I bought my bus without traveling to the US to see it. I'm no expert in heavy vehicles or big diesels, so little point in spending £1000 going to look at it and kick the tyres.
In order to reduce the risk of buying a complete turkey I took a number of steps:-
Other sources inlcude:-
I would suggest buying from a US Dealer who understands how to export a vehicle. In essence there is a trail of documents required and 3rd parties to deal with. I didn't have any significant issues (other than not understanding the whole process before I started)
The following 3rd parties are involved:-
US Dealer - I used Peter LaBarge at Quality Bus Service http://www.qualitybusservice.com/usedbuses
School District Transportation Dept - I phoned them up to check the bus was OK when they disposed of it
US Vehicle Tester (I used Lemonsquad.com who do a fixed price survey)
Authorised driver to deliver to US Port (I used Paul Konstantinos 4konstantinos@gmail.com 315-414-9669)
US Shipping Agent - I used ATI http://shippingati.com/ who deal with the shipping insurer (Zurich) and the Shipping Line (K-Line)
Port Escort Agency - The driver may need to be escorted onto the Port (some regulations called TWIC)
Shipping Line (K Line) - I never had any direct dealings with them
Shipping Insurance (Zurich) - I never had any direct dealings with them. Arranged via US Shipping Agent
UK Customs Clearance Agent - I used UK Import Services https://www.ukimportservices.com/ ) who deal with HMRC re VAT and duty as well handling import paperwork. Contact is lee.willingham@ukimportservices.com
UK Insurance Agent - I used Adrian Flux with a UK policy via Equity Red Star) who provide a cover note to allow you drive in the UK (you have to get it back from Southampton docks)
DVSA (was called VOSA) - who test whether the bus meets UK Regulations (as well as run MOT process)
DVLA - who (eventually) issue the V5 Registration document and a UK Registration Number
You will need to provide a Digit Classification code. I used 8702101900 – 16% Duty
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/8702901900
In order to reduce the risk of buying a complete turkey I took a number of steps:-
- Get the seller to send you hi-res pictures and videos of everything (inside and out) - lots of them! Do you trust them?
- I posted the pictures to the Skoolie.net forum http://www.skoolie.net/forums/ and asked for an opinion. In summary the answer I got back was "rust looks worse than it probably is"
- Use a third party to give you an independent opinion of things like brakes, gears, engine noise etc that are hard to judge from photo/video
- Call the School district where the bus came from and talk to whoever maintained it
Other sources inlcude:-
- eBay
- Craigslist
- Auctions (not sure how you would do this without being there in person)
I would suggest buying from a US Dealer who understands how to export a vehicle. In essence there is a trail of documents required and 3rd parties to deal with. I didn't have any significant issues (other than not understanding the whole process before I started)
The following 3rd parties are involved:-
US Dealer - I used Peter LaBarge at Quality Bus Service http://www.qualitybusservice.com/usedbuses
School District Transportation Dept - I phoned them up to check the bus was OK when they disposed of it
US Vehicle Tester (I used Lemonsquad.com who do a fixed price survey)
Authorised driver to deliver to US Port (I used Paul Konstantinos 4konstantinos@gmail.com 315-414-9669)
US Shipping Agent - I used ATI http://shippingati.com/ who deal with the shipping insurer (Zurich) and the Shipping Line (K-Line)
Port Escort Agency - The driver may need to be escorted onto the Port (some regulations called TWIC)
Shipping Line (K Line) - I never had any direct dealings with them
Shipping Insurance (Zurich) - I never had any direct dealings with them. Arranged via US Shipping Agent
UK Customs Clearance Agent - I used UK Import Services https://www.ukimportservices.com/ ) who deal with HMRC re VAT and duty as well handling import paperwork. Contact is lee.willingham@ukimportservices.com
UK Insurance Agent - I used Adrian Flux with a UK policy via Equity Red Star) who provide a cover note to allow you drive in the UK (you have to get it back from Southampton docks)
DVSA (was called VOSA) - who test whether the bus meets UK Regulations (as well as run MOT process)
DVLA - who (eventually) issue the V5 Registration document and a UK Registration Number
You will need to provide a Digit Classification code. I used 8702101900 – 16% Duty
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/8702901900
This was one of the video clips the dealer sent me...
