2002 Spirit-R RX7 purchase idea / please weigh in
 

Like many people on the forum I'd like to have a 2002 Spirit-R RX7, but I live in the US. I thought we could import one as a show / track car, but that's only for up to one year and it truly has to be modified for racing, neither of which work for me.

We can't import them until they are 25 years old (9 years of waiting), BUT Canadians can import cars older than 15 years which fits for a 2002 Spirit R. There are importers that cater to US clients that will import from Japan and then store it for you in a climate controlled space. I was quoted a price < $100 USD per month which is what a storage unit here costs. My thinking is to get a lower km Spirit R now and sit on it 9 years then import it. Here come the flames on low mileage cars not driven enough literally disintegrating into a small pile of dust, but I've bought plenty of crazy low mileage cars (FD RX7s, Ferraris) with only very minor issues and don't mind it myself. Will end up spending about $9k on storage beyond import price, but keep 9 years off the clock. Crazy, brilliant, or in between?

That's not going to work. Once it enters Canada the will not be eligible to be imported and registered legally under 25 year rule. It has to stay in Japan until you hit 25 years before you can transport it to the US. You cannot have it enter Canadian port and sit for another 9-10 years. I have looked into this extensively. I mean it may be possible but the hoops you will have to jump through is much more extensive from what I have read. Best bet to do it legally is buy the car in Japan and store it in Japan until 25 yr is up.

If you're going to buy it and not drive it for 9 years, why have it sitting in Canada instead of in your possession? It's completely legal to own in the US so long as it is not driven on public roads.

The thought of importing one crossed my mind before I bought my FD, but I ultimately wanted to drive and enjoy it on the street without worry. The process is also inordinately time consuming and expensive. Anyone who tells you otherwise has either never done it themselves or get nervous anytime they see a cop if they have.

You can do the same thing storing it in Japan. Why all the ridiculous complicated extra steps?

I can't help you with your US regs pertaining to imported Jap Spec cars (I live in Australia), but what I can tell you (I own Spirit R Type A, #549/1500) is that the prices for FD's here is skyrocketing, especially the limited edition types (Bathurst R/RZ/Spirit R) One recently sold at auction here at Shannons (a specialist motor enthusiast/insurance company) for $73K AUD, thats $30K MORE than I paid for mine 10 years ago! good condition, low mileage, unmolested examples are getting exceptionally rare to find and selling for top dollar, I have a mate who's been importing them to Sydney for years now and after importing/complying/re-selling they are going for six figures!

Another (cheaper) option may be to build a "replica" based off a USDM FD (it's been done a number of times) and it's fully street legal (if you can live with owning a replica, not the real thing)

I just upped my insurance for mine yesterday, they're become rarer by the day and harder to source! (and NO, mine's NEVER gonna be sold!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...06bdc9acb5.jpg
)

Good luck with it though.....here's a pic of my baby

You need to figure out how to get the Spirit R added to this list: https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...-list/?slide=1

Display and Show would very likely be unsuccessful because they made one similar enough in the US. I started filling out the paper work and had a nice write up started, but abandoned this one.

The direct import issue doesn't apply in my state but is likely an issue for California and maybe other states? Down here in Texas we can open carry a six shooter, so we don't need no stinking extra laws telling us what we can't do :)

I have friends in Canada that can buy it, store it, and then resell it to me, so I'm good for the Spirit R. Have a nice blue Type A reasonable km picked out with my importer and it's at a dealer they buy from. Will eventually post pics as this progresses.

Thanks for all the posts!

Sorry but you are totally wrong with your statement. The car cannot enter the US until it is 25 years old, it has nothing to do with registering it or not.

Agreed - can't import it whether you register or not until it's 25 years old.

Damn.... beat me to it

Trust me, I've been through EVERYTHING to get an EVO VI here the cheapest way. I think the only way it's possibly is to give my Canadian friend money, he buys it and registers it himself and stores it for me (while I pay insurance, registration, storage for his hassle, etc etc). There are a few Canadian shops that are willing to store it on site for you, but again it's not cheap at all. You CAN do it, if you have the disposable income and willingness to pay. It just cant cross the border until 25 years unless the NHTSA deems it a "Show-and-Display" car and adds it to their current listings. Here is a listing of all of the current cars deemed "acceptable" by our government .. https://www.nhtsa.gov/document/vehic...w-or-display-0.

Fair enough. I stand corrected. The last time I personally loaded a car onto a container overseas to have delivered to my door was 2001, so I'm sure things have changed since.

I can understand that, I thought the same thing you did, why the hell does it matter if I'm not going to register it? Why can't I just keep it in my garage, rebuild the motor, interior, etc etc that way I have 4 years to work on it. Nope, dreams dashed. Now I have to wait until 2023 or so for my Evo VI.

