Why are certain importers charging ridiculous prices for GTRs?
Check this site out:

http://www.evolutionimports.net

We can get Evo's and Integra type R's imported, converted to meet us standards, and made left hand drive with out ridiculous markups.

Now before you say it’s cheaper on the company to import them because we have a car that is the equivalent. Evo's have been imported into the US well before we got the US version.

Now I know the next thing you will say is “Well we had the Lancer." The Lancer and Evo are different so they would have to do crash test on them as well.

The point is other importers are offering cars imported, converted to us standards, and made left hand drive for a price with out huge markups. What is so different about the Skyline and its importer?

In all fairness there needs to be quite a bit done to comply one in the States. Not to mention the impending and overall cost of crash testing to get the certs to do compliance. I have spoken to former MotoRex staff member Sean not only via the net by on the phone. While he didn't go into details it is expensive.

Then there is the import duty taxes, purchase price in Japan, and shipping.

They are there to suit a small market, and also to make a buck. While I sympathise with your plight look at this way. At least you guys can still get the R32 where it is no longer available here in New Zealand due to certain standards set, which is rediucless and please don't get me going on that.

Average R34 selling price as the one in your pic in Japan is nearly $50k US.

Please Note as well, that on that website the only Skyline is not US legal. On top of that price you will also be sending it to MotoRex to get it leagalized. In the long run it is cheaper to go through them. They initial cost though to MotoRex was so high that they are still trying to make a return on their investment, or at least that's what the guys out there told me last weekend.

$50K US??? I dont think that much. In Aus we have V-SPEC R34's going for around $80K AUS and I know NZ is cheaper as they dont have to do all the compliance stuff so it should be like $70K AUS or less.

If you bring it in yourself yes it is cheaper, but they will start at around the 100k NZD mark here. There was two that I know of that went for less at dealers. Again they are there to make a buck.

I've read through quite a few auction sheets, and also mags from Japan. Well not really read because they were all in bloody Japanese, but the price is clearly marked in yen. Converting it over is pretty straight forward.

On quick side note, myself a couple of others are actually going to go to school and learn to speak, and write Japanese. There is a reason for it in the long term also. This should be interesting because I have not been to school now for 20 years lol.

Originally posted by skylinegtr34
Why are certain importers charging ridiculous prices for GTRs?

Because it was a ridiculous investment to pay in order to make Skylines available in the US. Don't forget Skylines cost more in the first place.

Now before you say it’s cheaper on the company to import them because we have a car that is the equivalent. Evo's have been imported into the US well before we got the US version.
How many street-legal EvoI-VIIs have you seen on the streets? Evos have been imported for years as race-only cars. Many people use them for rallying. People do the same with Skylines too. You can bring them here without getting them modified by an RI, but the car won't be street legal.

I read elsewhere that it is indeed cheaper for Evolution Imports to import Evos, because of a similarity clause. The current Lancer and the Evo VII were similar enough that Evolution Imports had to do very little testing in comparison to Motorex. The DC5-chassis Integra Type Rs and EP-chassis Civic Type Rs could be sold by Evolution Imports for the same reason.
The same place also said that Evolution Imports might begin selling EvoIV-VIs as well, because of the similarity to the US-market Mirage. There's an Evo 6.5 Makkinen in their used cars section right now.

Originally posted by VQuick

How many street-legal EvoI-VIIs have you seen on the streets? Evos have been imported for years as race-only cars. Many people use them for rallying. People do the same with Skylines too. You can bring them here without getting them modified by an RI, but the car won't be street legal.

As far as I know, there are NO street leagle Evo I-VIIs in the US.

Think about it this way. If you have a car that sells for 95k you are only going to sell a few. If you have a car that sells for 70k you are going to sell a lot more cars and make more money in the long run. If Motorex sold new GTR 34's for 70K, and used for 50k they would make a lot more money, getting a better return on their investment. The more of something you make or sell the lower your production cost, the higher your profits. GTR34 used sell for about 30k in Japan. Importing cost 5k, converting 5k. That leaves them with a 10k profit. Their cost would drop the more cars they import and convert. They would make a larger profit in the long run if they lowered their prices. How many GTR do you think they sell a year right now, im going to say under 15 cars. They could sell 50 cars a year if they lowered the prices.

