I'm looking to purchase a rx7 from Canada and have it brought to the US. Do you have to import it through customs or can you drive it down here and sell it once you get here which would circumvent customs? Would love if you guys could give me some help on this situation.

 

If it's RHD it's federally illegal and will be seized.

Don't even bother trying.

 

You can't legally import a car without going through customs.

 

^^What he said. If it isn't legally imported, it can't be registered. Possibly not insured either, since the VIN may not show up as valid in databases. If it's RHD, it can't be imported to the US at all. A person who drove down, but flew or took the bus back would get grilled by US Homeland Security as well - they do keep track of where and how you enter and leave the country.

 

Thanks for the info and BTW rhd isn't illegal

 

In ANY event, you'd have to deal with the US border agents/customs. So, asking Canadians might not be the best help in your case (although we're very clever indeed )

The best would be to browse the US customs website and/or call them.
But the general consensus that you can't import without declaring/paying customs still holds true.

It's just that for vehicule imports, there's almost definately some more rules/criterias/documents etc. It's the case with the reverse process, anyway (US--> Canada import)

 

alrighty, well i'm really asking because i'm trying to get a silvia s15 into the states and i'm going to have to get it labeled as a 240sx since s14 and s15 run on same chassis.

rx7club members have a lot more knowledge on imports and sneaky stuff than the other forums.

 

The RHD comment was in regards to the FD. I don't know if it still black listed, but it was previously. We had some fun at the border when we went across with a fellow club member. There is a website where you can look up what vehicles are allowed back and forth for Canada, so I'm going to assume you guys have a similar list down south.

Attaching a new vin number to a vehicle without going through the proper channels is illegal. You can rebadge your vehicle if you like, but at the end of the day it needs to be a silvia on paper. Also, if you do put a new vin number on it, it would reflect the year you do it. so if you were to do this tomorrow, you would end up with a 2012 silvia.

 

S15 is still illegal, it was never sold in north america, is not 25 years old, and is not on the nhtsa allowed list.

End of story.

 

S15 and s14 are built on an identical chassis so technically it is LEGAL. Only reason they didn't sell it in the USA is because they didn't sell enough units of the 240sx to convince they we would like it.

 

Dude, I don't think you're getting it. Vehicle admissibility lists, US and Canadian, aren't a close enough thing. If a vehicle isn't on the list, it isn't admissible. Period. You might get an exemption if the car is to be for salvage or off-road use only (racing), meaning it can never be registered.

The manufacturer has to to have crash tested, emission tested, and otherwise certified that specific car as meeting all US safety standards for the year of manufacture. You'll argue with customs until you're blue in the face: "But they are the same chassis" - and the customs officer will just say "It's not on my list. It's not older than 25 years old, so it doesn't fall under the 25 year exemption, so no can do." The S15 Silvia was never certified for the US market. So until it's 25 years old, it can't be imported legally - at least not for street use.

Real life example is the FD RX-7. Canadian and American safety and certification regs have and do vary slightly - for example, in the mid-80's the US rescinded the requirement for bumpers to withstand a 5mph collision with a stationary object with no damage to the bumper structure or other safety systems like headlights and turn signals - Canada did not, so Canadian FD's received heavier bumpers that complied with the Canadian reg, and US FDs got 2.5 mph bumpers. Which meant that until the US cars were 15 years old (our exemption age), they were only admissible if modified to the Canadian bumpers. Similarly, Canada has slightly more stringent requirements on child seat anchor points and a handful of other issues - and lower emission standards than most of the US. Most cars imported to North America are simply built to meet whichever country's standards are higher, but sometimes they aren't - and so even North American models may not cross the border freely. In Canada, the Registrar of Imported Vehicles maintains lists. Much of the time, American cars can be brought into Canada, with the only requirements being to install day time running lights, and speedometer stickers in km/h if the factory display has the numbers in MPH only. But others are excluded, based on things such as child safety seat anchors insufficient in number or location.

The fact is, Japanese market cars, especially older ones, had an entirely different set of safety and emissions standards to meet - so even though the S15 240 and Silvia shared chassis, any number of bolt-on or weld-on bits are different, aren't even intended to meet American requirements. You could import a Silvia front clip, on the other hand, and transfer all the bits to a US 240SX - keeping the legit US VIN, and just ending up with a modified car that happens to bear an uncanny resemblance to a Silvia.

 

Unfortunately for you that's a moot point. And the customs agents don't deal in semantics.

Give this site a read through:

http://www.riv.ca/importingavehicle.aspx

 

Funny one about importing to the US from Canada is that a guy from the local Nissan club moved to the US temporary for a job. He's got a Nissan Xterra, however they are all actually built in Michigan, USA. For what he says, it's EPA compliant, but not DOT compliant, and rather than go through an auto importer, he sold it.

You want to try arguiging that a car is on the same chassis when they don't want to take in their american-built truck? Heh, I can only imagine....

 

The only way is to lie, I know a few evo 6 and r34 v-spec legal on the rd and what it is what the paper work says is 2 different things.

 

True true

 

Yea, I know a few too... Saw one on the local dyno recently... 1050hp!!!
Back on topic: Hybrid is right, but I really don't think anyone is willing to go to jail to cover for you... just get a front clip and work from there bud.