Importing a Car from the USA to Romania — Taxe, RAR and Checking the History by VIN

USA to
Romania

Copart and AutoBidMaster both run Romanian-language pages for buyers in Romania, which they do only for markets that matter to them. Romanian brokers publish cost calculators. The Romanian history-check market is served by European vendors that are strong on EU registries and thin on American auction records.

At a glance

Customs duty
10% (22% for pickups classified as trucks)
VAT
21% (raised from 19% in August 2025)
Route
Constanța by sea, or via Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Klaipėda then road
Registration
RAR individual approval (omologare individuală), then DRPCIV
Market
328,834 used cars registered in 2024; US share not published

What the Romanian guides cover

Romanian broker pages and Autovit's blog explain the cost stack and the RAR process well. carVertical's Romanian blog also ranks for "cât costă să aduci o mașină din America". Some 2026 pages claim that duty on US-made cars no longer applies or that a 15% additional tariff exists. Neither was confirmed by an official source at the time of writing; treat both as noise until Romanian customs says otherwise.

Why the RAR inspection is not a history check

RAR individual approval certifies that the vehicle meets Romanian technical requirements. It is not designed to detect a repaired total loss, and a good repair passes. The US record, salvage or rebuilt title, auction photos and damage codes, is where that information lives.

The Moldova connection

Romanian-speaking buyers in Moldova use the same brokers, the same calculators (mobile.md publishes one) and the same vocabulary. Moldova charges 10% duty on the CIF value for individuals in 2025, exempts fully electric cars from excise, and moves to 20% VAT plus an age-based excise from 1 January 2027. The history check is the same in both countries: by VIN, on the American record.

What to check

  • Title brand and the state that issued it.
  • Prior auction records with photos and damage codes.
  • Odometer readings in miles, in order.
  • Rental or fleet use, which Romanian buyers rarely think to ask about and which affects wear far more than age.

The same check, wherever the car is going

Every guide in this hub ends the same way because every destination shares the same blind spot. Romania's registry, inspection and customs process each verify something real, and none of them reads the American title, the insurer's total-loss declaration or the auction record. Enter the VIN above to see which of those records exist for the car you are looking at. The preview is free; the report is $19.99, once.

Three things to check before money moves

  1. 1

    The US title brand

    Clean, salvage, rebuilt, flood, junk. Issued by a US state, invisible in every European registry.

    How it is checked
  2. 2

    Prior auction records and photos

    Copart and IAAI intake photos, damage codes and sale price, from every sale the car went through, not only the current lot.

    How it is checked
  3. 3

    The odometer sequence in miles

    Readings at US titles, registrations and inspections in date order. A reading below an earlier one is a rollback.

    How it is checked

Frequently asked questions

Cât costă să aduci o mașină din America în România?

The US price and fees, transport to the port and ocean freight, then 10% duty on the customs value, 21% VAT on the value plus duty, RAR approval, registration and plates. Broker calculators give the current totals. Claims of a removed duty or a 15% additional tariff seen on some 2026 pages were unverified at the time of writing.

Does carVertical show the Copart photos?

carVertical's report may include past photos where it has them, and its strength is European registry data. For a car that lived only in the US, the American title, auction and odometer record is what matters, and that is where a US-focused report concentrates.

Can a car with a rebuilt title be registered in Romania?

RAR approval depends on the technical inspection, not on the US title wording. A rebuilt car that was repaired properly passes. The point of checking the title is to know what was repaired, so that the inspection and your own mechanic look in the right place.

Check the vehicle before you pay

Enter the VIN to see which US and Canadian records exist. The preview is free; the report is $19.99, once.