Importing car...Part II
Went to a car shop on the next day of port pickup. Guy told us that with the fog light we had to go to a Mitsubishi shop cuz it requires changing the settings in the computer. However, they can adjust the angle of our front "beam". (that's how they call the head lights)
Came home, searched for Mitsubishi shops. Closest one is in Amstelveen (about 20 min drive). However, they only have time to look at our car after 1 week. Second closest one is in Aalmsmeer (about 30 min drive). The guy said over the phone that they can look at our car immediately, so we drove over. If where we live is semi-suburb, Aalmsmeer is suburb suburb. If you ride metro out of Amsterdam central, within 20 min you can see cattles, sheeps, etc. After looking at the lights and stuff, the guy told us that they needed to order parts and that we should take the car to another shop. However, we shouldn't worry. The other shop is operated by his brother. It's all family business. He said the other shop can take even better care of our car. This other shop is in Mijdrecht, about 20 min away from Aalmsmeer. The older brother said there's a bus that can take us to Amsterdam from Mijdrecht if we don't want to rent a car. So we drove to Mijdrecht. It is a bigger shop. The younger brother doesn't speak much Engels. He got the sales rep to translate for him. They didn't have time to look at our car immediately, but they'll look at it and give us a quote in a couple days. Since that solves our current parking problem, we were happy to leave the car with him. We took the bus back (about 40 min ride). Got off at Ikea and had the discount lunches at Ikea.
We later found out that we can apply for a parking permit with a foreign license. We decided to get the permit before we take our car back from the shop.
Several days later, got a phone call from the shop. The shop claimed that fixing all the problems would cost us about 950 euro! It's that expensive because they would need to replace the head lights. That's a very big item. We were very skeptical and did some search on the internet. There's even a youtube video showing you how to adjust your head lights angle yourself. Not to mention the very first shop we went to told us that they could adjust the angle of the lights. We decided to call the shop back and asked more in detail. If just installing the tail mist lamp (actually, we have the mist lamp. they just needed to change something in the computers so it can be turned on and off. weird eh?), it's about 270 euro. They could also just adjust the head lights angle, but they insisted that we must replace the head lights. They even asked for the RDW number to confirm that we needed to replace the lamps. Anyways, we insisted that since the check list only said to adjust the angle, we will only adjust the angle. If they ask us to replace the lamp, then we will think about it. (we also have the appointment from the Amstelveen in a week. for such a big item, I'd want to have a second opinion). Mumbling, the guy said they will do as the list says without replacing the front lamps. They'd call us when the car is ready.
A couple days later, the shop called and said car is ready. We went to RDW to get the permit in the morning and picked up the car in the afternoon. The guy was still complaining about that we must get the front lamps replaced, and how they called the government and we wouldn't pass the APK test. For the mist lamp, they installed a small button inside the car just below dashboard and above the hood lever. We asked them to show us why they think we needed to replace the head lights. The technician showed us with another car that satisfies the regulation. We could see why they think we need to replace the lamp, but if it's not on the list (esp. when it's such a big item), we'd rather take our chances.
We went to RDW again the following day. The inspection went smoothly. The technician didn't ask for anything that's not the list. We paid the 26 euro and were sent to the customs. (What do you know? it's right next door under the same roof with the same waiting area.) The customs we are required to pay is called BPM. It's different from custom import duty, but the same import exempt can waive us the BPM duty. BPM is required of all "new" cars entering EU. It's based on the vehicle CO2 emission and the car valuation. I remember checking the figures and it's something humongous. Luckily we're exempt. However, at the customs window, the guy told us that we still need to fill out the forms and calculated the BPM we needed to pay even if we weren't required to pay. He gave us a list with some websites showing us how to do the calculations.
We could only come home. Did the calculations myself and found out that if we had to pay BPM, it'd be at least 7k euro. The procedure isn't rocket science. The hardest part was to find the valuation on my car especially when this particular model isn't marketed in Europe. I had to use its value in USD and made the currency conversion.
We went back to the customs several days later, and finally everything is good. Now we just need to wait for the letter with our registration number (to come in a week) so we can take it to a shop to make the plates. THEN I can mail back my New York plates to DMV. At least the difficult part is all over now.
