Does mechanical condition affect duty?

No. A damaged 88 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 88 meets the condition for the customs preference. The check is free, needs no account and can be repeated for every lot you consider.

Does a sale in the USA mean assembly in the USA?

No. American sales also move cars built in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. Where a car was auctioned has nothing to do with the origin condition, which is why the assembly plant of a 88 is checked separately, on the VIN.

Who deals with customs clearance?

We do. We put together the proof of origin, prepare the customs declaration and keep contact with the agency. For a 88 that qualifies on its VIN we apply for the 0% rate, and the customs office decides on the documents.

What about models built in two countries at once?

That is a common case, and it is exactly where the VIN becomes essential. Two 88 cars from the same model year can carry different rates, 0% and 10%, because they came off lines on different continents.

Oldsmobile 88 from the USA — 0% duty or 10%

Zero duty is a property of one car, not of the Oldsmobile 88 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 Oldsmobile 88 assembled?

The split shows in the data: 248 88 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
Orion	United States	1G3	211	0% duty
Flint	United States	1G3	21	0% duty
Wentzville	United States	1G3	9	0% duty
Wilmington	United States	1G3	3	0% duty
Ypsilanti Twp	United States	1G3	2	0% duty
Detroit	United States	1G3	1	0% duty
Lansing	United States	1G3	1	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

Type in the VIN of your 88 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?

The saving is a percentage, so it grows with the value of the car. A Oldsmobile 88 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

Three tax lines and one variable. Duty follows the assembly country of your 88: 0% for an American line, 10% for any other. Excise goes by engine size — 3.1% or 18.6%. VAT at 23% is worked out last, on customs value with duty and excise added.

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

Our customs agency handles the formalities. We gather the assembly data for the Oldsmobile 88, prepare the declaration and see the clearance through. The rate finally granted is the customs office's decision, taken on the documents submitted.

What to watch for when buying at auction

Before you raise your bid, look at the damaged area. On a 88 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	88
Rear end	37
Normal wear	31

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 88, the check starts at the VIN.

See current listings: Oldsmobile 88