Would this work to import?

So you can import a skyline from Japan under 1 of 2 circumstances, if you pay motorex (and I suspect some goes to our government) $25,000 to convert it. Or if you choose to register it as a race or show car, which allows you only 5,000 miles of use a year.
Now this is all done in California right when it comes off the boat. So, then you take it to your state, mine being michigan, and register it as race/show, or street use.
To avoid the $25,000 charge could I first register it as a race/show car, keep it for a while and not drive it much, and then in Michigan change it to a street-use vehicles. The car first has to pass customs standards and DMV regulations in CALIFORNIA, they have crazy laws, but can you avoid this by just registering it as race/show? Michigan has NO DMV and no regulations on cars, they probably don't even know what a skyline is here in lansing, gm country.
Does anyone think this would work?
Have I missed any details in my research?
I know Michigan wouldn't check the car, they don't have anybody who does that and who'd know anyway.

thanks,
-Corey
Team MaZi Customs, Lansing, MI

i don't know about dealing with california, but being from michigan myself, i think what you said would work, but make sure sos doesn't find out, because i know from experience they love to screw people over.

Well if I get the chance to try I'll let you know ifit works

how does NO sound?

this topic has been gone over a million times in this forum.
if the skyline comes through the gates in cali, it's got to be legal in cali. or you can't drive or register it. sorry.

why don't you pm tyndago (sean morris) who used to work at motorex and now runs www.rbmotoring.com. he'll let you know what's legal.

and if that was possible, it would have been done before. and posted here. and everywhere.

ALSO. SEE THE LOCKED THREAD AT THE TOP OF THIS FORUM BEFORE POSTING THESE QUESTIONS. RAZORGTR HAS MADE IT QUITE CLEAR WHAT THE DEAL IS, AND YOUR THREAD WILL MOST LIKELY BE DELETED.
THANKS. HAVE A NICE DAY.

Originally posted by thomas24ct
So you can import a skyline from Japan under 1 of 2 circumstances, if you pay motorex (and I suspect some goes to our government) $25,000 to convert it. Or if you choose to register it as a race or show car, which allows you only 5,000 miles of use a year.
Now this is all done in California right when it comes off the boat. So, then you take it to your state, mine being michigan, and register it as race/show, or street use.
To avoid the $25,000 charge could I first register it as a race/show car, keep it for a while and not drive it much, and then in Michigan change it to a street-use vehicles. The car first has to pass customs standards and DMV regulations in CALIFORNIA, they have crazy laws, but can you avoid this by just registering it as race/show? Michigan has NO DMV and no regulations on cars, they probably don't even know what a skyline is here in lansing, gm country.
Does anyone think this would work?
Have I missed any details in my research?
I know Michigan wouldn't check the car, they don't have anybody who does that and who'd know anyway.

thanks,
-Corey
Team MaZi Customs, Lansing, MI
u sir are a crook towards the government! and motorex , and i respect that nucha fucks steal so much from us that its not funny anymore, theres always a way around things and you have just figured out, and that 5k mile a year, just roll back the miles :bigthumb:

Is it legal for me to register the car in clifornia as a street/show car and not have to pay motorex an assramming 25 grand?
If the secretary of state here in michigan lets me register the car as a daily driver would that be legal?
yea....that's what i thought.

yeah that's what you thought? what is what you thought?

you'd have to get the car in as a show only car, and i'm sure that there'd be some sort of legal loophole that is attached to the cars title/registration by the US gov't that would restrict you getting the car to be street legal. something that the state gov't wouldn't be able to over ride. without doing it, i can't tell you for sure, but if it's not been done, i doubt it can be.

again, www.rbmotoring.com and tyndago have the answers... pondering on the web gets you nowhere until you ask the questions to people who have done and attempted to do the things in question

and you're also more likely to die from a car accident in most other countries.

and your country cares about the atmosphere and keeping the world semi decent for your kids.

takin your hard earned money?
right.

the fact that they "take" your money allows you to have these freedoms you love.

why do you think we don't have internal issues and terrorism running rampant like other countries?

b/c of these awful concessions we must make to have a safe place to live.

whatever. you guys need to just get over it and realize that it takes money to make things happen.

another thread wasted on a topic covered a fukking million times in this forum.

