Hi Everyone,
Does anyone have any good experiences of sending a boat to the UK or bringing one in? I see there are some threads about scams etc on the subject of foreign sales, but very little about successful purchases. Because of the exchange rate US boats are quite attractive but I want to find out as much as possible about the perils and pitfalls. Thanks.

I would look at anything in person and pay for it take delivery while in the U.S. The company you hire to ship should be able to handle all the necessary import stuff into the UK, via a customs broker. You may want to look in Canada as well, even though the selection is not as good as you will find in the U.S. Canada is a British Common Wealth and Constitutional monarchy,(Queen of England is head of state) as such import duties may be alot less.

there are a couple guys here on OSO that bring many boats over to Sweden. Mange and Tomas Wallin. I sent my boat to Sweden with no problems whatsoever. I think they are in the business of importing motor vehicles, so they know the ins and outs.

Maybe they will chime in.

I imported a boat to Sweden 18mths ago. No issues what so ever, but don't buy anything unseen. The shipping agent will take care of all the paperwork.
I have been using World Express: http://www.worldexpressonline.com/

bl

I'm friends with a boat dealer/repo dealer. He says the guys overseas are his biggest customers right now......every single engine "pocket cruiser" he can get his hands on sells immediately. Apparently the exchange rate is well suited for foreign buyers, we just need some sort of method to provide trust in these deals.

Zudnic's advice is excellent, scope them out on the net, take a week and look at say ten boats in person, get a survey on the one you want, shipping company can take it from there.

hey pizzapeetso, could you email me on [email protected]

will explain why in my reply to you.

cheers JF