diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index d6b38c11d..633d55c3b 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ LICENSE text eol=auto
 *.png binary
 *.tar binary
 *.gz binary
+*.car binary
 
 # Binary assets
 assets/init-doc/*          binary
diff --git a/core/commands/commands_test.go b/core/commands/commands_test.go
index e34c5070c..ee6fd4577 100644
--- a/core/commands/commands_test.go
+++ b/core/commands/commands_test.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func TestROCommands(t *testing.T) {
 		"/commands",
 		"/dag",
 		"/dag/get",
+		"/dag/export",
 		"/dag/resolve",
 		"/dns",
 		"/get",
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ func TestCommands(t *testing.T) {
 		"/config/profile/apply",
 		"/dag",
 		"/dag/get",
+		"/dag/export",
 		"/dag/put",
 		"/dag/resolve",
 		"/dht",
diff --git a/core/commands/dag/dag.go b/core/commands/dag/dag.go
index 66d50feb1..31ea85060 100644
--- a/core/commands/dag/dag.go
+++ b/core/commands/dag/dag.go
@@ -14,16 +14,22 @@ import (
 	cmds "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-cmds"
 	files "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs-files"
 	ipld "github.com/ipfs/go-ipld-format"
+	mdag "github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag"
 	ipfspath "github.com/ipfs/go-path"
 	path "github.com/ipfs/interface-go-ipfs-core/path"
 	mh "github.com/multiformats/go-multihash"
+
+	gocar "github.com/ipld/go-car"
+	//gipfree "github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/impl/free"
+	//gipselector "github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/traversal/selector"
+	//gipselectorbuilder "github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime/traversal/selector/builder"
 )
 
 var DagCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	Helptext: cmds.HelpText{
 		Tagline: "Interact with ipld dag objects.",
 		ShortDescription: `
-'ipfs dag' is used for creating and manipulating dag objects.
+'ipfs dag' is used for creating and manipulating dag objects/hierarchies.
 
 This subcommand is currently an experimental feature, but it is intended
 to deprecate and replace the existing 'ipfs object' command moving forward.
@@ -33,6 +39,7 @@ to deprecate and replace the existing 'ipfs object' command moving forward.
 		"put":     DagPutCmd,
 		"get":     DagGetCmd,
 		"resolve": DagResolveCmd,
+		"export":  DagExportCmd,
 	},
 }
 
@@ -241,3 +248,103 @@ var DagResolveCmd = &cmds.Command{
 	},
 	Type: ResolveOutput{},
 }
+
+var DagExportCmd = &cmds.Command{
+	Helptext: cmds.HelpText{
+		Tagline: "Streams the selected DAG as a .car stream on stdout.",
+		ShortDescription: `
+'ipfs dag export' fetches a dag and streams it out as a well-formed .car file.
+Note that at prsent only single root selections / .car files are supported.
+The output of blocks happens in strict DAG-traversal, first-seen, order.
+`,
+	},
+	Arguments: []cmds.Argument{
+		cmds.StringArg("root", true, false, "Expression evaluting to a single root of a dag to export").EnableStdin(),
+	},
+	Run: func(req *cmds.Request, res cmds.ResponseEmitter, env cmds.Environment) error {
+
+		c, err := cid.Decode(req.Arguments[0])
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf(
+				"unable to parse root specification (currently only bare CIDs are supported): %s",
+				err,
+			)
+		}
+
+		// The current interface of go-car is rather suboptimal as it
+		// only takes a blockstore, instead of accepting a dagservice,
+		// and leveraging parallel-fetch capabilities
+		// https://github.com/ipld/go-car/issues/27
+		//