Can we please tone it down a bit, on the language. I know there is freedom here and I am not one to normally ask but getting riled like this isn't going to solve the issues at hand.

I am going to leave this thread open for the time being.

Corey if you do decide to go for it keep us informed please. I and the rest are interested to know what problems if any arise and all legal battles that also may come from it.

The rest please refrain from going off topic and asking tons of non-answerable questions. Also read the sticky thread about legalizing Skylines for the US.

I will pin this so we can use it for reference. I will also remove/nuke needless posts.

Corey this is on you dude. Reply back here if your intention is to actually follow through with it. If not then the thead goes, sorry has to be that way.

Cheers

I never wanted it to get into some sort of trash talking thing here. I don't know what was said in the post that you deleted, and I know I had nothing to do with it. I just wanted to find out if it could be done. I e-mailed that guy at rbmotoring.com like you suggested fly, but I didn't get an answer. And even if I do, he used to work for motorex, the whole idea is to avoid motorex here, legally. So I doubt he'd be supporting me. Sorry for this getting out of hand Razor. And yea I intend on going through with this, a friend of mine wants to too. So ofcourse I'll let you know how it goes, just as soon as i get the cash and can find one i want. By the way, did you go through motorex with your skyline or is it race only? Just trying to find people who have them in the U.S. And I know i'm not finding anyone in michigan who has one so it's really hard to find out the info i need.

thanks man,

-Corey

Actualy just go ahead and delete it. I'll just talk to you guys when it comes time to get a skyline

ill get a r32 in 10 years when motorex drops the price down to 20 gs lol :dogpile:

You first have to get the car in as a race car. Good luck it is not easy.

Originally posted by tofstchvy
You first have to get the car in as a race car. Good luck it is not easy.

That was going to be my point. Under the "show and display" regulations, you have to prove to the government that this vehicle has significant historical or technological qualities. There are more vehicles turned down for this than accepted. If you were to import it as a race car, as far as I know, you couldn't register it for street use.

Depending on where you live. I haven't seen anyone in my state with a skyline at a show. As far as tech. specs go, does Ford or GM make a 6-cylinder awd sports car with a 4.7 0-60 STOCK. the GTR defines signifacant technological qualities.

None of this will float about getting it as a race or display car with the hopes of ever getting it on the street. Until MotoRex's monopoly on the legalization you guys in the states are stuffed.

I am in the same boat right now if I were to head back to the states and bring mine it. It will owe me more than I could pick one up from MotoRex to start with so I am playing the waiting game.

We had our preacher, a German National, register with the state (Oklahoma) as having an automobile museum located on his property. He has imported about 5 or 6 vehicles now through Houston as museum pieces. I will ask him soon about any mileage or any other restrictions that were imposed. I do know he drives all of them on occasion, but not to any great extent.

For what this is worth:

Speaking to a friend of mine in CA that works on a lot of Lancer Evolutions that were brought over here before the current Mitsu version, a lot of people get racing licenses and import the cars. I think this gives you a 1 or two year "stay of execution" (providing that you get past all of the legal garbage to get it over here--not always easy). After the 2 years are up, they basically send back a beat up Mirage. This isn't actually legal, but has been done. Since Rally cars have to be driven on the street from one segment to the next, they're given plates to be driven on the road.

One problem with this is that the skyline chassis isn't in the US in another form. People have brought them over and rebadged them as a 240SX (using 240SX VIN plates/bages) and registered them. Not exactly legal either--and can get you a $250K+ fine and about 5 years of ass-ramming in a federal pen.

I'm looking into some psuedo-legal ways of getting one in the states at the moment (loopholes, etc.) as people *HAVE* done it. There's also been a lot of talk about Motorex being pissed off about some Florida laws allowing people to find loopholes to get cars imported at a Florida port, and registered. The question is "what are they doing". The most I've found out so far (with questionable accuracy) is that you must be either a Florida resident or a student in the state of Florida.

