Import a Silvia from Japan or Aus?

[the3SecondJerk]

Ever see the mailman driving a right hand drive vehicle? I have,mine in fact has a Subaru Legacy GT. I wondered how he got one imported. Then I read up on importing vehicles. You can import any vehicle if it shares the same chassis as another US road legal vehicle. That's why you see BMW and Porches that are right hand drive every once in a while (mostly at enthusiast meetings). So my question is since the 240sx shares the same chassis as the silvia why can't it be imported? The only thing I can think of is emissions, but I will call the EPA/DOT tonight and find out for sure. Tell me what you KNOW.

[the3SecondJerk]

Also many of you are thinking well the skyline had to be crash tested....well yes that's because it was never introduced here in any form. THe only thing different with a silvia is its drivetrain, everything else is similar for the most part. Except for valence mirrors 3rd brake light or whatever needs to be added to make it DOT legal.

[SimpleS14]

umm....nobody said it couldn't be imported. Its just that with the money your spending to do so, importing a Silvia or 200SX is rather pointless.

[the3SecondJerk]

so sorry....i meant for road legal use. The car wouldn't be that much. My buddy on the USS Kitty Hawk bought a 1994 180sx over in JP for $2,000 US with full JIC suspension, exhaust etc. In my state after a car is over 10 years old it doesn't have to be taken in for emissions. The only reason I bring this up is a while back Motorex was considering making Silvia's road legal or something to that effect but the idea was later dropped. Can it or can't it be done? And don't reply "anything can be done with money" because thats a lame ass answer that wastes everyones time.

[nismo270r]

Well, it's possible, but like GT specR said, you would be shelling out a whole helluva lot of cash.  DOT approval is a lot more than just 3rd brake lights and mirrors.  Japanese cars don't have 5mph bumpers and a lot don't have side impact beams in the doors, which are both required for DOT approval.  That's why Motorex CAN get a Skyline GT-R DOT certified for you if you buy one elsewhere and have it shipped here, but it costs upwards of 20k+.  Plus there are customs bonds, EPA regulations, and a bunch of other legal crap you have to deal with.  It's not as easy as you think...trust me.  I did a lot of research on the topic and it wouldn't be a walk in the park without a bunch of money burning a hole in your pocket.

As for your mailman driving a RHD Subaru Legacy GT...those are made here in the states.  Actually all Subaru Legacies in the world are made about 2 minutes from my house at SIA here in Lafayette, IN.

[the3SecondJerk]

Thats what I needed! Thanks so much. damn mailman thinks he is so cool.....jk &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

[uuninja]

Hate to burst your bubble but civilians cannot import a car from anywhere out side the us unless it exactly meets the criteria contained here in (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/). The silvia dose not. And would not with out A. a letter of significant similarity from Nissan NA. Or B. a 3rd party manufacturer that was willing to have them certified by the DOT and NHTSB not practical unless you were going in to a business similar to motorex. Anyway you might want to read up on the link to the NTHSB that I included it answers all questions in far more detail than I can.

As far as your friend in the Navy goes, there is a special exemption for members of the armed services. Allowing them to import any vehicle that they owned while stationed abroad. I don't really have many details on this but I seen a few similar cases.

edit: spelling, always spelling.....

[AKADriver]

Subaru NA actually sells the RHD mail vehicles here normally. &nbsp;My friend's mom delivers mail and owns one. &nbsp;It is a US-spec vehicle in every way except the driver position... &nbsp;engine, safety equipment, lighting, everything is US-spec.

This is not the case for any Silvia variant. &nbsp;The lighting and safety equipment doesn't conform. &nbsp;The engine is not EPA certified. &nbsp;To top it off, there's a good chance Nissan USA would never admit that a Silvia is "substantially similar" since at least in the S13 there's a whole frame rail missing.

It's been asked here a bunch of times, on a regular basis, the answer is still no, it's not cost effective. &nbsp;If it were, chances are you'd see a lot more of them here. &nbsp;There's a healthy industry in Australia and New Zealand devoted to importing Japanese performance cars. &nbsp;If it were easy/legal to do so in the US I'm sure the same would exist here.

[HippoSleek]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (AKADriver @ Sep. 09 2002,3:25)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Subaru NA actually sells the RHD mail vehicles here normally. My friend's mom delivers mail and owns one. It is a US-spec vehicle in every way except the driver position... engine, safety equipment, lighting, everything is US-spec.</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
damn - after being out in CO, I'm starting to think that Subies are the most popular vehicle where it snows. &nbsp;Those things are everywhere! &nbsp;It would make sense that rural mail carriers use them too?

