In the Hampton roads area (where I live) an owner of a turner shop was sent to jail for 15 months for trying to import Skylines and other super imports into America inlegal. The girl I work with is her boyfriend's brother that went to jail. So I gave her the Motorex website adress so her friends will learn the correct way of importing cars. She went into outrage and she said that the only way to bring them over is by cutting the car in half ( anyone that is willing to cut a R34 in half is crazy). She said that they cut them in half so when they ship the car here it would be label as car parts. I think that is why her boyfriend's brother went to jail. i tried to tell her when Navy men bring their car from a diffrent country none of them cut it in half. So how does Motorex and other offical importer of imports make those cars legal. I know that they would not cut a car in half just to put it back together again.

i wouldn't get involved if i were you. sounds like there's some other shady business going on besides just importing cars. there's one thing to bring a car in from another country. it's entirely different trying to sell them to others as legal road cars if that's what they're doing.

i have two friends that imported cars whole from overseas for parts. no cutting involved.

seems like something else is going on there.

I have a friend that imported about a dozen R33's and R34's from Japan last year. He sold all of them as cars "for off-road use only." They didn't have titles did not conform to us standards so you could not get a tag for them. If you go through the $20-30k, 6 month federalization, they can be brought to conformity. It is essentially the same process used to import a Ferrari from Europe. There are a few companies that are allowed to do this, they are certified by the epa to do this work and have local monopolies that allow them to charge handsomely for very little actual work. A lot of my friend's clients drive cars that are not street legal around on dealer tags. There are other risks to doing this that can result in some rough treatment from cops if you get pulled over. If you want a skyline in the U.S. most likely you are going to just have to pay $15-20k in Japan, $10k to ship it and store it at customs until you can arrange an authorized company to collect it and commit to federalize it and pay them $20k. You can buy them for around 50 now, so that will be a lot more time efficient. But then you are getting closer to 996 turbo and 355 money so the decision becomes more interesting. I am not an expert on this kind of thing, but in my opinion it is only a reasonable idea to try if you want a specific, high $ car for what it is and the money really isn't a thing. Good luck if you try it and I can probably refer you to some good people to help but I would say buy something here.
-Ed

Ed is always on top of things. I'm impressed. Nice work Ed.

Thanks ya ,
I wanted to tell her that there is a diffrent way of selling imports than their old way.
Instead of buying a R34 from motorex for close to a 100 grand. How much would it cost to get one. My friend and I wanted to know.

my understanding was (and this could all be rumor) that you couldn't import a car without having the US gov't safety test it. ie, front crash test, side impact tests, etc. which usually means say you want to import a skyline, you have to bring like an extra 6 so the gov't can crash test them and deem yours fit for registration. same reason why bill gates sent a bunch of the hottest porsches ever made to be wrecked just so he could bring one or two in for himself. motorex has done this for the skyline, that's why you pay a substantial additional cost.

however, since the gov't has now crash tested probably every version of the skyline, why limit permission to import to just motorex and maybe a couple of other companies? shouldn't anyone be able to say, look its the same car u already crash tested now let me import it?

i've only driven one RHD car, and it was imported illegally and was not registered. great feeling tho, gotta get a project one day.

You can buy many american cars and with a little nugging, can get the same performance as the euro cars, ask any viper & vette owner who modified their cars and raced in europe and won several times over.

Duck, that would definately make sense but that is not the way it works. Even on cars where the specs are exactly the same between two countries, the US forces a "federalization process" to get a title for the car. It is rediculous process but that is the way that it goes.

Capone, you might be able to get a 1000 hp vette or viper, or even a modified neon that could beat most european cars in a straight line but you can't match the emotional feel of driving of an Italian car, the class of a British car, or the engineering perfection of a German car. To each his own though.
-Ed

the only thing i like imported is my beer and my cigars... simple but a skyline is a bonus.......jsut not in half..they dont ship cigars in half or clothing..huh i get the picture.. .

