Skyline Kit Car?

[RACER D12]

Anyone heard of doing this? On another forum the guys were talking about this. Basically you get a skyline sent over in pieces and register it as a kit car. The car gets registered as what ever year it is when you finish it. So if you put one together now it would be a 2006 kit car. And the nice thing about it is supposedly you only need to make sure it adheres to like emissions and has set belts and what not. So know anyone that’s done this with any car? Sounds like a pretty slick way of getting around the system. Of course it wouldn’t be a cake walk. You would need someone reputable to partially dismantle it and then send it over with out pieces going missing. Then you have to put it together and any parts that are missing will be a pain in the ass to get, but in the end I bet you could do it a lot cheaper then buying one that’s already here. And I’m not just talking skylines here, do you think it might work with any car not sold here?

[carrrnuttt]

Originally Posted by RACER D12

Anyone heard of doing this? On another forum the guys were talking about this. Basically you get a skyline sent over in pieces and register it as a kit car. The car gets registered as what ever year it is when you finish it. So if you put one together now it would be a 2006 kit car. And the nice thing about it is supposedly you only need to make sure it adheres to like emissions and has set belts and what not. So know anyone that’s done this with any car? Sounds like a pretty slick way of getting around the system. Of course it wouldn’t be a cake walk. You would need someone reputable to partially dismantle it and then send it over with out pieces going missing. Then you have to put it together and any parts that are missing will be a pain in the ass to get, but in the end I bet you could do it a lot cheaper then buying one that’s already here. And I’m not just talking skylines here, do you think it might work with any car not sold here?

All the smart shippers part the car out when shipping to the US. There's less tariffs imposed on 'parts' than on 'cars'. There's not much you need to remove from the chassis either, to get it classified as 'parts'.

[Chiquae07]

sounds like a great way to grab me a s15! ha. i wish. but if i can remember there is problems with this with skylines in the skyline section of af. if your 'kit' car is an actual car just imported, i thought it was they would take your 50k car away from you no matter what.

[CassiesMan]

Don't they sell Skylines up in Canada? I would think that if someone really wants a Skyline all that bad, they would just go up to Canada to buy it and import it here or something like that. Or England too? I mean, really, whats the difference between a Skyline from Japan and a Skyline from Canada or somewhere in Europe. Hell, it would most likely be cheaper to come from there.

Oh, thats right, its not JDM tyte.

[2.2 Straight six]

Originally Posted by RACER D12

Anyone heard of doing this? On another forum the guys were talking about this. Basically you get a skyline sent over in pieces and register it as a kit car. The car gets registered as what ever year it is when you finish it. So if you put one together now it would be a 2006 kit car. And the nice thing about it is supposedly you only need to make sure it adheres to like emissions and has set belts and what not. So know anyone that’s done this with any car? Sounds like a pretty slick way of getting around the system. Of course it wouldn’t be a cake walk. You would need someone reputable to partially dismantle it and then send it over with out pieces going missing. Then you have to put it together and any parts that are missing will be a pain in the ass to get, but in the end I bet you could do it a lot cheaper then buying one that’s already here. And I’m not just talking skylines here, do you think it might work with any car not sold here?

i believe the reason you don't get the Skylines in the US is because they aren't US emissions compliant. they requre work to lower the emissions.

Nissan didn't bother to import to the US beause they didn't want to re-work the Skyline to make it meet US emissions and create Left-Hand drive dashes/parts.

[RACER D12]

Originally Posted by CassiesMan

Don't they sell Skylines up in Canada? I would think that if someone really wants a Skyline all that bad, they would just go up to Canada to buy it and import it here or something like that. Or England too? I mean, really, whats the difference between a Skyline from Japan and a Skyline from Canada or somewhere in Europe. Hell, it would most likely be cheaper to come from there.

Oh, thats right, its not JDM tyte.

Nah there’s still a snag with trying to import them from Canada. Its the same issue with importing them from Japan. Also its more than just emissions I think.

[-The Stig-]

Not to mention none of the Skylines meet the US crash safety standards... that was the biggest hurdle. MotoRex bought a few R33 GT-Ts and crashed them and showed they're okay... then said it was the same results for the R32 and R34's... after what? 5 years the Government caught on that, that's not true and shut them down.

So now you can only get Skylines, if they were already here during that sort of 'Golden' era.

Good luck... cause now that the import of the cars has ceased, they've appreciated in value like a MoFo.

[RACER D12]

Originally Posted by -The Stig-

Not to mention none of the Skylines meet the US crash safety standards... that was the biggest hurdle. MotoRex bought a few R33 GT-Ts and crashed them and showed they're okay... then said it was the same results for the R32 and R34's... after what? 5 years the Government caught on that, that's not true and shut them down.

So now you can only get Skylines, if they were already here during that sort of 'Golden' era.

