OK, I realize this is going to be taken by the majority of you with a grain of salt but I really have been seriously considering importing a car. I was talking with a parts importer locally here in Texas about getting the parts necessary for a RHD swap and I was quoted motorless front clip for $850. Once I include labor in that, I'm going to be looking at a nightmare. Not to mention I'd probably buy a new CB7 to have it done to. But I'm kind of hoping for an alternative. I see sites all day long that have full stocks of cars they've imported from Japan(bows) and some will ship to the U.S. My question is how much money is involved in legalizing a car for use in the states? I live in Texas so I know our requirements are far lower than most but does that even matter? I've been keeping up with a couple of auction firms in Japan over the internet and I'm seeing MANY fully-optioned CB6s and other CBs going for DIRT CHEAP($USD mind you)and I'm thinking that if the shipping and legalization costs are not too terrible, then this is a viable option. Does anybody here know what I can do as far as contacting someone to place a bid on the car or if that's even how it works? I know everything is so computerized with auctions now. I know Motorex only sells Skylines but would they be helpful in this situation? Thanks in advance for the help.
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My Members' Ride Thread - It's a marathon build, not a sprint. But keep me honest on the update frequency! -
State laws don't apply. Its federal you have to worry about. Motorex will not help you. Give up on the idea now. You won't get it done.Originally posted by JarrettComment
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Are the regulations in place for a car that is to remain "show only" as well? There was a guy in town a while back that had a '96 R33 GT-R that was imported from Japan. He said he had it shipped through a friend-of-a-friend who was stationed in Okinawa. It never went through Motorex. Someone is accomplishing this. Also, I was reading about laws of California regarding registering a Canadian car. I may not be reading this right but if you were once a citizen of Canada that moved citizenship to the U.S. then you may bring your "duty-free" car with you when you come. Some parts of this law must be state applicable then. It being a whole lot easier to legalize a Japanese car for Candian use might make sense to have it imported to Canada, register it with someone you know there, and when they move to the U.S., they can give it away to you as a tax write-off. You may not be able to drive it but you'd have a car. I don't know, I might consider doing the front clip. That's just a lot of time and money.My Members' Ride Thread - It's a marathon build, not a sprint. But keep me honest on the update frequency!Comment
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It's not worth the frustration... You could probably do a FULL JDM conversion (RHD and all) to your USDM car for less money and trouble.
If you can find a way to get a CB7 here (easier than a Skyline, or some car that doesn't have a USDM equivalent) then let us know! It's not bad to try, but you'll probably reach the same dead end most of us have reached.
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.Originally posted by JaK FRoSTWhiTE
absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.Comment
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