Admittedly, the car basically met the U.S. standards (since it was a North
American model) but I still had to prove it to the D.O.T. All they needed
was a letter from the manufacturer saying that it did meet the standard at
the time of its manufacture. I also had to show proof that the metric
speedometer (the only item that didn't meet the U.S. standard other than the
data plate) had been changed, and that proved to be a challenge.
Since I had already changed the speedometer (to one from a wrecker), I
couldn't produce a bill for the work. Maryland State Police advised it is
against state law for anyone to fool with a speedometer unless he's
authorized to do so by the state. I finally got a friendly dealer (Lloy's
Automotive in Falls Church VA) to write a letter saying they'd inspected the
car and the speedometer had been changed.
That, and a letter from the Peugeot import agency saying that the car met all
U.S. standards other than the speedo and the data plate, was enough to get a
waiver from the D.O.T. With the waiver in hand, passage through Customs (at
Baltimore Harbor) was fairly simple. Although there was some early warning
from Customs about potential EPA involvement, that never was required. There
was no duty to pay in my case, because the car was the listed personal
property of an immigrant. (There woudn't have been anyway, because of NAFTA).
A point of interest while I was at Customs was that there was a fellow there
EXPORTING six brand new BMWs to Europe -- apparently the price is so much
lower here than in Europe that there is a hefty profit to be made even after
paying the shipping charges to get them back to the other side of the ocean,
where they were manufactured. Competition from the Japanese? Another reason
for Peugeot not to re-enter the U.S. market?
Another point of interest was a nice-looking Peugeot 505 STI Turbo sitting in
the impound area at Customs. Obviously someone was having more difficulty
than I was. I didn't ask . . .
Egon Frech