No, it's not *impossible* as some people would like to have you believe, as it has been done in the past. However, is it worth the time, money and risk over just going through Motorex? This is what you have to decide.

As far as some earlier statements about "Land of the Free" patriotic crap...

I agree with the aspect of taxes (although their appropriations later are much to be desired), however, you're telling me that it's not business/political when the government tells me that I can't import a car because it may not meet U.S. safety standards? However, I can go down to my local cycle shop and legally buy a bike, ride without a helmet, and be less safe than a skyline with the bumpers completely removed, and no seatbelts? Justify this for me please. (Note: Emissions, I can see restrictions on, as it affects others)

Hey guys,

I've been reading the forums for a little while now (yes, I've read all the FAQs and whatnot), and I thought I might share my own idea on Skyline importation/legalization loopholes. As I'm neither a fan of stepping outside the boundaries of the law nor paying exorbitant sums to monopolistic regimes (read: MotoRex), the avenues you guys have explored thus far don't particularly appeal to me.

I have, however, done quite a bit of reading in the past about building kit-cars, more specifically Lotus Super-7 replicas. Ron Champion penned a book on the subject entitled How to Build your own Sports Car for £250. This project seems to be very popular in the UK, where the DOT (or MOT as they call it) is also rather stringent about registering vehicles. Anyway, the gist is: these guys build a car basically from scratch, welding steel tubing together to create a chassis, molding a body from aluminum or fiberglass, and sourcing mechanical bits (engine, suspension, and a few other sundry parts) from an old Ford Escort or other such 'donor' vehicle. Since the Escort isn't a donor in the typical kit-car sense (i.e. the builder does not use its chassis/frame as a base upon which to build his kit/replica), its title cannot be used. Rather, the builder/owner must apply for a Single Vehicle Approval (SVA) test that seems to me to be an emmissions/safety test. Once the vehicle has passed the SVA, it's completely street legal. As near as I can tell, the process for getting approval is similar (if not slightly easier) here in the US. In the most basic terms, details excluded, it seems that if you build a car from scratch, you can take it down and have the highway patrol inspect it and give you a VIN/title for it.

In case you haven't already put two and two together, my idea is this: import Skyline parts (chassis, motor, suspension, body, etc.) separately and put them together yourself (or at a garage, more likely :P). Once you've got it together, wouldn't it seem to a home-made car that could be registered as a home-built kit or the like? Surely, I'm not the only one who has had this idea, but as far as I can tell, nobody here has mentioned it. And as it seems that many of us are eager to be Skyline owners but lack the funds/resources to go through MotoRex, I thought I would toss this idea out in the open. I'm sure there are plenty of flaws in the plan, so please point them out as you see fit :).

-justin

Originally posted by enecks
In case you haven't already put two and two together, my idea is this: import Skyline parts (chassis, motor, suspension, body, etc.) separately and put them together yourself (or at a garage, more likely :P). Once you've got it together, wouldn't it seem to a home-made car that could be registered as a home-built kit or the like? Surely, I'm not the only one who has had this idea
No, you're not. It doesn't work that way and has been discussed before, not sure if in this forum but elsewhere.

Hey guys, I'm all for taking a big ole piss all over the government, but this is an issue that you simply cannot win. Its been looked into for a long time now and the fact remains as it always was - MotoRex is the ONLY way to get a 100% street legal Skyline in the USA. When another RI get s licensed, the Nissan world will know about it.

Originally posted by enecks
...As near as I can tell, the process for getting approval is similar (if not slightly easier) here in the US. In the most basic terms, details excluded, it seems that if you build a car from scratch, you can take it down and have the highway patrol inspect it and give you a VIN/title for it. ...

You should look into the www.nhtsa.gov website. It's not as easy as you make out to be.

Everybody on here knows that you can no longer import skylines to the US right? It's either universally over the entire US, or just in the Military

Originally posted by sKyLiNe_69
Everybody on here knows that you can no longer import skylines to the US right? It's either universally over the entire US, or just in the Military

When did this happen? I had no problem doing it in November.