They'll probably be selling for $40k by then. Prices for Evo V & VI are already creeping up here in Canada :(

There's got to be a way for you US folks to import "illegal" cars. This guy's been flaunting his Evo V all over Youtube and it's got Florida plates on it.

Yes, there's people who do it. I assume they skirt customs bringing the car into the US, I doubt they inspect every single container.

FL will register damn near any and everything. Just because it has a title and insurance doesn't mean its not federally illegal. I've seen many R34's on the roads here, R33's, I knew a guy who had two R32's long before the 25 year rule applied to them. It happens. But I and im sure many others don't have 20-30-40-50 thousand dollars to throw away if it ends up being crushed.

1. Acquire clean title, roller or non running, not wrecked 93-95 US spec FD.
2. Acquire and import low km's 2002 Spirit-R as show/track car.
3. Swap all the Spirit R parts onto US spec chassis, register it.
4. Sell Spirit R chassis to racer or collector.
5. Profit?

There is no profit in that option. That is for sure a loss.

What you have here is just a Spirit R replica, remember the originals were RHD JDM spec vehicles only. Some parts (like interior panels) won't fit a LHD USDM FD. What you're describing is pretty much that LHD USDM Spirit R replica that sits in Mazda USA's basement in California, simply a LHD Spirit R replica, nothing more.

Unrelated, but pretty sure I've seen your car at Bondi Westfield previously. There's also a black Spirit R with a v-mount floating around too.

Nice car!

there are a few ways to end up here, most of them dubious.

1. there are a few states, like Florida that will just register anything, so you can have Florida title, Florida plates, etc. still Federally illegal, Feds can show up whenever they like and seize the car, and they do.

2. as listed above, import the car you want, buy the US spec equivalent swap all the JDM goodies on to the US shell. this way is legal, there is a grey area with emissions, but in an FD you could easily run the legal parts (ecu and precat). in CA the Sr20 guys got pretty screwed, the police basically just pulled every S13/S14 owner over and gave them a ticket to go see the emissions referee. since the Sr20-DET was never imported here, it cannot be made legal.

I used to live and date women on the North Shore (Chatswood, Turramurra, Wahroonga area) so I used to park a lot at Hornsby, Chatwood Westfield, Chatswood Chase, and St Ives shopping areas, never parked her at Bondi Westfield though.

Florida also doesn't have emissions testing - hell, I remember in the 90's when they REPEALED emissions testing, they only had it in certain counties.

I've also heard stories of people buying wrecked shells just to get the VIN and transferring the VIN onto a JDM car. Illegal, but it's also a case where you wonder how much of a car has to be attached to the VIN for it to be still that VIN chassis.

Dale

I've given serious thought to purchasing a Canadian car and driving it here. (That's the easy part. Nobody is going to stop you from driving across the border. It's just a car not a tank.) I own an RX7 currently. Swap some parts from current car over to new car and continue on with registration as if it was just a rebuilt original US car.. I mean... I crashed the US reg FD and all I could save was the floor mats... However I also feel this is pretty grey and would ultimately be a pretty bad thing if it was ever inspected. So... we wait.

Donovan,

Do I understand you correctly? You want to:
1. Import an '02 Spirit R from Canada
2. Swap some parts from your current FD to the Spirit R chassis
3. Register the Spirit R, assuming this is done in CA

That appears to oppose the recommendations by neit_jnf.

Hypothetically, swapping parts are not an issue. The issue would really be at the title & registration step. The VIN of a proper Spirit R is 10 characters and the VIN on all vehicles sold in the US market must have 17 digits. Moreover, the 17-character VINs have a check digit to prove to a consumer that a vehicle is authentic. Since there is a fundamental difference between VIN digits that may be cause for the DMV not issue a title and/or cause additional scrutiny from other federal agencies. That all depends if a car would be used on the roads or whether it would be used off-road, like a race track.

Again, that was all hypothetical. I would recommend doing more research on grey market cars and other import restrictions.

I want to:
1. Purchase a 1996+ car from Canada.
2. Swap some parts from my current FD to the new chassis.
3. Drive new Franken FD under the current registration of currently owned FD.
4 This would in theory require no inspection or otherwise.
5 Register 25+ year old car when that date approaches.
6 While logistically feasible, probably illegal as hell, and requires owning a US FD and the new Canadian car.
7 Would have to be something nice like a 99+ with low miles, or something special to make it worth it.

Donovan,

What you are suggesting is not probably illegal...it is illegal. I would advise to wait until that car you want to import is 25+years old. Or you could research buying a car for dedicated off-road use.

