Is a VIN prefix enough to establish the rate?

No. The first three characters point to the manufacturer and the country, but one prefix can cover several plants. The rate needs the country of final assembly tied to the full number, and that is exactly the reading you get after entering a VIN.

What if the Passport 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.

Where the Honda Passport is assembled

Q: Where is the Honda Passport assembled?

We read plants from the production data of cars that have passed through our database, so the list shows the real origin of individual cars rather than a manufacturer's plan. One model can have plants on two continents, which is why the country is checked for a specific VIN.

Zero duty is a property of one car, not of the Honda Passport as such. An American line means 0% duty and a lower 23% VAT base; a line outside the States means 10%. Manufacturers run parallel production on several continents, so two cars from one model year can clear differently.

Where is the Honda Passport assembled?

The Honda Passport comes out of plants that do not always sit in the same country, and those plants set the rate. A car from an American line enters the EU at 0%, a car from a plant elsewhere at 10%. Every row here is built from real cars in our database, not from a manufacturer's plan.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Lincoln	United States	5FN	4,004	0% duty
Lafayette	United States	4S6	179	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The quickest filter is the first three characters of the number — on a Passport with American assembly that is usually 4S6. A filter is not proof, though: we check the plant tied to the full VIN, because only that answers the condition. The check runs in seconds and costs nothing.

How much will you save?

Run it down both routes, because the Passport exists on both: a car from an American line at 0% duty, a car from a plant outside the USA at 10%. The rest of the bill is identical — excise by engine size and 23% VAT. The calculator shows both versions from the same inputs.

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 Passport 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

Risk on a Honda Passport from auction sits in three places: the extent of the damage, the completeness of the paperwork and the history of earlier repairs. None of them touches the duty rate, which follows the assembly country alone, but all three decide what getting the car roadworthy really costs.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	2,231
Side	716
Rear end	481

From the USA or from Europe?

The difference comes down to what you add and what you get back. Buying a Passport in Europe, you skip the ocean crossing and the clearance; buying in the States you add both, but on a car from an American line duty is 0% instead of 10%. Your choice depends on how much paperwork and repair you take on.

See current listings: Honda Passport