droo <03dakotacc4.7_4x4@comcast.net> wrote:
: On Fri, 09 Feb 2007 19:37:10 -0500, Terrible Tom
: <SilverEightynine@aol.com> wrote:
:> hahahahahahahaha!!!!
:>
:> Dude - good luck trying to import one! I was reading about whats
:> necessary to import cars/trucks from outside the US... and if its about
:> 20 years old or whatever... no problem, its exempt from the US
:> regulations on importing... but if its new or new-ish... forget it. They
:> require emissions tests, crash tests - which is like you have to have so
:> many cars of the same model that you want to import - crash tested and
:> evaluated to show they meet US regs... I don't remember all the details
:> - but its insane to try to do it.
:>
:> Might be able to get away with it if you convert the drive train over to
:> something thats already EPA certified... and could possibly fight the
:> crash testing issue because its basically the same friggin jeep that was
:> sold here - just its cosmetically different.
:>
:> Good luck and if he finds a way - put me down for one :-)
:>
:> --- in my dreams
:>
: There's gotta be soem ways around some of that stuff. I've seen military
: guys take vehicles back from europe and drive them around in the US.
Absolutely, it can be done, the question is wether the cost
is worth it or not. You've got two different specs you need to
meet, EPA and DOT (emissions and safety). Older vehicles are
generally exempt (I don't recall the exact number off the top of
my head but its somewhere between 20 and 30 years. Its generally
really easy to import those vehicles. It gets more complicated for
the newer stuff. There are lists of acceptable vehicles which can
be imported, so if the vehicle is on that list its not a huge deal.
I believe that certain persons and situations are excempted also.
For example, a normally unacceptable vehicle can be temporarily
imported by a foreign dignitary or military personnel transferred
to the US - there are a few little exemptions like that but IIRC,
none of them were of much use to a US citizen looking for a
permanent import of a vehicle.
Newer vehicles not on the list though are where you start to
get into the big bucks. Basically, if you want to import them, you
need to bring them up to the required standards, and IIRC, you
need to be certified to do this work which generally means you
will need to use an importer who does this sort of thing. The
importer brings the vehicle in, and makes the changes required
to bring it up to snuff; during which time the vehicle is essentially
in quarantine. (I think there may be a time limit involved as well.)
I don't recall if there is testing which needs to be done or if the
signature of the importer is acceptable enough, but in either case,
you can only take posession of the vehicle after all of that.
Naturally, this process is not cheap so unless the vehicle is
very special, its just not worth the hassle and expense. (Of
course, there are also the usual duties and fees on top of all of
the above.)
--
-Jon-
.- Jon Steiger -- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -.
| '96 Kolb Firefly, '96 Suzuki Intruder, Miscellaneous Mopars |
`-------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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