I have a friend that imported about a dozen R33's and R34's from Japan last year. He sold all of them as cars "for off-road use only." They didn't have titles did not conform to us standards so you could not get a tag for them. If you go through the $20-30k, 6 month federalization, they can be brought to conformity. It is essentially the same process used to import a Ferrari from Europe. There are a few companies that are allowed to do this, they are certified by the epa to do this work and have local monopolies that allow them to charge handsomely for very little actual work. A lot of my friend's clients drive cars that are not street legal around on dealer tags. There are other risks to doing this that can result in some rough treatment from cops if you get pulled over. If you want a skyline in the U.S. most likely you are going to just have to pay $15-20k in Japan, $10k to ship it and store it at customs until you can arrange an authorized company to collect it and commit to federalize it and pay them $20k. You can buy them for around 50 now, so that will be a lot more time efficient. But then you are getting closer to 996 turbo and 355 money so the decision becomes more interesting. I am not an expert on this kind of thing, but in my opinion it is only a reasonable idea to try if you want a specific, high $ car for what it is and the money really isn't a thing. Good luck if you try it and I can probably refer you to some good people to help but I would say buy something here.
-Ed
do not forget ed about emission laws these are why so many cars can not be allowed in the us such as skylines and other japanese or chinese or european cars because simply put they cannot pass the emmisons test i have a friend that if he were to get pulled over that he would have to break his car down to street legal level. But this also knows a guy that can get cars in to the us with just 2500$ over the price of the car and it fully legal

But this also knows a guy that can get cars in to the us with just 2500$ over the price of the car and it fully legal

I guess for around two and half grand you could pay off a customs official, emissions testing facility, and buy a cheap old car of the same make from a junkyard to switch the VIN's but then again that would not be fully legal. It sounds like your friend of a friend has a bulletproof method and all I can say is that if I were in his position, I would be able to net several hundred thousand a month importing modern Ferraris and Skylines by the dozen and doubling my money with each cycle. So if you know who this guy is and can put me in touch, let's say I'm interested.

Emission compliance is an obvious issue but that can be remedied for significantly less than current federalization costs. The current places that are able to import and title these cars legally are simply government endorsed monopolies. They are in a desireable position and are there because of they laws that we have to use. I know a lot of people who have tried/are trying to get around them, but it is a difficult and sometimes costly task.

Good luck to those who try.
-Ed

Ed, your absolutely right...There are certain standards that are set forth by the Government permitting the importation of cars that are not currently available. It is extremely costly and would absolutely second the fact that a R34 is hot but when you are in Porsche turbo range...cannot beat the German engineering.

Mike's turbo 7 series was from Europe.

Nick

It was probably old enought that he did not need a title for it though. In Georgia it is 25 years or older.

It wasnt over 25 years old. It was late 80's early 90's.

Nick

I guess for around two and half grand you could pay off a customs official, emissions testing facility, and buy a cheap old car of the same make from a junkyard to switch the VIN's but then again that would not be fully legal.
-Ed
I was thinking about that. Import a Skyline, and buy a pos 240/180sx and swap vin's. Title it as that, and claim body kit.

Nick

I think that you could probably pull that off. No one at the DMV will know the difference. Getting one through customs would take some work but it could be done. A lot of people do that with Land Rover defender 110's. Since they don't make them for the U.S. anymore, they import them and title them as 1960-1970 series 1 or 2 cars. Seems to work pretty well for them.
-Ed

I was thinking about that. Import a Skyline, and buy a pos 240/180sx and swap vin's. Title it as that, and claim body kit.

Nick

Its possible, but keep your car off the internet. GTR owners are a close knit group. They know most of the legal cars in the country, and motorex snitches to the DMV when they find illegal cars since they get pissed about people not having to deal with their @ss-rapings they get for their cars since they went through the hoops to become and official importer. Also, theres some loophole for importing cars legally is you live in indiana, but when I heard about that the parties involved were trying to keep it hush-hush.

Legal skylines are overpriced and overhyped and the illegals just aren't worth the risk.

