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 Firebird 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 Firebird 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.

Pontiac Firebird off an American line — what it changes in duty

The answer depends on the car: the Pontiac Firebird is assembled in several countries, and the preference goes only to one that came off an American line. That car enters the EU at 0%, the rest at 10%. Neither the model name, nor the build year, nor the auction location settles it — the plant country in the production record does.

Where is the Pontiac Firebird assembled?

The split shows in the data: 205 Firebird 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
Ste. Therese	Canada	2G2	668	10%
Van Nuys	United States	1G2, 1G5	165	0% duty
Norwood	United States	1G2	40	0% duty

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The VIN settles the matter in seconds. Firebird cars from plants in the USA carry the prefixes 1G2, 1G5 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?

Run it down both routes, because the Firebird 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 cost of importing a Pontiac Firebird 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

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

The most common damage on a Firebird in our database is features.lots.characteristics.damage_type.front_end, so start the photos and the report there. Repairing that area can eat the whole advantage of 0% instead of 10%, which is why you count it together with duty rather than separately.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	42
Normal wear	30
Mechanical	25

From the USA or from Europe?

The difference comes down to what you add and what you get back. Buying a Firebird 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: Pontiac Firebird