (Thank you 6th).

Thx for the link John!

Gas in Germany is 1,26€ /1,50$ a liter. The car tax is very high to, about 420€ / 500$ every year for an 5.7 LS1. It's not cheap to drive an V8 in germany but I think it's worth the money! To drive an WS6 in germany is the same as driving a Ferrari- all people turn there heads when you drive around.

@Charging TA- I know that it will be easier to ship the car directly from Chicago but it will be more expensive. I have read that the transport from Chicago to New York is around 450$ also when I rent a car in Chicago and drive with it to New York it will cost 400-500$ to. So, I think it's the best way to drive the car I buy + I'm sure that the TransAm is much better as every rental car.

Thx for the link John!

Gas in Germany is 1,26€ /1,50$ a liter. The car tax is very high to, about 420€ / 500$ every year for an 5.7 LS1. It's not cheap to drive an V8 in germany but I think it's worth the money! To drive an WS6 in germany is the same as driving a Ferrari- all people turn there heads when you drive around.

@Charging TA- I know that it will be easier to ship the car directly from Chicago but it will be more expensive. I have read that the transport from Chicago to New York is around 450$ also when I rent a car in Chicago and drive with it to New York it will cost 400-500$ to. So, I think it's the best way to drive the car I buy + I'm sure that the TransAm is much better as every rental car.

Yeah I know... Whats weird is you can still bring cars newer than 96/97 over there, and cant over here (supposed to be a EU regulation)... the only way to bring a car newer than 97 (built in 96) is to bring it as a "moving vehicle", meaning you've lived and owned it in the US for 6 months, and have to keep it (cant sell it) here for another 2.5 years.

I just moved in November from Florida (after being there for the past 13 years) to Finland, was thinking about bringing a new Mustang GT or a 2003/2004 Cobra, but they are still expensive cars (considering you have to pay it off fully before bringing it over).

Edit: The day we moved the TA 400km to my house from a friends place, we stopped to get some breakfast, there was this guy standing in front of my TA, just staring, didnt say a word, just stood right there...

Thx for the link John!

Gas in Germany is 1,26€ /1,50$ a liter. The car tax is very high to, about 420€ / 500$ every year for an 5.7 LS1. It's not cheap to drive an V8 in germany but I think it's worth the money! To drive an WS6 in germany is the same as driving a Ferrari- all people turn there heads when you drive around.


Amen Brother , Fbodies and Y Bodies will clear that left lane on a Autobahn damn Quick.

RuhrPott,

Dann kannste ja mal in Cleveland vorbeischauen.
Waer schoen mal wieder mit 'nem Landsmann zu plaudern.
Viel Glueck!!

Hi meatfoam!

Wenn ich mir die karte angucke fahre wir ja auf den weg nach NY durch Ohio- koennen dich dann gerne besuchen!

Another question about the prices on autotrader.com / cars.com for example I found a 2002 WS6 for 19.800$- are the prices usually fixed prices? In germany we can act the prices down a lot when we pay cash.

You might get it down some, I wouldnt count on a whole lot though... all depends on the seller.

Was talking to a friend and he states that its the same thing for Germany, that vehicles newer than 1997 cannot be brought in/registered. Any input on this?

No, it isn't a problem to import a car newer than 1997 here in germany. But as far as I know cars newer then 2000 must be smog legal "Euro3/4" otherwise you can't import then. But I think every US car reached at least Euro3- the 2000-2002 TA/Camaros are smog legal Euro3.

Check out www.autotrader.com and use 60618 as the area code, and do a 200 mile search. I assume the dealers are usually $1000 high. Mileage will have a huge effect on price.

Gas prices are [almost] the same all over western Europe.

5.5 - 5.7$ per (US) gallon although I think the British isles are a little bit more expensive with almost 6$ per gallon. So now You know why we are so interested in developing the use of ethanol as fuel.

You should get a 30 day tag if you buy the car from a dealer. If you have that then you wont even have to get the car registered if your not going to be here over a month.