+		// Until the above is fixed, pre-warm the blockstore before doing
+		// anything else. We explicitly *DO NOT* take a lock during this
+		// operation: even if we lose some of the blocks we just received
+		// due to a conflicting GC: we will just re-retrieve anything we
+		// potentially lost when the car is being streamed out
+		node, err := cmdenv.GetNode(env)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		if err := mdag.FetchGraph(req.Context, c, node.DAG); err != nil {
+			if !node.IsOnline {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("%s (currently offline, perhaps retry after attaching to the network)", err)
+			}
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// Code disabled until descent-issue in go-ipld-prime is fixed
+		//
+		// The second part of the above - make a super-thin wrapper around
+		// a blockservice session, translating Session.GetBlock() to Blockstore.Get()
+		//
+		// sess := blockservice.NewSession(
+		// 	req.Context,
+		// 	node.Blocks,
+		// )
+		// var wrapper getBlockFromSessionWrapper = func(c cid.Cid) (blk.Block, error) {
+		// 	return sess.GetBlock(req.Context, c)
+		// }
+		// sb := gipselectorbuilder.NewSelectorSpecBuilder(gipfree.NodeBuilder())
+		// car := gocar.NewSelectiveCar(
+		// 	req.Context,
+		// 	&wrapper,
+		// 	[]gocar.Dag{gocar.Dag{
+		// 		Root: c,
+		// 		Selector: sb.ExploreRecursive(
+		// 			gipselector.RecursionLimitNone(),
+		// 			sb.ExploreAll(sb.ExploreRecursiveEdge()),
+		// 		).Node(),
+		// 	}},
+		// )
+
+		pipeR, pipeW := io.Pipe()
+
+		errCh := make(chan error, 2) // we only report the 1st error
+		go func() {
+			defer func() {
+				if err := pipeW.Close(); err != nil {
+					errCh <- fmt.Errorf("stream flush failed: %s", err)
+				}
+				close(errCh)
+			}()
+
+			//if err := car.Write(pipeW); err != nil {
+			if err := gocar.WriteCar(
+				req.Context,
+				node.DAG,
+				[]cid.Cid{c},
+				pipeW,
+			); err != nil {
+				errCh <- err
+			}
+		}()
+
+		if err := res.Emit(pipeR); err != nil {
+			pipeW.Close() // ignore errors if any
+			return err
+		}
+
+		return <-errCh
+	},
+}
diff --git a/core/commands/root.go b/core/commands/root.go
index 752cfd4e3..c31199308 100644
--- a/core/commands/root.go
+++ b/core/commands/root.go
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ var rootROSubcommands = map[string]*cmds.Command{
 	"dag": {
 		Subcommands: map[string]*cmds.Command{
 			"get":     dag.DagGetCmd,
+			"export":  dag.DagExportCmd,
 			"resolve": dag.DagResolveCmd,
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index fab16101a..b9b3f513e 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/ipfs/go-unixfs v0.2.4
 	github.com/ipfs/go-verifcid v0.0.1
 	github.com/ipfs/interface-go-ipfs-core v0.2.6
+	github.com/ipld/go-car v0.0.5-0.20200316204026-3e2cf7af0fab
 	github.com/jbenet/go-is-domain v1.0.3
 	github.com/jbenet/go-random v0.0.0-20190219211222-123a90aedc0c
 	github.com/jbenet/go-temp-err-catcher v0.1.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 0e3cbf128..6de9d5046 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ github.com/aead/siphash v1.0.1/go.mod h1:Nywa3cDsYNNK3gaciGTWPwHt0wlpNV15vwmswBA
 github.com/alangpierce/go-forceexport v0.0.0-20160317203124-8f1d6941cd75 h1:3ILjVyslFbc4jl1w5TWuvvslFD/nDfR2H8tVaMVLrEY=
 github.com/alangpierce/go-forceexport v0.0.0-20160317203124-8f1d6941cd75/go.mod h1:uAXEEpARkRhCZfEvy/y0Jcc888f9tHCc1W7/UeEtreE=
 github.com/alecthomas/template v0.0.0-20160405071501-a0175ee3bccc/go.mod h1:LOuyumcjzFXgccqObfd/Ljyb9UuFJ6TxHnclSeseNhc=
+github.com/alecthomas/template v0.0.0-20190718012654-fb15b899a751 h1:JYp7IbQjafoB+tBA3gMyHYHrpOtNuDiK/uB5uXxq5wM=
