After pondering celicas and the cost comparisons Ive decided to start this new thread, specifically on how to ship JDM cars from japan to the US. I suggested group buy at the end of this thread . Ultimately I think we all know that getting a JDM GT4 is a hella lot better then trying to swap front clip and back clip into a USDM to get a GT4 AWD 3sgte, and cheaper. Though I'm sure you are all wondering about the legalities and all the ins and outs of how to do this.

Logistically It can difficult, you need to find a car in Japan that will match your criteria, then ship it to the US. This requires:

Requirements:
1. A Celica GT4 Source
2. Shipping company/Broker
3. Knowledge of Customs/rules and regs to get car in US
4. Language (Must Know Japanese)

I am convinced that once these hurdles are passed, and the process is understood that, gt4 JDM shipping will be a option to front clip and rear clip swaps.

As I have never actually done this, but have done research on how, I would encourage other people with ideas or who are seriously thinking about getting a JDM GT4 shipped to contribute to this thread.

I will update this thread with steps as they become clear and are workable, If all goes well we will have a HowTo for Shipping JDM GT4s and someone or I will have a JDM GT4.

Estimated Cost 94-96:

but when you ship the car as parts alone, I thought the body had to be cut into front and back cuts, but only the air flow meter and wheels must be removed? and why the airflow meter?

no he is right


i talked to jarco inc...they said that if you take out the engine and drivetrain and ship them then ship the rest of the car they can do it...then pay the DMV to give a VIN and there ya go... a lot of people think that this is so expensive but check this:


like almost 2 months ago i bought a front and rear clip from jarco for 4500, 5500 shipped from georgia to iowa cuz i was going to do the AWD conversion...BUT...now the say if i ship back the clips then pay like 600 bucks they can get a full uncut gt-4 (whatever color and options i want) and send the engine and drivetrain to me then send the rest of the car for like 500 bucks.

i talked to someone at the DMV here in iowa and they say like600-1000 bucks for a VIN depending on the car...obviously the have never seen one...

jarco says pretty much any year...but i asked for atleast a 96 the said no problem and it will have the body panels and lights and everything with hardly (if any) blemishes...

so a real gt-4 legalized for 7600 max for a 96-98 gt4


an airflow meter is a device that tells your ecu that air is entering the cylinders..its kind of safety so your car doesnt flood (i think)

--GT2GT4+May 17, 2003 - 9:35 PM

QUOTE (GT2GT4 @ May 17, 2003 - 9:35 PM)

an airflow meter is a device that tells your ecu that air is entering the cylinders..its kind of safety so your car doesnt flood (i think)

you never cease to amaze me man. an air flow meter does exactly what the name suggests. it measures the flow of air entering the intake manifold. >>

oh, and good luck with your GT-FOUR.

thats why i said i think

damn dont know what your problem is

People are gettin really testy lately...What up with that? >>
Anyways, about the GT4 plan....sounds good and all but i would want someone to do it and have proof before i would spend my money tryin to do it. I would think that you would have to do some shiz to your car to make it emissions passable since in japan they don't give a flying monkey spank about that kind of stuff like the US does.

well if no one minds i would like to do this first
hehe

i know this sounds like a fairy tale and everything but its worth a try...and to anyone who thinks its not well you have issues.

count me in on this one..... >> can't wait to drive around spankin little ricers butt all day longggg.....Now I wonder If hey can ship a JDM trueno too? >>

I'd be down with getting one shipped over... no problem.

coustoe and GT2GT4, man thanks for the info. This sounds like a very doable option. As of right now I was looking at getting a ST185 and playing with that. GT2GT4, if you are successful at doing this then I may of found me a newer GT4. Also it looks like I can get it in the color that I want >>. Keep us updated on this.
Bryan

updated main post, because the car link comparison was wrong.

Shipping:
GT2, Ya i was going to contact jarco or one of the clip importers. I think on the shipping part initially it breaks down to getting a broker/shipping company; going with JDM Clip importer; or doing it yourself (purchasing a shipping container, doing the logistics to ship as many cars in the container as possible, each container on the ship cost $4k).

Source:
Still fuzzy, the only good source for celicas Ive found is yahoo.auctions.co.jp. You can use babelfish to help read some of the pages, but if you want an account youll have to go through the original japanese pages, which is a bitch, because you have to set up bank account info and everything else, I guess they like using escrow accounts and stuff there. As for other Japanese Car sites (sites that list cars for sale) I dont know of any, If there is anyone here with a japanese car friends see if you can get him to find some please, this should help us in our source problem.

Import legal hurdles (as known as customs):

1. Safety
2. Emissions


Safety: to get by safety you will ship the car as PARTS ONLY Safety inspections or customs are done on the federal level, you Will have to talk and work with a NHTSA (Natona Highway Transportation Safety Administration) agent when you ship your car, because he will be one of the people who check your car and paperwork to see if it can come off the boat legally into the US.

Emissions: Emissions are done local or state. This is up to you to figure out how to get the car past your local DMV emissions test and registered. This goes hand in hand with trying to get the VIN number, it will be different for each state. ideas mentioned were, paying off your mechanic who does the inspections, or duplicating your current celica registration to get tags for your JDM. both are Grey methods of getting your vehicle registered, If someone has a 100% legit way to do this post it.

the intarweb ownz you :

http://www.j-garage.com/

the guys name is yoshi, and he's RIDICULOUSLY kind and honest.

i've had a BUNCH of e-mals with him back and forth about shipping a GT-4 to the states, and the aorementioned stuff in this post is entirely true.

it would be VERY easy to get a gt-4 or ANY of those cars on his site over here.

if any of you guys are serious about it...check him out.

