1Ash2ley3

Heeeey,
I live in Japan and i recently bought a Skyline GTR R33 V-spec. I heard you can't ship these back to the states unless you ship it back as a kit car? And I don't really know how to do that... But it's a 25,000 dollar car... so I don't want to pay a lot of money to have it messed up :S
So does anyone know exactly how this would work? and about how much and what i have to do?
Thanks(:

Shadao

well in order for it to be done that way there are certain things i would suggest doing prior to takeing it apart...

first i would get it all certified, which means dot headlights, OBD-II emmisions system, AS1 or AS2 glass... and what ever else your state requires...

then i would take the car to a shop that can dismantle the entire car, then you ship the body of the car, seperate from the engine and drive line, seperate from the interior, then you put it back together and have the car registered as a homebuild/kit car which is a grey market vehicle...

there is a company in florida(i think) that is currently bringing in skylines this way to the usa, perhaps you could get in touch with them, they are RB-Motoring, and work something out... they are car lovers like us...

hope this helps, and id reall get in touch with them because they will know more about this than me as im a canadian not an american

Jedi Smore

I have a question. I am an armed forces member in Okinawa Japan and I own an R33 GTS-t and am trying to figure out how to get it back. I heard that as an armed forces member we get some kind of waiver or something but can't find any documentation. Also as for disassembling, if I have my car completely disassembled do I need to change out the glass and headlights before I bring it back or can I do all of that when I put the car back together?

Shadao

if the glass is AS1 or AS2 it should be approved, as for the headlights i believe you can get e-coded headlights which are also safe, because those lil smart cars only have e-code headlights...

one of the stipulations with bringing a skyline back as a military personal is that you must own the vehicle for at least 1 year while stationed prior to bringing it back... then you can bring it back, but in order for it to be legalized it must still meet the other required regulations... and then i think you must keep it for 1 more year before you can sell it...

id go hop onto some military forums and ask around, im sure there are fellow soldiers,sailors, and aviators who have done this

billwong

If anyone is interested in doing the kit car thing. We can do it here from Canada, and save you the trouble of assembling the car. We have done it with a few other vechicals.
I will look into it with Skylines, anyone interested, please message me.

rbgodzilla

well i was stationed in japan for 4 years and had the pleasure of owning a R32 gt-R and a R33 GTS-T......man i miss those cars!! I tried to bring the gt-R back and talked to Personal Property about it. They had no problem shipping back one car for free(benefits of being in the military) but they would not ship it without a contract from a Registered Importer stating that they are going to do all the modifications needed and within 3 months of the car arriving in the states. They needed to see the contract and input that into my Personal Property before they would do anything with the car.

I was like "Nice, then it's done, im going to bring my Skyline back!!" Well then I started making calls but no RI wanted to deal with Skylines....so I had no contract. I was also advised that even though a RI gives you an estimate of price, they don't always tell you about the port charges, customs charges, etc etc.

I ended up selling the gt-R and bought a FD. Tried to bring that back as well but for some reason the RI's said that they dont want to deal with RHD cars any more. They said it needed to be converted before it arrives in the states and I argued that that is the reason i was calling them, because that is their job. Well nobody seemed interested to i sold the FD, and the R33 and am now stationed in Cali.....missing the Japanese scene.

This is what happened to me and I hope it is a little insight as to what could possible happen even though we are military with some benefits.

Shadao

sounds like you got hooked up with the wrong RI's... i know of many who deal with canada primarily, but some who also deal with the usa and the ones who gave you the run around were too lazy to do there job...

the whole RHD must convert it is BS BS BS BS BS BS... jeep sells brand new RHD cherokee's at no extra cost just gotta request it... there is no law in the usa or canada that prohibts RHD vehicles and there insurance rates are also not any different when compared to a similar make and model...

another case of the man holdin the lil guy down

rbgodzilla

well i think i went through most of the list from the NHTSA website and i either got the "we don't do RHD" or "We don't deal with Skylines".

IF anyone knows who I can talk to about registering a Skyline here in the states please let me know. I will probably be back in Japan next year and still have connections for low cost cars.

lglgtr

I am lucky: I have one of the 63 Totally 50 State Legal[Registered in Ca 5 times; Federalized in 2000] R32 MOTOREX GT-Rs.

I have some pic at the following URL to also show the legitimatisy of what is needed to not get hassled bt the "gestapo " Cops.
ImageShack® - is822100's Profile Page

I am very knowldgeable on what you need to have and what to do for Federalizatiom[it is not easy!]

180SX-X

Easy it is not. had a buddy bring over a BMW from Germany ( some German only model, whatever) and it cost him almost $15K to get it legalized. I mean we're talking seat belts, air bags, side impact beams, cross beams, bumper supports, emissions, OBDII crap, AS1 glass, headlights, tail lights, side marker lights, mirrors, ect...it was a pain in the ass for him and for me since he stayed at my house to save on rent!!

I remember Kaizo sold kit cars of the Skyline that covered all of the NHTSA needs for road legality (as far as the whole crash stuff and lights go) and obtaining a 17 digit VIN for the chassis. They did not sell engines, but had links to importers. It was hit or miss for a Skyline, as they only sold what they had and took no requests (they said it was because they took their time to find good examples of cars). I don't know if they are still in business, but might be worth looking into.

Jose

__________________
A wise man once told me, 'If you drive to win, you're digging a new hole, but if you drive for passion, its already been dug up.'
If you're a driving person, this saying has meaning..

Shadao

id be REAL careful with your illegal GTR32 there lglgtr only the GTR33's were legal...

the R32's and R34's were not legal because motorex lied about them being the same vehicle as the R33's.... as if you have not heard of the motorex scandal... jeez...

thankfully if your car is an 89 you only have to wait 5 more years to be hassle free

180SX-X

Umm...dude, you obviously don't know shit. All the cars that were sold by Motorex are legal. the Government grandfathered them in because they were all ready being sold and legalized to customers. After the scandal, thats when the government said from that point on the only skyline that can be legalized in the states is the 96-98 R33 skylines because thats all the crash test data was based on.

geez dude, don't you read?

Jose

__________________
A wise man once told me, 'If you drive to win, you're digging a new hole, but if you drive for passion, its already been dug up.'
If you're a driving person, this saying has meaning..