why can't we import?

[kidracer9]

Guys, I am seriously mad. Why can't we import cars here? I have been trying to find a way to get a Silvia here for months with no luck. I know that it is possible because i have personally talked to people who have them. Motorex told me it was because of safety regulations and lack of crash testing on rhd cars. It seems to me like if they are safe enough to drive anywhere else in the world, they should be safe enough for us here in the States. Maybe there are some things here that I don't understand, but to me, this is nothing but a bunch of political legal crap. Military people who are overseas can buy these cars and the government ships them over here for free, but civilians either have to pay huge bucks, if they can find "the right people" to bring the car over and these people seem to be virtually nonexistent, or just wish for a sweet Japanese car while driving the American, turd-slow version. I don't want to be non-patriotic or anything, especially with all this crazy terrorist stuff going on. I love America just as much as anybody else here does, but something needs to be done about this. You can take these cars anywhere else in the world except the US and Canada (and I'm not even too sure about Canada). If there are any legal professionals out there, let's get together and change this.

kidracer9

[Turbo91SER]

Your best place to start talking to people about importing cars into the US is the DOT & US Customs. They are the ones that control everything.
Jon

[GTR-33]

For real, lets get the LARGEST PETITION going or something to ease up on this thing! I don't pay taxes to be told what I can and cannot drive in my own F*cking country! It's not like you would start seeing Skylines all the time. No one over here even knows what a Skyline is...But they soon will!

Peace
GTR-33

[kidracer9]

GTR-33, that's what I'm talkin bout, brother. We are supposed to be the ones who make the laws here. None of my history classes have said anything about people voting a law in that says we can't import cars because they have the wrong kind of bumper, so I don't know where this rule came from. If anybody's going to change this, it's got to be us.

[BBD]

If you start bringing these type or cars like ,,, Silvia, The Cedric,, Skyline, Toyota Aristo, some of the Land Cruisers and the REAL Subaru Impretza. At a right rate Japanese car sales in the US is gona go UP UP UP ,, it is actuly going up every year in the states, without bringing these special if you so call them cars...

In America they dont want people buying Jap cars, they want people to buy their cars, these lack of crash tests is actuly bullshite to me because I dont see how some of the american cars actuly pass there crash tests ,, and some of them even fail but they are still sold. emissions if you ask me,,, I dont like it,,, my main car that I used to drive in the states and going to ship back home ,, is a Lexus GS400, this car has 3 Catalic converters I think that is kinda pushing it really.

but it is all a financial point of view why do I import something that is going to affect my product?

[BBD]

Guy you all have to do something there in the states ,,, YOUR suppose to be the land of the free ,,, Do what you want and be want you want ,,, isnt that what they teach you?? isnt that why you became your own counrty to do as you want ?? SO START importing what you want.

[kidracer9]

Here's what I've figured out. After doing tons of research on importation laws and talking to people all over the US, I now understand why we have all the rules and what not that make it so difficult to import a car. It's mostly to protect the American economy and what not. Most of the cars sold in the US are either made by companies that are based in America (Ford, Chevy, etc), or are made in American factories owned by companies from outside the US(Honda, Mitsubishi, etc). If it was easy (cheap) to import any car from anywhere in the world, a lot of people would be doing it. Then American businesses would go under, resulting in a loss of lots of jobs, resulting in lots of other bad stuff. I will agree that it's mostly political, but now that I understand why, I think it's for a good reason.

[R33]

America as a country treats it's constitution as sacred. Central to the constitution is it's citizen's fundamental liberties. To own property is a citizen's fundamental liberty. But America also has to balance that liberty with it's economic progress because without economic progress fundamental liberties are not going to be worth shite! Hence protectionism. Every country has it including mine.
But America has sometime gone overboard with protectionism. On one hand they are the one who preach globalisation and on the other they pratice protectionism in a very sophisticated way. No outright banning of foreign goods but they make it damn difficult for the goods to be imported. It's the same over here. But over here the it is less sophisticated though no less effective. Impose one helluva TAX on certain foreign goods, like cars, to discourage import. That's why Skylines, Ferraris et al are so expensive here. 200% tax! But if you want it, pay for it and that is what I had done.
But in America it is worse because you might not be able to get it even if you are willing to pay for it. I tee ya....one of these days, a really rich guy is gonna sue the American govt. for being unconstitutional! That will be THE day!

