Importing a NSX-R, few questions

[fullracehonda]

i believe the feds or whatever government department that has to do with importing, was cracking down on importing "race" vehicles.

but some food for thought: some states you can register a car as long as it is 15 years old, i believe all you owuld need in washington state are the de registration papers from japan(or wherever) and the customs info, and then go to the dmv and figure out whatever kind of inspection you need to get, but thats just wa st law, not the same in oregon, (only two states ive looked it up for)

 

[Deltron Zero]

i believe the feds or whatever government department that has to do with importing, was cracking down on importing "race" vehicles.

but some food for thought: some states you can register a car as long as it is 15 years old, i believe all you owuld need in washington state are the de registration papers from japan(or wherever) and the customs info, and then go to the dmv and figure out whatever kind of inspection you need to get, but thats just wa st law, not the same in oregon, (only two states ive looked it up for)

Yes. Getting by the state initially is usually not an issue, although a few states are cracking down on this. Regardless of state specific laws, it is still the responsibility of the state government to enforce federal laws, which make most imported cars illegal in all 50 states no matter what. If someone was injured in an accident with someone driving a gray market car, there's a good chance the state would be sued for not properly enforcing federal laws. You'd probably be sued too.

 

[Ben]

Actually the only federally legal Skylines were those manufactured between 1/1/96 to 6/30/98 R33 GTS and GTR that were imported BEFORE the NHTSA rescinded their eligibility.

Yup. More specifically, what this means is essentially, only 1989-1995 R32 and R33 which came in before NHTSA/DOT rescinded their eligibility can be made fully 100% legal w/o risk.

Many 1996+ R33s and a few R34s came in before their eligibility was rescinded, and were registered and titled as 1995s to get around EPA and CARB OBDII regulations. These are legal for the most part, but there is the risk of some overzealous cop or enforcement officer flagging out the falsified model year hanging over your head. A few of these cars were subsequently registered by unknowing new owners as their original model year, which effectively "brands" them forever, as anyone in enforcement pulling up the information under that VIN will notice the discrepancy, and raise red flags. This is what happened to the R34 I was looking that.

The current state of things is that only 1996-1998 R33s are eligible for importation under NHTSA/DOT, but the catch is that 1996+ needs OBDII in order to pass EPA/CARB. Up to this point, no one has spent the considerable amount of money and time needed to implement OBDII, because 10s of thousands of $$$ later, there's no guarantee that it would work, or even be accepted by EPA/CARB. I think it was a calculated move on NHTSA/DOT's part to effectively ban Skyline imports to the US despite the valid test/comforming work that had been done on the original R33 test cars.

In relation to the Motorex R34s, they all came in before their eligibility was rescinded, so they are NHTSA/DOT legal, but not (nor ever will be) EPA/CARB legal. Those that have been and are currently titled and registered as 1995s are ok until someone calls them out on it, which I think is only a matter of time. There is currently absolutely no 100% risk free way to drive an R34 on the street in the US. The future of the R34 in the US will eventually be limited to collectors cars, museum pieces, or dedicated track/race cars.

 

[Ben]

To put things into perspective, even Bill Gates, with all of his wealth, power, resources, lawyers, and connections could only get a 2500 mile "show and display" exemption for his Porsche 959, and it took him over a decade to do it.

The Big 3 and the marketing arms of the other carmakers have a vested interest in keeping imports off the road, and collectively, have even more vast wealth, resources, lawyers, and connections than Mr. Gates.

 

[CL65 Captain]

The Big 3 and the marketing arms of the other carmakers have a vested interest in keeping imports off the road, and collectively, have even more vast wealth, resources, lawyers, and connections than Mr. Gates.

Yea, not anymore... the Big 3 are broke! :biggrin:

 

[Tom239]

... beside's isnt it hard to order fast food and pay tolls.

And more dangerous to pass big trucks on 2-lane roads. That's what would keep me from wanting an RHD car.

 

[jamey]

This can be done... especially if your in the military OR have an "open check book" I am active duty military and recently moved back to the states from England.

I wanted a defender land rover REALLY BAD but because of the 25 year rule was not able to import one, but I learned something in the process... Because parts were so readily available i bought every thing needed to turn my 1978 series III land rover into a defender (complete front end, 3.5 V8, salisbury rear end, roof rack, roof, doors, COMPLETE FRAME etc, etc..) I pretty much had an entire landy in parts minus a steering wheel and seats. Military members stationed overseas can ship back something like 7k pounds in personal property! I recieved no grieff whatsoever when shipping this stuff back. All my parts were professionally packed and marked garage misc or car parts misc.


