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Import from the USA 2026: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide
Imports from the USA are no longer a niche for a handful of Mustang fans. In 2024, 51,218 used cars from the USA arrived in Poland between January and September, which is 55% more year-on-year. The United States has become the third-largest import destination after Germany and France, according to data described by Funcary based on IBRM SAMAR. This is one of those numbers that quickly clarifies the topic. If so many people are doing it every year, the question is no longer "does it even work?", but "how to do it without mistakes and calculate the real cost before buying?".
When importing from the USA, the biggest mistake usually occurs not in choosing the car, but in budgeting. People look at the auction price, not the final cost at their doorstep. And it is the full calculation, even before the bidding, that determines whether a car from the USA is truly worthwhile.
Table of Contents
- Will importing a car from the USA still be worthwhile in 2026?
- Step 1 Find and verify your dream car
- Step 2 Bidding and purchasing a car at a US auction
- Step 3 Transporting the car across the ocean to Poland
- Step 4 Customs clearance, i.e., customs duty, VAT, and excise tax
- Step 5 Technical modifications and registration in Poland
- Import from the USA Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
- Is it worth importing cars from the USA to Poland?
- How to buy a car from the USA without intermediaries?
- Copart Poland or IAAI. Where is better to look?
- How long does it take to import a car from the USA?
- Can a car damaged by a flood be imported profitably?
- Does importing from the USA make sense for a sports car or an SUV?
- Where to start if I want to import a car from the USA?
Will importing a car from the USA still be worthwhile in 2026?
The short answer is: yes, but only if you calculate the entire process, not just the purchase price.
The fact that imports from the USA have grown so much is not by chance. Poles are looking for cars with rich equipment, more interesting engine versions, and models that are rare in Europe or cost significantly more. This is clearly visible in the registration data. Among the most frequently imported cars from the USA were, among others, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler Pacifica, Audi Q5, Volvo XC60, BMW 3 Series, Ford Escape, and Ford Mustang, as described in the text on import statistics of cars from the USA to Poland.
Where does this import make sense
It is most often profitable when you are looking for a car that meets one of these conditions:
- Rare equipment versions. It is easier to find cars with richer interiors, more powerful engines, or better configurations in the USA.
- Niche models in Europe. Mustangs, pickups, larger SUVs, or minivans often have a wider supply there.
- A car for repair with controlled damage. Minor body damage can be sensible. Serious structural damage often stops being viable.
- A conscious, not impulsive purchase. Those who calculate customs duty, VAT, excise tax, transport, and repairs before clicking "bid" usually buy better.
Importing from the USA is profitable not when the car is cheap on screen, but when the price adds up after including everything.
What works and what usually doesn't
A simple model works. First, you choose the type of car, then you check its history, then you calculate the final cost, and only then do you set the bidding limit.
Hunting for a "bargain" without a plan doesn't work. It's the quickest way to a car that, after additional fees, transport, and modifications, ends up costing more than a similar vehicle bought locally.
In private imports, transparency provides the greatest advantage today. Therefore, tools that show the full cost even before bidding are simply practical. DreamBid works precisely in this model. It provides access to Copart and IAAI auctions, allows VIN checks, calculates import costs, and handles logistics without hiding fees in several separate stages.
When it's better to give up
There are also situations where it is honestly better to give up:
- if you do not accept the risk of repairs,
- if you need the car "right away,"
- if you don't have a reserve for unexpected workshop costs,
- if you choose a car solely because it looks cheap at auction.
In such cases, importing from the USA can be more stressful than profitable. The process itself is manageable. You just need to approach it like buying a project with a cost estimate, not like a spontaneous purchase of a used car from a dealership.
Step 1 Find and verify your dream car
At this stage, the winner is not the one who clicks the offer first, but the one who rejects a bad car before they start dreaming about it.
Most cars arrive in Poland from Copart and IAAI auctions. These are huge databases of accident-damaged, ex-lease, recovered stolen vehicles, or from other sources, including insurers. If you want to understand how to look for sensible offers, a practical knowledge base on finding a car at a US auction is helpful.
What to look for in the listing
A picture of the front and side of the car alone doesn't tell you much. In the description, you are primarily interested in the documentation, the type of damage, and who is selling the vehicle.
I most often check:
- Title type. The document must be suitable for further processing. Documentation problems can block export.
- Type of damage. Damage that can be assessed visually looks better than cars damaged by water or with an unclear history.
- Seller. A car from an insurance company often provides a more predictable starting point than a vehicle listed by a random dealer.
- Complete set of photos. Lack of interior, undercarriage, or engine bay shots is a warning sign.
VIN is not an option. It's a safety filter
Most bad purchases result from skipping the VIN history. Importer statistics show that 12-15% of cars at auctions may have hidden flood damage, and documentation problems affect up to 18% of vehicles, as described in a step-by-step guide to importing a car from the USA.
This is enough to treat a VIN report as a mandatory selection cost, not an add-on.
Practical rule: if the VIN history and auction photos don't form a coherent whole, give up. There are plenty of other cars on Copart and IAAI.
