Golden Chariots has been importing vehicles from all over the globe for more than 25 years. As true petrolheads, the team felt it helpful to draw up some info that will help readers avoid being scammed or buying a lemon. Here’s what boss John Kulin had to

■ When we are asked where to source cars from our advice is don’t dismiss eBay – there are some absolute bargains to be found as well as some utter rubbish, so make your decisions wisely.

■ Once you have found your vehicle and agreed a price, then we recommend all our clients to organise a vehicle inspection. Typically for a classic car it costs about $300 and for that a qualified mechanic will go out and inspect the vehicle, check the quality of the bodywork and the mechanics, and they will also verify the documentation. We organise these inspections for about 25% of our clients and forward them a copy of the report along with about 100 photos. If buying from an auction site then make sure youallow 1-4 days prior to the end of the auction so that you have the report in hand before handing over any money. The real benefit of an inspection is that you can verify that the car and paperwork actually exists and is not a scam!

■ So how do you pay for your vehicle? There are some straightforward recipients’ accounts in the US and some far more complicated ones that involve intermediary accounts. A number of UK banks struggle with the latter type of accounts, so either use a foreign exchange company or contact us and we can carry out the payment on your behalf. It is okay to provide a $500 deposit via PayPal or credit card, but don’t pay for the whole car that way as the exchange rate they offer is terrible.

■ When we have purchased cars from the US, we always make sure to get a walk around video carried out by the seller and sent via WhatsApp or similar; if they refuse then be wary, it might be a scam. The biggest mistake people make is to hit the ‘buy it now’ button without thinking things through or looking at the costs.

■ Shipping out of the West Coast can be testing and up until a few years ago there were a number of companies in San Francisco. We now prefer to ship everything out of Long Beach as we have a superb shipper there whom we have visited and can trust to do the export correctly.

■ A lot of people rule out buying cars from areas such as the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska etc. Yes, they might be more than 1000 miles away from the port but generally speaking the vehicles are about 25% cheaper than in highly populated areas and many of these areas don’t use salt on the roads as it would have no effect on 10ft of snow!

■ Like everything in life there are good and not-so-good companies that will ship your car out of the US. We personally inspect them and ensure our standards are maintained; it doesn’t always mean that the cheapest is best or that the most expensive is better. Look at companies’ reputations as that says everything about whether your car will arrive in the condition that you bought it.

■ Finally, anyone that pretends that nothing ever goes wrong is mistaken – it can and very rarely does. But as we say to our clients, it’s the manner in which issues are dealt with that defines how good a freight forwarder is.

■ Unfortunately we provided the incorrect address for Golden Chariots in the latest Glove Box Guide. The correct contact details are as follows.

Golden Chariots (Imports) Limited, Hilton Hall, Hilton Lane, Essington, Staffordshire WV11 2BQ. Tel: 01902 790797/790771 email: info@goldenchariots.com web: http://www.goldenchariots.com