 github.com/alecthomas/template v0.0.0-20190718012654-fb15b899a751/go.mod h1:LOuyumcjzFXgccqObfd/Ljyb9UuFJ6TxHnclSeseNhc=
 github.com/alecthomas/units v0.0.0-20151022065526-2efee857e7cf/go.mod h1:ybxpYRFXyAe+OPACYpWeL0wqObRcbAqCMya13uyzqw0=
+github.com/alecthomas/units v0.0.0-20190717042225-c3de453c63f4 h1:Hs82Z41s6SdL1CELW+XaDYmOH4hkBN4/N9og/AsOv7E=
 github.com/alecthomas/units v0.0.0-20190717042225-c3de453c63f4/go.mod h1:ybxpYRFXyAe+OPACYpWeL0wqObRcbAqCMya13uyzqw0=
 github.com/armon/consul-api v0.0.0-20180202201655-eb2c6b5be1b6/go.mod h1:grANhF5doyWs3UAsr3K4I6qtAmlQcZDesFNEHPZAzj8=
 github.com/beorn7/perks v0.0.0-20180321164747-3a771d992973/go.mod h1:Dwedo/Wpr24TaqPxmxbtue+5NUziq4I4S80YR8gNf3Q=
@@ -190,15 +192,12 @@ github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.0.3/go.mod h1:/NNihwTi6V2Yr6g8wBI+BSwPuURpBRM
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.0.7/go.mod h1:EOfb9k/Y878ZTRY/CH0x5+ATtaipfbRhbvNSdgc/7So=
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.0/go.mod h1:hzmMScl1kXHg3M2BjTymbVPjv627N7sYcvYaKbop39M=
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.1/go.mod h1:t+411r7psEUhLueM8C7aPA7cxCclv4O3VsUVxt9kz2I=
-github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.2 h1:fqFeeu1EG0lGVrqUo+BVJv7LZV31I4ZsyNthCOMAJRc=
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.2/go.mod h1:t+411r7psEUhLueM8C7aPA7cxCclv4O3VsUVxt9kz2I=
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.3 h1:9XgsPMwwWJSC9uVr2pMDsW2qFTBSkxpGMhmna8mIjPM=
 github.com/ipfs/go-blockservice v0.1.3/go.mod h1:OTZhFpkgY48kNzbgyvcexW9cHrpjBYIjSR0KoDOFOLU=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.1/go.mod h1:GHWU/WuQdMPmIosc4Yn1bcCT7dSeX4lBafM7iqUPQvM=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.2/go.mod h1:GHWU/WuQdMPmIosc4Yn1bcCT7dSeX4lBafM7iqUPQvM=
-github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.3 h1:UIAh32wymBpStoe83YCzwVQQ5Oy/H0FdxvUS6DJDzms=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.3/go.mod h1:GHWU/WuQdMPmIosc4Yn1bcCT7dSeX4lBafM7iqUPQvM=
-github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.4 h1:UlfXKrZx1DjZoBhQHmNHLC1fK1dUJDN20Y28A7s+gJ8=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.4/go.mod h1:4LLaPOQwmk5z9LBgQnpkivrx8BJjUyGwTXCd5Xfj6+M=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.5 h1:o0Ix8e/ql7Zb5UVUJEUfjsWCIY8t48++9lR8qi6oiJU=
 github.com/ipfs/go-cid v0.0.5/go.mod h1:plgt+Y5MnOey4vO4UlUazGqdbEXuFYitED67FexhXog=
@@ -326,6 +325,7 @@ github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.0.6/go.mod h1:QYPdnlvkOg7GnQRofu9XZimC5ZW5Wi3bKy
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.1.0/go.mod h1:SQiXrtSts3KGNmgOzMICy5c0POOpUNQLvB3ClKnBAlk=
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.2.3 h1:aMdkK9G1hEeNvn3VXfiEMLY0iJnbiQQUHnM0HFJREsE=
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.2.3/go.mod h1:SQiXrtSts3KGNmgOzMICy5c0POOpUNQLvB3ClKnBAlk=
+github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.2.4/go.mod h1:SQiXrtSts3KGNmgOzMICy5c0POOpUNQLvB3ClKnBAlk=
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.3.0 h1:1bXv/ZRPZLVdij/a33CkXMVdxUdred9sz4xyph+0ls0=
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.3.0/go.mod h1:4pymaZLhSLNVuiCITYrpViD6vmfZ/Ws4n/L9tfNv3S4=
 github.com/ipfs/go-merkledag v0.3.1 h1:3UqWINBEr3/N+r6OwgFXAddDP/8zpQX/8J7IGVOCqRQ=
@@ -354,6 +354,8 @@ github.com/ipfs/go-verifcid v0.0.1 h1:m2HI7zIuR5TFyQ1b79Da5N9dnnCP1vcu2QqawmWlK2
 github.com/ipfs/go-verifcid v0.0.1/go.mod h1:5Hrva5KBeIog4A+UpqlaIU+DEstipcJYQQZc0g37pY0=
 github.com/ipfs/interface-go-ipfs-core v0.2.6 h1:4eeGPJUDWblEurSzpAtL2znDG1xqAoX2aNNIoOFwyuc=