Ohh yea, and nick, my POS 240 would give your scoobaru a run for its money. Stock STi's are light work... ;]

i read somewhere that it costs an additional 25k to have an import shipped. alot of these japanese exporters have ties with caribbean dealerships ship their cars there R34s too (uncut). compared to what ive seen on http://www.motorex.net/skyline.html the prices are better. id think it would be cheaper shippin from the caribbean. i remember seeing a 95 rwd version earlier this year for sale by the owner for 350,000 or about 6k US dollars. the dealerships sell them for alot more tho. my mom sold pre-used cars shipped from japan and skylines, pulsars, hondas, supras and evos were some of the most requested. occasionally someone would want a wrx.

Ohh yea, and nick, my POS 240 would give your scoobaru a run for its money. Stock STi's are light work... ;]
My car is far from stock. I wasnt referring to 240's being a POS. I meant go out an buy a POS 240.

Nick

I think that you could probably pull that off. No one at the DMV will know the difference. Getting one through customs would take some work but it could be done. A lot of people do that with Land Rover defender 110's. Since they don't make them for the U.S. anymore, they import them and title them as 1960-1970 series 1 or 2 cars. Seems to work pretty well for them.
-Ed

My thoughts are that it could be done.. the only problem is that you're basically stuck with the car until the day you die.. :smile: Can't imagine explaining this to someone interested in buying the car..

There's another possible route one could go, as evidenced by a friend of mine trying to purchase an Euro spec Evo E36 M3 (the 321hp one). His family happens to own a car dealership, so all he has to do is run it through the dealership and never title the thing in the US. It remains (legally, anyway) as a part of the inventory of the dealership, and can be driven with the "full use" dealership plates. Not foolproof, by any means, but worth looking into. Can't imagine it being that tough to obtain a dealer's license.

My thoughts are that it could be done.. the only problem is that you're basically stuck with the car until the day you die.. :smile: Can't imagine explaining this to someone interested in buying the car..

There's another possible route one could go, as evidenced by a friend of mine trying to purchase an Euro spec Evo E36 M3 (the 321hp one). His family happens to own a car dealership, so all he has to do is run it through the dealership and never title the thing in the US. It remains (legally, anyway) as a part of the inventory of the dealership, and can be driven with the "full use" dealership plates. Not foolproof, by any means, but worth looking into. Can't imagine it being that tough to obtain a dealer's license.


Dealers license is required if you sell something like more than 10 cars per year, insurance is something like 10k a year, but it covers all your inventory.

But typically you have to show proof of a storefront, storage space for X number or cars, have X amount of money or credit to buy more cars, etc. I have not tried to do it but have been told that if you are really not a dealer, they are hard to get. As far as operating a car everyday on dealer plates, there are other obstacles that arise but it is usually alright. With a car like a skyline that doesn't have a U.S. legal equivalent, when you get pulled over the police might audit the car and that presents its own set of issues. I knew a guy that was driving a Lotus 340R around on a dealer plate, got pulled over, and the cops made him box it up and send it back to the UK.
-Ed

But typically you have to show proof of a storefront, storage space for X number or cars, have X amount of money or credit to buy more cars, etc. I have not tried to do it but have been told that if you are really not a dealer, they are hard to get. As far as operating a car everyday on dealer plates, there are other obstacles that arise but it is usually alright. With a car like a skyline that doesn't have a U.S. legal equivalent, when you get pulled over the police might audit the car and that presents its own set of issues. I knew a guy that was driving a Lotus 340R around on a dealer plate, got pulled over, and the cops made him box it up and send it back to the UK.
-Ed

Very good point, the full use dealer plates may make sense if there is something similar for sale in the US.. To be honest, I am a little confused about all the fuss about the Skyline anyway. I mean, there is truly no legal CHEAP way to get the thing here, and who wants to pay $70,000 for a car that you have wait 6-8 mos to drive with performance that could be matched by quite a few German or Italian cars for the same or lesser $$??

Dealers license is required if you sell something like more than 10 cars per year, insurance is something like 10k a year, but it covers all your inventory.

..which does not really present a problem if you're associated with someone that is indeed a dealer (in his case, his family)..

i dunno bout this but ive seen a few R32s on ebay last few months, and tehre pretty cheap like 30k and there not exactly slugs. even saw a converted japenese touring car, from the HKS sposored one, it was pretty freakin sweet. i suppose you could make take the whole car apart and ship it as resale parts?