Are RHD cars legal in the states?
 

Hi everyone, Im thinking of moving to NE next year and was thinking of shipping my JDM FD over there. Im just wondering if it will be street legal?

Cheers Scott

Nope.

no

ok, cheers fellas.

Mite as well by a cheap FD shell and transfer parts over then, heres what she looks like at the moment. And yes i know the side mirrors are ugly before you guys jump on it!!!! :molepoke:

Strange... I thought they were weren't street legal in the states, but someone showed up at the local auto-x in one w/ valid plates.

Yes. RHD cars are legal in the US. It has to be brought in by a registered importer and you have to prove to the gov't that it meets DOT specs. that means usu. new bumpers, headlights, tail lights & blinkers, emissions, etc.

If you have the budget import the car for parts and buy a salvaged FD... you concoct the rest.

Please do not argue with me, i've seen rhd cars all over central md that were imported by people in the military. for some reason i don't think RHD conversions are a big hit on land rovers.

<<i need to copy this for the next time this question is asked>>

eh... there's ways to get around it... so I've heard... it really depends on if you can prove that it meets dot safety standards. One of my buddies has a street legal r33 skyline gts-t and it's right hand drive.
One thing that can be done is to swap out vins (illegal) and register it in a place that doesn't do visual or emissions... they give you the plates right then and there... if you get in a wreck though... the car will be cut in half and shipped back over seas and you'll get a fatty fine or jail... thats if you can get it through customs first... which really isn't difficult since we have a legal version produced here. Just gotta make it meet DOT standards... like replacing bumper beams and windshields...etc.

Nevermind

If you decide to sell your wheels, let me know, ill buy them!!! :D

Sorry...:D
And the only reason those particular cars were imported legally and are actually street legal is because those particular cars have already been crash tested and DOT regulation approved. The FD, unfortunately, has not.
It also has to have been crash tested according to DOT/NHTSA regulations and met their standards, which requires paying for the multiple units that have to be sacrificed, plus footing the costs of the tests, which runs in the 5-6-figure range. And the FD, unfortunately, has not at this time, because no one--not some "registered importer" or whoever-- has paid for those costs yet.
No need to copy it. Just search the endless threads on this subject, which has been beaten to absolute death ad nauseum.

That's because one grey market importer actually foot the bill for crash testing the Skyline GTR. But they ran afoul of the DOT/NHTSA/U.S. Customs anyway, and there were some repercussions IIRC.

Again, search, this subject has been beaten to a pulp long ago...

Yes it has. But the subject will be back again within a month and yet again some snot-nosed little middle school tosser will ask the question yet again and will not be willing to accept the answer that RHD FDs are not legal in the US no matter how clearly it is spelled out to him.

Why bring it back? I'll just be shipping my parts and placing them on an FD that I will find in the states. RHD isn't really all that practicle when you drive on the right side of the road with oncoming traffic on the left. Yeah, there's a cool factor, but for me to bring back a RHD car, it would have to be uber unique

Well thanks for the comments, i get the message (USE THE SEARCH BUTTON).

I swore my mail man was in the right side.


hmmm.......................

lol same here, wtf, the gov't always screws us!!!
and what the hell does it matter if the states run all of those emissions tests, for global warming and all of that bs, if no one else does. wtf, i swear if i hear one more person complain about the white smoke that comes out of my car.