[the3SecondJerk]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful info. I figured there was going to be a snag in my idea. Also one can import a vehicle for R/D and for racing purposes all of which is taken care of at P.O.E. I am always going to hate Nissan NA for their marketing decisions. Thank god for people like those at MotorEX who have taken some initiative. And since the Silvia isn't really a very valuable car and since we can get the engines dropped right in our car it'll never be road legal here in the US......until the 15 year limitation is lifted. In my state I can theoretically register the "silvia" (if I choose to import one) as a "hobbyist" vehicle which essentially covers anything from a homemade kit car to a Car with super wide Micky Thompsons on it. It doesn't have to be EPA tested and the DOT just does a visual test to make sure it is road worthy. The only catch is it cannot be driven in January...big deal right?

Thanks again everyone. Later.

[AKADriver]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (HippoSleek @ Sep. 09 2002,4:21)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">damn - after being out in CO, I'm starting to think that Subies are the most popular vehicle where it snows. Those things are everywhere! It would make sense that rural mail carriers use them too?</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>
Back home in NY, Subarus outnumber Hondas. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'> &nbsp;That makes it that much worse that I couldn't find an early '90s Legacy Sport Turbo when I wanted one.

[SR240DET]

hey man i live in florida also.... i was thinkin since there is no way in hell they would know if it was a street legal silvia or not... i could import one... and then place my plate and vin number from my 240 and put it on the silvia.... but all i need to know is how much would shipping from japan to cali would cost?? does anybody know??

[SimpleS14]

I may not know much about importing, but I doubt its take easy to ship a whole car from Japan to Cali. Doesn't the thing have to go thru customs? <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/eh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':eh:'>

You guys that want to import a Silvia should seriously consider just swapping the engine and cosmetic parts that are not available on the 240SX....It's far more cheaper.

[SR240DET]

<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> &nbsp;yeah i knew it was.... i mean shipping from ohio to florida for my friends supra was 1300.... i just thought it would be cool to own a silvia... &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/satisfied.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':satisfied:'>

[Kreator]

This will always bother me. Why would you want to spend tons of money to have a JDM silvia? I mean if it's just the engine, then getting it here is much cheaper... if it's the JDM thing that you want to pay $10K for, you must be really rich... <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/crazy.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':crazy:'> or you people just want to drive a RHD vehicle?? <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/eh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':eh:'>

[240 2NR]

You could always buy one in japan and send it back here in pieces. &nbsp;Or you could just buy the only substantially different part (engine) for a lot less money and still retain the oh so useful LHD in a country where we drive on the right side of the road.

[junia]

You know, if you're going to go through all that trouble and money to import a silvia, why don't you just buy a whole front clip and turn your LHD 240 into a RHD using all of the parts from the front clip of a silvia. &nbsp;If you're willing to do most of the work yourself that would be much cheaper than trying to slip a silvia through the cracks into the U.S. &nbsp;I do admit I'd rather drive a RHD than a LHD because I feel more comfortable that way but thats alot of trouble that you got to go thru to import the whole car. &nbsp;Trust I know of and helped a few cars enter the U.S. and after seeing all of the troubles that my friends went through, I wouldn't go through it.

[jReNeo]

We imported our first Silvia and there are ways to legalize and lots of paperwork, but it is possible to do it, and to spread the wealth, were looking to start up a business to start bringing over legal Silvias. Customs is not an issue, nor is emissions (here in our county, emissions is not required). See forms DOT HS-7, VTR-68-A, and V130-A. Thank you FMVSS standards declaration in 1988. Merry Christmas. www.midniteimporting.com

[s13Dr1ft]

dont waste money on bringing a Silvia over here unless its an S15. Get somthing cool like a JZX90 or somthing. Hell we have a Zenki S14 and a Sunny GTI-R

[ZK]

Getting the car into the US is not very hard. Getting the car legal to drive in the US is a problem. Getting it legal to drive in CALIFORNIA is near impossible unless you know a lot of people and a lot of loopholes.

[w1ngzer0]

i don't know about silvia's. But with skylines you can have any importer convert it as long as they are registered for "passenger vehicles" :)

Don't beleave in the motorex sham.

[ThatGuy]

Pay attention people, this thread was started over 2 years ago!

The topic of legal importation has been beaten to death, this thread is over.


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