[medici78]

Hey, R33, did you import your Skyline yourself? You also mean to tell us that your friends in the Modenas and Porsches are paying over US$400K?? DAMN!!!!

[R33]

No, I bought the GTR from a guy who imported it from Japan. You have to have a permit to import cars here and only some people are given that permit. they then sell allow you to use this permit to import for a fee of about US10K! Bloody leeches!
Yes, the Modena costs 1.6million here - about US400K!

[TheCamel]

First of all the Military does not ship the vehicle for free to the US, We have to sub-contact and pay ourselves to have the vehicle shipped into the US, and pay all DOT and Customs fees like the average Joe citazin.

Why may I ask are you looking to import a Silvia? The S-13, and S-14 chasis were available to the US and are already legal. The main difference between a Silvia is the badging, the drivetrain and the Steering wheel placement. I cannot see paying the exhorbinant amount of money to import a RHD to the US when there is a comperable model already street legal that only requires the engine swap. I may be mistaken by your post and you are talking about the S-15 which although is a great car is not as good as its predecessors, the 6 speed is prone to breakage and the VVT (variable cam timing) is a nightmare to deal with.

TC

[kidracer9]

That's a really good question, Camel. I guess I just thought it would be the ultimate cool to have a right hand drive car, and I think the S15's look awesome. I know that a 240 conversion can be done for a lot less money, but to me, it was just a fake Silvia. I have changed the way I look at that a little, though. Iv'e just decided that until I get really rich, I'll just stick with what I can get in the States. Thanks for the info on the military thing. I thought military got free shipping.

[Mix Egg]

SO Its IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPORT A Silvia, why not jus get the US 240sx and get a JDM engine swap....BCUZ IS STILL NOT STREET LEGAL, and U NOT gonna pass the damn emissions. So U live in US and u want ur car to b fast just like the jspec's, the only way to keep legal is to register as race car, n there is limit of mileages u can have every year. HOW MANY OF u guyz Want to do dat??? I have a 98 IMprezza RS and have been wantin to do a WRX -STi engine so so long, but I have gotten many ppl tellin me dat is ILLEGAL and THERE IS NO WAY Emissions would pass........WHAT CAN I DO??? I WANT MY CAR TO BE ON THE STREET, not only limited in damn racing tracks!!!

mayb sumone can tell me where to go or who is responsible of all this..

[kidracer9]

Well, Mix Egg, here in the States, we have laws that control emissions and safety standards on new cars. These laws help to keep auto manufacturers in check. But, in most places those laws are only enforced on new cars. It's kind of like once you drive the car out of the dealership, it's yours and you can do all kinds of stuff to it. California laws are pretty strict as far as modifications and what not, but from what I've seen, anywhere else in the US you drive all kinds of illegal stuff on the street. I live in one of the southern states where society isn't as progressive as in other places, and here, probably at least 50% of the vehicles on the road wouldn't pass emissions. Most of the performance parts you can buy aren't emissions approved, but, as far as I know, nobody regulates that part of the auto industry. You could drive a full out race car on the road as long as it has working headlights, taillights, blinkers, horn, and wipers. I know it sounds kind of crazy, but that's the way it is. I could do pretty much anything to a car as long as it's a car I can get in the US. I hope this helps to give you an idea of what it is like in the US. The way I have explained it may not be very clear, but I haven't slept much the last 3 or 4 days, so my brain's a little foggy. So, Mix Egg, if I can explain further, or if anyone else in the US feels I've presented a misrepresentation here, please let me know what you think.

kidracer9

[Mix Egg]

well....I have heard many say that in Ca is alot harder compare to other states, I live in Virginia...and I don't think here is as hard as Ca. This is my thought now: Okay, the engine itself is not legal and I will have no problem getting it the shop. The only thing I really have to worry about it the emissions, they only check oxygen sensor and the amount of carbonminoxide(correct me if I'm mistaken) in Va, this is the hard part, does anyone know if I can maybe get a different oxygen sensor or sumthing and also other parts to it? I really want to make this work!!!

NOT GONNA GIVE UP!!