I need to know what I have to do to get a Skyline back to the USA. My brother is a mechanic and is interested in getting one. He most likely will not drive it and he has his own trailer to move it so it will never have to be converted to be used on the streets in the USA.

I had to take the moving seminar back in the states and we were told that we can ship one car for free to and from the states. Does a Japanese car count?

Is it possible to send a Japanese car back to the states as-is? Where do I go to get more information about this? The VRO?
Thanks in advance.

Yes the VRO has information, but I think your best bet is to contact the Personal Property Office. They deal with incoming and outgoing personnel. I am sure they have dealt with these issues in the past.

thank you

Unfortunatly neither VRO, nor PPO are really equipped for helping you ship cars back (the Navy does not encourage it due to the many obstacles). the best information can be found at the government website for the National Highway Safety & Traffic Administration (I think its NHSTA .gov or .org) Look under the registered importers subsection it list companies that are authorised to preform the prerequsite modifications to bring cars inline with US specs. FWIW only the R33 GTR's are currently listed as shippable I think the 96~98 models, could be wrong though.

kenn

Ken,

I have had several friends attempt and successfully ship their vehicles back.

I do agree, the govt may not encourage military members to ship their vehicles back, or 2 reasons...
1) Costs
2) People dont realize all the stuff they have to do, and think the govt will do every single step for them

The 2 friends I knew that were able to do it successfully were very involved with the process, and figured most things out themselves.

Hopefully this post can continue to grow with information so it can be helpful to those in the future that attempt to take this route.

Ken,
Where on that site could I find out if my van is shipable?

[quote]
Posted By Yokosuka Base Admin on 24 Oct 2009 12:05 AM
Ken,

I have had several friends attempt and successfully ship their vehicles back.

I do agree, the govt may not encourage military members to ship their vehicles back, or 2 reasons...
1) Costs
2) People dont realize all the stuff they have to do, and think the govt will do every single step for them

The 2 friends I knew that were able to do it successfully were very involved with the process, and figured most things out themselves.

Hopefully this post can continue to grow with information so it can be helpful to those in the future that attempt to take this route.
[/quote]


Agreed there are many that can go back, but the OP was reffering to the GTR. FYI these would be the Original Hako Ska GTR, Ken-Mari GTR, or the R-32, 33, or 34 versions. There are many ways that you could send the car via the gray market, however I will not go into detail about them because they are risky and do not want my name associated with someone who tried and was unsuccessful with the attempt. any car the is over 25 years old is a slam dunk and easier as it is no longer required to meet the crash standards or emmissions. I have had several friends ship back these older collectibles. Newer cars need to either a.) be on the import list held by the NHSTA, or b.) be capable of being modified by one of the RI's listed on the NHSTA website.

I had a friend ship a fully modified R34 (by Mine's) back to the USA...it was expensive cause he made it street legal, but it has the Nurspec engine and everything...

I think he just went through Personal Property and they led him to some specialist company in the USA. Personal Property shipped it, but he had to have it delivered to that special company for street legal mods.

Stripes published an article in the 29July2009 issue addressing this specifically: The Fast & The Furious.
"Any foreign-produced car less than 25 years old must be modified to U.S. standards -- and that can cost tens of thousands of dollars."

1 Visit NHTSA Web site for a list of those vehicles eligible for import.

2 You must contract with an authorized importer who will do all of the work to bring the car up to standards before it can be released.

3 Before the car can be shipped you must show a receipt showing you've paid at least half of the conversion costs.

Lois Joyeusaz of J. K. Technologies LLC in Baltimore imports vehicles and advises not to even bother trying because of the cost. "A high performance Nissan Skyline runs about $35,000 to convert."

Want a Skyline? Buy a modified 70's era and try that.

A lot of the reply comments, while very helpful for someone who wants to ship a JDM car to the US to drive on the street, don't address the original poster's question about shipping a car back that will never see street use.

I want to buy a car here in Japan that is street legal here in Japan, then when I transfer I want to ship it back with me to use as a track-only car that will be trailored too and from events. Please, how do I do that?

I think it would be great to show up at an autocross or track day in Bremerton Washington with a fully built Nissan Stagea.

the NHTSA website has everything you need.

Stagea wont qualify though.
Only certain homoogated cars for like WRC or other stuff will work. i know a guy that got his Evo RS allowed after 8 months of petitioning for race exemption since it was manufactured solely to allow use of a certain car in WRC.