That's not true about not being able to import skylines. And that mystery port in florida that imports skylines is where i have bought a few of mine. I buy them from IDirect which is an auction company in japan which has a shitload of them on there weekly. I have connections with most of the people in the company which means i can get a skyline into the port for roughly around 13,000 for GTR-33's, 18,000 for GTR-32, and a whooping 30g's and up for a GTR-34 vspec or vspec II which generally are about 35 to 45 thousand. also if you want the SOFTER GTS's (j/p) i can get those for roughly 5 thousand dollars. Dont believe me? ill email you the info if your serious. My email is [email protected]

Sorry it looked like i was saying that you didnt have to go to motorex. YOU STILL DO but overall its cheapier to buy it your self and have it sent there than to buy it from motorex. there 80,000 GTR-33 vspec i can get for 35 to 40 tops.

Strange to find that out. I'll have to talk to my Staff Sergeant and see if that's correct. He had 2 R33's and he tried to import one of them and they said he couldn't. But if that's true it must be throught the military only.

Strange to find that out. I'll have to talk to my Staff Sergeant and see if that's correct. He had 2 R33's and he tried to import one of them and they said he couldn't. But if that's true it must be throught the military only.


They're giving him a load. Tell him to print out the "Cars available for Compliance" from the DOT website, circle the car on the list, and give it to them.

Like I said....the military shipped my GTR in Nov. I doubt anything has changed since then.

I love how some people will take the word of a person who probably has no idea what they are talking about (IE, his SSgt) and take that as the way things are. A buddy of mine just imported his Skyline R32 GTS-T (why that model, I dunno, he's a dork :grinyes: ) not more than 2 months ago, it's at Motorex now. My buddy is in the USAF and they shipped it the same as they always have. Probably the reason they said he couldn't bring it over is because in the military before you ship the car you have to have WRITTEN PROOF of a contract with a Registered Importer (IE Motorex) to get the car into DOT/EPA Compliance.

Jason

if i live in florida i just can import a skyline and register it, from any port. i live in miami if anyone wants to give me any help with that.

thanks,
-Corey
Team MaZi Customs, Lansing,


reply- the only reason why you have to get it converted is because the engine output is to much it gives off to much exhaust that is why you have to pay motorex 25000 to convert it however if the state has NO emission standards towards how much the car gives of in exhaust
then your fine. If you have the car in a state were there are no emissions then you can drive it anywhere. It also depends on the type and standard skyline you have if you ever want to get it converted.

These are all the conversion price for the gtr's im not sure on gtst's or m's are less I know that but not exactly sure how much.

r32-10000 usd
r33-25000 usd
r34-25000 usd

however if the state has NO emission standards towards how much the car gives of in exhaust
then your fine. If you have the car in a state were there are no emissions then you can drive it anywhere.

False.


These are all the conversion price for the gtr's im not sure on gtst's or m's are less I know that but not exactly sure how much.

r32-10000 usd
r33-25000 usd
r34-25000 usd

Also false. For correct pricing, go to www.motorex.net

Ok.. Ive found an 89 GTS-t on Batfa.com, for about 2400. I live in florida, basically.. Id have to pay the 3 grand for the car and shipping, to have it sent here... then 25 grand to have it legalized?

Im guessing my chances of having it classified as a show car are fubar too?

Damn monopolies.

did you honestly look at motorex's site at all?
they've got the cost of legalization listed on the site.

maybe, since you found a cheap one, you should talk to motorex about what it takes to get it here, b/c it's not inexpensive. you've got insurance fees that you have to pay while it's on it's way here, etc.
it's not that easy.

the fee for an r32 is only 10-15k though, not 25.

go to their site, ask them questions, then make your decision on what you want to do.

i'm amazed at how many noobies are posting in this thread. it's really scary.

go see the stickied threads below this one, then come back.

Ok, first of all, I DID check Motorex's site. There is no price listing for the 1989 R32. Their prices only go as old as 1990. Dont go around blindly calling me a 'noobie' for not researching.. NO information is available on importing a 1989 Skyline, Ive looked. I understand full well it isnt cheap. I want to know if anyone else had tried to import and legalize an 89 GTS-t or GTR.

