Can we/should we ship our UK car (Rover) to the US?

We're wondering if - to save having to buy a second car when we move to the US - we should ship our UK vehicle (a Rover) to the US? (We will be living in Charleston, SC which has a huge port.)

Is that allowed? What would it cost?

Good question ... we have shipped the other way (USA to UK) but have no experience of shipping a car back.

Car prices are generally lower in the USA and I would think that unless you are very attached to your Rover it would be better value for you to sell and buy afresh in the USA.  You are likely to have import regulations into the USA (I know there are some as I spoke with a chap who sold old taxis to the USA from England and they had to be over 25 years old or have a lot of law-specific works done on them as I recall).

Also bear in mind that your UK steering wheel will be on the wrong side in the USA - perhaps making overtaking difficult, and certainly awkward at pay booths.  We've found that a car with a wheel on the wrong side in the UK is hard to sell too ... and that might equally apply in the US.

Those are just my first thoughts ... anyone else any ideas??

I've always been a sucker for anything British. I recall in my school days a really cool Morgan, right-hand drive and everything, in my US hometown. I loved that car and wanted just to sit in it. I think your car would be a hit...but I also think you should consider some of the ramfications of a right-hand-drive car in a left-hand-drive world. We face this problem (the other way) with our US car here in the UK.

- Drive through windows (just about everything in the US is drive-through nowadays)
- Machines that you have to talk through, or take the ticket out of in order to get a gate to open
- Passing cars on the road (your vision around the car in front is more limited)
- Windshield wipers clean the window area more for the driver and what the driver's view is needing to see based on what side of the road is being driven.
- People in other cars sitting at intersections (a four-way stop in the US, for instance) will be looking at the person they assume is sitting at the wheel for an indication they can or cannot proceed. If your passenger is looking down, the other driver will go ahead thinking the driver isn't paying attention...all the while you could be staring right at them.

But to finally getting around to answer your real question  ...
Yes, you can ship your car. If you're also shipping household furnishings, the car will just go in another container with the rest of your stuff. There is some processing, but aside from the usual red-tape stuff, it's fairly painless.

We brought my car because it was already paid for, was my little baby, but...truth be known...the sale of it fell through at the very last minute. And we've been using it for the past six (more) years. (It's now 11.)