Found it on VwVortex, how is it legal in this country?
2004 Peugeot 206 - Virginia $4500 obo
Good shape, runs great, great on gas.
Lowered, new tail lights, new front tires, custom painted wheels, new muffler, recent oil change.
Recent state inspection, clear title, insured.
52,000 miles or 84,000 km (the speedo and odometer are in kilometers).
5-speed, 1.4l engine, power locks and windows (front), radio/CD player.
Imported from Mexico. PM me for details.
Sold as-is. $4500 or best offer.
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4524016
Gotta be some title shenanigans going on there.
Carson
Dork
8/26/09 10:49 a.m.
Yeah, I saw that a while back on a craigslist search. Looks awesome, but I imagine getting that car here and legally getting the paper work taken care of would have been more than $4500 if not in aggravation alone.
Ian F
HalfDork
8/26/09 11:03 a.m.
I'm guessing it would depend on how it's registered in VA. He appears to have tags on it, so maybe he got it through some sort of loop-hole.. I do know VA has some odd MV laws. Now whether or not you could drive it where you live is another matter... In PA, I might be able to get away with it... since transferring an already titled car is fairly straight-forward... but day-to-day driving will be a roll of the dice...
Keith
SuperDork
8/26/09 11:16 a.m.
The only Peugeot on the NHSTA list of cars eligible for import with modifications is the 1989 405. This car's not in legally...
tuna55
Reader
8/26/09 11:21 a.m.
Buy it anyway! I am an expert car importer. Here are the easy steps:
1: remove VIN plate from random 70's car that nobody recognizes in junkyard (make sure the junkyard has the title)
2: Bolt VIN plate onto sweet looking Puegot
3: Register and enjoy!
The previous message does not reflect the opinions of Motorsports Marketing, Grassroots Motorsports, or anyone that wishes to not be a prison bitch.
tuna55
Reader
8/26/09 11:37 a.m.
How many cops check your VIN plate?
Carson
Dork
8/26/09 11:42 a.m.
In reply to tuna55:
The last two times I was rear-ended the officer checked both the dash and door-jamb VIN against my registration. Not saying they'd know a Japanese VIN against a German or, in this case, French but it was still checked.
tuna55
Reader
8/26/09 11:47 a.m.
Wow. OK. I guess you get the VIN from am older Puegot and call it close.
tuna55 wrote:
How many cops check your VIN plate?
Ed Zachary!!! We all like driving at 10/10ths, now its time to start living 10/10ths...screw the man!!! If wanting to drive that car to work everyday is wrong, then being right is for %#@ssies
buy it buy it buy it buy it
Aint no one gonna break my stride, aint no one gonna hold me down, oh no, Im gonna drive a puegot
tuna55
Reader
8/26/09 11:54 a.m.
That comment along with the Aston Martic signature give you one giant vote up from this guy
There's a Pug 307 very close to home, I would see it just a couple miles from my doorstep some mornings on my commute to work, I have no idea what it's doing here. And I haven't seen it in a good 5 months or so, if I had a chance I'd love to bug the owner about the how's and why's of it's existence in Wichita, KS.
umm, where would you get parts for such a thing?
tuna55
Reader
8/26/09 12:22 p.m.
France.
But when do French cars break?
They break when theyre bullied hard enough, then someone else has to step in and hold it together. The french dont like to sweat, but they like to smell like theyre sweaty. Oxymoronical IMO
Since it's in Virginia, presumably Northern VA, it could've come in as a Diplomatic car for one the embassies in DC. The other day I saw a right-hand-drive Toyota Corolla Altis on the Capital Beltway (It puzzled me that he went through all that trouble to import a Corolla).
I wouldn't buy it for the simple fact that it's so under powered and Peugeot is not know for its reliability, ask me how I know. I drove the automatic version of this car and that 1.4 l engine had barely adequate power for city driving. I used to drive 505, 405 and 406 for a while so I know a little bit about Peugeot. Only the 505 was pretty reliable, the rest were suspect, very comfortable car but not the most reliable thing in the world.
BAMF
Reader
8/26/09 10:44 p.m.
I've seen a few weird cars in this country. The strangest was a new (a few years ago) RHD Mercedes S-class that was badged 240D. Also, it had plates that were likely South African. How it got to Lawrence, KS, and specifically to a Dillons Grocery store, I'll never know.
I wouldn't buy someone else's illegally imported car. I had a legit Lancia Beta Zagato, and getting parts and service was never easy or cheap. I figure at the first sign of trouble, the person who imported that thing would dump it off on a Francophile and stick him or her with the impending repair bill.
You know.. I love italian cars. I really love it when you take them out for a ride and I even sort of llove them when I have to maintain them afterwards because the drive is so worth it.
I can see the Pug being no better in reliability than my italian cars.. but not as much fun to drive
Luke
Dork
8/27/09 5:48 a.m.
^^Yeah, it's cool because it's French, but it won't drive any better than a Japanese or domestic buzz-box.
The 206 GTi, on the other hand, is a way better car. A proper little hot-hatch in the vein of the famous 205 Gti. Guy should've imported one of those instead.
Wally
SuperDork
8/27/09 8:54 a.m.
ea_sport wrote:
Since it's in Virginia, presumably Northern VA, it could've come in as a Diplomatic car for one the embassies in DC. The other day I saw a right-hand-drive Toyota Corolla Altis on the Capital Beltway (It puzzled me that he went through all that trouble to import a Corolla).
If it was a diplomats car he probably didn't go through much trouble at all to import it. We would occasionally load/unload cars from containers for a local moving company. Saw a few Opels and a couple of neat Alfas. They have a sort of diplomatic immunity like their owners. They don't need to meet US regs, but they have to go home at the end of thier service.
Keith
SuperDork
8/27/09 10:31 a.m.
There used to be a Ford Puma rolling around Ottawa on diplomatic tags. I figure it just went back to France (I think that was the tag) when the posting was up.
You can import a car for a limited period of time without having to make it US legal. A group of Caterham/Lotus/Birkin/etc owners brought their cars over in 2006 or so to make a trip from Houston to SF, running on the tags of whatever country they came from. I worked on a Caterham with Dubai tags and an RST bike-based V8, very cool.