Red flags that I immediately reject
Not every damaged car is bad. But a few patterns repeat too often.
- Flood or water damage. Such a car might drive, and then generate electronic problems for months.
- Unclear title. If the document is problematic, the savings from the purchase quickly disappear.
- Damage to multiple areas. Front, rear, and side simultaneously usually means a more expensive repair than it looks in the photos.
- Inconsistency in mileage and wear. Low mileage with a heavily worn interior requires extra vigilance.
How to buy smarter
Simple selection works well. First, you create a list of models, then you filter cars by VIN, then you compare photos, and only then do you calculate the cost of repair and import.
When importing cars from the USA, the cheapest mistake is to reject a car too early. The most expensive mistake is to buy it too quickly.
Step 2 Bidding and purchasing a car at a US auction
Bidding looks simple from the outside. In practice, one thing is most important. You must know your maximum limit before the auction starts.
A private individual from Poland usually doesn't enter this process as freely as an American dealer. Therefore, in practice, entities that have access to auctions and can conduct the purchase according to the procedure are used. A good starting point is the description of the car bidding process at a US auction.
How to set a bidding limit
I don't start by asking "how much do I want to pay for the car?". I start by asking "how much should it cost in Poland after everything?".
Only then do I subtract the estimated costs along the way:
- auction fees,
- transport in the USA,
- ocean freight,
- customs duty, VAT, and excise tax,
- repairs and modifications,
- final transport within Europe or Poland.
If you don't do this, bidding turns into guesswork.
Pre-bid and live bidding
At auctions, you usually have two moments of action. You can leave a bid in advance or enter the live auction. Each method makes sense, but only if the limit is set beforehand.
Pre-bid is good for people who want to avoid price inflation driven by emotions. Live bidding gives more control over the moment, but requires discipline. I've seen the most overpriced cars precisely when someone raised the bid "just a little bit more."
At an auction, the winner is not the one who bought the car. The winner is the one who bought it at a price that still makes sense after import.
Where people most often lose money
Not at the auction itself. Most often, it's because they only look at the final winning bid and ignore the rest of the costs.
In practice, one approach works well. Before you place a bid, calculate the full import cost and set a hard ceiling. Then stick to that number. If the car gets away, so be it. Bargains come back more often in the American market than poorly calculated budgets.
Step 3 Transporting the car across the ocean to Poland
After the purchase, the part that many buyers underestimate begins. Logistics. This is where it's easy to lose control over the timeline, documents, and the car's condition along the way.
The process is simple. The car travels from the auction lot to the port, then goes onto a ship, arrives in Europe, goes through formalities, and then travels to the pickup location. If you want to see what sea transport of a car from the USA to Europe looks like, it's worth knowing this process before buying.
What the car's journey looks like
The order is usually as follows:
- Pickup from the auction and transport by tow truck to the lot or port.
- Preparation of export documents.
- Loading for sea transport.
- Voyage to a European port.
- Customs clearance and further land transport.
It sounds technical, but for the buyer, three things are most important. Whether the car was picked up on time, whether the documents are correct, and whether the vehicle's location is known at every stage.
Container or Ro-Ro
In practice, for auction cars, I look more favorably at container transport, especially if the car has damage or loose parts. With such a car, it's better to have more organized loading and a lower risk of additional surprises along the way.
Ro-Ro can make sense for functional vehicles, but not every car from an auction is suitable for this solution. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. The car's condition and the organization of the entire transport chain matter.
What really spoils imports
The ocean itself doesn't cause the most problems, but operational details do:
- late pickup from the auction,
- errors in documents,
- lack of clear information about the car's status,
- poor coordination between carriers.
Therefore, it is sensible to choose a service model where someone ties these stages together, rather than five separate contractors without a common system.
Good logistics in imports from the USA are boring. And that's exactly the point. It should work predictably, not spectacularly.
Buyers are usually most stressed by silence. When there are no updates, guesswork begins. Therefore, it is worth using a process where you receive status updates, photos, and a clear transport progress, instead of making individual calls to several companies and piecing it all together from fragments.
Step 4 Customs clearance, i.e., customs duty, VAT, and excise tax
This is the stage that most often determines whether importing a car from the USA still makes financial sense. The rules themselves are simple, but people confuse the basis for calculating fees.
The basic rule is this. The total import cost includes a 10% customs duty on the vehicle's value, 23% VAT in Poland calculated on the sum of the car's value, customs duty, and transport, and excise tax depending on engine displacement. For V8 engines over 3 liters, the rate of 18.6% is given in examples, as described in an analysis of import costs for cars from the USA.
How to read the total cost
Most buyers make two mistakes. The first is calculating taxes based only on the purchase price. The second is omitting transport when calculating VAT.
Look at it this way:
- Auction price is just the beginning.
- Transport costs affect the basis for further fees.
- Customs duty is added to the value.
- VAT is calculated on a broader basis, not just the car.
- Excise tax depends on the engine and can significantly change the final result.
