All the 25 year old import threads have got my eye on JDM cars ready for export...
Who here has any experience importing a car into the us (bonus if from Japan)? I see some cars I like from Japanese exporters but don't know if any of these companies are trustworthy. ( carontrack, japan-partner, kamikaze-drive, etc)
Does anyone here personally know of any reputable importers/exporters? Either way, how do you go about buying, shipping, and registering an import?
No idea which of these companies are reputable, sorry. The only people I know who import cars from Japan (into the UK, not the US) have a buyer agent in Japan that goes to the auctions for them.
Shipping from Japan is usually via RoRo and the car usually arrives with a few parts less than it left with, at least that seems to be the experience with friends in the UK had.
As to registration, registering the bikes I brought over from the UK (all over 25 years old) was as easy as getting a VIN inspection and taking the paperwork down to the DMV here in NV. Finding insurance was a somewhat bigger hassle as the big companies won't touch them; Hagerty was happy to insure them, though.
I have to go through this for two more bikes but it's fairly easy to do. At least here in NV you get a branded title saying something like "non-US market vehicle", though.
Well, if anyone has any advice feel free to shoot me a pm. I thought there were a couple folks on here mention they've imported cars before.
Don't PM him, share the wealth with all of us!
/pays attention
I've imported a couple. However, they both came over the border from Canada so the shipping aspect was easy - they both drove over.
At 25 years old, it's super-simple. I had to get a State Patrol inspection to verify the VIN on the car matched the paperwork. Then I had to pay a fairly small fee - I had FM's customs brokers handle the paperwork, but it was so cheap that I haven't bothered to remember how much.
One of those two cars was originally from the UK, and was imported into Canada by a friend of mine. It didn't come in to Canada as some sort of loophole, that's where he lives and where he drove the car for a few years 
He found the car as a private sale on eBay. It wasn't really any different than when I bought a Cadillac out of state, just more modes of transport.
Wasn't there a place called Sun International (?) that imported cars? Somewhere on the left coast.
It's not hard to find out who the ICI and RIs are - they're listed on the EPA and NHTSA websites. Although with a 25-year-old car, I'm not sure you need either.
You'll need to log in to post.