I've been wanting to do this for some time, but why get a JDM? RHD costs more to insure, and you'll be paying more than enough for that already.

What I was thinking was find a German, Spanish, French... GT4. I know they have them in Germany, but not sure which other countries, and they are LHD with every bit as much power as the JDM version.

--aaronc222+May 18, 2003 - 9:04 AM

QUOTE (aaronc222 @ May 18, 2003 - 9:04 AM)

I've been wanting to do this for some time, but why get a JDM? RHD costs more to insure, and you'll be paying more than enough for that already. What I was thinking was find a German, Spanish, French... GT4. I know they have them in Germany, but not sure which other countries, and they are LHD with every bit as much power as the JDM version.

thats a good idea but the LHD GT-FOURs in those countries cost a lot more due to their rarity. you'd be looking in the neighborhood of 15k for a 94.

yea thats what i was going to say..

i have checked on insurance and my agent is not sure what to do..i almost have him convinced to charge the same as a 90-93 all trac. that is the most comparable car.

This post has been edited by GT2GT4: May 18, 2003 - 1:18 PM

QUOTE

the intarweb ownz you : http://www.j-garage.com/ the guys name is yoshi, and he's RIDICULOUSLY kind and honest.

Raek Ive seen this site, I will call him because maybe he can help us, if we tell him we just want the cars as parts only. This guy seems to be in the business of importing cars without bypassing the safety requirements, and actually bringing them up to US specs which explains the High cost of the cars he has listed.

Really, for bout $8k for the JDM gt4, you should also be able to get another $25k car financed, dont think it would be to heavy on the wallet, if you work full time and dont have to support a girlfriend.

I skipped readin the replies and went ahead postin mines. Dont' know if i'll be missin nethin before postin this but here goes.

There's a place near me that supplies full uncut imported cars. An MKIV costs only about 8-10G!!! exept it's rhd. But there's a way to by pass that. So i'm thinking that it could be possible to have a GT4 shipped over here for a much cheaper price compared to the Mk4's price. My friend got his car from that shop and he's now runnin 11's. I got to feel the car yesterday nite!! all i can say is..WOW. I'm sick of runnin low 14's but wow 11s is very insane.

your joking right? whats this place called, regardless, Im going to be making a lot of phone calls this monday, but if you got the number to that place i bet they can clear up a lot of stuff on how to ship and probably do it cheaper then i could.

Just as a side note, the 6th gen GT4's use MAP, not AFM. Pretty sure.

pictures of 1994 gt4 modded with headlights, 18" rims, tinted windows, other mods unknown. Currently available $6500 (in japan)

>>

another GT4 available in japan cost

$12400; 1998; 26, 000 miles



This post has been edited by coustoe: May 18, 2003 - 6:50 PM

look what i found

This post has been edited by macavely: May 18, 2003 - 7:24 PM

ok look what i found


If you are in the US :

Firstly, the Japanese specifications (JDM) vehicle is a Right Hand Drive model. We are sorry to say that it is very difficult to import it into the US at present.
Unless you wish to present crash test data for any Right Hand Drive car, it cannot legally be imported to the US. And we do not support to present crash test data.

It may be possible to import of some JDM cars under regulations regulating these cars to race(competition) use only.
Race cars cannot be registered for street use.

As for the Skyline GTR, it is possible to import the only Skyline GTR into the US for street use although it is necessary to legalize the skyline to use it on the US road. The cost to legalize a Skyline GTR depends on the year of vehicles. There are also some conditions on some of the year models and where they are coming . But generally, the legalizing cost of a Skyline is
1990~ R32 Skyline GTR - around 16,000USD.
1995 R33 Skyline GTR - around 17,000USD.
1996~ R33 Skyline GTR - around 25,000USD (OBD2 system).
1999~ R34 Skyline GTR - around 25,000USD (OBD2 system).

Also, it is possible to import some old JDM vehicles (25 year or old) into the US.

did you read the first post mac?

Wow, that's some very interesting and helpful information. I'm interested to hear how this turns out, because it'd be awesome for someone to have a JDM GT-Four in the states. >>

gt2gt4, i talked with jarco this morning, dont know if its the guy i talked to but he said they wouldnt send me an uncut celica gt4, Maybe because they know you they're giving you a break. I'll try again, maybe I'll get someone else

I'm really excited about this, there might be a real easy way of doing this, I might just get a Supra After all.

http://www.autoexporterjapan.com/#

http://www.bestjapancar.com/shipping.htm

there seem to be a lot of car dealerships in japan that specialize in exporting used cars from japan.
This would solve the source and shipping all in one!!!

I still have lots of info Im getting on shipping though ill post later. But I need your guys help
Look for companies in japan that export cars to the US. I want to get a comprehensive list, then I will call them tonight or tomorrow. Thanks All >>

This post has been edited by coustoe: May 19, 2003 - 11:09 AM

--macavely+May 18, 2003 - 4:37 PM

QUOTE (macavely @ May 18, 2003 - 4:37 PM)

ok look what i found If you are in the US : Firstly, the Japanese specifications (JDM) vehicle is a Right Hand Drive model. We are sorry to say that it is very difficult to import it into the US at present. Unless you wish to present crash test data for any Right Hand Drive car, it cannot legally be imported to the US. And we do not support to present crash test data.

I checked with the california DMV, they gave me the number of a place to call, and the guy I talked to said importing a right hand vs. left hand drive was no different. Maybe its just California, but thats what they said. Good chance they're wrong too.