Shipping Used Car Parts: Duties, Documents and Crating

Who pays what: the terms in plain language

Most disputes come from a buyer assuming DDP when the quote said DAP. If the number does not include duty, say so on the quotation, in the same font size as the price.

Documents that travel with the part

• Commercial invoice — the declared value and the description customs will read. "Used car parts, assorted" invites inspection; "used ABS hydraulic unit, part no. 8W0 614 517, for passenger vehicle" does not.
• Packing list — pieces, weights, dimensions per package.
• Air waybill or bill of lading — the transport contract.
• Certificate of origin — only where a trade agreement reduces duty. Not needed for most shipments, and worth checking before assuming.
• MSDS / dangerous goods declaration — for batteries and anything with residual fuel or pressure.

HS codes for the common components

• 8708.10 — bumpers and parts
• 8708.29 — other body parts and panels
• 8708.30 — brakes, servo-brakes and parts
• 8708.40 — gearboxes and parts
• 8708.50 — drive axles with differential
• 8708.70 — road wheels and parts
• 8708.80 — suspension and steering parts
• 8708.99 — other parts, which is where engines and most electrical components land
• 8507 — batteries, which is a different regime entirely

Duty rates vary widely by destination and by the code chosen. Two neighbouring countries can apply very different rates to the same gearbox. This is worth confirming before quoting a landed price rather than after.

Crating and weight, realistically

• Complete engine — 180–300 kg on a pallet, drained, braced, often crated. Freight class matters as much as weight.
• Automatic gearbox — 80–130 kg with converter.
• Door or bonnet — light but volumetric; you pay for space, not mass.
• Headlamp — under 5 kg, and the most fragile thing in the category. Double-boxed, lens protected.

Volumetric weight is the concept that surprises first-time buyers: a bumper weighing 6 kg can be charged as 40 kg because it fills the space of 40 kg. Ask for dimensions as well as weight when comparing freight quotes.

Air or sea

Air makes sense for small, urgent, high-value parts: modules, ECUs, sensors, a single headlamp. Sea makes sense above roughly 100 kg or above a cubic metre, where the per-kilo rate collapses. A 250 kg engine sent by air is almost always a mistake on cost; the same engine by sea is routine.

Duties, taxes and the de minimis myth

Import VAT and duty are normally the buyer's responsibility and are collected at destination, usually before delivery. The "de minimis" threshold that waives duty on small parcels applies to consignments below a value set by the destination country — it is not a general exemption for used parts, and it is frequently much lower than buyers expect.

The practical rule: assume duty and tax are payable, ask for the rate in advance, and treat any quote that omits them as a partial number.

Batteries change the whole calculation

• Lead-acid (12V starter batteries) — classified as dangerous goods, UN 2794, corrosive. Many carriers refuse them outright or require a declaration and specialised packaging.
• Lithium-ion (hybrid and EV packs, modules, 12V lithium) — UN 3480 for cells and batteries shipped alone, UN 3481 when packed with equipment. Class 9. Air freight is heavily restricted, state of charge limits apply, and used or damaged lithium is refused by most airlines.
• Practical consequence — a used hybrid pack is often sea freight only, on a pallet, with a dangerous goods declaration and a carrier that has agreed in advance. This is a planning item, not a detail to discover at the counter.

What most often goes wrong

1. Duty assumed to be included when it was not.
2. Description on the invoice too vague for customs, triggering an inspection and a storage charge.
3. Volumetric weight ignored, so the freight invoice is double the quote.
4. A battery in a mixed pallet, which can hold the entire shipment.
5. No photographs of the packing before sealing — the single most useful document if a claim is needed.