Military guys, how are you bringing back your GTRs

[Spoolin']

Who do you talk to? What papers need to be fiiled out?

[Forsteen]

Save about 16 grand and go through motorex. So far they are the only ones that can make the skyline legal in the states.

http://www.skylinegtr.com

[Nismo Vspec]

are there a lot of R33-R34 skylines in okinawa rite now? if so what are the going prices for them? im trying to import one back from there when I go later on this year can u give me some info?

[Spoolin']

I really did not want to bother Sean.

I wanted to here for you guys. I guess I'll post him a message.

[Gonthrax]

I beleave the only money you save by doing it with the Military is the shipping cost. (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) You still have to pay the 15+grand to Motorex for them to submit a complience package and get it legal to register in the US. So by being in the military you save about 3k on the shipping and bonds and such.

[HellBent]

I was stationed in Japan for two years. I really wanted to bring back a Skyline but the red tape was awful. The DOT(U.S. dept of trans) website has all the rules for doing it. Don't waste your time talking to the useless civilian employes on base.

The big issue is that it is a gamble (the reason I bought a 2001 vette instead). You can get a good deal on the Skyline in Japan. The Japanese hate used cars (well at least mainstream people do). Therefore used prices are much cheaper than we see on our cars in the USA. Also the exchange rate is really good too.

Let's say you drop $40k on a newer skyline. The only way to drive it in the USA is pay motorex, (Yeah right) or import it as a show and display car. As a show and display car, you don't have to modify it to be street legal. The catch is you may only drive it less than 2000 miles per year. (Does anyone else see this loophole...a few spare parts and like Lee Ioccoca said "She still reads 000"!)

My problem with this whole arrangement is trusting our F---ed up bureacracy with $40,000 of my possessions. If they decide to impound it, or declare it has a problem of some type, they can tie it up with red tape for months if not years. I believe the car will sit in impound for months anyway, plus however long moto-rex would want it for. All the while you are paying $800 per month in car payments for a car you aren't driving. Not worth the hassle.

It was nice to arrive in the USA pick up my shiny new 2001 Quicksilver Corvette Coupe and just drive it away. I love the Skyline GT-R and have really grown to hate Chevy service. However, even with all the service problems I have had with Chevrolet, I can't imagine the difficulties in trouble shooting a computer problem on the Skyline. I don't think Nissan would want to help (good luck)!

Trust me when you drop $40k you want to just turn the key and drive, not sweat the details. I will return to Japan in 2003 for another 2 year tour of duty. After that I may choose to try and bring back a used R-33 for $5k or so, but that is all the risk I would want to try.

Just my 2 cents.

Peace

Al

[Nismo Vspec]

Damn, thanks for the info. I really need a new project car and since I probably wont be able to bring a car that I would but in the U.S. ie Supra
RX-7 or NSX over there, I really don't know what to do right now. I was thinking about getting a used 95 R33 for about 15000 but Motorex wants another 15000 to convert it. thats excluding any mods that I was planning to buy. If the opportunity arises I will consider it though.

[NISMO23]

Originally posted by Spoolin'
Who do you talk to? What papers need to be fiiled out?

The route military personnel have to go through to bring back a gt-r is pretty much the same as any other person except for the fact that the government will pay for the shipping (although we have to own the car for at least a year overseas and be stationed overseas for at least two years) and we don't need to pay the 2.5% customs duty tax (free entry). We still need to go through MotoRex if the car is to be imported legally. Our Transportation Management Office guides us through the paperwork needed to export the car from japan.

[NISMO23]

Originally posted by Nismo Vspec
are there a lot of R33-R34 skylines in okinawa rite now? if so what are the going prices for them? im trying to import one back from there when I go later on this year can u give me some info?

There are quite a bit of r32's and r33's. Hardly any r34's. The prices of used cars in japan depend on the history of the car and condition/km. You could have a r32 selling for the same price as an r33 given it hasn't been driven a lot and has a good history. When I bought my r33 gt-r in okinawa, I actually had it shipped from mainland japan since there weren't any 95 gtr's in okinawa that fit what I was kooking for(dual airbags, midnight purple, low km, no accident, owned by only 1 person, no mods). That kind of car in japan isn't cheap. I pretty much hand picked it, now I am selling it. Oh well.

[Nismo Vspec]

Originally posted by NISMO23


There are quite a bit of r32's and r33's. Hardly any r34's. The prices of used cars in japan depend on the history of the car and condition/km. You could have a r32 selling for the same price as an r33 given it hasn't been driven a lot and has a good history. When I bought my r33 gt-r in okinawa, I actually had it shipped from mainland japan since there weren't any 95 gtr's in okinawa that fit what I was kooking for(dual airbags, midnight purple, low km, no accident, owned by only 1 person, no mods). That kind of car in japan isn't cheap. I pretty much hand picked it, now I am selling it. Oh well.

Yea I seen the pics....that thing is a beast, you didn't get any new turbos for it? What about intercooler? I hear they can get up to 900hp easy. Is it hard to drive since the steering wheel is on the right hand side?

[NISMO23]

Originally posted by Nismo Vspec



Yea I seen the pics....that thing is a beast, you didn't get any new turbos for it? What about intercooler? I hear they can get up to 900hp easy. Is it hard to drive since the steering wheel is on the right hand side?

I decided not to upgrade too much due to money issues. Believe me, if I had the money, I would mod that car as much as possible before bringing it to the states. Being in Japan, I can get the parts VERY cheap. As far as driving on the right side, it is a little different at first, but it doesn't take more than a couple of times driving it to get used to. :flash:

[Gtr2.7L]

The worst part is repeatedly flipping on your windshield wipers when you're trying to make a left turn (in my 'yota)