Importing a Smart Roadster is one of the smartest ways to secure a better-specification car at a lower price than the domestic market currently offers. With only around 43,000 units produced between 2003 and 2006 — and just 7,251 registered in the UK — the global pool of cars is finite and shrinking. Whether you are hunting for a pristine low-mileage Brabus in Germany, a well-priced 60kW example from the Netherlands, or a rare colour combination from Japan, importing opens up possibilities that simply do not exist on your local classifieds. This guide walks you through every stage of the process: sourcing, inspection, shipping or driving home, compliance, registration, and the hidden costs that catch buyers off guard.
Why Import a Smart Roadster?
The case for importing a Smart Roadster is compelling. Continental European markets — particularly Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France — saw far higher sales volumes than the UK, which means supply is greater and prices are often lower for equivalent cars. In 2025, a good-condition 60kW roadster in Germany might trade for 9,000–11,000 EUR, while a comparable UK car could command a premium simply due to scarcity. Beyond price, importing lets you access specification levels that were never officially sold in your home market. The full 74kW Brabus, for instance, was distributed unevenly across European countries, and finding one through domestic channels alone can take years.
Japan is another increasingly popular source country. Japanese-market Smart Roadsters were sold in small numbers and tend to have meticulous service histories, low mileage, and excellent bodywork condition — a product of Japan’s strict shaken vehicle inspection culture. The trade-off is the added complexity of shipping, currency conversion, and right-hand-drive conversion if you intend to drive on UK roads.
Sourcing the Right Car Abroad
Begin your search on the major platforms in each target country: Mobile.de and AutoScout24 are the dominant German-language sites, while Marktplaats covers the Netherlands. French classifieds site Le Bon Coin frequently lists Roadsters at competitive prices, though communication is almost always in French. For Japan, specialist importers are your most practical route unless you have an agent or can attend auction yourself.
What to Look For on Listings
When reviewing foreign listings, prioritise cars with a full documented service history, ideally stamped by a Mercedes-Benz or Smart dealer network. Look for evidence of the known issues specific to this model: water ingress around the hood and roof seals, steering rack wear, SAM unit faults (which present as B1xxx diagnostic codes), and LCD instrument cluster degradation. Ask the seller for recent photographs of the engine bay — remember that the Smart Roadster is a mid-rear engined car, so the engine sits behind the seats, not at the front. Any listing showing a large engine under a front bonnet is not a Smart Roadster.
Request the vehicle identification number (VIN) and cross-reference it against the variant codes to confirm whether the car is a 45kW Lite, 60kW standard, 66kW SB2 Brabus, or full 74kW Brabus. The 45kW Lite variant lacks an oil cooler and should generally be avoided for long-term ownership. Understanding the technical differences between variants is essential before committing — our detailed overview of the Smart Roadster’s MEG 1.1 ECU and its role in each performance variant is worth reading before you negotiate, as ECU specification directly affects what the car can and cannot do.
Pre-Purchase Inspection
Never import a Smart Roadster sight-unseen without an independent inspection. If you cannot travel to view the car personally, hire a local independent mechanic or use a professional vehicle inspection service operating in that country. In Germany, the ADAC (the German automobile club) offers pre-purchase inspection services for a modest fee. In the Netherlands, the ANWB provides a similar service.
Key Inspection Points
- Water ingress: Check the footwells, behind the seats, and beneath the removable targa-style roof panels for moisture or staining.
- Soft top condition: If the car has the optional folding soft top, inspect the mechanism and fabric carefully. Replacement hoods are expensive and increasingly hard to source.
- Steering rack: Ask the inspector to check for play and any evidence of recent replacement or repair.
- Gearbox behaviour: The Softouch automated-manual gearbox is notoriously slow and jerky — but it should still shift cleanly at operating temperature. Harsh or grinding shifts warrant further investigation.
- SAM unit: Request a diagnostic scan to check for stored fault codes, particularly in the B1xxx range, which indicate SAM (Signal Acquisition Module) issues.
