Copart: how to buy a car from the US and import it to Europe

Copart is a US auction company with more than 200 yards in the US and Canada. It mainly sells cars from insurers (after accidents, thefts, floods), leasing companies, rental firms and banks. Bidding is online, and the car stays in the yard until it is collected.

Every listing has photos, the damage type (primary / secondary damage), the title type, the mileage and a status such as "Run and Drive" (the car moved when it arrived at the yard). Sales follow different rules: "Pure Sale" – the car goes to the highest bid; "Minimum Bid" – the seller has a reserve price; "On Approval" – the seller approves the bid.

Copart also operates in several European countries (including the UK, Germany, Spain, Finland and Ireland). These are separate sites with local cars and local rules.

The biggest choice and the lowest prices, however, are at the US auctions – and that is what this guide is about. A car from the US has to cross the ocean and be cleared at an EU port, so always work out the full cost, not just the auction price.

You can open a Copart account yourself, but a standard account lets you bid on only some cars. In many states, cars with a salvage title can only be bought by licensed buyers – which is why most buyers from Europe bid through a broker.

The broker lends you their licence, pays the deposit and often arranges transport to the port and the export documents. They charge a commission for it (usually a fixed amount per car). Check reviews of the broker and exactly what their price includes.

Every lot has a number and a data sheet. The most important fields:

• Primary / Secondary damage – the main and additional damage as reported by the insurer (e.g. Front end, Rear end, Side, Flood, Hail, Mechanical).
• Odometer – mileage in miles marked “Actual” or “Not actual” / “Exempt”; the last two mean the reading cannot be trusted.
• Est. Retail Value and Est. Repair Cost – the insurer’s estimates; they help gauge the damage but do not replace your own repair quote.
• Highlights – e.g. “Run and Drive”, “Engine Starts”, “Enhanced Vehicles”.
• Keys – whether keys are included (replacing them can be expensive).
• Sale document / title – the document type and the state that issued it.
• Location and Sale date – the yard you collect the car from and the auction date.

Save the lot number and VIN – after the sale the listing disappears from public view.

Bidding has two stages. First comes preliminary bidding – you can enter your maximum amount and the system raises your bid automatically up to that limit. Then there is a live online auction, where the highest bid wins.

Some cars offer “Buy It Now” – an immediate purchase at the listed price.

Set your maximum before the auction: subtract auction fees, transport, customs duty, VAT, national taxes and a repair reserve from your budget. Getting carried away in the last seconds is the most common reason for overpaying.

Copart's fees are added to the hammer price:

• the buyer fee – it rises in steps with the car's price,
• the online bidding fee (virtual bid fee),
• the gate fee for releasing the car from the yard,
• environmental and title handling fees,
• the broker's commission, if you use one.

For a car of a few thousand dollars this is usually several hundred to over a thousand dollars. Copart publishes the exact fee tables on its website – check them before you bid.

The title is the US ownership document. Its type tells you what happened to the car:

• Clean – no total loss in its history.
• Salvage – the insurer declared a total loss; the most common title at Copart.
• Rebuilt – a former total loss, repaired and allowed back on the road in the US.
• Parts only, Non-repairable, Certificate of Destruction – for parts only; such a car cannot be registered in the EU.

A salvage car can be registered in the EU after repair and a roadworthiness test. The title still affects its resale value.

You cannot see the car in person, so every detail counts:

• compare the VIN in the listing with the one in the photos,
• look at every photo – "Front end" can mean a bumper or bent chassis rails,
• be careful with cars from Florida, Texas and Louisiana after hurricanes (water marks, silt, corroded connectors),
• check the car's history by VIN – damage, mileage and earlier auctions,
• keep a 20–30% reserve for hidden damage.

After winning a bid you usually have only a few business days to pay (most often by bank transfer). Paying late means a penalty and, in the worst case, a blocked account.

The car must be collected from the yard within a short time – after that, storage fees are charged. So before you bid, have the money ready for the car, the fees and the transport, and make sure the broker or carrier knows where to collect the car.

A car carrier takes the car from the yard to the export port (e.g. New Jersey, Savannah, Houston, Los Angeles). From there it sails in a container (often 3–4 cars together) or on a RoRo ship to a European port – usually 2–3 weeks from the East Coast.

At the EU port a customs agent clears the car: you pay duty and import VAT, and then the car is trucked to your address. The choice of port matters – freight, port fees and VAT rates differ between countries.

A damaged car can be repaired while still in the USA or after it arrives. Repairing in the USA can be cheaper where used parts are easy to find, but it is harder to supervise from a distance. Repairing in Europe gives you control over quality, although some original parts for US-market cars have to be imported.

Wherever it is repaired, the car must pass a roadworthiness test in your country, and after structural damage it is worth keeping the repair paperwork and photos – they help with registration and resale.

The auction price is only part of the cost. On top come auction fees, transport in the US, ocean freight and insurance, port fees, duty (10%, or 0% for US-built cars with proof of origin), VAT, national taxes, transport in Europe, repair and registration.

• Bidding without working out the full cost – fees, shipping and taxes can double the auction price.
• Buying a car with a "parts only" title that cannot be registered.
• Trusting "Run and Drive" without checking the history by VIN.
• No reserve for hidden damage and parts.
• Counting on 0% duty without proof of origin.
• Paying late and running up storage fees in the yard.