My brother is stationed in the Philippines; his tour with US Special Forces is ending there, and planning on bringing his Philippine spec Ford Everest back with him.

Anybody here bring over a non-US spec vehicle to the US? Also, it's a turbo-diesel, it should run on our new low-sulfur diesels right?


Here is a pic of what they look like:





http://www.ford.com.ph/servlet/Conte...agename=DFY/PH

 

Looks like a Range Rover...


Sorry, no clue about bringing it here...
I would "guess" if it has seatbelts, airbags, and can pass emissions???

 

Ever heard of Google?

 

Nope. What's that?


The Everest sort of looks like it has an Explorer front end (with old 1980s headlamps), an Explorer (with a touch of Excursion) middle, and a Navigator rear with Volvo wagon tail lamps. Looks like Ford took bits of each of their division SUVs, mixed them up and ralphed this out. It's the meatloaf of SUVs.

 

The front end is more "old Ranger" than Explorer. But yeah, I'd check Google for answers.

 

Ask him to bring over a 2008 ranger too and ask ford why the hell they arent selling it here.





*Dreams of that ranger with the 300HP TwinFord V6*

 

I doubt he can bring it in. It does not meet US safety or emissions specs. If he tries, it will rot in the impound shed at the dock.

 

If it's anything like shipping a German spec auto to the US, it's not too hard to do, but be prepared to spend a few grand.

1.) The shipping cost. Chances are, unless he shipped a car over, the US won' ship one back for him- so he'll have to pay that. This changes with rank and time in service though.

But, now that I type that- and remember you saying your brother is SF, there's a certain rank your brother would have to be in order to go to the Special Forces (Unless he's attached to, and not actually a member of Special Forces)- and, by the time he hits that rank, chances are he'd have served 2-3 tours overseas already- so he should know the process/ordeal/hassle required. Especially if he ever served in Europe.

One can't walk off the street into SF, you have to put some years in first. Rangers, yes- but, not SF...

2.) The most common things people have to replace shipping a car to the US, are. Front & rear bumpers. They have to have bumpers that meet the US crash requirements, 3rd brake light, airbag(s), catalytic converter, and meet the emissions requirements for the state you plan to register it in.

The saving grace here is, it's a Ford, so it probably either has all this stuff available already, or can be easily converted to US spec. Is Australia RHD, or LHD. I don't know if that will play a part in whether he can ship it or not, but- you know, I've only seen mail trucks in the US, that are RHD. Everything else has the steering wheel on the left hand side. If he has to pay to convert that- that will be costly.

I tell ya- Nissan had some bad-*** SUV's, big bruisers like the Toyota LandCruiser back in 1990/1991 that they never sold in the US. People think Nissan is new to the truck market... While they haven't been building them as long as Ford, they have been building them for quite a while... This Ford Everest, reminds me a LOT of those old Nissan's our Colonels and Majors had in Desert Storm.

You will see wild cars overseas... Hyundai had a few hot sedans in Korea that never made it to the US shoreline- Daewoo used to build (under license) teir version of the Acura Legend.

Go overseas, and you see BMWs, Audis, Opels, and Mercedes in Germany as frequently as you see Cavalier's, Focuses, and Civics in the US. For them, seeing a Corvette is like us seeing an SLR.

You won't spot man pick-ups overseas though- at least not when I was there- and if you do, it's a little one- like those Nissan "Hard-Body" trucks, Chevy LUV's, and stuff like that...

 

A few more pics- and information...

It's based on the Ranger, so- it's boxier, but probably not much larger than an Explorer.

Looking at the specs... Well... See for yourselves...

************************************************

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...erest_face.jpg

Engines
2.5 litreWLT water-intercooled turbo-Diesel, 88 kW (118 hp) and 277 N·m (204 ft·lbf)
2.6 litre G6E 3-valve petrol, 90 kW (121 hp) and 206 N·m (151 ft·lbf)

References
Overdrive, Feb 2004

The Ford Everest (model code U268) is a midsize SUV sold in Asia. The Everest is based on the local (Mazda-based) Ford Ranger pickup truck platform. The SUV is also sold as the Ford Endeavour in India.

