import regulations
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import regulations
i've been interested in importing a car from japan to canada and i just wanted to know all the little hidden fees/perks and the regulations in need to follow before importing. I also heard that the car being imported has to be at least 15 years old??
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I don't know about Canada. I hear that it is easier to get a car in there than in the US.
In the US though, it can be very easy, or very hard, depending on where the car is coming from, and how old it is. If the car is 25 years old or more, it is exempt from all DOT, EPA & Customs (the 3 agencies you must deal with) restrictions that are imposed on newer cars. All you have to do is pay the customs import fees (relatively inexpensive) and you're in. Very easy, that is why you see so many older cars self-imported.
Cars less than 25 years old get very complicated and very expensive very quickly. If the car is coming into the US from Canada that is about the only time it can be done with relative ease, as Canadian spec and US spec are similar in most important ways. Bringing a car in from Mexico or from overseas gets very difficult. The car must meet all EPA, DOT and Customs regulations for the US market, or be modified to meet them. These range from things like emissions systems specs, airbags, bumper and windshield glass standards, seat belt standards, theft prevention standards, the list goes on and on. To bring a "non conforming" vehicle in, you either have to bring it on a temporary basis (which even that is full of ifs ands & buts) after which it must again be exported or destroyed, or to keep it permanently it must be modified to conform, and done so by an "approved" importer. That is incredibly expensive in itself. Then there is the process of getting a particular car approved for import. The government maintains a list of pre approved models and if your car isn't on the list you must petition (eg: pay off) them to consider it. That fee is like $6000 non refundable just to ask them, and there is no guarantee they will say ok. Paying for an approved importer several grand more, paying for the mods several grand more, you can see this becomes astronomically expensive very fast. This is why so few self-imported cars are late model. They deliberately make it so hard, so legally entangling and so expensive that it approaches impossibility most of the time.
Some exceptions do exist. I think there is a law where certain members of the military are allowed to bring a personal vehicle home from overseas duty, but have not researched that too deeply. Then there are foreign nationals on tourist visas, and foreign embassy/consular staff which are allowed to bring cars in from their home countries (although they also must export them again when they leave)...
Now, there are also several 'quasi-legal' ways, and outright illegal ways, to import a car too. A huge majority of the cars you see in the US that "should not be here" are brought in in one of these less-than-legal ways.
In the US though, it can be very easy, or very hard, depending on where the car is coming from, and how old it is. If the car is 25 years old or more, it is exempt from all DOT, EPA & Customs (the 3 agencies you must deal with) restrictions that are imposed on newer cars. All you have to do is pay the customs import fees (relatively inexpensive) and you're in. Very easy, that is why you see so many older cars self-imported.
Cars less than 25 years old get very complicated and very expensive very quickly. If the car is coming into the US from Canada that is about the only time it can be done with relative ease, as Canadian spec and US spec are similar in most important ways. Bringing a car in from Mexico or from overseas gets very difficult. The car must meet all EPA, DOT and Customs regulations for the US market, or be modified to meet them. These range from things like emissions systems specs, airbags, bumper and windshield glass standards, seat belt standards, theft prevention standards, the list goes on and on. To bring a "non conforming" vehicle in, you either have to bring it on a temporary basis (which even that is full of ifs ands & buts) after which it must again be exported or destroyed, or to keep it permanently it must be modified to conform, and done so by an "approved" importer. That is incredibly expensive in itself. Then there is the process of getting a particular car approved for import. The government maintains a list of pre approved models and if your car isn't on the list you must petition (eg: pay off) them to consider it. That fee is like $6000 non refundable just to ask them, and there is no guarantee they will say ok. Paying for an approved importer several grand more, paying for the mods several grand more, you can see this becomes astronomically expensive very fast. This is why so few self-imported cars are late model. They deliberately make it so hard, so legally entangling and so expensive that it approaches impossibility most of the time.
Some exceptions do exist. I think there is a law where certain members of the military are allowed to bring a personal vehicle home from overseas duty, but have not researched that too deeply. Then there are foreign nationals on tourist visas, and foreign embassy/consular staff which are allowed to bring cars in from their home countries (although they also must export them again when they leave)...
Now, there are also several 'quasi-legal' ways, and outright illegal ways, to import a car too. A huge majority of the cars you see in the US that "should not be here" are brought in in one of these less-than-legal ways.
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Rep Power: 295 after a car is 15 yrs plus in canada it is considered a classic car, therefore it is exempt from emissions and safety laws. You will be paying up your *** to get it over here. Talk to MTO they will tell you the ins and outs.
And let me guess, its gonna be a skyline ?
And let me guess, its gonna be a skyline ?
I need TP for my bunghole
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go here it is a good read: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/mj/import.htm
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From: Seattle
Rep Power: 252 For Americans, here are your relevant links (to do it the legal way, that is...)
US Customs:
http://www.customs.gov/ImageCache/cg...ortingacar.doc
US Dept of Transportation:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/
US Environmental Protection Agency:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/ld-hwy.htm
US Customs:
http://www.customs.gov/ImageCache/cg...ortingacar.doc
US Dept of Transportation:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/
US Environmental Protection Agency:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/ld-hwy.htm
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Originally Posted by Spoon Racing
lol nope........1989 black FC3S. now i'm having second thoughts...
I wish the US rule was 15 instead of 25...
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