I need folks to helping me out on this problem. I bought a legally IMPORTED 1992 RHD RX7 from my friend, with clean Ohio title as my first car. When I applied for title and registration through mail(local DMV told me I have to mail-in since VIN number is 10 digits), they asked me to provide either Federal Certification Label or ​Registered Importer label, otherwise I could only get Collector Plates (Also needs to purchase or own another DAILY drive car under my name) and forbidden to drive FD during winter times. I've explained that it is under 25 year import rule, so it doesn't need to meet FMVSS, but they told me it needs to meet US standard for registering this car in Wisconsin.
Is there any people own a imported vehicle in Wisconsin? What is the solution toward this case? Any help would be helpful. Thank you very much!

FYI, local import companies are really rude about any question other than how to purchase jdm from them so I don't count on it.
This is the link of rules: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/v...reign-veh.aspx

 

how about option #2? "Vehicles without either label can be titled in Wisconsin but will display “NON USA STANDARD” on the title."

i know California and Wisconsin are two different things, but they let you register the car in exchange for putting three redundant words on the title, seems great to me?

i assume you have the import papers, so you could go that way too, and contact them and see how hard it will be to get a sticker.
in CA if you got a sticker from the importer, and the car was later found to not be in compliance, CA will go after the importer, so the sticker is a legal liability for them. i'd assume on that point Wisconsin isn't much different, they say sticker, but its still a legal document.

 

Yeah that’s what they say about collector plates. Or I could title this car but cannot drive on road since it’s non us standards

 

In my state, it needs to pass a 1992 smog check, among a laundry list of other things.

Call your friend. I'll bet he's been through this when he imported the car. He DID have it road USA worthy at some point, right?

 

Yeah but I asked him all about this and his reply is he doesn't know anything about this FCL stuff or heard about it.

 

Have you tried a different DMV? I ask because sometimes it's a clerk that is making stuff up on the fly or is incorrect on the rules. So if you haven't, give that a shot and see where it gets you. At worst you lose a couple hours and at best you get the car registered.

 

oh is that what it means? are you sure? like Montego says, there are a lot of often derpy rules and in CA nobody understands them (the CA DMV website lists 12 ways to register a cat, and that isn't even all of them!)

 

Yeah I tried both of dmvs and both of them asked me to send application to the department, which asks me to offer FCL for application. Also, they told me this is a special case that only that mail in office could solve. I don’t think changing place is an option

 

Yes I think this is what they mean because I called three different people in dmv and that's what they said. For getting collector plate, I need to purchase another vehicle within 30(maybe 20 now)days and registered, which is not ideal for me since I don't wanna spend half thousand to register a car I even wouldn't drive of. Also I have to keep other car to keep my collector plates. So dumb

 

I'm from Wisconsin and I'm no expert but it sounds like your options are as follows:

1) Contact Importer to get Registered Importer Sticker (have you checked to see if it is there?) and register it as a regular car. They should be able to quickly give you a yes or no on this one.
2) Buy a cheap beater, register the beater and then register your RX7 as a collector car. The beater doesn't have to run it just has to be registered.
3) Rent an apartment in Ohio and register the vehicle there.
4) Get rid of the car now while the market is smoking hot.

Sorry - sounds like those are just the rules. The good thing about collector plates is you don't have do an annual renewal which pays for itself in 2-3 years. The bad thing is you can't drive it in January but...(1) I don't know what happens if you get pulled over or get in an accident in January (2) who drives an FD in Wisconsin in January?

 

1) I've asked my friend to contact importer but didn't get a reply yet
2) I've thought of buying a cheap something, but basically two car will be bonded. Thus if I sell my other car will make my collector plate ineffective, and needs to buy another car right after in order to continue driving fd. Also, I live in Madison, which parking is really expensive, even if I park that beater in storage unit away from city(around 300 per month per car), and extra registration fee costs about 400 usd.
3) Same issue, it's gonna cost quite a lot money
4) That's what I am thinking of bc I love fd but all these efforts seems not necessary. 40k could buy a brand new Mustang or Supra, or decent used BMW. Even if I fixed plate problem, I still need to work on oil leak, seat change, interior and there is so many things to do. I probably will sell this out. I don't mind to get a cheaper LHD rolling chassis and start everything over tho, it should be fun.

For collector plates, I prefer not driving in Jan rather than prohibited to drive in Jan, but it shouldn't be a problem for now.

 

Hey there - I'm in Milwaukee and imported my own FD in 2019 and have since imported a few other RHD JDMs for friends. I may have been the last RHD to get titled with regular street plates on mine, as the rules changed around Sept 2019. You must get collectors plates for your FD in Wisconsin now as far as I know. Happy to chat further, where are you located?