Shipping my "Middle Eastern" Ferrari to the US

East320,

Where are you shipping it from?

Mike in Kuwait

 

Do you mind telling us what car you're thinking of exporting to the US?

 

You definitely CAN import a Ferrari into the US. BUT, it will be a bit of a headache with all the paperwork that has to be done, and will cost you several thousand $. In order for cars to be road legal in the US, they have to be DOT (Department of Transportation) certified, and that means matching all necessary requirements in terms of safety features, turn signals, etc... Given that US and rest of the world Ferraris are virtually the same, you will not have to do any major modifications.

Just remember that the factory warranty does NOT cover a non-US car in the US. Also, non-US cars tend to fetch lower selling prices than same spec/model US cars, so don't bet on making money on the car if you're planning on sending it there to sell.

 

I understood that most Ferraris delivered to the Middle East were "US" spec cars anyway. So importing them into the US should not be too difficult.


Never done it.. thats just what I heard!!

 

IIRC Kuwaiti ones are 'Euro-Spec'. And only the newer UAE ones were 'US-Spec'. His car is pretty much 'Euro'.

So you'll have to conform to US EPA/DOT regulations and have it converted. I'd look into it carefully because it might cost you a fair bit to get the modifications/related-paperwork done.

EDIT: Just my input this, more experienced members can add to it. Although Hiper pretty much nailed it!

 

It's almost impossible to do what you want to do with a Kuwaiti car. Importing a 550 Euro-spec into the US was attempted but i don't recall anybody who actually succeeded.

 

Actually its been done if I'm correct. I know of an example I need to dig-up. Let me get more details.

 

As I said in my previous post, you can definitely import a Euro spec car into the US. I have a friend who imported his 550 from Kuwait into the US about 8 years ago.

 

Ferraris in the middle east or at least in the GCC countries are ''GCC'' spec and not US spec. This has been discussed before. They might be so close to US spec to qualify them as US spec but then again they might not I can't guarantee that fact but I am sure that even the chassis numbers are different than us spec cars.

 

The VIN numbers ARE different... my 348 had a "T" in the country code (meaning 'Middle East') and they are not US Spec. Most of the cars in Kuwait are now "B" Code cars, as Ferrari apparently stopped using the "T" designator some years ago, and are sending Euro spec cars here, except for Dubai.

I have heard, but not yet confirmed, that the dealership in Dubai only sells US Spec cars.

Mike in Kuwait

 

Right now GCC specs are back. Similar to the US specs as they have side markers too but the tachos are in kph and there is the 120kmh warning beep, some other things too.

 

Out of curiosity what type of octane rating do ferraris in the US run on? My UK ferrari needs to run on super unleaded of at least a 97 ron rating. In dubai and Saudi Arabia the highest rating is 95.

 

If you search ''middle east spec'' and read a thread by a fellow ferrari chat member TAREK he takes delivery of a scuderia and it might shed some light on the questions of US spec or not. This is a section of the thread that I copy pasted:

Quote:
Originally Posted by MalibuGuy
Hi Tarek-
I have some driving questions about Egypt. BTW I visited Egypt as a boy for 2 weeks traveling from Alexandria to Aswan. I really enjoyed the sights and experience.
Are Egyptian Ferrari's Euro spec or US spec cars? I have heard that Dubai cars are US spec.
Is the speedo in KPH or MPH?
Finally, how are the roads in Egypt? How fast can one legally drive?

Hi ...........I'm glad you enjoyed Egypt, you seem to have covered it all.

Till 2007 our Ferraris were Euro spec. Starting 2008 our Ferraris have become Middle East spec.......the VIN number now contains the designation letter "T" which stands for Middle East. Ferraris imported into Dubai will have the same letter "T" in the VIN. A US-model Ferrari would have an "A" instead. A Euro spec Ferrari would have the letter "B" which my 2007 F430 has. The speed in both my Ferraris is in KPH.



I hope this helps a little. the thread is over 20 pages but it's worth a read and there are some nice pictures in it too.

Regards,
BANANA.

 

From the Technical Q&A forum, might be useful.