Does zero duty also lower VAT?

Indirectly. VAT at 23% is charged on customs value with duty added, so 0% instead of 10% shrinks the tax base. Excise is worked out separately by engine size and comes to 3.1% or 18.6% either way.

Since when has the customs preference applied?

Since 2026-07-01, under the EU–US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. It covers passenger cars finally assembled in the United States. Cars from plants in other countries keep clearing at 10%, whatever the market they were bought on and whoever sold them.

Does the model year change the assembly country?

Sometimes it does. Manufacturers move production between plants partway through a generation, so a 3500 from two different model years can carry a different assembly country. That is why the rate is set for a VIN and not for a model name.

Does mechanical condition affect duty?

No. A damaged 3500 clears at the same rate as an intact car from the same plant, because what counts is the country of final assembly. Condition does affect the purchase price, and through it the customs value and the taxes charged on it.

How long does a VIN check take?

A matter of seconds. You enter the number and get the country and city of the assembly plant plus the answer to whether that 3500 meets the condition for the customs preference. The check is free, needs no account and can be repeated for every lot you consider.

Dodge 3500: where the car was built and what it pays

Our database holds 95 Dodge 3500 cars with an American assembly plant on record. Those clear at 0%, the rest at 10% — one model name, two different rates. Before you set a bidding limit, check which line the car you are looking at came off.

Where is the Dodge 3500 assembled?

The split shows in the data: 95 3500 cars reached us with an American assembly plant, the rest came from plants in other countries. The first group qualifies for 0% duty, the second for 10%. The counts cover every car recorded in our database, not the current offer.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Saltillo	Mexico	3D3, 3D6, 3D7	917	10%
Fenton	United States	1B7	90	0% duty
Mexico City	Mexico	3B7	62	10%
Detroit	United States	1B7	4	0% duty
Warren	United States	1B7	1	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The VIN settles the matter in seconds. 3500 cars from plants in the USA carry the prefixes 1B7 here, but we look deeper — at the final assembly plant tied to the whole number. Only that answers the question of 0% or 10%.

How much will you save?

The saving is a percentage, so it grows with the value of the car. A Dodge 3500 from an American plant comes in at 0% instead of 10%, and lower duty shrinks the 23% VAT base. Excise stays: 3.1% on smaller engines, 18.6% on larger ones. The calculator does the rest.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

The structure is the same for every car and only the first line differs. A 3500 off an American line comes in at 0% duty, a car outside the preference at 10%; after that comes excise by engine size (3.1% or 18.6%) and 23% VAT. Customs value follows the hammer price and transport.

Component	Rate
Duty — car assembled in the USA	0%
Duty — everything else	10%
Excise	3.1% up to 2.0 l, 18.6% above 3.5 l
VAT	23%

Rates, not amounts — the calculator works the sum out on current data.

Zero-duty paperwork — our job

You put nothing together yourself. We check the origin of the car by VIN, prepare the papers and run the clearance; if the production data points to assembly outside the USA, we declare it at 10% so the bill does not change when you come to collect.

What to watch for when buying at auction

Before you raise your bid, look at the damaged area. On a 3500 it is most often features.lots.characteristics.damage_type.front_end, and then the key question is whether the body structure was disturbed. Origin is a separate check, run on the VIN — the two things are independent of each other.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	41
Side	12
Rear end	11

From the USA or from Europe?

The key difference is procedural rather than a matter of badge. A car from the European market goes through no import, a car from the States does — and then the assembly country counts: an American line means 0%, any other 10%, with excise and 23% VAT on top. For a 3500, the check starts at the VIN.

See current listings: Dodge 3500