Like Narfle posted, this is a bad thread topic.

there is a 98 RX7 for sale in texas right now on Cars.com (has an ls swap but that is irrelevant to this topic). I am curious how this car was imported and is for sale currently. https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...5098/overview/

Regardless of how it is listed for sale, it was imported illegally.

yes, but now its legal?? Or is this just one of those waiting to be crushed if the government decides to do so?

No, its not legal and never will be. It can be titled and insured by the state but the federal government doesn't care about that. Listen, you guys can buy whatever you want, its your money. Few of us here are just telling you the letter of the law. Whether somebody comes knocking on your door to take the car or not isn't certain. I don't have that kind of money to throw away so personally I wouldn't chance it.

I guess that explains why they have reduced the price on that car from $69k to $28k. If they keep dropping the price would be a good parts car haha

Yeah, that Canadian car I'm looking at is not moving either. I guess it's an "old" car in Canada and illegal here still so it's not moving. I've considered buying it and having the owner keep the title until I can bring it here but then you get into another whole liability thing too. Damn Feds!!!

I wonder what the actual guidelines are for a "rebuilt" car. That's the angle I'm looking at. I know cars are chopped in 1/2 and glued together and registered all the time. How much of the original car is mandated to still be original in the case of a rebuilt title or just keep the original registration. Motor? Body? I don't know. I'd imaging by the time this all gets figured out the car would actually be legal to import by then though.... :/

I think the way to go if you really really wanted to have a later MY FD would be to buy one from a Canadian owner, get the owner to drive it over the boarder (no way will Customs let a US citizen drive it across), and transfer all the parts over to a US VIN shell. I think all the hard points are the same so you could probably do a full RHD swap of the Spirit-R to the US shell (please correct me if I'm wrong on this). You would need to add a dash VIN plate, but these can be made up to order and riveted on just like OEM. And the firewall would have the proper VIN stamping. Now you have a RHD conversion of a USDM car, with a bunch of newer parts. The emissions would not be so much of an issue, unless in a state that performs exhaust testing like California although an OEM 99-spec ECM with a good US main catalyst might even pass in CA.

What a huge job that would be, and it would require paintwork of the shell, but if you had the garage space and time/dedication it could be done. I might do it myself in a few years if I get the bigger garage I have in mind...

A point to consider about this and also the Florida titling of illegal cars, is insurance and liability. If you have an illegal car that is involved in an accident, even if your insurance company had provided coverage based on a nonstandard VIN it gives them an out to deny coverage since the car is technically not up to US standards. Way to much risk IMO.

Bought this one:
 

I'm going the legal route and purchased one last night and am storing it in Canada for about 8 years until I can legally bring into the US. Here's pics of my gunmetal gray bone stock with 24k km (14,900 miles). Not really doing this for profit, so if this ends up losing money who cares - My wife's SUV is worth a lot less than what we paid for it.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4fbb28ca0b.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ed53673e06.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f0e8d628c6.jpg
Bone stock
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1d3f7d40dd.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d09a1e3c89.jpg

Wow.. incredible decision. For starters, you found a spirit r lol. Second, i hope whoever you have in Canada holding on to it is trustworthy. If you get it registered and plated in Canada, you can drive it here. I see Ontario license plates all the time in my area. Not sure what condition allow it to be so but they're here.

congratulations on your car

Not exactly bone stock, it's missing the OEM Spirit R floor mats, those in the pic are are not even close to original, additionally what's that doohicky mounted on the side of the centre console on the passenger side? If you need the OEM mats I can source them for you. Good luck with your new baby! 😊

the doohicky is a japanese electronic toll receiver, you stick a card in it.

looks like there is a mat of some kind below the one you see on the passenger side, driver side looks turned upside down. im guessing those are the originals.

Floor mats
 

Thats definitely an ETC reader on the passenger side, you can see ETC on it. My car had one when it came over. When you turn the key on its gonna talk to you in Japanese and be really annoying. I removed mine. What is this box, card reader in my Japanese import car? - Andrew's Japanese Cars

Etc
 

Ah - ETC. Being talked to in Japanese at start-up will be fun for the first 2x, then super annoying / will remove it. Thanks AE!

This question is not rhetorical, please walk me through the logic of not storing it in Japan? Seems ludacris to me.

Seeing that you're in Japan, I get where you're coming from. I live in the US, and my cousin lives within driving distance of the storage facility in Canada which lets me visit it once a year when I visit family. Doesn't really cost me much more to have it make an 8 year pit stop in Canada (Canadian customs on top of US customs), and I have relatively inexpensive storage in Canada. Flights to Japan from Dallas are far more expensive than the trips I already take to Detroit.

If you have family in the area that makes total sense then. Also sure being able to visit your new mistress once a year is worth whatever the cost offset might be.