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  #1  
Old 10-31-2005, 03:43 PM
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Imported cars

How and who do I go about importing a vehicle from Japan,UK, Australia?
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  #2  
Old 10-31-2005, 05:57 PM
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well their are two ways. one, you can buy the car in said countries and have it exported (shipped) to the u.s. or you can find a grey importer, or a dealer who specializes in non domestic cars. both cost more, but the grey importer is alot less work. only problem is finding grey importer.
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  #3  
Old 10-31-2005, 06:03 PM
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Assuming it is a car not certified for use in the US look to pay about $30k+ to have it titled for road use (that is if it'll pass emissions and the safety laws) oh yeah, that's $30k plus the price of the car. Usually takes 1-4 years.

If you want it for non-street use you would only need to get it titled and that would be about $3k.
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  #4  
Old 10-31-2005, 06:07 PM
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3rd option is to buy a car in japan or where ever. then have the company take the motor out and ship it seperately from the chassis. when u title the car here u can put the make as a kit car and get out of crash test and emissions.
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  #5  
Old 10-31-2005, 06:14 PM
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try www.batfa.com


they have two toyota seras
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  #6  
Old 10-31-2005, 07:51 PM
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I imported a couple of motorcycles into the United States from Canada once and it was pretty straightforward. I needed a certificate of eligibility and a certificate of conformation from the manufacturer stating that they met DOT and EPA requirements respectively. If the manufacturer can provide these things, it's really easy. You just call them up and they'll send the documentation to you. If they can't provide the paperwork then you’ll need to find a registered importer. They'll inspect the vehicle to find out if it meets the DOT and EPA requirements. If it doesn't, they'll advise you on what needs to be done to bring the vehicle up to the proper specification.

The only other things I needed were a bill of sale (or title) and money to pay the duty tax. Because one of my motorcycles was over 20 years old, I didn't need to provide the certificate of conformation for the EPA requirements. I don't know what the rules for cars are, but they're probably similar. I think the DOT and EPA requirement are that they meet whatever the US specification was at the time of manufacturer. (Don't quote me on that.) After I brought the bikes into the country, the state patrol inspected them for VIN placard tampering, but that was no big deal and didn't cost anything other than my time.

It might be possible to import the vehicle in pieces and then assemble it. You'd have to get it inspected by the state patrol and registered as an assembled vehicle. The state patrol would probably have looked at me funny if I’d done that though, because it already had a VIN. They wanted the paperwork from customs showing that I’d paid my duty tax and that I’d met the DOT and EPA requirements. If you import just the parts, unassembled, you should probably pay the duty tax anyway because the state patrol will want to see receipts for the parts of the assembled vehicle. They might wonder what I was up to if I couldn't provide that paperwork, or if it only showed the duty tax and not the DOT and EPA compliance. Without the DOT and EPA papers, customs might not want to let you across the border even if you have a bill of sale, but then again, they might not care as long as you’re not planning to register the vehicle as a whole. I don’t know what their take on it would be, but I’m sure if you asked them, they’d tell you no unless you could prove that it was legal. It might be against the law to transport anything with a VIN across borders without meeting the DOT and EPA requirements, but I can't see any legal basis for that as long as it’s not a complete vehicle, so I tend to doubt it. Just make sure you can prove you own the parts.

In my case, I acquired all the necessary paperwork prior to actually purchasing the motorcycles. For me it was a piece of cake and I was able to get all my ducks in a row in a single afternoon. You’ll need to make some phone calls to find out what you want to know.
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  #7  
Old 10-31-2005, 08:29 PM
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The reason Im asking this is my father needs a right hand drive vehicle for the post office, due to larger parcels and more mail, his postal legacy is making 4-5 trips back to the post office to finish his route. I think importing a decent used japanese right hand drive is better than the crap they claim to be right hand drive over here, let alone the ridiculous price for a conversion. I'll look at bafta it seems worth the trouble to get a comparable vehicle for the same price with the controls on the right side. Thanks for your help
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  #8  
Old 10-31-2005, 10:09 PM
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im sorry guys but i really like the subaru R1. i could just imagine zipping around town in that little bugger. parking would be so easy, and if i go to the bar and have to much to drink i could slip the r1 in my back pocket and walk home. does that make me less of a man?
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  #9  
Old 10-31-2005, 10:37 PM
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How the heck would you even insure an import that's not readily available here? I could see the Toyota Soarer being marked as an SC300, or the Mitsu FTO marked as an Eclipse, but what about a Sera, or a "fun car go".
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  #10  
Old 11-01-2005, 05:32 AM
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Here's one company.

http://www.unreal-imports.com/index.html
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  #11  
Old 11-01-2005, 03:57 PM
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So which country would be the easiest? Im thinking either UK or Australia right?
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  #12  
Old 11-01-2005, 04:26 PM
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Well, if you wanted to import something that would probably have a very high resale value import this "180SX" selling for $8k.



That is actually a Sileighty (Silvia front 180SX rest) and they are actually a bit rare even Japan, so imagine the value here if you find the right buyer.

That is of course if that is a true Sileighty or if someone bought a 180SX and slapped a Silvia front on themselves, if you can without serious retrofitting. I look up on that sometime.

Btw, here is a Canada to US import site.
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  #13  
Old 11-01-2005, 04:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weebitob
Well, if you wanted to import something that would probably have a very high resale value import this "180SX" selling for $8k.



That is actually a Sileighty (Silvia front 180SX rest) and they are actually a bit rare even Japan, so imagine the value here if you find the right buyer.

That is of course if that is a true Sileighty or if someone bought a 180SX and slapped a Silvia front on themselves, if you can without serious retrofitting. I look up on that sometime.

Btw, here is a Canada to US import site.
I don't see too many people paying the 38k for it that it'll cost to get here and through everything.
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  #14  
Old 11-01-2005, 05:54 PM
Weebitob Weebitob is offline
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Well, perhaps you can resell it for at least a $2k profit?
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