- Service history verification: Confirm stamps are genuine and cross-check mileage against HU (Hauptuntersuchung) stickers in German cars.
Shipping, Driving, or Trailering Home
How you get the car home depends on the source country and your budget. For European Union countries, driving the car back yourself is often the simplest and cheapest option, provided the car is roadworthy and insured for the journey. Temporary export/import insurance for a European road trip is available from specialist brokers and is usually inexpensive for a short period. Ensure you carry the original ownership documents (Fahrzeugbrief in Germany, Carte Grise in France) and any relevant customs paperwork.
For longer distances — particularly from Japan or the United States — container shipping is the standard approach. Costs vary significantly by origin port, destination port, and whether you use a shared (groupage) container or a dedicated 20-foot container. Budget a minimum of 1,200–2,500 EUR for European-to-UK shipping by enclosed transporter, and 2,500–5,000 EUR for Japan-to-UK container shipping, excluding port handling and customs clearance fees.
Post-Brexit Considerations for UK Buyers
Since the UK’s departure from the European Union, importing a used car from an EU country into the UK now involves customs duty and import VAT. Used personal-import vehicles benefit from a relief called Transfer of Residence (ToR) relief if you are relocating — but most enthusiast purchases do not qualify. For a standard commercial import of a used vehicle, expect to pay 6.5% customs duty on the customs value (purchase price plus shipping) and 20% VAT on the combined total. This significantly affects the financial calculation and must be factored in from the outset.
Registration and Compliance in the UK
Once the car arrives in the UK, you must register it with the DVLA. The process begins with an Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) test if the car does not already have European type approval — though most Smart Roadsters manufactured for the EU market carry valid type approval and are exempt from IVA. You will need:
- The original foreign title document (V5 equivalent)
- Proof of purchase (invoice or bill of sale)
- Evidence of VAT and customs duty payment (C384 or equivalent)
- A valid MOT if the car is over three years old
- Completed DVLA form V55/5 (first registration)
- Payment for first-year vehicle excise duty (road tax)
The DVLA will issue a UK registration number and new V5C logbook. Note that headlights on continental European cars are aligned for driving on the right — you must either have the headlights realigned for left-hand-side driving or fit UK-specification headlight units before the MOT. Beam deflectors are an acceptable temporary fix for driving through the Channel Tunnel or on ferries but do not satisfy the MOT.
Total Cost of Importing: A Realistic Budget
Buyers consistently underestimate the all-in cost of importing a Smart Roadster. Here is a realistic breakdown for a UK buyer importing a 60kW example from Germany in 2025:
- Purchase price: 9,000–11,000 EUR
- Pre-purchase inspection: 100–200 EUR
- Shipping to UK (enclosed transporter): 800–1,500 GBP
- UK customs duty (6.5%): approximately 600–750 GBP
- UK import VAT (20%): approximately 2,000–2,500 GBP
- DVLA registration fees and MOT: 150–300 GBP
- Headlight realignment or replacement: 100–400 GBP
- Contingency for minor remedial work: 500–1,000 GBP
In total, a 10,000 EUR car can realistically cost 14,000–16,000 GBP landed and registered on UK roads. Compare that honestly against the domestic market before proceeding.
Is Importing a Smart Roadster Worth It?
For buyers chasing a specific variant — particularly the full Brabus or a very low-mileage, well-documented example — importing a Smart Roadster remains worthwhile despite the additional cost and administrative effort. The domestic UK market simply cannot satisfy demand for the best cars, and a correctly sourced continental example will often be in superior condition to anything available locally. For buyers simply seeking the cheapest route into ownership, the sums rarely work in favour of importing once all costs are counted. In that case, patience in the UK market is usually the better strategy.
Whatever route you take, approach importing a Smart Roadster with thorough preparation, a realistic budget, and a healthy respect for the car’s known quirks. A well-chosen example — imported carefully or bought locally — will reward you with one of the most characterful and entertaining open-top driving experiences of the modern era.
