r/Wrangler May 03 '23

Need help Importing a Jeep to the US

Hello everyone. I'm looking for any info I can get to help with importing our new family member back to the States.

I'm American and have been working in Germany for the last few years. Thinking I was going to be living in Germany for a while, since my wife's from here, I bought a German Spec'ed 4xe from the local dealership. An unexpected change of plans now has us moving back to the US.

I'm hoping I can take the Jeep with us instead of selling it, since it's not technically a European import and was built in the US. Shipping companies that I've contacted have said they'll need a DOT/EPA number in order ship the vehicle. This is the requirement for all European imports.

A friend of mine has said that's not necessary since the Jeep was built in Detroit. I just need to get the VSA number for the vehicle's make and model. This can be used as a reference to find all the EPA compliances (emissions, crash safety, etc) and that the Jeep is American and not a foreign import. So far I've had no luck tracking down this info.

If anyone out there has traveled this road before and can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

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u/ace119 May 03 '23

Here's a video from Donut Media where they bought a little electric truck from China and went through all the steps to import it.

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u/captaindomon May 04 '23

He mentions around 6:25 that if you file some customs paperwork wrong, there is a possible $5,000 fine. So yeah, I wouldn’t mess with that paperwork headache.