Frequently Asked Questions

As a general rule, no. We are classic vehicles specialists and we offer service and repair work on vehicles built before 2000. That said, you are always welcome to ask and if we can help, we will.

Of course! The care and restoration and customization of classic vehicles is our specialty.

We have no idea. If we can inspect your car first we will have a better idea, but even then we won't be able to commit to a specific final price. This is the nature of restorations. Here is what you should know before you start a restoration:

1) A restoration requires commitment. From us, sure, but also from you. Every restoration is expensive and time consuming. There will be surprises. Setbacks. Frustrations. It is part of the experience and makes the final result even more rewarding, but don't start a restoration unless you are prepared to see it through.

2) There is no way to restore anything based on the value of the vehicle. The restoration of a SEAT 600 can require as much money and time as the restoration of a Fiat Jolly, but one is worth 6000€ when it is finished and the other is worth 60.000€. The value of the car at the end is often irrelevant to the cost and effort required to restore it.

3) We are a highly respected restoration shop because we are fair and honest and our pricing is extremely lean. But we never work for free, and we charge for every hour of our time, and we charge for all parts and supplies we need to buy. That is the nature of a restoration business. So if we find surprises when we start taking your vehicle apart, good or bad, the final price of the restoration will reflect those surprises. Maybe the gearbox is excellent and we thought we would need to rebuild it! Fantastic! The final price will be lower than we expected. Maybe the rust in the chassis is way worse than we thought, and it will require another 30 hours to repair. Drat! The final price will be more expensive. If you are not okay with this, do not start a restoration.

With few exceptions, we are not selling ‘restored’ vehicles at all. We are selling used vehicles. Even when we custom build them for ourselves or for customers, refinish and repaint the bodywork, reupholster the interiors, fit new wheels and tires, fully check them mechanically, the final result is still a used vehicle. Great running and driving, safe, reliable and honest, but you can expect them to have many of the characteristics of any 25, 30, 35 year old four-wheel-drive vehicle, both good and bad. Are you looking for more of a restored vehicle? We can certainly restore one for you to your specifications, and have done so in the past. Body-off strip and restore, with rebuilds of the major mechanical components, and much, much more. In general, this type of comprehensive overhaul is around four times the price of our normal used vehicle builds.

Our “standard” shipping is all-inclusive, meaning they include shipping to the USA, customs paperwork on both sides of the trip, US Customs duties, clearance and release, port fees, brokerage charges, etc. You just pick the car up at the port and take it home. (NOTE: Applicable tariffs are NOT included, and are the responsibility of the buyer. See below.)

Standard shipping costs 4450€ and includes the above services, with your car delivered via “RoRo” dedicated car-carrying ship to either New York, NY, Baltimore, MD, or Houston, TX. It is all-inclusive (IMPORTANT: SEE TARIFF ADENDUM, BELOW) so you just pick the car up at the port and take it home. Standard shipping usually averages around 8 weeks for delivery and clearance in the USA.

Shipping is also available to pretty much any port in the world, but prices vary depending on specific locations and various processes in the destination country. Contact us to discuss the best options for your needs.

A WORD ABOUT TARIFFS: The US government has recently imposed tariffs on imported vehicles, and while these new tariffs DO NOT apply to pre-owned classic cars and trucks, we have no control over what tariffs, if any, might be applied in the future. Any such tariffs - if levied - would be in addition to the standard shipping and duty prices listed here, and would be the responsibility of the buyer. Contact us for up-to-the-minute news on the status of special tariffs.

Shipping covers delivery to the port of departure here in Spain, export paperwork and fees, shipping, importation paperwork and duties in the USA, port fees, customs brokerage fees... everything except tariffs if they apply. (SEE SPECIAL TARIFF INFORMATION BELOW.)  You just collect the car at the port and take it home.  Full-coverage cargo insurance, which is optional.

A WORD ABOUT TARIFFS: The US government has recently imposed tariffs on imported vehicles, and while these new tariffs DO NOT apply to pre-owned classic cars and trucks, we have no control over what tariffs, if any, might be applied in the future. Any such tariffs - if levied - would be in addition to the standard shipping and duty prices listed here, and would be the responsibility of the buyer. Contact us for up-to-the-minute news on the status of special tariffs.

Sure.  We currently offer Personalized shipping to Halifax. Contact us for current pricing.

Sure.  We can ship the car to you anywhere in the world.  We might not always be able to help with customs at the destination, depending on your location, but drop us a line with your needs and we can get a quote together for getting it to you.

We can certainly provide door-to-door delivery anywhere in the world, but it is difficult to provide a precise quote in advance.  It depends on where you are and how much local trucking costs to get the car from the closest port to you door.  If live in Spain, or close to one of our destination ports, it's usually quite reasonable.  A few hundred euros or thereabouts.  If you live very far from one of our destination ports, it can be considerably more expensive to truck it your driveway.  Contact us with exactly where you live and we can give you a rough idea.

Well, a lot depends on the destination and the time of the year, but the boat itself takes around three weeks to sail from Spain to any of the destination ports in the USA listed above.  And boats leave about every 3 weeks.  Then figure a week on either side for customs. So assume somewhere around 7-8 weeks from the time we receive payment, as a rough figure, until the car is cleared and released at its destination.  That said, we don't run a shipping line, and we are at the mercy of when boats sail, etc. Once we have the name of the boat your vehicle is booked onto, we'll give it to you so you can track the boat online, using one of the many vessel tracking websites on the internet.

No, of course not.  If you would rather handle the shipping yourself, you are more than welcome to do that.

