How Importing a Car from the US Works — Step by Step
From choosing a lot at auction to registration in Poland — a complete overview of the import stages, with timing and who’s responsible for what.
Importing a car from the US is a repeatable process with a few clear stages. It can feel intimidating the first time, but every step has someone who handles it and a predictable duration.
The stages of the process
The whole chain starts with choosing and winning a car at auction and ends with a registered vehicle on Polish plates. In between there’s inland transport in the US, ocean freight, customs clearance in Europe, and — for salvage cars — repair and type approval.
| Stage | Time | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Bidding and purchase | 1–7 days | Carimporta on your behalf |
| Transport to the US port | 3–10 days | freight forwarder |
| Ocean freight | 20–40 days | shipping line |
| Clearance in Europe | 3–7 days | customs agency |
| Repair and type approval | 7–30 days | partner workshop |
| Transport to Poland + registration | 7–14 days | Carimporta |
A registered US car on a Polish road
In total the process usually takes 6–12 weeks. The bottleneck is ocean freight — the rest of the stages are quick when the paperwork is complete. At Carimporta we guide the car through every stage, end to end.