 github.com/ipfs/interface-go-ipfs-core v0.2.6/go.mod h1:Tihp8zxGpUeE3Tokr94L6zWZZdkRQvG5TL6i9MuNE+s=
+github.com/ipld/go-car v0.0.5-0.20200316204026-3e2cf7af0fab h1:+3Y6Jb3IBmG3t6e3r6TItnuciOaMOuGW7QIVEUa5vy4=
+github.com/ipld/go-car v0.0.5-0.20200316204026-3e2cf7af0fab/go.mod h1:yR5AsJ38xTwwgwGpbh60ICtdLPp5lGfuH28PAAzaEhM=
 github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime v0.0.2-0.20191108012745-28a82f04c785 h1:fASnkvtR+SmB2y453RxmDD3Uvd4LonVUgFGk9JoDaZs=
 github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime v0.0.2-0.20191108012745-28a82f04c785/go.mod h1:bDDSvVz7vaK12FNvMeRYnpRFkSUPNQOiCYQezMD/P3w=
 github.com/ipld/go-ipld-prime-proto v0.0.0-20191113031812-e32bd156a1e5 h1:lSip43rAdyGA+yRQuy6ju0ucZkWpYc1F2CTQtZTVW/4=
@@ -554,7 +556,6 @@ github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.0 h1:XcgJhI8WyUOCbHyRLNEX5542YNj8hnLS
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.0/go.mod h1:N2l3eVIeAitSg3Pi2ipSrJYnqhVnMNQZo9nkSCuAbnQ=
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.1 h1:u+gOfsKgu73ZkGWhvckRm03z9C+iS9TrLqpANweELGs=
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.1/go.mod h1:NQxhNjWxf1d4w6PihR8btWIRjwRLBr4TYKfNgrUkOPA=
-github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.2 h1:iqc/m03jHn5doXN3+kS6JKvqQRHEltiXljQB85iVHWE=
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.2/go.mod h1:NQxhNjWxf1d4w6PihR8btWIRjwRLBr4TYKfNgrUkOPA=
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.3 h1:MofRq2l3c15vQpEygTetV+zRRrncz+ktiXW7H2EKoEQ=
 github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-peerstore v0.2.3/go.mod h1:K8ljLdFn590GMttg/luh4caB/3g0vKuY01psze0upRw=
@@ -902,6 +903,7 @@ github.com/texttheater/golang-levenshtein v0.0.0-20180516184445-d188e65d659e/go.
 github.com/tv42/httpunix v0.0.0-20191220191345-2ba4b9c3382c h1:u6SKchux2yDvFQnDHS3lPnIRmfVJ5Sxy3ao2SIdysLQ=
 github.com/tv42/httpunix v0.0.0-20191220191345-2ba4b9c3382c/go.mod h1:hzIxponao9Kjc7aWznkXaL4U4TWaDSs8zcsY4Ka08nM=
 github.com/ugorji/go/codec v0.0.0-20181204163529-d75b2dcb6bc8/go.mod h1:VFNgLljTbGfSG7qAOspJ7OScBnGdDN/yBr0sguwnwf0=
+github.com/urfave/cli v1.20.0/go.mod h1:70zkFmudgCuE/ngEzBv17Jvp/497gISqfk5gWijbERA=
 github.com/vishvananda/netlink v1.1.0 h1:1iyaYNBLmP6L0220aDnYQpo1QEV4t4hJ+xEEhhJH8j0=
 github.com/vishvananda/netlink v1.1.0/go.mod h1:cTgwzPIzzgDAYoQrMm0EdrjRUBkTqKYppBueQtXaqoE=
 github.com/vishvananda/netns v0.0.0-20191106174202-0a2b9b5464df h1:OviZH7qLw/7ZovXvuNyL3XQl8UFofeikI1NW1Gypu7k=
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0054-dag-car-import-export.sh b/test/sharness/t0054-dag-car-import-export.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..d40dd666f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sharness/t0054-dag-car-import-export.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+
+test_description="Test car file import/export functionality"
+
+. lib/test-lib.sh
+
+test_init_ipfs
+
+
+echo "Error: merkledag: not found (currently offline, perhaps retry after attaching to the network)" > offline_fetch_error_expected
+
+test_expect_success "basic offline export of nonexistent cid" '
+  ! ipfs dag export QmYwAPJXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 2> offline_fetch_error_actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success "correct error" '
+  test_cmp offline_fetch_error_expected offline_fetch_error_actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success "basic offline export of 'getting started' dag" '
+  ipfs dag export QmS4ustL54uo8FzR9455qaxZwuMiUhyvMcX9Ba8nUH4uVv >/dev/null
+'
+
+test_done