Buying a vehicle from Japan

Buying a vehicle from Japan

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan car/toyota
/corolla+touring+wagon/992288/

If I wanted to purchase this vehicle for the price indicated ($2584 at time of this post) and the shipping (20ft. container for $1800). What other fees would I have to pay, what would be my total estimated price to get the car in my driveway or pick it up at the port?

If anyone knows... appreciated!

Interesting... found this. Japanese bumpers are different, emissions are rigorous so I don't think that'll be a problem.

http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm/entering_us/7importingyourcar.htm

If I had the time and money to waste on importing a car, it sure as hell wouldn't be a corolla.

I agree. It's pointless to go through all that trouble to import a Corolla here. With the money you don't spend doing that, you can buy another decent car.

one thing is for certain tho, parts are a bitch.

The legalization and registration of that thing would cost you a ton more than what you paid for it and shipping. Not worth it in my book plus it takes a long long time

LOL. I saw one of those wagon touring corollas for $2500 but after reading about all the customs fees and DOT mods that need to be made... forget it.

Tis site might keep you stuck to the screen for a few mins ---> http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan car/nissan/skyline gt-r/1013488/ Oh yeah!!!

Get a car that isn't FWD.

Why do you put down the corolla so much? If he wants a corolla let him get one. You dont see anybody telling you what to buy?

He is just simply implying that is pointless to pay that much for an imported Corolla that's all but of course in the end is just the buyers choice.

ti ruskie gavaresh?

Nah I don't speak Russian

well you seem to understand what i said lmao

I do have friends from Russia and Yugoslavia and I understand very minor things but I can only wish I spoke it lol... My ex-gf is from Russia

Yeah, exactly. It's too much time, money, and effort to import just a Corolla. It's better to put that towards something more worth importing.

Now if it was like a Corolla TS Sport then hell yea haha

That's an exception, but definitely not worth it for a Corolla wagon.

Though I won't lie about being cool to do a Corolla wagon and just smoke people left and right but there are a few TS members on 9gc now and man their rides are SHWEEAT!

ok, let me correct a few things here that are misunderstood.

1. when i had my ae101 jdm 4agze emissions tested this was the result . . .the carbon output was very minimal , as a matter of fact the tester said it was cleanest burning forced induction engine hed ever seen. everything else was awesome and in spec , what wasnt though was the nitrates of oxygen ppm was 3x what the US's division of the EPA would allow for that chassis car (mine being a 94 corolla sedan). how to fix this? i now live in an emissions free county . . .FL is an emmisions free state , so there is ways around that.

2. DOT standards? well shit that would blow the whole JDM fad out the window now wouldnt it? hmm i see JDM bumpered and JDM'ed front ended cars al the time on the road , commonly being the s13 sylvia conversion.

3. were the hell do you get $10k as an estimate to get the car legal to drive?

4. custom fees are gonna be at most $2k, or a flat rate for a container. if you get it at the port yard yourself you can tow it home from there.

5. you will need to get your RHD liscensing permit , this isnt hard , postal workers do it all the time , besides how do you think private contrater postal carriers get there RHD subarus and jeeps over here? (yes i live in a rural ass area , no mail jeeps)

6. just to add this in there the R32 , and R33 are now LEGAL to ship into the US!!!

7. I would personally spend the loot to get a few corolla e10's imported , 1 they will sell in the corolla crowd!! 2. knowing what i know now about the ae chassis especially seventh gen , in terms of performance i could make it a very true contender. but at the same time a gt four celica in an st205 chassis would be awesome too.

see you gotta think what cars can you import that are already here? celicas here , corollas here , sprinter (prizm) , theres a whole slew of cars already here. i mean honestly how in the hell do you think the 18 year old nissan kids get away with it with the s13's or the honda crowd with the hatches and such? i think generally the toyota crowd is either broke as phuck , or jujst scared to try things that others have done , were so used to being different and thinking outside the box thats its hard for us to accept conformity or fallow the simplist means of something.

5.

Very good points actually....

what they said.

man them chaser are nice

another concern to the original poster is that importing a RHD car may or may not be legal. it all comes down to the inspection and DOT and how many safety features need to be added. there was an article in an import magazine where a solider was stationed in japan and he had to spend a lot of time, money and paper work to import a car he owned while in japan. customs and the dot gave him an extremely hard time. i think in the end (could be wrong) there was something he didn't have to follow because of the age of the car. might have been a car from the 70's so safety regulations were different. no reason to waste the amount of time on that corolla though.

changing lights and bumper cover is not the safety concern. it's how the car is manufactured for the country of destination. the U.S. has different safety regulations than other countries and importing a car that never had a U.S. model could mean that it's not as safe in the eyes of the government. if the headlights on a JDM set do not say DOT approved than it is technically illegal which is why most aftermarket lights say for "off-road use only". if the owner also had to remove any bumper supports or impact material than it's technically illegal. it's hard for an officer or inspection official to detect what's underneath so they slide by.

found this info on cost and while it might be from the UK i am sure its can translate to similar costs which can be close to 10k depending on the situation.

http://www.epoi.com/faq.html

Conversions to US dollars
500,000 yen = $5,555
100,000 yen = $1,111
£4,974 = $8,134
£2,109 = $3,448

seems to me the

Dont you need a Specail drivers liscence to have a right hand drive car in the USA ??

The general consensus on MR2OC is that it's impossible to have an entirely legal car imported unless it fits certain characteristics (IIRC older than '91?). If it was actually a feasible option, you'd see a LOT of 96+ MR2's over here.

When you figure out how to legally import, title and register an car that's not old, let me know. No illegal "kit car" deals, either.