Originally posted by Gonthrax


As far as I know, there are NO street leagle Evo I-VIIs in the US.
I wasn't talking to you!:o I already knew that.:) The question was rhetorical.hehe

Motorex invested a lot of money opening up for business. Let them recoup the investment the way they want to.

Yeah I never knew there were importers of the Lancer Evo.'s to the US. Yeah the Integra Type R is basically the same chassis as the standard DC5 we got here the only differences are the Type R has more power, different suspension, and a way nicer interior. Anyways the GT-R's will kick any Evo.'s ass so let Motorex charge what they want let's just hope the prices on the R32-34 models go down once the R35 is released

Street Legal Evo VII’s have been imported into the US since they were first introduced in Europe and Japan.
The reason you don’t see that many is most people don’t know about the companies importing them. Some people don’t even have a clue what and Evolution is.

All I’m trying to say is Motorex could still make a profit if they lowered the price and introduced more cars per year.

They could but still they had to spend a lot of $$$ for crash testing making everything US DOT legal. A drop in price would be nice but I don't know how many more cars they would sell as a lot of Americans are big fans of the Corvette and Viper. I also bet most Americans have no clue what a Skyline or Lancer Evo. is. It has been said before most Americans want huge amounts of displacement which makes huge torque but the ones that know of these J-Specs be happy with a price drop

Street Legal Evo VII’s have been imported into the US since they were first introduced in Europe and Japan.

who imports them?

why is this the first time i've heard of it?

also...

in regards to skyline pricing...

it's that high for a reason.

crash testing isn't cheap.
that's a pretty big hit in the pocket...
i wonder if motorex has actually turned a profit yet... i'm sure slightly, but they'd turn less if they had lower prices... b/c they'd make less profit off of what is already a high car to get here at their "cost"

also...
their prices are flat rate, somewhat, so regardless of what it cost to "legalize" that specific car, the rate is the same..

as noted many times, the cost of legalization is in no way cheap. and the test is guaranteed to be passed the first time. this is why it's pricey.

if you look at the cost of legalization on motorex's site... it's roughly 20k for the r34.

so drop 20k off the price of the car... and you'll see where the price is...
and keep in mind that since it's so exclusive, you're paying for that as well, b/c they can set it where they want.

it's not as easy as just dropping the cost.

I have answers that may satisfy you . But I cant say them at the current time...

Originally posted by R34 GT-R SKYLINE
A drop in price would be nice but I don't know how many more cars they would sell as a lot of Americans are big fans of the Corvette and Viper. I also bet most Americans have no clue what a Skyline or Lancer Evo. is. It has been said before most Americans want huge amounts of displacement which makes huge torque but the ones that know of these J-Specs be happy with a price drop

nice huge generalization. i know plenty of americans that knwo what evo's gtr's and like small displacemet turbo cars but even better is big displacement turbo cars. lets nto be silly with the generalizing guys...

-GTi-VR6_A3

nice huge generalization. i know plenty of americans that knwo what evo's gtr's and like small displacemet turbo cars but even better is big displacement turbo cars. lets nto be silly with the generalizing guys

Yes, but Joe public does not know about them. I know plenty of people that have knowledge about them.

I challenge you, stand on a street corner and ask randomly to people walking by and see if they have ever heard of a Skyline, or EVO majority will not know. Your in Cali, thats basically the hot bed for the Skyline as well, I still say majority will not know.

Look what I found anyone know anything about these guys.

http://www.rbmotoring.com/stocklist.html

Um...........Welcome to last week:)

RB has been posting on here for a month or so.

yer tony , well said , lots of dreamer's on here

Just have to add my 2 cents when it comes to buying used Japanese cars at auction, especially skyline GTRs and other sports cars. Many, many, many of these cars are damaged. Therefore if you want a nice clean car you have to pay over book value.

