1994 Mercedes 917AF - Looks pretty clean $35K

Keyne

Adventurer
Noticed this while searching for other things. Looks like a clean MB917AF and as an old fire truck, I believe it would be duty-free to import into the US. I have no affiliation with the seller and you should do your own importation research, but could be a good chassis for someone.

 

Keyne

Adventurer
Nice looking truck, just not a fire truck.
They mentioned "Old Fire Brigade" so I thought they meant fire truck and maybe it was painted. How do they designate a truck as a fire truck? Is there a VIN type number designation or is it a usage thing? I wondered if you took an old firetruck, converted it in Europe to an expo truck and then imported it... would it still be a fire truck for customs.
 

Joe917

Explorer
They mentioned "Old Fire Brigade" so I thought they meant fire truck and maybe it was painted. How do they designate a truck as a fire truck? Is there a VIN type number designation or is it a usage thing? I wondered if you took an old firetruck, converted it in Europe to an expo truck and then imported it... would it still be a fire truck for customs.
The 917AF designation is 9 tonne, 170 hp, All wheel drive, Fire truck.
They were sold to fire services, military and private buyers. Looks like this one was never a fire truck, the paint looks original and kms are too high for a fire truck. Higher kms not bad at all, fire trucks that sit tend to have problems.

Our 917AF expo truck is for sale in Canada and I would expect it to go to the US market with the dollar exchange. Has anybody imported a similar truck? What duty did you have to pay?
Is an RV considered a passenger vehicle or a truck for duty?
 

mog

Kodiak Buckaroo
Agreed, that is a lot of kilometers for a 'firetruck'. They have added a lot with the flatbed, spare wheel mount, super singles, and Euro side protection bars, so perhaps a bunch of those KMs were put on post-fire-service? Nice that it has triple lockers and that 6 speed along with the super singles. You might watch the Lowly the Lorry thread as it should be 'officially' imported into the USA very soon, so there might be some information there on the duty.

Edit- I looked through all the photos and it is placarded as an 'AF' so a 'firetruck' but the dash has no switchgear for lights, sirens, etc, so I don't think it was ever in fire service. It might have been ordered as an 'F', as firetrucks normally have fast axles, higher capacity air compressor and larger or more air tanks. It sure has a nice interior, spring-mounted subframe/flatbed, and a huge fuel tank. A Good Find (y)
pc.jpg sm.jpg
 
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DirtWhiskey

Western Dirt Rat
Rad truck. Flex mounted bed and all the goodies that Mog mentioned. Be interesting figuring out shipping and import logistics in this environment.
 

Keyne

Adventurer
Agreed, that is a lot of kilometers for a 'firetruck'. They have added a lot with the flatbed, spare wheel mount, super singles, and Euro side protection bars, so perhaps a bunch of those KMs were put on post-fire-service? Nice that it has triple lockers and that 6 speed along with the super singles. You might watch the Lowly the Lorry thread as it should be 'officially' imported into the USA very soon, so there might be some information there on the duty.

Edit- I looked through all the photos and it is placarded as an 'AF' so a 'firetruck' but the dash has no switchgear for lights, sirens, etc, so I don't think it was ever in fire service. It might have been ordered as an 'F', as firetrucks normally have fast axles, higher capacity air compressor and larger or more air tanks. It sure has a nice interior, spring-mounted subframe/flatbed, and a huge fuel tank. A Good Find (y)
View attachment 637581 View attachment 637585
If the truck has the placard with a Fire Truck designation does that qualify it for import treatment as a fire truck? I believe the duty is 25% (ouch) on vehicles so that would be a nice benefit for someone looking at similar trucks for import.
 

Joe917

Explorer
If the truck has the placard with a Fire Truck designation does that qualify it for import treatment as a fire truck? I believe the duty is 25% (ouch) on vehicles so that would be a nice benefit for someone looking at similar trucks for import.
If it had a box on it and was a motorhome would that change the duty to 2.5% as a passenger vehicle?
 

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