Good luck... cause now that the import of the cars has ceased, they've appreciated in value like a MoFo.

Well you can still import the R33 from what I understand. Anyway thats the point of registering it as a kit car so you can get around the crash test thing.

[-The Stig-]

Import an R33 through whom?

There isn't anybody out there... MotoRex was it.

Who's the registered importer now days?

[clawhammer]

How about registering it in a state like Michigan which has no emissions? I doubt it would be that hard.

[Chad82]

I have been looking into this extensively the last few months. Few things first:

1) You cannot re-import from Canada, UK, Germany, etc. This would actually be MORE difficult than shipping it in as piece parts.
2) R33's are the only full cars legal to import now. HOWEVER they have to go through a RI (registered importer) and have to meet FEDERAL compliances; DOT, NHTSA, EPA, etc. Currently no RI's are offering this service. This means that as of right now, there are no federally legal cars being imported. Word on the street is that Takara Motors out of Georgia is working on this, however I have heard nothing but complaints about slow staff and broken contracts from them recently. If you are thinking of becoming an RI, understand that your total cost to do this would be roughly $100,000 for the mandatory testing (set up, not per vehicle).
3) Regardless of how we try to fool ourselves, this is fraud. It is a reassembled vehicle, not a kit car. If you get in an accident, your insurance company may reject your claims and find you 100% culpable.
4) The DOT knows these cars. Its possible that you park it at night and the next morning wake up to see your car gone and a large ($50k, I think) fine waiting for you. You are defrauding the DOT, EPA and customs (which is the big no-no right now).
5) Since this is defrauding the Federal government, it is possible that if you ever sell the car and the insurance doesn't cover it, you could still be found in fault.

Now, the good news:
1) Sans California and some of the South Eastern states (New Mexico and Arizonia come to mind, but I may be wrong) you can get away with it 99% of the time. Most states will either issue a state ID number on the car or a VIN number. The State Patrol will do this(in most states). So if you know someone in the SP, you practically are guaranteed.
2) Most states will have some of certification be done. In Washington state, I would need the speedometer in MPH, ensure that ALL (not just windshield) are DOT stamped glass, and make sure the bumpers are SAE conformed. Glass and bumper are already there, but for WA, I would need to convert the speedo.
3) Progressive Insurance does insure them registered as kit cars after the model year they are, and they have paid out claims thus far. However, BE HONEST WHEN REGISTERING THE CAR. You are allowed to import piece parts, so don't lie about it, that can just get you in trouble.
4) Once you register the car, most states will allow transference of title into them, giving you substantial retail value.
5) Make sure the exporter will de-register the car, and try to find out when the last shaken inspection was. De-registered will flatten out most bumps in the registration process, and if it was recently shaken inspected, you have a pretty good trust that the car will be good.

Final thoughts:

If you import it as a kit-car, it will be a grey market vehicle for its life. There is always the chance that the impounding and fines will be levied; however I haven't heard of this ever happening. Also, if you know anyone in Florida or Georgia that would be willing to do the import/registration for you, take them up on that offer. Those states will basically register anything with 4 wheels and an engine.

I had a friend in college who was from Florida(now lives in Cali) and he imported from http://www.japan-partner.com/ around 2004. He was t-boned in 2005 and Progressive paid for the car. He was routinely pulled over for being a RHD vehicle, so make sure you have ALL of your paper work.

If you end up going through with it, keep everyone updated. My buddy imported his 92 GTR with under 100k kilometers and got it completely legalized for just under $9k. Of course, now I am thinking I would rather spend that 9k to get a 300ZX TT and not have all the hassels, but good luck.

[Chad82]

Oh, and some links to check out:

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...es/page10.html
http://dms.dot.gov/ and go to docket 5507
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/ list of registered importers
http://nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/ELIG010906.html
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/...osd072003.html this site is to import as a show car, you can drive up to 2500 miles per year (maybe a good old fashion odometer roll back for a daily driver...)
http://www.1gracing.com/images/road-and-track.pdf http://www.1gracing.com/
For the last 2 links, they are the importer of the Noble M400, a production (200 vehicles a year) vehicle that is registered as a kit-car. See if you can figure out what they are doing and emulate it. Main difference is that their engines are EPA certed.

[Dreamspawn]

Also remember that the DOT and Customs has gotten used to this so if you do for god sakes don't send all the parts to one place. Also along with that nice 25k+ fine the car will be crushed and its a FELONY. Also jail time could follow so for the love of god be careful ppl

[Chad82]

I don't know if you would need to have them shipped to different locations, but having them shipped at different times isn't a bad idea. I would also say have the drive train shipped first as you are more likely to get it with no problems and would still have a significant resale value in the states.

[DylanTrott]

Damn, Chad that was really informative stuff! Thanks.