vadim

In one of the previous threads discussing a diesel AMG C Coupe, someone mentioned grey market. Which made me curious as to whether it exists at all?

Does anyone know of any person who has brought a non-US spec Benz into the States? I was thinking about that at one point, when I learned how inexpensive a used CLK can be if bought in Germany and shipped over here (http://mobile.de).

mdp c230k

It used to exist but not any more due to EPA regulations and DOT certification. You can not import or register a vehicle that is not US certified for on road use. The european delivery program is for US spec cars only. To get around it you would have to have the engine smog certified and pass all the bumper and safety regulations which costs a fortune and is why no one does it anymore. Bummer, ain't it!?

vadim

Ok, but what if I import a model/trim that has been certified in the US? Say, CLK430? The instrument cluster can be converted to miles, etc. right there, in Germany, and the rest is already US-spec.

Mike T.

I think there's a lot more to it than that. For example, EU cars do not have side marker lights, but all US cars need them. Another example is the headlights, which I think are different on German versions (better beam pattern - no thanks to the DOT). Then maybe the seatbelts and possibly airbags too. Airbags because European law assumes the car's occupants will be belted and US law assumes they won't. So EU bags are sometimes smaller in volume, and won't meet US regs. I think there are some more examples, possibly in the engine as well (though EU and US emission control regs are a LOT closer than they were 10 years ago).

Why would you want an EU version CLK anyway? Well, if it was to get your hands on a supercharged 1.8 L version of the new model, I'd understand, as I don't like the Mercedes V engines at the moment. They will be greatly improved for 2004 when they go to 4 valves/cylinder and begin to get half decent fuel economy as a result (the small V6 in particular)...

vadim

There are companies in Germany that can perform the conversion.
??? never heard of that... Using seatbelts is mandatory in the US, where did you get this information from?
Why? Try this link:

http://www.mobile.de/cgi-bin/search....che=1&x=32&y=8

If you need translation, use http://babelfish.altavista.com

a super low mileage CLK430 for $33,000? I think it might be worth it, even with conversion, customs duties and transportation charges.

FrankW

such market use to exist before MB finally bring the G-wagon SUV into the U.S. market.

there are importers that use to sell the G320 for as much as the Mercedes-Benz USA ask for the G500 now.

timorgan

[QUOTE]Originally posted by vadim
[B]There are companies in Germany that can perform the conversion.

??? never heard of that... Using seatbelts is mandatory in the US, where did you get this information from?

Seat belts are not mandatory everywhere in the USA. In Texas, for example, rear passengers do not have to wear them (I think they might have actually just changed this law recently. I'm sure MB-BOB can talk more on this).

Tim

vadim

[QUOTE]Originally posted by timorgan
[B] Rear passangers don't have airbags in front of them, either. It was implied that we were talking about front passenges.

vyse

I'm not even from the States, so i wouldn't know of the laws, but assuming the statement that the airbags in Europe are smaller because the Americans assume the passenger is nto wearing seatbelt, perhaps it means that the American regulations assume that somehow, during the accident, the passenger is not using the seatbelt and therefore have larger airbags that could prevent injury even without the seatbelt? Kinda like having higher tolerance levels. Sorry, ok, the explanaiton is vague and kinda repeating it self, but i can't seem to express myself clearly today!

vadim

I have never heard of Euro aibags being smaller, in the first place. To me, that was a purely speculative statement. Any car manual of a US-spec car clearly says that airbags are NOT a replacement for seatbelts and the latter mst be fastened when driving. And yes, you can get pulled over and issued a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt in the US.

On a general note, I do know that car grey market exists in the US - how else could Nissan Skyline be brought in?

Mike T.

Time for some history?

Well, when airbags first became common in European market cars, they were often smaller so-called "Eurobags". With Eurobags, the steering wheel airbag was just a little bigger in diameter than the wheel itself, and its only purpose was to prevent a BELTED driver from impacting the steering wheel. It would not have met the US law that requires "passive" restraints, i.e. restraints that involve no action by the driver such as clicking a seatbelt on. To meet the US passive restraint requirement, a full-sized airbag would be necessary - one that is large enough to restrain an unbelted driver. Some cars had these all along, perhaps Mercedes-Benz was one of these, I don't know.

It is this passive restraint law that created the infamous "mouse-up-the-pillar" electric seatbelts in the late 1980s (for companies that were too cheap to fit airbags to their cars - such as Saturn, some GM, some Ford, all Peugeot). These stupid belts were only required in the USA because of the passive restraint law. Canada never required them. These belts only restrained the torso (the lap belts had to be attached manually, so the passive restraint law required that there be anti-submarining dash pads to passively restrain the lower body (by knee contact).

If the US passive restraint law has been repealed, please let me know...I doubt that it has, because seat belt usage laws are up to individual states so the Federal government has no choice but to assume that drivers will be unbelted. I'm sure the NHTSA website would tell you this, I'm too lazy to check.

If there are companies that specialise in converting EU models to US standards, I guess they are aware of all these pitfalls and can deal with them. Still, after purchase, conversion, shipping and duties, is there really much of a savings to be had?

speedfrk

I think the best deal would be to import a 1 yr old car from Canada due to the very favorable exchange rate. Then you would have no problems with safety requirements, etc and still get a very good price on the car.

vadim

Ah... I get it now: that's what Mike T. has been trying to steer me towards...