SOOOO, what you need to do is basically:

1. with that open checkbook in hand, find a military member stationed in Japan that you can pay to help you out.

2. find and buy car, find storage facility

3. have auto shop there break down car and take palleted parts to a storage facility. (engine and trans must be drained of all fluids**)

4. when service member leaves Japan have parts shipped in his packout.

5. pick up parts at his new destination

6. find a great deal on a destroyed nsx and buy title

7. rebuild with wrecked cars vin# installed and have titled as salvaged vehicle.

idk about california where they inspect the car but i'm from south carolina and they never actually see your car and would never know if it was left or right hand drive to begin with.

for a finders fee i could even hook you up with the military person... I have 3 close friends stationed in japan right now.:wink:

 

[Osiris_x11]

echo?

This can be done... especially if your in the military OR have an "open check book" I am active duty military and recently moved back to the states from England.

I wanted a defender land rover REALLY BAD but because of the 25 year rule was not able to import one, but I learned something in the process... Because parts were so readily available i bought every thing needed to turn my 1978 series III land rover into a defender (complete front end, 3.5 V8, salisbury rear end, roof rack, roof, doors, COMPLETE FRAME etc, etc..) I pretty much had an entire landy in parts minus a steering wheel and seats. Military members stationed overseas can ship back something like 7k pounds in personal property! I recieved no grieff whatsoever when shipping this stuff back. All my parts were professionally packed and marked garage misc or car parts misc.

SOOOO, what you need to do is basically:

1. with that open checkbook in hand, find a military member stationed in Japan that you can pay to help you out.

2. find and buy car, find storage facility

3. have auto shop there break down car and take palleted parts to a storage facility. (engine and trans must be drained of all fluids**)

4. when service member leaves Japan have parts shipped in his packout.

5. pick up parts at his new destination

6. find a great deal on a destroyed nsx and buy title

7. rebuild with wrecked cars vin# installed and have titled as salvaged vehicle.

idk about california where they inspect the car but i'm from south carolina and they never actually see your car and would never know if it was left or right hand drive to begin with.

for a finders fee i could even hook you up with the military person... I have 3 close friends stationed in japan right now.:wink:

How'about reading through the entire thread, next time...

If your serious as a heart-attack in wanting to import a genuine '02+ NSX-R, the following protocol(s) will work, if you so desire...

- acquire a salvage/wrecked/totalled NSX, merely for the V.I.N. (or even another NSX that you already own)

- acquire/import a dissembled '02+ NSX-R in multiple pallets/crates, in separate containers

- if importing from Germany (already LHD), get the NHSTA/DOT/EPA mechanical/structural/emissions-related stuff done & then simply swap V.I.N.'s for registration/licensing/inspection/etc' purposes

- if importing from Jpn/UK, do a custom RHD -> LHD conversion, get the NHSTA/DOT/EPA mechanical/structural/emissions-related stuff done & then simply swap V.I.N.'s for registration/licensing/inspection/etc' purposes


Yes, this has been done w/ great success in similar situations w/ other makes/models. Is it 100% kosher, meh' not quite. . .

The only thing the military-transport 'connection' will do is subsidize the freight costs. You still have to compensate the enlisted individual for the the 'hookup', and then pay for shipping from the military-port to your own location.

Doing freight from Japan to your front-door can be done relatively cheap, generally freight sent via container is billed per pallet, not weight. A dissembled vehicle, crated-up & on pallets is surprisingly small. . .

 

[Ben]

rebuild with wrecked cars vin# installed and have titled as salvaged vehicle.

The NSX has the VIN stamped into the body on the space behind the engine.

An overzealous cop or state inspector can ruin your day really fast if (s)he knows this and you are running with swapped VINs.

 

[Hagasan]

- acquire/import a dissembled '02+ NSX-R in multiple pallets/crates, in separate containers

- if importing from Germany (already LHD), get the NHSTA/DOT/EPA mechanical/structural/emissions-related stuff done & then simply swap V.I.N.'s for registration/licensing/inspection/etc' purposes

- if importing from Jpn/UK, do a custom RHD -> LHD conversion, get the NHSTA/DOT/EPA mechanical/structural/emissions-related stuff done & then simply swap V.I.N.'s for registration/licensing/inspection/etc' purposes


I'm not sure you'll find many LHD NSX-R's........even in Germany. They are all RHD??

 

[AR]

Guys before buying my current NSX, after selling the NSX-R I almost bought a Z06. The only thing that kept me from buying was a trip to France. It made me realize the fact that it will be a real pain to pay tolls, drivethrus, etc.

If i was in the US I'll try to find a nice Zanardi and do a conversion.