SUBSCRIBED.

The issue is not getting it to the states. This should be easy via TMO, PPO, etc.

The issue is making it legal. The 96-98 R33 is legal in terms of NHTSA but illegal its term of EPA. No Skyline (except 03+) came with an OBDII system. Hence, EPA not playing fair.
Read this article:
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/th...tes-1.html

State legal IS NOT the same as Federally legal. Your Skyline can be registered in FL but the gov can still knocked on your door and take your car. It will not pass the EPA emission standards because the Skyline does not have an OBDII. Hence, it can be taken by the Feds.

JK Technologies (worked with Motorex) in Baltimore have successfully imported Skylines in the past and can covert the 96-98 R33 for about $35k.

At the time of me writing this, I have not called/emailed them to confirm that they can make a R33 100% Federal legal.

I plan on trying to import a Skyline when I return to the states and I sure as hell don't intend to drive my Skyline around. My intension is to race the vehicle so I want to explore the "RACE ONLY" factor at little bit more.

Any new information on this?

Posted By Reub on 09-12-2011 9:42 PM
Any new information on this?

What do you want to know exactly?

Basically, the RB engine is not OBDII compliant so the US Gov (via the EPA) will NOT allow you to legally own a R33 on the streets. The only way to own a Skyline is to wait for the 25 year rule.

As for other JDMs. They can be imported IF they have an ODBII and IF they are on the NHTSA list of vehicles. You still have to pay an RI to convert the car to FMVSS compliance which can run you anywhere from $20-35k.


BTW, any car from 1975+ will probably not meet CARB and cannot be registered in California.

I don't want a Skyline, possibly my Altezza but depends on the price. I've emailed a few of the registered importers from NHSTA's site and none of them have even bothered replying. There are some dealers in the states that sell right hand drive Altezzas in the states and those are selling for around $18-21k. It must be cheaper to ship the Altezza over b/c if it cost $20k-35k to convert and it sell it for less than... And as far as CARB, I don't like California enough to go back to.

Was just hoping if at least one person who's been successful can just share their entire experience or maybe a referral to an importer.

It's your time and money but I don't suggest you import an car that's already here. Just buy the USDM Altezza. Ironcially, I'm selling mine before I head back to Iwakuni: http://www.the370z.com/other-vehicl...rn-va.html

Becareful with JDMs that are on sale. Many of them may not be federally legal and can be seized. I know a GT-R (R35) owner that had 3 JDM vehicles seized since 1989.

what about a minivan or normal japanese vehicle that isn't hot rod'd up?

Posted By Jenn on 09-13-2011 10:36 AM
what about a minivan or normal japanese vehicle that isn't hot rod'd up?

Jenn,

What I said applies to all NON-USDM cars. Japanese cars (for the most part) do not comply with U.S. FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safey Standards). You'll have to pay drug money to get them converted to FMVSS via a RI.

There are some non-USDM cars that already come close to 100% FMVSS and only require a little modifications. I think a lot of the BMWs, Mercs, Porsche, etc. However, I'm not 100% sure as I'm not interested in European automobiles (except for Porsche).

I believe motorcycles can be imported with relatively easy.

IMHO, it's not worth the time and money unless you really love you Japanese car and can't live without it.

I think its been repeatably advised not to to do it but yet no real info has been posted in here yet on details of the actual process. Can someone who has successfully shipped their non-USDM car to the states please post up info the importer they used along with any extra info? That was really the goal of this thread.

We have a Japanese vehicle that my husband got from a coworker. We were in Germany and he bought a mini, sold my husband his car, then got orders for Japan again and sold us his mini. The mini was no problem as it was built US specs but the other car has been a bear for us to get street legal since coming back to California. After two years of being back stateside and a lot of money put into the car, we are now coming to Japan. But the good news is that the car is finally legal to drive here ...WE did not use a company to do all this as it is a huge passion of my husbands's and we needed to do each bit as we could afford it. We cannot sell it because he gave it to our 17 year old as a present for helping him fix it up. It can be and I am sure it didn't cost the 35,000 that someone quoted here or I would not have been down for it. Good luck!

