Importing a used car from the US to Lithuania

The risk: a write-off that arrives with a fresh start

In the US, a car an insurer declares a total loss gets a title brand such as salvage or flood. The federal title database NMVTIS keeps that brand on the car’s record for good, and the insurer’s total-loss report too. Those are US records. When the car is registered in Lithuania, the Regitra registration certificate is a new document, and nothing on it tells the next owner how the car left the US.

That gap is what a resale depends on. A car bought cheaply with front-end damage can be repaired, inspected and offered on a Lithuanian lot with a short, tidy local history. The seller may simply call it “from America”.

Odometer changes

The auction records a mileage figure when the car is sold. If the dashboard of a car in Lithuania shows fewer miles or kilometres than the lot did months earlier, the cluster was changed or reset. Watch the units too: a US car reads in miles, and a converted or replaced cluster can hide the real figure.

From a US port to Klaipėda

Klaipėda, run by the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority, is Lithuania’s seaport, so a car shipped from the US to Lithuania by sea lands there unless it is routed through another EU port. Before it sails, US Customs and Border Protection needs the car and the original title, or a certified copy, at least 72 hours ahead. A lot bought without the title in hand waits in the US until the title arrives.

Customs duty and VAT

Where the car was built decides the duty, not where you bought it. Since 1 July 2026, Regulation (EU) 2026/1455 sets a 0% duty on US-origin goods in chapter 87, which includes cars. It applies until 31 December 2029 unless it is extended or suspended.

For the 0% rate, the proof of origin has to include evidence that the car came directly from the US to the EU, or stayed under customs supervision on the way. Ask your customs broker what papers they need before the car is loaded, not when it’s on the quay.

Lithuania also charges a one-off registration tax on passenger cars and light vans whose CO2 emissions exceed 130 g/km, including imported cars at their first registration. Regitra publishes a calculator, and the exact amount is set when the car is registered.

Registering the car with Regitra

1. Get an SDK first. A car registered abroad has no owner declaration code (SDK). Declare the purchase to Regitra, online or at a branch, before the car enters Lithuania.
2. Clear customs and pay the duty and VAT that apply.
3. Pass the mandatory technical inspection at an inspection company and buy compulsory third-party motor insurance.
4. Conformity assessment. A car registered outside the EU that was first registered or made on or after 5 September 2020, or has model year 2021 or later, needs an assessment from a technical expertise company. Since 1 October 2026 this also covers such cars first registered elsewhere in Europe without EU approval, and Regitra’s own example is a US-market car.
5. Register at a branch. Bring the car for an authenticity check, your ID and the earlier registration document. For a US car, Regitra accepts the US certificate of title and export papers when there is no foreign registration certificate.

Rules change, and a repaired car may need more work to pass. Ask the inspection or expertise company about a specific car before you bid.

Checks before you bid or buy

1. Decode the VIN with the VIN decoder to see where the car was built: that decides 0% or 10% duty.
2. Pull the auction record and study the damage photos, the title type at sale and the odometer.
3. Run a CARFAX or AutoCheck report for title brands from earlier states, insurance total-loss records and the mileage trail.
4. Look for airbag, flood and frame damage in the photos: those are the repairs that decide whether the car is safe, not just whether it passes.
5. Ask a customs broker for the full landed cost, including the registration tax.

What our reports cover

CARFAX and AutoCheck cover vehicles sold in the US and Canada: title brands from every state, total-loss and auction events, and recorded mileage. The auction report shows the Copart or IAAI lot as it sold, with photos, recorded damage, title and odometer. Reports are in English. We don’t arrange shipping, customs or registration.