pacatkhp

I am going to move to Hong Kong soon and trying to figure out whether to keep my FD3S (https://www.rx7club.com/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=95009).

I am currently located in Korea, and it took me lots of TIME and MONEY to find and train a decent tuner/mechanic who could service my single turbo RX7.

As I don't want to go through this painful experience again, I will only keep my RX7 if there is a decent RX7 tuning shop in Hong Kong.

Moreover, what are the import and registration duties in case I ship my car to HK?

Thx,
Hoon.

en0u40af

Unfortunately all cars registered here must be right hand drive.

All RX-7 and other Japanese sports cars such as GTR, Supra no longer can be registered in HK due to revised emission regulation in 2002. The only exception would be import as classic car (>20 years old)

There are very few tuners that can properly carry out a single turbo conversion for FD, so you might have to go through that "painful experience" again......

Welcome to HK!
Andrew

Circuit Theory

iTrader: (52)

do you speak any Japanese? I have a japanese tuner friend here that builds amazing cars. We can PM or email more info about that. Anyhow he makes 3-4 trips a year to Korea for tuning tours and he makes about 1-2 trips to china for tuning tours. I am sure Hong Kong would not be a problem for him.

pacatkhp

Andrew: Thanks for the info on registration regulations in HK. As you seem to be very knowledgable on this topic, can you please elaborate on your comments.

I guess my ultimate questions is whether there is ANY way to import and register my LHD '93 FD3S in Hong Kong (e.g. any "loop holes" or "alternative ways")?

More specifically, could you clarify the following three issues or direct me to the appropriate source:

1. Are there any exceptions to register a LHD car in HK (e.g. >20 years old or race car purpose only)?

2. Are cars that were registered in HK prior to 2002 exempted from the revised emission regulations (e.g. what happened to the RX-7s that were imported prior to 2002? Are any used RX-7s available in HK? If not, what kind of cars are you poor chaps driving?!?!)

3. Are cars >20 years old exempt from both the revised emission regulations and the RHD restriction (e.g. coud I import a '86 FC3S?)

Thanks in advance,
Hoon.

pacatkhp

Circuit Theory: Thanks for the referral. I am currently rebuilding my engine and have to get the ECU remapped. So, I would be very much interested in a "good tuner". Who is your friend (e.g. free-lancer or large tuning shop)?

Thanks,
Hoon.

en0u40af

Sorry Hoon for this late reply, had been away for a while.

Actually there are 2 loop holes that I can think of, but.........

1. You have a company in car business, then you are entitled to use a temporary license plate for test driving purposes, but there are lots of restrictions (eg distance, daytime only, duration, no parking, etc) and this T plate cost a lot of money

2. Border crossing vehicles can have dual license plates both China & HK, they have to be registered in mainland China(LHD in China), but only China citizens can be the registered owner and need to provide sufficient reasons

otherwise all cars must be RHD in order to get it licensed

Those vehicles registered prior to 2002 were all exempted, so from 2003, only very few sports cars like, S2000, Z33, DC5, latest Evo & Impreza can enter HK.

RX-7 here in HK are very rare, hard to find a good one in the 2nd hand market.

yes, people realized the >20 years exemption and I have seen some AE86s, old Celicas, FCs on the road again (RHD only)

pacatkhp

en0u40af:

thanks for all the info. but you are drawing a pretty bleak picture for me.

Would the following solution be feasible:

1. Make good friends with a Chinese citizen who is also registered in HK.
2. Register LHD RX7 ('93 model) in China under Chinese friend's name.
3. Obtain dual registration in HK

If so, a) can I leave the car in HK permanently or is there a minimum time requirement for the car to be in mainland China. Also, b) how strict are emissions regulations in mainland China and c) would the car have to pass emissions regulations in HK? (Current setup has single turbo, no cat and very rich tune. So, there is no way this car passes any tests without extra money)

Thanks again,
Hoon.

en0u40af

Had looked up the import regulations in China and here are a few important points:

1. vehicles >10 years cannot be registered, re-licensed and should be mandatory abandoned
2. all import vehicles are subjected to import duty, probably 100%
3. for dual license, you have to provide sufficient reasons such as, you have investments in both HK & China and require vehicle to cross border for commuting, and the admin fee would cost at least US$30,000
4. even though there are no specific details provided for emission test, but FD with single turbo no cat.......... no way

if you leave Korea for good, I really recommend you to sell your FD, and think of getting something else in HK