Hi all !

[yano]

Hello felow boxes on wheels lovers !
Long time lurker , i finallly decide to do my coming out .
I am a suzuki lj lover since i can remember (I'm 43 years old) .
But lately i convinced my wife that WE would need a bigger rig than a LJ to explore the "new contient" .
We lived in Miami 12 years , returned in France for 7 (our home country) but now our green card is up
and we are taking it (INS finally decided after 10 years and 7 month that it was our turn !) .
Soooo we are moving back to the sunshine state this summer (work).
Alright , to get to the point , during the coming year or so i will be in the hunt of a Volvo C303 if i cannot put my hands on a C304
(i know they are kind of hard to come by).
I have no pre set mind on either getting in the US or in Europe .
I am looking for a clean rig , aluzink , with its maintenance book if possible .
Hey , i love pinzs too ! but the TGB is my favorite .
If you guys see one available , please do not hesitate to PM .
I advance , thx a lot .

[GenevaPinz]

Hi Yano,
Welcome to the forum and good luck with the upcoming move and with your search for a Volvo!

One thing that comes to mind: if you buy in Europe and move to the US immediately after, be careful with tax issues. I don't know how it goes exactly for EU to US moves, but for moves between EU countries, when changing your main residence you can only take your vehicles with you as part of your personal belongings (so free of tax) if you have owned them for at least 6 months before your move. So you may want to check what the US Customs say about this this before pulling the trigger on a purchase.

[yano]

Well this is it .
I bought a 304 .
It is on its way to me from Poland ans will arrive very soon ..
I will update with pictures of course .
Thx for the tip Geneva Pinz , since i discover that duties on trucks are 25% !

Now i would need input from guys who imported their own thruck in the US :
2 options for me :

I leave the truck as is it is administratively : Swedish title , bill of sale and store it till May 2018 (or earlier) to export to the US it as the french authorities allows me to .
Then i ship it in a container as part of "personnal effects" (duty free) .
My shipper says : "the custom officer will find not consistent enought the fact that you do not have a title to your name" (i guess to estimate the taxable value of the truck)
i don't mind having to pay a lil taxes (we are use to 20% here in France) ... i just don't want my truck to be on hold at the border .

Or , a safer route but more expensive :

I title the truck to my name here in France first .
Meaning : technical inspection needs to be spotless (Since i would temporary title it as antique here ).
Getting a conformity certificate from volvo .
File for antique vehicle plate (great since with this you go around the certified translation of all the trucks documents ... you can even tag a truck with no title as long
as you have a bill of sale )
Fees and taxes on the horse power from the engine of the truck (eventhough it is diveded by 2 since it is over 10 years old) .

What was your experience with the customs officer at the border guys ?

In advance , many thx !