Importing a vehicle.

I am looking in the possibility of importing a vehicle, a Jeep. I found a place that has them at the right price/ condition/ etc.

I did some reading an get conflicting information.

Does the vehicle need to be 25 or 21 years old to import?

Also, since it is a Jeep Wrangler, and also sold here in the same form is there any exemption for importing?

Any legal way around this or to do this?

Thanks all

I'm not sure why you'd import a Jeep Wrangler, but this should answer your question:

Straight from US Customs.

Interesting thought I had, I won't thread Jack this one so I'll make my own thread

In reply to CarKid1989:

21 years for EPA emissions 25 for NHTSA.

If you live in California don't bother as it still has to pass CARB emissions and there is no longer an "age out" mechanism for cars newer than 1974. If it isn't in their registry for a baseline emissions test it must be registered as a new vehicle and you will have to pay for the testing to be done and it must meet current CARB standards. Testing is big $$$$$.

This is the reason you should never trust a "legal and registered" Nissan R3x car in CA, outside of a legitimate Motorex car. If it's registered they used some sort of legal backhandedness which will bite you.

That said there are rules allowing vehicles which are "substantially similar" and may be imported earlier than the 25 year mark as they confirm to NHTSA rules. Still have to pass emissions though.

List is here.

There's a couple 90s Wranglers on it. Read the supporting documentation for confirmation.

The0retical thats an interesting document. Ill review it further.

In my head, its the same Jeep thats been sold here...exactly the same, just sold else where. I dont see why it would be too too hard

What will you be getting from this Imported Jeep that you can't get from the domestic Jeeps?
If the answer is diesel, I don't think it will be that easy since that engine was not US certified.

if your planning on importing a less than 25 year old diesel jeep wrangler... good luck.

What Theoretical is missing on the less than 25 year substantially similar thing is that they HAVE to be done by a Registered Importer (you dont get to do any of the work yourself). Those guys can charge an arm and a leg (and be pretty dang shady).

In reply to Apexcarver:

Correct. Modifications required are listed in the supporting documents and have to be done by the registered importer. The document spells out the legal details including the bit that I neglected in the executive summary. I typed that up on my phone so things got neglected I only knew it existed because at one point I was looking at buying an RX-7 prior to the 25 year rule. I just sort of determined it would be easier to let them age out.

I was merely pointing out that the mechanism exists to deal with the NHTSA regulations prior to the 25 year mark. Now as far as EPA goes, that's more of a question for Alfadriver.

The EPA version is an ICI. more money down the drain.

(I used to deal with this stuff for work at my last job)

Its really worth waiting for 25 years, but there is mechanism for less, it only takes $x,xxx - $xx,xxx

In reply to Apexcarver:

Like most of life's problems you can beat them into submission with a heavy application of cubic money.

HonestSpeedShop wrote: if your planning on importing a less than 25 year old diesel jeep wrangler... good luck.

Its not a diesel Wrangler, just clean low mile Wranglers. People want a small fortune for them here but i found them for less abroad.

In reply to CarKid1989:

I have imported 2 cars from the great white north, and it was not fun. hardest part is passing emissions. The paperwork and shipping and getting inspected and taxes will eat up what ever money you are saving.

There are special rules for Canadian market cars because they're substantially similar. Again, it's all on the NHTSA site. I've brought in a couple of cars that are over 25 and a friend has brought an under 25 across (and back again). In all cases, shipping wasn't a factor because the cars were driven over the border.

I know this is not the intent, but if someone did want to build a diesel wrangler in the US, they'd be better off importing the drivetrain and electronics and swapping it into a clean US one with a blown engine. Of course for somewhere with emissions this would work best if you were swapping it into an OBD1 or earlier since many places other than CA they are emissions exempt (here in IL everything older than OBD2 is exempt because all they do is plug in a reader to the OBD2 port to check for codes - no sniffer).

If it has the same US emissions equipment (it should) there should be a sticker under the hood stating that. When I looked into it (its been awhile) it was pretty simple if that was there and its was 25+ years old.

There are some good documents out there on what is needed.

I'll hazard a guess that with a vehicle that popular people and dealers would be doing it already if it were legally and economically feasible.