If you calculate imports from the USA without these elements, you are not calculating the car, but an illusion.
Example cost calculation
Below is a simple table model for a Ford Mustang 2.3L type car. This is not a quote for a specific auction. It's a template for how to think about calculations and how to convert USD to PLN at an exchange rate of 4.0.
| Cost Component | Amount in USD | Amount in PLN (exchange rate 4.0) |
|---|---|---|
| Car purchase price | X USD | X × 4.0 PLN |
| Auction fees | Y USD | Y × 4.0 PLN |
| Transport in USA | Z USD | Z × 4.0 PLN |
| Ocean freight | A USD | A × 4.0 PLN |
| Customs duty 10% | calculated on vehicle value | calculated |
| VAT 23% | calculated on car value, customs duty, and transport | calculated |
| Excise tax for 2.3L | depends on the applicable rate for engine displacement | calculated |
| Final transport and formalities | B USD or PLN | calculated |
Such a table only makes sense if you plug in real data for a specific car. Therefore, when buying, it's worth using an import cost calculator, not a hastily made spreadsheet from memory.
If you don't know the final amount before bidding, it means you are not yet ready to bid.
What I would check before clicking an offer
Before you buy a car, check three things:
- engine displacement, as it affects excise tax,
- customs clearance location, as it changes the process flow,
- whether the budget includes modifications after arrival.
This is precisely the point where importing from the USA stops being a "cool idea" and becomes a normal purchase project with a cost estimate.
Step 5 Technical modifications and registration in Poland
Bringing a car to Europe doesn't end the matter. For the car to drive legally and without problems in Poland, it needs to be adapted to our requirements, and you need to pass a technical inspection and registration.
What usually needs to be modified
Cars from the American market differ from European ones mainly in lighting and a few equipment details. According to a practical description of importing and adapting a car from the USA, example costs include headlight replacement of PLN 1500-3000, modification of turn signals to orange for PLN 500-1000, and changing the speedometer units to km/h for about PLN 800.
Most often, it ends with such work:
- Headlights. American specifications do not always meet European requirements.
- Rear turn signals. Red turn signal lights are a common modification issue.
- Speedometer. You need to ensure clear km/h readings.
- Fog light. In many cars, its installation or adaptation is required.
The list itself is simple. The quality of execution is more important. A poorly done modification will later fail the inspection or be annoying during daily use.
How to approach a workshop
Don't take your car to the first electrician you find who "has already worked on something from the USA." Look for a workshop that knows American specifications and understands what needs to pass inspection and what just needs to look done.
It's good if the workshop can immediately tell you:
- what must be changed,
- what is worth improving while you're at it,
- which parts to replace and which can be reprogrammed.
Below is material that well illustrates the practical side of preparing a car after import.
What documents to prepare for registration
On the formal side, order is as important as repairs. For registration, prepare a complete set of documents, not individual papers collected at the last minute.
The most commonly needed documents are:
- title or proof of ownership with translation,
- invoice or purchase document,
- confirmation of customs clearance,
- confirmation of excise tax payment,
- certificate from the technical inspection,
- other documents required by the office responsible for the place of registration.
A well-prepared import ends calmly at the communication department. A poorly prepared one starts there with nervous collection of missing items.
If the car is sensibly chosen, well-calculated, and correctly modified, this stage is not difficult. It's simply the final stretch.
Import from the USA Frequently Asked Questions FAQ
Is it worth importing cars from the USA to Poland?
It is worthwhile if you are looking for a specific model, a better equipment version, or a car for which the selection in Europe is poor. It is not worthwhile if you are buying solely "because it's cheap," without calculating the full costs.
How to buy a car from the USA without intermediaries?
In practice, it's not about the complete absence of support, but about the absence of a classic setup where several companies charge separate, unclear fees. A model with a single system for finding a car, checking VIN, calculating costs, and organizing the import works most safely.
Copart Poland or IAAI. Where is better to look?
Both auctions are important. I wouldn't choose a platform "blindly," but rather a specific car. Sometimes a better example will be on Copart, sometimes on IAAI. History, documentation, and type of damage matter.
How long does it take to import a car from the USA?
It depends on the auction, transport, port, and formalities. In practice, you need to prepare for a multi-stage process, not a purchase with pickup in a few days. If time is of the essence, the local market will be simpler.
Can a car damaged by a flood be imported profitably?
I usually approach such cars very cautiously. Problems after flooding emerge late and concern electronics, wiring harnesses, modules, and the interior. Even if the purchase price looks good, the final balance often ceases to be favorable.
Does importing from the USA make sense for a sports car or an SUV?
Often, yes. It is precisely in these segments that the American market offers a wide selection and interesting configurations. You just need to carefully calculate taxes, transport, and subsequent adaptation of the car to Polish requirements.
Where to start if I want to import a car from the USA?
First, with the VIN and calculating the full cost. Only then with bidding.
If you want to go through this process more calmly, start by checking the car by VIN and calculating the full import cost in DreamBid. This is the most sensible first step before you even enter the bidding.