The truck has three-rows of seating, rear or four wheel drive, and 2.5 L Diesel or 2.6 L petrol engines. It rides on a 2860 mm (112.6 in) wheelbase. The Everest was introduced in late March of 2003 and is built at the AutoAlliance Thailand plant, and as CKD kits in other countries (India, Malaysia, Vietnam).

In November 2006, Ford announced a redesigned Everest based on the Ford Ranger (J97U), including Duratorq diesel engines and two different drivetrains: 4x2 for 2.5 litre models, 4x4 for 3.0 litre models. In addition, the redesign featured the new 5-speed automatic transmission with BorgWarner transfer case, and the new Active-Shift-on-the-Fly (4x4 only) for the first time.

This vehicle has had its origins from the Ford Ranger which is built for the south-east Asian markets at the Ford-Mazda JV plant at the Thai port city of Rayong. Its underpinnings remain very much that of a pick-up truck while its engine is a Mazda derived unit used for its low cost of manufacture coupled with the requirements of these markets in terms of emission norms, fuel efficiency and most of all - affordability. A Hiroshima based design team worked to develop the Endeavour aka Everest and give it the qualities desired by the developing markets.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I did a previous search myself, but what's been written can be vastly different from what is done, so just seeing if anybody had personal experience on the subject of car importation.

In reality, I'm sure my brother knows what he can and cannot do, but I was curious about it. I know for a fact he did bring a car with him, so I guess he gets to take one back without paying.

He bought a 04' Ford Everest, now fully paid for.

 

Paid for? Well- in that case- I'd do what I could to bring it back too...
It's a Ford, so I'd bet it's damn-near US Spec, and probably won't cost his more than 3-4 thousand to convert it.

The folks who caught hell were the guys in Germany who bought a $2,500 (two thousand five hundred) dollar, used (from a previous soldier) E-Class, S-Class, 5-Series, or 6 series, then spent 2-3 years fixing it up, only to have to sell it to the next GI because of the burdensome amount of $ it was gonna cost them to convert it to US specs in order to ship it home.

Unless they bought one (a new one) through US Auto Sales, or AAFES- then they already met US specs, so shipping woudl not be a problem...

I just wish I had been there when the Mark rate was 3.5: 1 One could've picked up a 5 series Bimmer at that rate, for about $20,000 US. When I was there, the Mark rate was about 1.51 : 1, making the same 5-series about $32,000 (This was 1988 - 1990). During that time, the highest I remember it being was about 2.12 : 1. Which made the 28,000 mark 325i, about $14,000 US.

Stupidly, I wasn't a BMW fan back then...Even with the US Spec conversion package, that was a steal.

The higher ranking NCO's and officers drove a POS for their entire tour, usually an Opel Kadett or a worn out 5 series, then- right before they were about to PCS, they'f go to Sweden and pick up a new Volvo, or snag themselves a BMW or MErcedes (if the mark-rate was nice) and have that shipped home- for a fraction of what it would cost them in the states,

 

The Philippines is standard LHD, but that thing has a diesel engine that does not meet US specs. Between that and all the safety regs he's looking at a very expensive and time-consuming process if it's even possible. He may have to put a US-spec gas engine in it........

 

That looks pretty good. Looks a lot like a Frontier.

 

Wow, what happened.

07-02-07

0.7341 : 1

 

They switched to the euro, didn't they? The British Pound has always (at least in my lifetime) been worth more than the American Dollar. So, with the consolidated legal tender over there, I figured it was probably worth more than the dollar.

Frace was really nice. I went to Epinal France twice, and the exchange rate was nearly 5 : 1. Five francs for ever US Dollar.