Germany import 2 door A3 8V 1.6 TDI

after moving to NJ for 3 years, we want to import our German Audi A3 8V Modell 2014 2 door.
Motor EA189 Euro 5, TDI 1.6 Diesel, up to 60 MPG (not affected by Diesel gate scandal).

We seem to be allowed driving it temporarily for up to 1 year unchanged and even with the German license plates.


As we would like to sell it probably after this 1 year, does anybody know what would have to be changed due to the DOT regulations, besides the Speedo/ Odometer?

Thanks a lot and have a great weekend out there

Guy, the 1.6l was indeed impacted. It was fixed in Europe.

Since the car with the 1.6 was never sold in the USA, the engine was not included in the court case.

If you did not do the Europe fix, you might get caught for it. Gray market imports like yours can be tricky.

You may have registration issues when they run the vin and see no USA history, ie initial sale in USA.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Some states will allow you to register, my guess is none of them are in New England though...once it's legally registered somewhere in the US (Texas and Alaska are common ones I know of) you're good to go anywhere in the US.
-BB

Heinzer said:

We seem to be allowed driving it temporarily for up to 1 year unchanged and even with the German license plates.
As we would like to sell it probably after this 1 year, does anybody know what would have to be changed due to the DOT regulations, besides the Speedo/ Odometer?
Thanks a lot and have a great weekend out there

Click to expand...

"Not possible".

It's not a matter of "what would have to be changed". It is simply, for practical purposes, "not possible". The car has to be either re-exported back to where it came from, or destroyed. (Or taken off the road and wait until it is 25 years old, at which point it is no longer required to conform to the regulations.)

The engine in your vehicle was never certified to meet EPA standards, and the vehicle itself was never certified to pass NHTSA crash standards.

It makes no difference whatsoever if it "would" pass those standards. The issue is that it was never "certified" (by VW) to pass those standards.

Given what we know now, you will never get that (european-spec) 1.6 TDI to meet EPA standards. VW themselves have not been able to get the 2.0 TDI to pass, and the 2.0 TDI sold in North America has different emission control equipment from the same engine sold in Europe and it still isn't good enough.

The crash standards are something of another matter; there is a "Registered Importer" process IF the vehicle is on an approved list, and if it is not on that list but you wish it to be, then you have to sacrifice several identical models to go through the official crash testing and YOU pay for this. If something is found to be not meeting the standards ... Not their problem. Yours. YOU have to pay for the engineering changes and re-testing as needed.

In other words ... the short but sweet answer is "not possible" (until it becomes 25 years old).

Leave the car in Germany and sell it there, and buy a different car here.

After 1 year in the U.S. you either crush the car or export it.

Consider moving somewhere close to the Mexican border. Then register the car in Mexico - pay all the Mexican import taxes, registration fees etc. Then drive the car in the U.S. with Mexican tags.

Not sure how you would get the car insured in the U.S. with Mexican plates.

omg, thanks guys - sounds like a movie but it obviously isn't.
Seeing all those run down and dirty cars, especially trucks over here, makes it hard to believe that one of the most fuel efficient cars are not allowed.
Anyways, you are right and We better skip that idea.
Have to sell it in Germany and get a new one here, unfortunately..

Appreciate your help and keep on Driving TDIs guys.

Have a great Sun-&Father's day

yes, the 1.6 engine was effected but not all of them.
not the newer serial numbers, which we got.

If you hurry, you may be able to find a new 2015 A3 2.0L tdi at a dealership.

Heinzer said:

omg, thanks guys - sounds like a movie but it obviously isn't.
Seeing all those run down and dirty cars, especially trucks over here, makes it hard to believe that one of the most fuel efficient cars are not allowed.
Anyways, you are right and We better skip that idea.
Have to sell it in Germany and get a new one here, unfortunately..

Appreciate your help and keep on Driving TDIs guys.

Have a great Sun-&Father's day

Click to expand...

LOL! You assume logic applies. It is about business and taxes.

As to all those dirty cars, the TDI's even with the 'cheat' is far cleaner than the F350 and Ram Trucks on the road, yet they get to dump that amount and here we are giving up our TDI's....

Again, no logic, just rules...

I live in a semi-rural area and dozens of times every day I see diesel pickups rolling coal. It is those brain-dead's that ruin it for us responsible diesel owners that do care about air quality. The county I live in does not have emissions testing, and the local law enforcement does not seem to care...