We can’’t. No one can. We list the indicated mileage, and we inspect each vehicle thoroughly and service it fully, and make sure it is healthy and strong and in proper working order when it leaves us. With vehicles which are 25, 40, even 60 years old? Many of which have 5-digit odometers? No one can verify mileage 100%. But after a certain amount of time mileage isn’t important anymore. Condition is the only thing which truly matters, and servicing and repair takes care of that.

No.  In almost all cases, importing a vehicle which was manufactured less than 25 years ago is illegal and we do not import such vehicles.

No, regrettably we are no longer offering this service. We only ship the cars we own and sell from our facility here in Pedreguer.

These 'horror stories' are common internet fodder, and serve to discourage many people from importing a vehicle from another country.  The bottom line though, is that the laws are very clear, and the process of legal importation is a safe and proven one.  The only time anyone has any difficulty is if they are trying to operate illegally, swapping VIN plates or doing something unethical to scheme the system.  We only import vehicles which are 100% legal for import to the USA, with clear, legal paperwork, and we only import them 100% by-the-book, using an established Customs Broker in the USA. Playing by the rules makes everything very straightforward, and we play by the rules.

Sure!  If you would like to drive your vehicle in Europe before shipping it to your home, you are more than welcome to do so.  You can come to our facility in Pedreguer, Spain (about an hour south of Valencia), collect the car, and drive it anywhere you like, for up to 60 days, entirely legally.  When you are finished touring, you simply drop the vehicle back off at our facility in Denia and we will get it to the port and ship it to the USA for you. We can even arrange bespoke vintage vehicle holidays for you, tailored to your specific needs and passions. Want to tour the Spanish wine regions? Visit historic sites? Do some overlanding and off-grid camping? Let us know and we’ll make it happen.

We primarily ship your vehicle using a RoRo boat. Each vehicle is driven onto the boat and secured carefully in its own location. It is, by the large, the same way major auto manufacturers ship new cars around the world, and damage with RoRo shipping is exceedingly rare.  That said, we offer cargo transport insurance, which covers the vehicle against total loss, from port to port, for 450€ additional. It is an optional service, but if you do not purchase the cargo insurance, damage liability of the shipper is typically limited to US$500.

Payment is by bank transfer. When you wish to buy a vehicle, contact us and we will provide you with a pro-forma invoice with the total cost, including shipping, and complete payment details. Once payment is received, we will ship the vehicle to you.

In 49 states, the process is quite easy and you will almost invariably walk into your local Division of Motor Vehicles and walk out with your title and registration that same day.  (For California buyers, see separate question below.)  When you buy a vehicle from us, we send the paperwork to you separately, by UPS international express, as well as clear, simple instructions and advice for obtaining the title.  All the vehicle documentation will arrive in your hands before the vehicle gets to the port.  With this paperwork, and the documents you receive from the relevant government agencies when the car is cleared through the port of your choice, you will have everything you need to title and register the vehicle.  We will walk you through the whole process.  It is not complicated, 100% legal and correct, and we are always here to help if needed. We have shipped nearly 300 vehicles to USA buyers at this point, and every buyer has received their title and tags easily, in short order.

The answer depends on what type of vehicle we are talking about.  We cannot stay abreast of all the various laws in every US state, but our understanding is that for 1980 and newer diesels, or for 1969 and newer petrol-powered cars, the process becomes onerous.  Many people have different interpretations of the California laws regarding this, and many people have had wildly divergent personal experiences registering imported vehicles in California, so if you plan to register in California it would be wise to consult with knowledgeable professionals in the State of California before buying a car from us.  Registering it in any other state, however, will not be a problem. For more information on direct California registration of imports, see here

No. The process works the same as it does with any used vehicle purchase anywhere. Nothing leaves our shop until it is paid for in full. In the case of international delivery the process is also handcuffed by the laws relating to such shipments. By law, when a vehicle leaves Spain for any other country, it must be deregistered from the Spanish traffic authority. As a result, when it leaves Spain it has been expunged from the traffic system here, and when it is cleared through Customs in its new country, the buyer is the legal consignee. If you decide at a later date you don’t want the vehicle for some reason, legitimate or otherwise, we could not recall it. All your due diligence must be done before the vehicle leaves our shop, and we will help in any way possible to allow you to know precisely what you are buying.

Unfortunately, no. We do not accept deposits or hold vehicles for people.

No. By definition, the vehicles we are selling, whether totally original or refurbished specifically for you, are vintage vehicles, and in most cases vintage off roaders. 4x4’s that are usually at least a quarter century old and many times far older. We buy only the best vehicles we can find, and we do everything in our power to ensure they are ready for daily use when they leave our facility, including a full mechanical check over by a qualified and experienced technician, but they are still vintage vehicles and they will always be vintage vehicles. Like any vintage vehicle, no warranty is provided. For more on this, see "our “Harsh Truths” page, here.

They are as reliable as you would expect a 25, 35 or 45 year old vehicle to be. We start with good, honest vehicles in fully operating condition, and during our builds we check and service and attend to any issues that are noted. And before your car leaves our facility for the port it passes the Spanish national ITV inspection, which is a rigorous safety inspection not dissimilar to the German TüV inspection. When our vehicles leave, they are in good condition, period. But they are old vehicles, and old vehicles can (and will) break down and require servicing and maintenance and repairs. When? No one has a crystal ball. If you require the type of “hands off” reliability you would expect of a new Toyota, you should buy a new Toyota not a 40 year old Land Rover. But in the framework of vintage vehicles? We take enormous steps and spend a great deal of time and money making sure they are healthy and reliable and ready-to-drive-anywhere as we can make them.