What if the Sprinter came off a line in Canada?

Then the car does not use the preference and enters the EU at 10% duty. Canada and Mexico are the most common source of confusion, because cars from there reach sales in the States on equal terms with cars of American production.

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 Sprinter 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 Sprinter 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.

Freightliner Sprinter from the Charleston plant and 0% duty

American assembly covers 16% of the Sprinter cars in our database, and their numbers open with W2W. That helps you sift listings, but the 0% rate cannot be pinned to a model — only the plant read for one specific VIN says whether the car meets the origin condition.

Where is the Freightliner Sprinter assembled?

Production of the Freightliner Sprinter is often spread across continents, which is why the question of where it is built has several answers at once. For duty, only the country of the plant your car came off matters: the States mean 0%, any other country 10%. Model history and target market change nothing.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Dusseldorf	Germany	WCD, WD2, WDR, WDY	173	10%
Charleston	United States	W2W, W2Y, W2Z, WCD, WDR, WDY	40	0% duty
Duesseldorf	Germany	WDR, WDY	34	10%
Düsseldorf	Germany	W2W, W2Y	2	10%
Ludwigsfelde	Germany	WDP	1	10%

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

Type in the VIN of your Sprinter and we read the country and city of the assembly plant from the manufacturer's data. A plant in the States means the car qualifies for 0% duty; any other country means 10%. Do it before you bid, because the rate moves the sensible limit.

How much will you save?

EU–US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade strips 10% of duty from cars finally assembled in the States and has applied since 2026-07-01. For a Sprinter that meets the condition, what is left on the bill is excise (3.1% or 18.6%) and 23% VAT. What that means for your car is a calculator job; here you get the rates.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

The cost of importing a Freightliner Sprinter splits into rates you know in advance and a customs value you do not. Fixed: duty at 0% or 10%, excise at 3.1% or 18.6% by engine size, VAT at 23%. Variable: the purchase price, transport and port charges.

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

Proof of origin and clearance are on us. For a Sprinter that the VIN places on an American line, we assemble the plant documentation and declare the car at the 0% rate. What we need from you is the car you picked and its VIN.

What to watch for when buying at auction

Cars end up at sales in the States mostly after damage, so the condition report matters more than the odometer. Check whether the damage touches structural parts or only panels, and price the repair before you bid. The duty rate ignores condition — a damaged Sprinter clears exactly like an intact one.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	16
All over	5
Rear end	5

From the USA or from Europe?

You go to the States for choice and for versions never sold in Europe. On that side of the bill you add transport, clearance and post-damage repair; pulling the other way is 0% duty on Sprinter cars from American lines. Decide after the VIN check, not before it.

See current listings: Freightliner Sprinter