Came home, searched for Mitsubishi shops. Closest one is in Amstelveen (about 20 min drive). However, they only have time to look at our car after 1 week. Second closest one is in Aalmsmeer (about 30 min drive). The guy said over the phone that they can look at our car immediately, so we drove over. If where we live is semi-suburb, Aalmsmeer is suburb suburb. If you ride metro out of Amsterdam central, within 20 min you can see cattles, sheeps, etc. After looking at the lights and stuff, the guy told us that they needed to order parts and that we should take the car to another shop. However, we shouldn't worry. The other shop is operated by his brother. It's all family business. He said the other shop can take even better care of our car. This other shop is in Mijdrecht, about 20 min away from Aalmsmeer. The older brother said there's a bus that can take us to Amsterdam from Mijdrecht if we don't want to rent a car. So we drove to Mijdrecht. It is a bigger shop. The younger brother doesn't speak much Engels. He got the sales rep to translate for him. They didn't have time to look at our car immediately, but they'll look at it and give us a quote in a couple days. Since that solves our current parking problem, we were happy to leave the car with him. We took the bus back (about 40 min ride). Got off at Ikea and had the discount lunches at Ikea.
We later found out that we can apply for a parking permit with a foreign license. We decided to get the permit before we take our car back from the shop.
Several days later, got a phone call from the shop. The shop claimed that fixing all the problems would cost us about 950 euro! It's that expensive because they would need to replace the head lights. That's a very big item. We were very skeptical and did some search on the internet. There's even a youtube video showing you how to adjust your head lights angle yourself. Not to mention the very first shop we went to told us that they could adjust the angle of the lights. We decided to call the shop back and asked more in detail. If just installing the tail mist lamp (actually, we have the mist lamp. they just needed to change something in the computers so it can be turned on and off. weird eh?), it's about 270 euro. They could also just adjust the head lights angle, but they insisted that we must replace the head lights. They even asked for the RDW number to confirm that we needed to replace the lamps. Anyways, we insisted that since the check list only said to adjust the angle, we will only adjust the angle. If they ask us to replace the lamp, then we will think about it. (we also have the appointment from the Amstelveen in a week. for such a big item, I'd want to have a second opinion). Mumbling, the guy said they will do as the list says without replacing the front lamps. They'd call us when the car is ready.
A couple days later, the shop called and said car is ready. We went to RDW to get the permit in the morning and picked up the car in the afternoon. The guy was still complaining about that we must get the front lamps replaced, and how they called the government and we wouldn't pass the APK test. For the mist lamp, they installed a small button inside the car just below dashboard and above the hood lever. We asked them to show us why they think we needed to replace the head lights. The technician showed us with another car that satisfies the regulation. We could see why they think we need to replace the lamp, but if it's not on the list (esp. when it's such a big item), we'd rather take our chances.
We went to RDW again the following day. The inspection went smoothly. The technician didn't ask for anything that's not the list. We paid the 26 euro and were sent to the customs. (What do you know? it's right next door under the same roof with the same waiting area.) The customs we are required to pay is called BPM. It's different from custom import duty, but the same import exempt can waive us the BPM duty. BPM is required of all "new" cars entering EU. It's based on the vehicle CO2 emission and the car valuation. I remember checking the figures and it's something humongous. Luckily we're exempt. However, at the customs window, the guy told us that we still need to fill out the forms and calculated the BPM we needed to pay even if we weren't required to pay. He gave us a list with some websites showing us how to do the calculations.
We could only come home. Did the calculations myself and found out that if we had to pay BPM, it'd be at least 7k euro. The procedure isn't rocket science. The hardest part was to find the valuation on my car especially when this particular model isn't marketed in Europe. I had to use its value in USD and made the currency conversion.
We went back to the customs several days later, and finally everything is good. Now we just need to wait for the letter with our registration number (to come in a week) so we can take it to a shop to make the plates. THEN I can mail back my New York plates to DMV. At least the difficult part is all over now.
posted by test at
3:28 AM
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