I have also heard from alot of people that the 89 Skylines become 'legal' in 2004, does anyone know about this?

Ok, first of all, I DID check Motorex's site. There is no price listing for the 1989 R32.

$16k to legalize. I think they're not listing '89 as it propably is hard to find one.

I have also heard from alot of people that the 89 Skylines become 'legal' in 2004, does anyone know about this?

In Canada, not USA.

I found a 1989 Skyline GTS-t. Is it still 16 grand to legalize? Motorex isnt responding yet.

BTW, how would you go about insuring a Skyline?

I found a 1989 Skyline GTS-t. Is it still 16 grand to legalize? Motorex isnt responding yet.
Yes, but I guess that's something you can negotiate with Motorex. For them, it's the same amount of work whether it is a GT-R or not.

You insure one for the value of the car. My GT-R payments are less than for my '98 A4.

So what I pay for the car, plus or minus 2 or 3 hundred dollars is the value? I havent exactly seen it listed in the KBB. That's true, 19 grand doesnt sound too bad. I suppose its quite a bit more complicated though, from what Ive read about all the forms required.

I forgot port-of-entry and customs costs. So 24-28 grand, I suppose.

So if canada is legalizing the skyline, then maybe there's hope that the someone in our US gov can pull their head out of their ass, and change the laws for us as well. Fortunately for myself, I'm in the military, so all i am going to do is move to japan, and stay there for the rest of my time in the military. Anyone know of any R34 Vspecs in the Yokuska area for sale??

do you know what the law is?
nope, you don't.

the US is legalizing skylines. where've you been? under a rock.

the deal in canada is that you can't even bring one over unless it's 15 years old or older. but there are still legalization hurdles that you have to clear.

it's not just "bring it over and drive it off the boat".

ok, first of all, before you go flamin people in forums, you need to look at what you just typed. The Us is not legalizing skylines, Motorex is. If the US WAS, we wouldn't need this lame ass monopoly. Any yes, I know you don't just import it and drive it off the boat. You have to have a contract with an RI, and it has to go through their legalization modifications and registration before you can ddrive off in it. I know you have made some intelligent posts in the past, but this is not one of them. Thanks for your time and energy trying to effectively lower the IQ's of all readers of your post.

MOTOREX IS LEGALIZING CARS.
HOW DO YOU DO THAT?
YOU GO TO THE GOVERNMENT, AND THEY PUT IT THROUGH TESTS TO BE LEGAL IN THE STATES.
WHO GOES THROUGH THE PROCESS? MOTOREX.
WHO IS ACTUALLY LEGALIZING THE CAR? THE GOVERNMENT.

trying to lower the IQ of readers?
really.

i live in oregon and i found a r33 for sale in seattle for 30k and it says its already legalized and the pic shows the us vin so since it is legalized does that mean i can just buy it and move to oregon and drive it or do i need to register anf go through some hassle or what to do???

If the car is really legalized, then you don't have anything to worry about. You can just buy the car and enjoy it.

One area for caution, though. A price of $30k sounds a bit low for an R33, especially if it is a GT-R. There are R32 GT-Rs going for that, if not more. You might want to do some checking around before jumping in with both feet. Some folks try to 'legalize' their car the wrong way, and just put a US vin on, so be careful.

Yep, be careful. $30k sounds very cheap unless it's a GTS-T. Post some pics here so we can help you with that.

Best bet is to ask for some papers before you make any commitments, as much as I hate the monopoly, make sure they went through motorex. If they did, then they'll have papers on the car. if they didn't, they'll say they lost them. No one loses something that important.

He may be referring to the R33 GTR on ebay that was discussed on this thread on Fresh Alloy...

http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB4&Number=67621798&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Based on the thread, it's a theft recovery car and it's already bid to $33K...

[COLOR=darkred]ayte

There are skylines on ebay that are cheap. You just have to check like 2 or 3 times a week. I found a place that sells a 1998 gt-s for only $17,000. Thats about $40,000 differences from Motorex's price. So you guys try what you can to get one without going threw motorex and when someone does everybody going to do the same thing.