As for the seats, contrary to popular belief, they are not for everyone.

Cheers,

Ary

 

[Meeyatch1]

To put things into perspective, even Bill Gates, with all of his wealth, power, resources, lawyers, and connections could only get a 2500 mile "show and display" exemption for his Porsche 959, and it took him over a decade to do it.

The Big 3 and the marketing arms of the other carmakers have a vested interest in keeping imports off the road, and collectively, have even more vast wealth, resources, lawyers, and connections than Mr. Gates.

I remember reading about Bill Gates and his 959 quest a long time ago. The one thing I really do not understand here in the 'land of the free' is why the U.S. Government is so dead set on not letting people drive what they want? With the U.S. supposedly being one of the most car loving cultures out there, open up another revenue stream by charging an additional 20% for people that are importing cars not on the D.O.T. approved list, let them then pay to register it legally, and there you go! What is the big deal? You would only have people who really want those cars being willing to pay that additional percentage on top of all of their other costs, but at least there would be that freedom to choose. Instead we have area like Southern California, the undisputed home of hot rod car culture, that now have some of the most automotively oppressive laws anywhere in the country.

I know people will say, 'Well...those JDM cars are not certified safe for this market, so they are unsafe for our roads'. To that I ask them to look back a few decades at the car produced by automakers before we started getting overly concerned about a 'USDM' or 'JDM' car maket moniker. Cars were simply cars. Period. If you bought an old Chevrolet in Germany or Indiana, it was the same car, so it did not matter. I know people will say, 'Well...now cars for this country have to have safety devices and reinforcements to be safe and legal here'. Does this mean you want to take every classic muscle car off of the road because it does not have ABS, SRS, and TCS? Eventually it comes down to 'a car is a car' and the individual should be responsible for operating it safely, and if they do not, then pay the consequences. Heck, most really old cars did not even have simple seat belts as standard equipment, so the U.S. Goverment should really not care if the NSX-R I want to buy is simply missing an airbag and some other small items. All that stuff is just too heavy anyway.

 

[Ben]

The one thing I really do not understand here in the 'land of the free' is why the U.S. Government is so dead set on not letting people drive what they want? With the U.S. supposedly being one of the most car loving cultures out there, open up another revenue stream by charging an additional 20% for people that are importing cars not on the D.O.T. approved list, let them then pay to register it legally, and there you go! What is the big deal?

It's quite simple really. The US government is largely driven by $$$, despite what they may have you believe. Whoever has the money, makes the rules, or pays off the people who makes the rules. The Big 3, and the US marketing arms of the foreign carmakers really think you should buy cars from them and *only* them. They've thrown a lot of money and have many lobbyists in their pockets to make sure that the government makes it next to impossible to bring in cars yourself. The 20% you speak of is nothing compared to the amount that this represents. There's not enough enthusiasts who want to bring in thier own cars to collectively make a difference come election time to really effect change or to go up against the massive auto industry lobbyists. For example, I could be wrong, but I think OBD-II was something dreamed up by GM, and sucessfully lobbied to become part of the EPA rules, so that the imports would be at least 1 year or more behind in implementing it, while GM had the edge. In the '80s, there were many gray market European cars coming in, so the US marketing arms of the German carmakers lobbied to have the importation restrictions put in place to all but kill gray market imports.

In short, it's all money and politics. Now if only the Big 3 would build cars that people would actually want to buy, or the US subsidiaries of foreign manufacturers would bring in the more interesting models, that would be great, but it's more profitable to do it the way they are doing it now.

 

[Meeyatch1]

It's quite simple really. The US government is largely driven by $$$, despite what they may have you believe. Whoever has the money, makes the rules, or pays off the people who makes the rules. The Big 3, and the US marketing arms of the foreign carmakers really think you should buy cars from them and *only* them. They've thrown a lot of money and have many lobbyists in their pockets to make sure that the government makes it next to impossible to bring in cars yourself. The 20% you speak of is nothing compared to the amount that this represents. There's not enough enthusiasts who want to bring in thier own cars to collectively make a difference come election time to really effect change or to go up against the massive auto industry lobbyists...

See, I did not forget about those points, I was actually counting on them. The U.S. Government being largely money driven I would imagine would enjoy the additional money that the local governments would be able to produce by charging this additional tax (we all know that the government loves to tax) of 20%, plus the fact that there is such a low number of enthusiasts who would be doing this, the larger automakers would not care about it. Essentially I am saying that the people doing such importing would be such a small percentage, it would not impact the business of the larger automakers, yet those customers that did buy non-USDM imports would pay additional money at the branch to register their specialty vehicle. Do you see my point?