Importing to US

Has anybody here tried or successfully imported a vehicle from a country other than Canada? I am interested in the process and any difficulties that arose. I have contacted my local DOT and I am awaiting a reply.
If this is possible, would any of you also be interested in imported vehicles?

I can set up anything in England.
 
Im working on a project to import Limos from here to Morocco for some dude. I should be making a nice sum on that.

I know that there are some companies you can go throuth to import vehicles. Im sure its costly though.  As far as the actual regulations go im not sure, i have heard so many different things about it that i never know what is true or false.

I'm in the US, I'm dealing direct with the exporter. What are some of the issues you have heard?

Ive heard things like having to convert to us regulations. As in emissions, glass, stuff like that. As i said though Im not sure how true it is. There is a guy around where i live that imported a r34 skyline gtr, and he said he paid around 80,000 for the car and having it imported. Lucky bastard.

Are we talking entire vehicles here? Or just the parts to make them "JDM" (and I use that term as loosely as a Las Vegas hooker)

I think he is asking about the vehicles.

I can see DOT not liking it. Though... I may have an idea of how to register them...

Hey, Seb, in England are they Galants or Legnums?

I'd like the legnum. I don't know of any galant wagons in the US. I don't anticipate a problem with importing just parts. I am looking to import and register 2 vehicles now. 1 I will keep for myself and the other I will sell. Right now, I anticipate my expense to ship and register at about $3000 US each vehicle. This still makes it profitable as I am sure a 2000 legnum VR4 would sell for at least $9000 US.
 
As far as parts go, I am waiting to hear back from them. My goal is to see if I can import drivetrains for the VRs and then just do the install on American models.
 
personally, I don't even know what the JDM stands for.

"Japanese Domestic Market"

Whats the idea?  I know that if  you are in the military and stationed over seas, you can have a vehicle shipped back for very low prices. like 2-3 thousand.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dusty Eclipse

I can see DOT not liking it. Though... I may have an idea of how to register them...

 
I have seen some pretty wild vehicles that PA has allowed to be registered. I am sure you can forget anything of the sort in the Police State.
 
I'm curious about your idea. I'm not looking to circumvent the law...If I wanted to do that, I'd do a dashboard/VIN swap like I used to do on my old VWs.
 
I'm waiting to see what PennDOT has to say on this. I need to figure out what the expense will be to satisfy safety and emissions....emissions is no big deal really, I'll just fill it up on ethanol.
 
as far as I know, the legnums have airbags, etc. Glass really isn't a big issue. I did read about a recall in NZ about faulty brakes so I would want to change those out anyway.

quote:

ORIGINAL: bestwiseguy

Whats the idea?  I know that if  you are in the military and stationed over seas, you can have a vehicle shipped back for very low prices. like 2-3 thousand.

 
the idea if I can get DOT to agree is to buy an 11 bay garage I am looking at and starting to import "JDM"s, refit and resell here in America.

Well, assuming we ship them to Baltimore Ports, Ive got a friend there who can get them set up. He usually imports Jags and LRs, but he owes me... and would likely be able to help out.

That is a good thing to get into, there is alot of buisness in that market. If you do get into that i want a skyline .

No. NO ****ing skylines. You can go to Cali for that. I HATE skylines... dammit... PLAYED OUT!

The DOT shouldnt have a problem. By far the heardest car to import would be the Skyline, if that can be done then almost anything can. Seriously the standards of other countries (those are are not f-ing third world) are much higher than the US anyways.
 
The only problem i could see with the DOT would be if the chassis was not registered with them (example the Skyline). For this case all you would have to do is just register it as a kit car. All it takes is a quick inspection and your done.
 
And even with that in mind the likelyhood of that happening is really slim to none. If its by a reconised comapny such as Mitsubishi then there should be no problem at all.
 
Everything else that other countries have as mandatory also fit DOT regulations. For example, my dad has a Rav 4 in Morocco and the windows are the same as the US model.

I love them, dunno why but i do. I either want a skyline or a supra.

Well considering i can find a skyline R33 for like 5 grand i think thats pretty bad ass. Sure ricers love them for the wrong reasons.. buut seriously who gives a ****. They are still incredible cars with incredible engines and have awesome potential. Bottom line.
 
Oh, and they are called Galants : P

Baltimore is my port of choice, Phil would be my backup. I have a few friends who are auto dealers and some who are certified mitsu mechanics. I just don't keep up with them enough....and I want to make sure I know what I am talking about before going to them with my business proposal. I would appreciate if you get a chance to talk to your friend what his opinion would be in terms of viability and whether it interest him economically.
He wouldn't have to worry about the shipping....unless he can get me a better rate, I'm mostly interested in the reg process right now.
 
 
as to the skyline, not familiar with that.....but if we can pull this together, I'll look into importing anything you all want.

Im down!!!!
 
AlZ, ever think about starting a business? Dibs on being a partner : )

the skyline is called a galant?

No the Legnum is a Galant

Why would you thank a skyline is called a galant?