I want to get an Evo 4/5/6 from Japan, but I am hesitant to try and import one. Has anyone else here done it, and what was your experience. I don't want to buy the car, have it be sitting at the port, and get sent back because it does not meet US safety standards.

Thanks

~Chad

P.S. Sorry if I should have chosen a better place to put the thread.

 

Try to find one that is already registered in the US. It will cost a lot of money to register a car from overseas in the US.

 

It is extremely hard to find any information on one in the US. I can get the Evo shipped here for about $15,000. Does anyone know how much it would cost to have the car registered?

 

I'm not sure if you own an evo yet. If you own one already, and are just doing it to have a rare car over here, it's going to cost a lot of money, processing, and time in order to get it over. I'm not sure what the process is for EVO's, but I know for Skylines, being COMPLICATED and difficult are two highly understated words. If you end up buying a car that doesn't meet USDM standards to begin with, it's going to be more of a headache than you're probably prepared for. Imagine for a sec that you did import one, and got it thru customs, licensing and all that other jazz. What would happen if you needed parts for it that really only exist in a foreign market? I'm not trying to lecture you... I'm just trying to prove a point that if you really wanted to do this, dedication and follow-thru is the key. Oh, and money.

If you really want an EVO, and don't currently own one, save up for an VIII, or IX. Yeah, they don't have the yaw control or whatever it's called, but it doesn't seem like too many people complain about it.

Oh, and I wasn't trying to sound like an a$$. Just trying to be realistic about it. If you gots the cash, awesome. How much? Well, probably not as much as to import a skyline (quite a few thousand), but I'm sure you might be looking at over 7-10k. I may be aiming high, but honestly, wouldn't be surprised if I shot way low either.

 

to get it registered you have to pay for the government to crash test the exact one your importing. So you would have to pay big $$$$.

 

I completely understand what everyone is saying. I am not dead set on doing this. I am trying to get a feel on what it would take to get it done. If the costs end up being the same as a Evo IX then I would just do that. But as of right now the car is cheaper, the insurance is cheaper, and parts hopefully would not be that hard to come by.

Since the Evo is based on a car that was sold in the US, I am going to imagine that it is a lot closer to US standards then a skyline.

What I really need is someone who has done it to reply.

 

When I was stationed in Japan, I did a lot of l research on this same thing. If government finds that there isn't a similar car to crash you'll need to bring two cars over, one to crash and one to keep. If you end up not needing the second car, you're still going to have to pay for it to be converted to our standards. This includes side impact crash beams, windshields, turn signals, emissions and lots more. You're best bet is to get a hold of one of the RI's (registered importers) and ask them all the ins and outs. You should be able to find the list of RI's on the dot website.

 

im pretty sure bringing one over and making it legal is more expensive than a new IX

 

Not sure if this is true, but i was told that it was extremely easy to register imported cars in Ohio, and if you live some where else supposedly other states have to honor that registration in agreement with some article of the constitution. I know my father did this once with a '88 Porsche 996 turbo that was basically a detuned, de-numbered race car that didnt meet emissions standards. But that was back in 89 so it couldve changed or he could be crazy. He had another german version too but his friend was a porsche dealer and had it smuggled in basically. So if you get extremely desperate you could do some research on that, or befriend a dealer.

 

It sounds to me like you were only considering this as an option because you want an Evo but don't want to spend a lot of money (i.e., whatever a used VIII or IX costs) because you're assuming it doesn't cost that much to get an older IV, V or VI legally imported and registered here.

Save yourself time, money and trouble, get a U.S.-spec Evo.

 

Yo might as well get a used skyline r33gtr if not a r34 gtr if you going through the work of bringing in an import. but i doubt you will be able to get a r34 gtr through us customs. Oh by the way the r34 gtr is one of my dream cars.

 

You realize crashing the car for data is part of the many stipulations right?

 

i know Motor X does the transformation for Skylines. I was going to bring one back when i was in Japan. So they might be the company to get in contact with. But for a GTR R32 it was going to be almost 11K just to make it legal.

 

i thought motorex went out of business for scaming and the owner is in jail and thats the reason why r34's are so hard to import cause so many were stolen right?

 

Holy Crap seriously? i left about 3 yrs ago. theres alot of rip off people out there.