Guest Anonymous Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Ok I got alot of info on Importing Skylines to the US. What Is Necessary to Import a Car to the US? As a general rule, all motor vehicles less than 25 years old, must comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) and be certified by the original manufacturer to that effect in order to be imported into the United States on a permanent basis. Federal law prohibits importation of a motor vehicle not certified as conforming to the standards, except under the conditions prescribed below. The regulations defining the requirements for importing a vehicle can be found at Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 591 (49 CFR 591), "Importation of Vehicles and Equipment Subject to Federal Safety, Bumper, and Theft Prevention Standards." If a vehicle that is not certified to meet U.S. standards is less than 25 years old and entering on a permanent basis, it must be imported by a Registered Importer (RI) or the importer must have a contract with an RI. A vehicle imported in this manner must enter under a DOT bond in an amount equal to 150% of the dutiable value. The bond will be released after the RI brings the vehicle into conformance with all applicable FMVSS and bumper standards. Only an RI may import vehicles for resale. If you would like to bring vehicles into the U.S. for resale you must become an RI. The responsibilities of an RI are defined in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations Part 592, "Registered Importers of Vehicles Not Originally Manufactured to Conform to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards." Since the cost of modifications or the time involved to bring a vehicle into conformance may affect your decision, we recommend that these aspects be discussed with an RI before cars are bought and shipped to the U.S. You may wish to contact one or more to discuss the specifics of your situation. Federal regulations concerning emission control devices are under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency, Manufacturers Operations Division, EN-340, 401 M Street SW, Washington, DC 20460, (202) 233-9660. Information concerning duty or other Customs matters can be obtained from the Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs Service, Washington, DC 20229, (202) 927-0300, or the nearest U.S. Customs port. Note: Department of Transportation contact is Mr. Luke Loy (202) 366-5308 at the Safety Compliance Office; 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590. For information regarding registration or operation of a properly imported vehicle in a specific state, we advise you to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles or other appropriate agency in that state since the requirements vary by state. [RB] I've researched this heavily. Take the cost of the car, convert to dollars, add $16k for redo of gauges, bells, safety, etc. and recertification. Put up large bond to cover car with customs and prepare to wait 6 months _after_ the car gets here. Also, unless you have cash/equity for the car, a bank isn't going to loan you the money for this endeavor. It may make sense to do this if you can get 3 or so people in on it- once the first one is certified and on the "list", you can subtract about $8k from that figure per car. Is anyone of ya'll a RI? If so if we got alot of People to get Skylines shiped over would you be willing to cut a good deal with us? Anyway I am going to look up alot of info on becoming an RI. does anyone eles have some info on Importing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 280Tom'z Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 why dont you just go thru motorex instead?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Because I can get one Conformed for $7500 dollars in Houston, TX where it ports at. I was going to see if anyone else was looking to get a Skyline and if they would like to go together on it, and if a member on this form is an RI maybe I could get it even cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 Several years back Bill Gates, Paul Allen and one other Microsoft honco tried to import matching Porsche 959's into the US. Customs seized them and would not release them. Apparantly you have to crash test something like 3 or 4 of them to satisfy the "safety" aspect. Gates had to send them back. He couldn't even bring them in as off road vehicles. This was some years ago. Maybe the laws have changed and maybe Skylines have already been adequately crash tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 What next! If a guy wants to bring in a exotic car then fine. Just have him sign a waiver stating the car doesn't meet certain safety standards and he excepts total resposability. Crap, to many freakin rules. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 I won't even mention the crap that my friend had to go through to bring in his McClaren F1. But then he's rich enough to have someone else do it! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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