About 303,000 used vehicles left the United States for Europe in 2024, and roughly 220,000 of them had been declared total losses by American insurers. Some are bargains, some are wrecks, and the paperwork in Europe cannot tell you which. This hub covers the import and, on every page, the one check that can: the VIN.
The money page: what the American record shows for a VIN from a lot page, a listing or a broker, and how to read it as a European buyer.
How the auctions work from Europe, what a lot page shows and hides, fees, and how to check a lot before bidding.
What each brand means, why US thresholds differ, and how each plays out at registration in Germany, France, Spain and the East.
Duty, VAT, shipping, homologation and national taxes, with links to 22 country guides and the cost no calculator shows.
The car is on a local marketplace with a fresh registration. How to recover its American past before you pay.
Provincial titles, kilometres, CETA, and the earlier US history many Canadian cars carry.
Why so many Teslas are exported, which countries waive tax, and what flood and undercarriage codes mean for the battery.
Reading damage codes and photos, the second-auction comparison, and the cut-car problem.
Prior Copart sales for a VIN: photos, damage codes, price, title at sale.
The same for IAA auctions.
Every published photo set for a vehicle, including the ones taken before it was repaired.
Salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk and lemon brands, by state and date.
Every US reading in date order.
Provincial registrations, brands and service records.
What the most-used free Copart archive shows and what it cannot.
Bid history versus a full title and auction report.
A broker's free archive versus an independent report.
Same US data sources, $19.99, no subscription.
Strong in Europe; here is what it covers for a US car.
Taxes, ports, registration and the local market, one page per destination, each ending with the same VIN check.
10% of vehicle value plus shipping (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
EU standard 10%. Lithuanian media reported in 2026 that duty on US cars was removed; confirm the current rate with Lithuanian Customs before budgeting
10% for petrol and diesel cars; 0% for electric vehicles
Excise calculated from engine size and vehicle age; VAT and customs fees per the Revenue Service schedule
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
0% for goods of US preferential origin since 1 August 2025 (Kosovo Customs); 10% otherwise
Per the Albanian customs schedule; use the DPSHTRR and customs calculators for current rates
12.5% (forum-cited; confirm with Uprava carina)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
15%; no preferential rate for US origin
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
0% (Norway applies no customs duty on cars)
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
Poland imported 68,193 used cars from the US in 2024, a 48% rise, and grew again in 2025 (IBRM Samar). Ukraine bought around 41,700 in 2024, a fifth of its first-registered used cars, and the US was its largest source of used electric vehicles (Institute for Car Market Research). Georgia imported about 154,000 US passenger cars in 2024 and re-exports most of them to Central Asia and the Caucasus. Lithuania took at least 16,500 US vehicles worth €144 million, and 94.7% of the US imports checked by carVertical users there had damage records. In the Netherlands, 39.4% of US-origin cars on the register had carried a salvage title. Carfax Europe's count of 303,000 US exports to Europe in 2024, 220,000 of them total losses, is the frame around all of it.
Clean, salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk. Issued by a US state, invisible in every European registry.
How it is checkedCopart and IAAI intake photos, damage codes and sale price, from every sale the car went through, not only the current lot.
How it is checkedReadings at US titles, registrations and inspections in date order. A reading below an earlier one is a rollback.
How it is checkedYes. Enter the VIN from the auction lot or dealer listing. The record is American whether the car is in Ohio or already in Odesa.
Twenty-two destination guides: Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The vehicle check is the same everywhere.
Yes. The preview shows which records exist for a VIN with no account. The full report is $19.99, once, with no subscription.
Yes. Canadian provincial records and the American history many Canadian cars carry are in the same report.
Enter the VIN to see which US and Canadian records exist. The preview is free; the report is $19.99, once.