Who has imported Gt-Fours to the U.S.? what is the process like? (price, time ect.)

I think this is a repost, but i'm not 100%

-dustin15brown+Apr 29, 2005 - 11:08 PM
it is...only one guy i think has actually done it that is still on the site. look under WRCcelica or something like that

95WRC brought his in through canada. there is also another GT-FOUR up in mass but he's the third US owner

http://www.6gc.net/index.php?action=members&itu=1509

damn ghost knows wats goin on

-dustin15brown+Apr 30, 2005 - 1:00 AM

HE DOES PAY ALOT OF ATTENTION DOESNT HE...

What kind of price you'd expect?

All I know is that in late 2008 I'll be able to import a 94 GT-4 into Canada legally and it probably won't even cost that much. The challenge will be, of course, finding a 94 GT-4 that is still in decent condition.

http://www.batfa.com/usedvehicle.htm

now u just need to find a way to get it in....

i was thinking if you ship it to mexico, have them go into us say they on visit, and just fly them back...

thats the whole thing man. buying a car in japan and putting it on a ship is easy >>

-Pali_playa+May 1, 2005 - 10:23 PM

So what all needs done to a car here in the states? Hard licensing? I know it's legal to have a right hand drive. Just curious.

all you need is umm safty and emmisions DOT approval and a handfull of other things
......................................

yea i just sold someone all my DOT lights and there on there way here.. >>

Theres a GTFOUR in Florida going for $19,000 if someone wants to pick that one up. Has very very low miles. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 I believe. I heard its silver and street legal. Thats all I know. I can get more information if someone is interested.

i know there is a gt4 here in washington but its used for autocrossing...i am yet to meet up w/ this guy

so say I find one for sale in Canada, can bring it here, what would the process be? I know there's a huge deal if you ship cars in fron Japan but just over the border? I mean I know of other cars bought in Canada and just able to be inspected here like they were bought out of state.

they illegal in canada too, but they not as strict as they are here

You can buy mine for the right $ >>
Gary

-gh0st_d0g+May 1, 2005 - 7:46 PM

They DO ship to US ports like New York, Baltimore, Long Beach CA, etc. So actually getting the car in to the US wouldnt be your biggest issue. The only problem is that if you planned on driving on roads legally you would have to do some VIN# switching, or use a car dealer liscence, or just not register it....

of course they ship to US ports, but thats really not the point. you aren't allowed to bring in an unlegalized car. yes, you can fudge the invoice and they can't check all the containers but if they find out it will be shipped back to Japan at your cost. not something I would be willing to risk, what about you?

-Silver94CelicaOwner+May 5, 2005 - 11:47 AM

ship it as parts, take the wheels, doors, hatch, and whatever else that does not really matter, (I have wheels, doors and a hatch I would be more then happy to put on a gt-4.)

or yeah just get it in though canada, and drive yours up, swap in canada drive it down, and then fly up and drive yours back down.it would just take some good talking. well it woudl be that easy for me bacuse my car just went though the state inspection when I put the new motor in it, so I have all the papor work that says it was fixed for being totaled including the state sticker (inside the door) that shows that proof, all that is needed is to swap vins, then swap them back. and be shure to use separate boarder gate going accross.

I've been flirting with the idea of importing the GT4 GODESS as well for the past few years, and the deeper I dig, the more things I find out. For instance, even the glass would need to be changed (if someone noticed it ) because it's not "DOT"approved. But relatively speaking I've gotten quotes to import the car ,, wheels off! for (car 4500 usd, shipping 1100 usd, bonding/taxing/holding fees and someother little things for around another 800 to 1000 usd.. )total estimated 6300 to 6500 usd.... not modified to be street leagal at that price though! Sooo,, I've just to decided to keep saving and cross that bridge when I get to it:),, or buy one already here for the right price:) Less head ache for me.

how about just inporting it and regerting it as a custom .. but then u can only drive it like once a week...

I don't get it
how come it's "easier" to get a GT-Four in Canada?

the highway act up here isn't exactly lax and i don't see why shipping to Vancouver is any different than shipping to Cali >>

technically it is legal to import gt four on basis of it being a show car and strictly offroad. What I am going to do is find a gt-4 that is preferably lhd and just put tags and vins off my current celi on it. I mean I am goint to give it a major facelift anyways with bodykit and all so 99999/100000 cops would not notice a visible difference. Also I will most likely take care of odometer readings in case it is mandatory to show it to customs every so often.

for inspection i got this guy who guarantees a pass no matter what for a low cost of $90

-yarik83+May 11, 2005 - 4:39 PM

Well actually, if you can get a lhd one in and just swap VIN's. You can just leave it the way it is cause everyone will think it has a bodykit anyways. You can always get a rhd one and convert to lhd though.

RHD or LHD won't make a difference both are legal in the states

its the fact that the gt4 was never tested by DOT and was never crash/safty approved

The shop that did my swap has done a lot of research on importing whole cars, they were thinking of doing it legally then selling them. They said the best way to do it if a version of the car exists in the states is to get the jdm car cut in half and ship the front cut on one boat and the back on another and then just put everything from the two cuts onto the us car. I guess you avoid tons of fees and problems with customs by doing it this way

is al this really worth the work? i think it would be freakin cheaper to have some one rent a plane and fly it her personally lol

i have to say this ..

i spent all day weds driving a RHD mr2 which is titled, and registered here in states . now he didn't do it but paid a shop a lot of money to get it legal and when i looked at it all they did was swap a US vin on it (dash) , and install USDM sunvisors otherwise car is pure JDM .. he got super ripped off on fees but oh well ..

it has been fully inspected by cop shop inside and out ..with zero issues and he has been pulled over 5 or 6 times and RHD was never an issue ..

the vin wasn't even welded to spot under dash it was just stuck on there ..

i am not saying do a VIN swap but he has been driving car around for almost 3 years without issue and even drove across the US .. We even stopped to talk to sheriff at lunch in parking lot as has known him for years ..

cops even said cool set up when he got pulled over ..

there is no DOT police .. you just can't be a total dumbass when owning JDM CAR.

the other guy with red GT4 has had zero issues with his car and he has it for almost 2 years ..

Most cops could care less as long as vin checks out and matches that car they could give a hoot about rhd ..

again not saying breaking the law at all but once car is in US and car was brought in as parts or listed as parts then DOT could careless about it ..

any dreams of a fully legal (with jdm number) US GT4 is just that a dream unless you can do it as kit car .. or can wait 15 more years ...