j-spec= U.S. soil or bust!

[MANU3L]

im stationed in germany for the army for the next 2 and a half years, 7 months ago upon my arrival in europe i got a 97' n/a 6spd j-spec toyota supra. i need to know if i can take it back to the u.s. with me when i head out. i've done alot of research on this and the general consensus is that you can't get it registered. well i don't need that being as i just want to make it a race/show car. it would be trailer hauled and garage kept at all times. in that scenario. would i have any troubles whatsoever with shipping my car back, and if so any thoughts on what issues may arrise? i have yet to attempt it due to ignorance of importing policies, so i'm trying to educate myself. getting ammo for the import battle you could say. ANY HELP AT ALL IS APRECIATED!


i put up some pics of me and my buddies cruising in our tuners if ya want to check 'em out

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by MANU3L

im stationed in germany for the army for the next 2 and a half years, 7 months ago upon my arrival in europe i got a 97' n/a 6spd j-spec toyota supra. i need to know if i can take it back to the u.s. with me when i head out. i've done alot of research on this and the general consensus is that you can't get it registered. well i don't need that being as i just want to make it a race/show car. it would be trailer hauled and garage kept at all times. in that scenario. would i have any troubles whatsoever with shipping my car back, and if so any thoughts on what issues may arrise? i have yet to attempt it due to ignorance of importing policies, so i'm trying to educate myself. getting ammo for the import battle you could say. ANY HELP AT ALL IS APRECIATED!

i put up some pics of me and my buddies cruising in our tuners if ya want to check 'em out

Thank you for posting the picture!

Unfortunately I have no experience in this specific area. However, I'd recommend that you get in touch with companies that import cars into the US.

Also be sure to review:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/bas...orting_car.xml
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...3D%3D/search/1

To me, if it's going to be a show car, that should have nothing to do with the DOT...which in my admittedly-unqualified opinion, should make it easier to import.

[MANU3L]

thats exactly what i thought, i've had heated discussions with people about this but its always based on opinion. i base my life on common sense, it keeps me alive lol and the way i see it if the damn thing will never touch a city street. then why the hell not? it really grinds my gears when people say my race car has to meet safety req and emmision standards. you show me one racecar in the states that conforms to all of the above and i will give this car to charity lol

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by MANU3L

thats exactly what i thought, i've had heated discussions with people about this but its always based on opinion. i base my life on common sense, it keeps me alive lol and the way i see it if the damn thing will never touch a city street. then why the hell not? it really grinds my gears when people say my race car has to meet safety req and emmision standards. you show me one racecar in the states that conforms to all of the above and i will give this car to charity lol

Check out this link:
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...2003022010.pdf

[GhosttV26]

That PDF was taking forever to load so I didn't read it. But I think you can ship any car. You are just not able to register most cars for street use. I'm sure you can register your Supra as a show car wich will allow you to drive it on the streets but there is a mile restriction. This is what some guys do with right hand drive GTRs.

[BradMD]

Yep many people say that you cant register cars and that there is huge problems trying to get it done. But i have read that you can register your car as a show car providing you do not do more then 2500 miles a year, which is more then enough for a car like a supra.

[deigima]

i just read some of that pdf, and the import policy of americia sucks.. your car has to be significant to be permitted to import, after reading the conditions, i dont beleive you will be able to import that supra to US.

[MANU3L]

okay the car is for sale now lol, the lamens terms of the u.s. import policy is this, or at least what us mk4 guys need to know, this if there is an american version of any car and it qualifies w/ out question to meet the u.s. epa and crash test safety ratings then they basically say its your fault for not buying the american version, they wont let us bring our j spec cars back when as far as they're concerned they have perfectly good american spec ones already there? if worse comes to worse, i figure ill pull out the dashboard, with all components, the rack and pinion, the steering column, and the front end wiring harness, ship it back with my personal goods, and sell it as a lhd to a rhd conversion kit?

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by MANU3L

okay the car is for sale now lol, the lamens terms of the u.s. import policy is this, or at least what us mk4 guys need to know, this if there is an american version of any car and it qualifies w/ out question to meet the u.s. epa and crash test safety ratings then they basically say its your fault for not buying the american version, they wont let us bring our j spec cars back when as far as they're concerned they have perfectly good american spec ones already there? if worse comes to worse, i figure ill pull out the dashboard, with all components, the rack and pinion, the steering column, and the front end wiring harness, ship it back with my personal goods, and sell it as a lhd to a rhd conversion kit?

How close is your US address to the Canadian border?

[MANU3L]

cumberland county illinois, im RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the country lol