The simple fact of life in Japan is that driving is difficult. Roads are very narrow, very winding, very congested, parking is scarce and spaces are very small. (When was the last time you had to fold your mirrors in the USA to get in a parking spot?) Mix this with a fast car that is driven fast... well things go bump! Many cars have at least rub marks and scrapes. If you want mint, you have to pay extra.

Ok I feel better. I need to vent every once in a while to keep my sanity!

AL

I've called Evolution Imports and talked to them about the process they go through and the money they spend importing the cars they do.

Every single car they import has a substantially similar model in the United States, hands down. The whole "the US spec Lancer isn't anywhere near the same as the JDM model" is incorrect.

As far as the DOT is concerned, the engine matters peanuts. With that aside, and the suspension out of hte way as well, they pretty much are the same car.

Point being, Evolution imports does NOT have to crash test any vehicles they import if they can claim similarity:

Evo -> Lancer
Type-R -> RSX

but Motorex on the other hand DOES since there is no R32/R33/R34 equivalent here in the US.

He said the difference was (and don't quote me on this), Evolution imports pays $300,000 for the rights to import an Evolution, and Motorex pays 1.5 Million+ for their rights.

And all because of the whole crash test ordeal.

Chew on that for a little bit, and work the numbers, EI can sell 60 cars at 5k markup to recover the cost of importing them, before they can actually turn a profit.

Motorex has to sell 60 Skylines with a 25k markup to recover the cost of importing and crash testing them to turn a profit.

So I guess the lesson here is you pretty much get what you pay for... You're not going to get a brand ass new model over for 5k markup. The best EI can bring you is an NSX-R or an Efini Rx7 Type R whatever, or a late model MR2 with a Gen III engine.

Motorex is the only one that can bring you an R32/33/34 Skyline, or if they thought they could turn a profit, an S15 Silvia. But it comes at a price, 25k markup, that is if they think they can sell 60+ vehicles.

F=ma brings up a very good point if it is true that Evolution Imports can claim similarity. Is it true that the DOT doesn't care about engines... so i could like import just a RB26 and shove it into a 350 for instance (or a 240 for that matter :D)

Originally posted by zyajzarc
F=ma brings up a very good point if it is true that Evolution Imports can claim similarity. Is it true that the DOT doesn't care about engines... so i could like import just a RB26 and shove it into a 350 for instance (or a 240 for that matter :D)

lol I wish it were that easy.

I'm not sure its nationwide, but I know in some places the engine has to be newer than the car (for legality's sake)... so it wouldn't work too well with a 350Z.

240sx on the other hand is a terrific choice :) The RB26 is only like 60 lbs heavier than the bigass KA24.

Importing a car into the US may seem easy to someone who hasn't done it, but it's quite difficult. An individual cannot import a car just because they like the car and they're really nice to the Customs agents. Many US regulations need to be met.

Since the 1980s, the government has closed the gray-market loophole which allowed importers to bring over various non-US market vehicles. There was even a time when an individual could import one personal car in their lifetime. These have gone away.

Now, the government has opened another avenue and it's called the "Show and Display" rule. This regulation allows for certain rare vehicles to be imported. Someone wanting to import a vehicle under these rules would need to provide a reason WHY it's of significance.

"An application to import a vehicle for Show or Display is not required to include documentation to support the technological and/or historical significance of the vehicle, if the make, model, and model year of the vehicle has previously been determined eligible. All other information on the application is required."

The only vehicles, as of July 2002, that have been approved are the 1984 Audi Sport Quattro, 1978 Ford (Australia) Falcon XC Bathurst Cobra, (1988-1991) BMW Z1, (1992-1995) Bugatti EB110, (1985-1986) Ford RS200 Evolution, (1992-1994) Jaguar XJ220, (1993-1998) McLaren F1, (1984-1985) Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, (1998) Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, (1987-1988) Porsche 959, and the (2000) Rover Mini Cooper S (only the last 50 off of the line). Cars like the MCC Smart and the old-style Volkswagen "Beetle" have been deemed ineligible from this statute.

There are companies, like Motorex, that import used cars and certify them for US sale. Each of these vehicles must be brought up to spec as if the importer were the manufacturer. These specs include safety and emissions regulations (but LHD is not required in the US).