The cheap Skylines on eBay are not legal. You still must take the car to Motorex for the legalization process.

In addition to that, read your post, note that it is a gt-s you saw for 17K. You will NOT see a (decent condition) GTR for anywhere near that price, period, no debate. And as VQuick stated, they are not legalized, or there would be another 5-10K tacked on the price.

for the stinky bastard that wants the skyline in michign, believe me that thing will be fucking impossible to get legallized cause of all the shit u have 2 go through...
I would just get a 3000gt or a 240sx if i was so worried about havin a six cylinder

Yeah, those V6 240s are pretty fast, huh? :rolleyes:

ya i mean really a gts r32 (which is motorexs cheapest skyline) is basically like the crv to the element

i mean the r32 gts=240sx

[QUOTE=sKyLiNe_69]Everybody on here knows that you can no longer import skylines to the US right? It's either universally over the entire US, or just in the Military[/QUOTE

I think the only way anyone can get around all this government crap is to put all of our thoughts into one place. I have heard something that might interest all of you guys out there who want a Skyline. In 1999, the government made a law that you can import a 1989-1999 Skyline into the US WITHOUT EMISSION STANDARDS. All you have to worry about are safety controls. Here is what you need to change. The windscreen needs to be changed to US standards. The doors need to have steel door beams put in. The front and rear bumpers need to be changed to high impact bumpers. My thoughts on the bumper issue is to use the bumper off either a 300ZX or 350Z. Also I have asked about bringing the car in separate parts idea and it wouldn't work. The government has some kind of regulations on the shells of cars too. If I am wrong about this law I'm sorry but here is another idea of the smog restrictions: low flow cat and a bigger turbo. I said a bigger turbo because turbos burn fuel more completly and leave less emissions. Plus you get more power and you can always change out the cat whenever you want. Trust me when I say that I have been trying to figure this problem out for a long time. It all boils down to one thing. THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STAY OUT OF OUR GARAGES, END OF STORY!!!

Good Luck Importing and Best regards

Again,
Motorex is the only RI authorized (by the U.S. government) and willing to modify GTR's to comply with U.S. standards. Period. Anyone else who claims to do so is attempting to swindle you.

Any GTR that was '96 or later cannot be imported into the U.S. right now as DOT has determined the OBDII patch to be inadequate and has rescinded the licensing for bringing said cars into compliance.

R32 GTR's and '95 R33 GTR's are still available for import.

The military is still importing cars for military personnel as a friend's R32 was shipped from Yokohama a little more than two weeks ago.....and another friends R33 is waiting in the holding lot, awaiting shipping.

Anyone who tells you they can get you a GTR for less than 20k in the U.S. is going to be selling you a car that was either salvaged or has serious engine problems. The prices of quality GTR's are on the rise.....a no accident R32 with less than 10k miles on it will easily sell for 35-45 thousand U.S. dollars in Japan. I've seen quite a few R32 VspecII's selling in the neighborhood of 50 thousand dollars in Japan.

The gov't has made no new law allowing the GTR to be brought into the U.S. without meeting emissions standards.....


[QUOTE=sKyLiNe_69]Everybody on here knows that you can no longer import skylines to the US right? It's either universally over the entire US, or just in the Military[/QUOTE

I think the only way anyone can get around all this government crap is to put all of our thoughts into one place. I have heard something that might interest all of you guys out there who want a Skyline. In 1999, the government made a law that you can import a 1989-1999 Skyline into the US WITHOUT EMISSION STANDARDS. All you have to worry about are safety controls. Here is what you need to change. The windscreen needs to be changed to US standards. The doors need to have steel door beams put in. The front and rear bumpers need to be changed to high impact bumpers. My thoughts on the bumper issue is to use the bumper off either a 300ZX or 350Z. Also I have asked about bringing the car in separate parts idea and it wouldn't work. The government has some kind of regulations on the shells of cars too. If I am wrong about this law I'm sorry but here is another idea of the smog restrictions: low flow cat and a bigger turbo.