Hello!

[neilbardsley]

+3 for Kingston Shipping

[barryb]

Hi

Shipped 3 cars with Kingston, they sorted the 5% no problem. Great guys to work with and reasonable costs.

Barry

[kvinyl]

Can also recommend Kingstown, have shipped with them three times now and they are a pleasure to deal with, they know their trade and will be working for you rather than HMRC

[vwgillybilly]

BIG shout for Kingstown here too.

They brought my 356 in from Toronto which isn't he best place to ship from, however the service was fantastic, the price was very competitive & the whole thing took about 2 1/2 weeks from initiation to arrival.

The £50 customs fee is money well spent!

Gill.

[Kneeslider]

OK, progress report...

I've managed to get a quote from Kingstown, and things are looking good. Any ideas about money transfers to the USA?

[kvinyl]

Re. money transfers your bank will organise that quite easily for you. Who you send it to is another thing...
Each time I sent my transfer to the seller directly, but not after a friend based in California had travelled to see and look over the car, prove it exists, prove the seller exists(!) and just get a general vibe. You are at the mercy of the honesty of the seller if you send them funds, luckily I dealt with honest sellers each time.

I've heard of others using an Escrow service or perhaps sending the money to the shippers who will release funds to the seller after the car arrives at the docks. It's all down to your own comfort level I guess. I'd stay away from Western Union though..!

[Dave Lane]

Yes and another Heads up for Kingstown shipping Fan very very helpful reccomended and also sorted the 5%..
I paid $1000 s via Paypal to the seller as holding deposit and the balance via wire transfer direct.

[Kneeslider]

Interesting...

Been doing a little due dilligence on the seller, and found one bad review. OK, not really the end of the world, but I've asked him for testamonials from Europeans who have bought cars from him, and so far nothing, but I have just had an email saying that he has another offer for the car... Hmmm.

[Bootsy]

Better to be safe.

[Kneeslider]

Right, I'm not about to lay out a considerable quantity of cash to someone who isn't ticking all my boxes. Time for him to come up with what I want, or he can sell it to someone else.

Harumph!

[roy mawbey]

What Johnny said about vendor is worth looking into. Always best to make a check. Either on http://www.thesamba.com (its free ) or http://www.porsche356registry.com (here you can't post without joining but you can look on and make searches putting the vendors name in.)

I have seen this name come up and remember, you are a long way away. Buying a 356 without seeing it or having a inspection by a 356 specialist is taking more than a chance. Gearbox and engine and right down to steering and brakes need to be assessed. I have seen far worse undersides on photo's but as said, without pushing and prodding.??

Its a lot of money you need to be sure. I would advise only a 356 guy to look though if you decide to go ahead. I presume you have looked at the PRS, KK, and Roger Bray sites? the sale prices might be little higher than the £21K but you have to consider the shipping and taxes from the States if you buy from there. ( Sure you can get a good car from over there much more chance if its from certain States like parts of Calafornia or Arizona or even Nevada.

Finally, of course the majority of cars for sale over here have come over already from the States and are LHD. At least though you can see what you are buying first hand still though with someone that knows them!!!

Spent many happy years on bikes, wouldn't like to hear you came a cropper.

Roy


Roy

[Phil Parry]

David, slipslide and Marcus are bang on. It will cost you 5% plus £50 for a BTI ruling and, yes, use Kingstown. Good luck!

[neilbardsley]

What Johnny said about vendor is worth looking into. Always best to make a check. Either on http://www.thesamba.com (its free ) or http://www.porsche356registry.com (here you can't post without joining but you can look on and make searches putting the vendors name in.)

I have seen this name come up and remember, you are a long way away. Buying a 356 without seeing it or having a inspection by a 356 specialist is taking more than a chance. Gearbox and engine and right down to steering and brakes need to be assessed. I have seen far worse undersides on photo's but as said, without pushing and prodding.??

Its a lot of money you need to be sure. I would advise only a 356 guy to look though if you decide to go ahead. I presume you have looked at the PRS, KK, and Roger Bray sites? the sale prices might be little higher than the £21K but you have to consider the shipping and taxes from the States if you buy from there. ( Sure you can get a good car from over there much more chance if its from certain States like parts of Calafornia or Arizona or even Nevada.

Finally, of course the majority of cars for sale over here have come over already from the States and are LHD. At least though you can see what you are buying first hand still though with someone that knows them!!!

Spent many happy years on bikes, wouldn't like to hear you came a cropper.

Roy


Roy

Roy, as always, makes sense but I think there is a discount to be had when buying from the states so don't be put off. However, really worth having a PPI. A couple of us on here are registry members so happy to try and source somebody to do this for you if needed.

You might be a little shocked by the price of repairs/parts on 356 v vw? For example, some on here just had a quote of £10k for an engine rebuild so it's very useful to know if those is on the way out!

[Kneeslider]

Wow, 10k for an engine rebuild... Maybe I should go into business? I've built quite a few desmo valve Ducati engines in my time (the later belt driven cam ones, not the earlier bevel drive ones), as well as cutting my teeth on Beetle engines about 20 years ago. The last Beetle engine I had anything to do with was for a mate, who owns a Taylor Monoplane, which was a 1641cc (originally 1600) single port ex Type2 motor, with chain drive to a pair of magnetos...

Anyway, I digress. I have now received more info, and a couple of testamonials, so I've made the seller an offer... Gulp!

[Mike Smith]

The Engine Build Cost depends entirely about, what you start with and the customer`s idea of what he/she wants
Variations of specification and the Cosmetic finish required, affect the cost considerably
Shasta Piston/ Cylinder sets at £1400 and a Scat Crank at £1200 and you have already spent 25% of your £10,000 budget (approx. prices only quoted)
Assembling the motor is the cheapest part of the re-build

Engine build costs are made up of :-

Labour - Cleaning Parts – (Takes time)
Labour – Measuring Case – (How many people have got the Instruments)
Specialist Sub-Contract Work (Grinding + Balancing+ Head Work)
Labour - Delivering and Collecting Sub-contract work – (Lots of running around)
Parts (The most expensive part – depending what you start with)
Painting - Fan Housing and Tinware – (Fan Housing can take a lot of time if dented etc)
Plating (Not an expensive Item)
Dynamo Re-build (To re-plate the case means re-building the Dynamo)
Carb.Re-build (Not much point in Building a Motor and putting worn out carbs on it)
Distributer Re-build (Same comment as the Carbs.)
Pump Re-build (Same comment as the Carb.)
Labour – Assemble motor – (the easy bit)
Labour – Replacing all the Tin and Accessories back onto the motor – (Takes time)
Labour – Run motor and set Carbs – (Takes time)