If you want to see some of the regulations and paperwork necessary for this, check out:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/gray_01072003.html

Is it true that the DOT doesn't care about engines... so i could like import just a RB26 and shove it into a 350 for instance (or a 240 for that matter
in most cases, you'll still need to have a motor that is from the same year or newer as the car.

most states don't care what the motor is, as long as it passes emissions.

Now, the government has opened another avenue and it's called the "Show and Display" rule. This regulation allows for certain rare vehicles to be imported. Someone wanting to import a vehicle under these rules would need to provide a reason WHY it's of significance.

this also means you can't drive it daily...

Originally posted by F=ma
I've called Evolution Imports and talked to them about the process they go through and the money they spend importing the cars they do.

Every single car they import has a substantially similar model in the United States, hands down. The whole "the US spec Lancer isn't anywhere near the same as the JDM model" is incorrect.

As far as the DOT is concerned, the engine matters peanuts. With that aside, and the suspension out of hte way as well, they pretty much are the same car.

Point being, Evolution imports does NOT have to crash test any vehicles they import if they can claim similarity:

Evo -> Lancer
Type-R -> RSX

but Motorex on the other hand DOES since there is no R32/R33/R34 equivalent here in the US.

He said the difference was (and don't quote me on this), Evolution imports pays $300,000 for the rights to import an Evolution, and Motorex pays 1.5 Million+ for their rights.

And all because of the whole crash test ordeal.

Chew on that for a little bit, and work the numbers, EI can sell 60 cars at 5k markup to recover the cost of importing them, before they can actually turn a profit.

Motorex has to sell 60 Skylines with a 25k markup to recover the cost of importing and crash testing them to turn a profit.

So I guess the lesson here is you pretty much get what you pay for... You're not going to get a brand ass new model over for 5k markup. The best EI can bring you is an NSX-R or an Efini Rx7 Type R whatever, or a late model MR2 with a Gen III engine.

Motorex is the only one that can bring you an R32/33/34 Skyline, or if they thought they could turn a profit, an S15 Silvia. But it comes at a price, 25k markup, that is if they think they can sell 60+ vehicles. i fuken hate motorex, they rip people off!

that was a pretty ignorant statement.

they are a company, a business venture.
like any other company, their intention is to turn a profit.

they've also jumped through all the legal hoops for you, so you don't have to do it.

get over it.

try to legalize the car yourself, and let me know what it costs.

flylwsi,

I was going to say the same thing.


D2daT2daM,

You might want to read what was posted again.

to answer more questions...

check this link to motorex for legalization cost...

http://motorex.net/conversion.html

Well for the best i guess you gotta add a little extra. Sure on certain models MotoRex does go a bit over board on like the R34 GT-R ($90k) but for what they had to go through to get the cars leagl I would say its worth it. I would definitley give the extra $$ to get a R32 GT-R in good condition instead of getting a near new Evo. VII. But don't get me wrong the Evo. is a great car but the GT-R even though it would be about 9-10 years older then the 7 would be in my mind more then worth it. Why can't EvoImports get the WRX STI for the US its extremely similar to the new WRX only more power and a bit different suspension. I am pretty sure the way the WRX crashes would be near the same if not the same exact way the STI crashes. Just my opinion:smoker2:

Sure on certain models MotoRex does go a bit over board on like the R34 GT-R ($90k

consider the cost of the car...
and the fact that it's harder to get a newer car legalized, with more hoops to jump through...

it's easier on older cars... end of story

Originally posted by R34 GT-R SKYLINE
Why can't EvoImports get the WRX STI for the US its extremely similar to the new WRX only more power and a bit different suspension. I am pretty sure the way the WRX crashes would be near the same if not the same exact way the STI crashes. Just my opinion:smoker2:

Right. If you would just check their site, you'd see that Evolution Imports already has the JDM STi.
Truthfully, there'd be no advantage to getting a JDM Sti over the US model. The US model costs less, has more power, and is US legal, unlike the JDM model.

if you want to talk WRX STI's then go to the subaru section.