Posted By Jennybean on 09-13-2011 1:03 PM
We have a Japanese vehicle that my husband got from a coworker. We were in Germany and he bought a mini, sold my husband his car, then got orders for Japan again and sold us his mini. The mini was no problem as it was built US specs but the other car has been a bear for us to get street legal since coming back to California. After two years of being back stateside and a lot of money put into the car, we are now coming to Japan. But the good news is that the car is finally legal to drive here ...WE did not use a company to do all this as it is a huge passion of my husbands's and we needed to do each bit as we could afford it. We cannot sell it because he gave it to our 17 year old as a present for helping him fix it up. It can be and I am sure it didn't cost the 35,000 that someone quoted here or I would not have been down for it. Good luck!

Was it a Japanese car built for the German market?  Kinda confused on the first part of the story.  Not too sure, but from all that I have read all cars less than 25 years old have to be done through RI's aside from kit cars, and then it has to be done in 180 days or less.  If you got everything done and it's 100% good to go, then more power to you, but like Crimson pointed out if the Government doesn't think so they can, and will, seize it.  That's why I', waiting for the 25 year rule, makes things much easier(and cheaper).

No I am so sorry for being unclear. I suppose that you can tell that he is the one that has covered all of this and I just nod and smile during car talk. I just asked him about it and he gave me some more insight. First, let me clear that initially it was a Japanese car made in Japan for the Japanese market. Our friend then came to Germany and sold us the car because he bought the mini. Well, my husband just explained to me that the vehicle has a new body (this is something I should have known given that it is no longer a right side drive) but the engine is the one that was original to the car. When we got it here he began the process of making it legal emission wise. Sorry for the confusion.

Here's the easy way, just make sure you have enough fuel>

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:...v8e5hYh-Dw

I don't understand why there is this huge information gap. The NHSTA's ( http://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/ ) site is really all there is.

Posted By Reub on 09-15-2011 6:40 PM
I don't understand why there is this huge information gap. The NHSTA's ( http://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/ ) site is really all there is.

Also, J.K. Technologies (mainly responsible for legalizing the R33s):
http://www.jktechnologies.net/veh_imports.htm 

I talked to them about bringing in a 'race-only,' off road-car and they said I wouldn't need a RI to do the paperwork. I would have to fill out a pre-approval form, submit pictures of the car (full race = roll cage, fire extinguisher, etc), cruit that I would race on, and copy of my racing license.... I can't import the car this way since I'm not a professional racer.

If you don't intend to drive it, how about dismantling and sending it back as parts? I know under Thai import law this puts it into a different import category and greatly simplifies things. It only gets complicated again if you put it all back together & try to register it in the new country.

Posted By ThaiGuy on 10-01-2011 1:45 PM
If you don't intend to drive it, how about dismantling and sending it back as parts? I know under Thai import law this puts it into a different import category and greatly simplifies things. It only gets complicated again if you put it all back together & try to register it in the new country.

Do you just intend to have it stored in your garage? Even if you remove the engine and drivetrain, some parts are still subject FMVSS. So you would have to remove a lot of additional parts (i.e. brake, lines, drive shafts, etc, etc). Breaking the car down to just the chasis will be expensive if you're paying someone or difficult if you're doing it yourself especially if you intend to put it back together.

It may be possible to get it across the border this way but, on the other hand, military TMO can just ship it for free.

The issue is making it federally legal.

Dismantling the car isn't an option unless the car can't be reassembled. If you can reassemble and make it operational it then the import regulations remain in effect. You could destroy the VIN markings which renders the car as a pile of parts, but then you could never register it and it would have zero resale value. If did reassemble it and tried to register it, it would be under a reconstructed title which in some states means severe restrictions where and how you can drive it.Sticking roll cage and a fire bottle in the car doesn't not make it a race car.
You are going to have to spend big money and do it by the book. Nothing personal but the car probably isn't worth it, especially if you are going to race. I would probably charge you double for line boring or doing other machine work to the block, because if something went wrong I couldn't replace it, remember, if you race hard by the end of the season that engine will be junk. been there, done that.

^^ The Skyline is worth it to some enthusiast but, like you said, I would never want to take it apart, etc just to get it into the states. This isn't a secret but there's a lot of shops that already work on RBs (and SRs). I'm bringing in a R32 GTS-T and MAYBE a GTR in a couple of years. I plan on racing one and daily'ing the other.


More info from NHTSA regarding Skylines is here:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/imp...age10.html

Bump.

An online petition started for the 25-year-rule to change to 15 year. Read more here:
http://www.2009gtr.com/2011/11/peti...r-old.html