Importing Cars - Possible?

PeteJayhawk

PeteJayhawk

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Lawrence, Kansas
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Volvo 850 Turbo
Hypothetical question here....sorry if it sounds a little disjointed; I'm kind of going stream-of-consciousness here.

I know it's damn near impossible to import a car to the States, especially one which isn't sold here in the first place. But Mexico has a lot of nifty cars (or at least brands) that we don't. So.....let's say I had a buddy who lived in Mexico. Would it be theoretically possible to buy a car there, register it all Mexican-like under said buddy's name, and just drive it back here over the border and voila? I'd be the only kid in town with a Renault (or whatever, you get my drift anyway), and with Distrito Federal plates to boot.

What's the rules on stuff like that? Or should I just worry about the political theory test I have Wednesday that I'm supposed to be studying for?
 
i think you'd be able to drive a foreign licenced car in the states but only temporarily. if you actually plan on owning it, you've to go to the local DMV to have the car registered just like any other car on the road.

you may have to spend quite a lot on a foreign car just to make it up to US standards. it has to meet emissions requirements. and other stuff too like the windshield for example has to be at a certain thickness for the car to be considered legal. if it isn't, you've to replace it with thicker ones!

of course there are also import taxes and shit that you've to deal with and all that...
 
Australia has laws that require you to own the car in the country you are importing from, like Germany for Porsches, for a certain amount of time before it can be imported without huge import tarriffs.

It is something like 3 years, so if you buy a new Porsche it will probably be considered "old" by the time you get it here for cheap.

Although I'm sure it is different in the US, as you can just drive them there. I'm also sure that it isn't that easy, or everybody would buy a cheap Mexican auto and drive it over.

As said by POWERRR!!, ask the DMV about it, I'm sure they know more then all of us put together.
 
i know that if you want to import into Australia from New Zealand you would need to own the car for a minimum 1 year.

lol tried to get a Subaru Forester STi in but they said no because of the 1 year law
:thumbsdown: :bangin:
 
POWERRR!! said:
i think you'd be able to drive a foreign licenced car in the states but only temporarily.

you may have to spend quite a lot on a foreign car just to make it up to US standards.
Click to expand...

The whole point of this exercise is to try and get around all the laws...I mean, I'm sure the whole idea of buying a non-US car in Mexico and registering it under a 3rd party just so I can be the only guy in Kansas rockin' it Alfa 159-style (technically I'd have to go to Chile for that, but this whole damn thing is ridiculously hypothetical anyways) is illegal as all hell. I'm just wondering if it would be possible to get across the border without The Man catching on.

But my guess is it wouldn't be governed by the state DMV so much as it would have to do with the USDOT and/or DHS...I doubt the standards for driving foreign registered cars vary from state to state. I just want to know if I can get it over the border OK. I think I'd be OK if I got it home, as there are at least a couple other people who live here who sport either Mexican or Canadian plates (college town, ya dig). It's all about my motoring freedom and stickin' it to the man.

And it's fun to dream about being the only guy in the entire country with a certain car.
 
US law for importing includes for cars that are older than 25 years old, it means you can for example import a Lambo Countach from Europe or Canada and drive it LEGALLY on road. Mr. Eriksson's imported Enzos and SLR McLaren don't even have California plates, hence police arrested his wife driving the SLR McLaren. They're show cars only. (UK plates)
By the way, this law exclude some models of cars, like the cars that are officially sold in U.S. (I mean cheaper than like 100K)

And dude, why a damn Renault? yeah, you would be the only kid driving a Renault around town but what's gonna happen if it breaks down? nobody will buy it in U.S, and there's no Renault dealer or anything in U.S. You have to tow it back to Mexico to just repair a minor thing. Just think before you do something, if you can buy a Japanese car for less price in Mexico, that's a cool idea, go for it, but buying a Euro car (Alfa, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda) that is not officaly sold in North America's market, is just a bad idea.

And the law I stated earlier is different here in Canada, it is 15 years. That's why there are crap load of imported Skyline R32 running around lately, and they're cheap.
 
I know someone in Georgia that imported a Honda Civic Si or something...couple of engine mods here and there. And its a Right-hand drive as well!
 
Salar said:
US law for importing includes for cars that are older than 25 years old, it means you can for example import a Lambo Countach from Europe or Canada and drive it LEGALLY on road. Mr. Eriksson's imported Enzos and SLR McLaren don't even have California plates, hence police arrested his wife driving the SLR McLaren. They're show cars only. (UK plates)
By the way, this law exclude some models of cars, like the cars that are officially sold in U.S. (I mean cheaper than like 100K)

And dude, why a damn Renault? yeah, you would be the only kid driving a Renault around town but what's gonna happen if it breaks down? nobody will buy it in U.S, and there's no Renault dealer or anything in U.S. You have to tow it back to Mexico to just repair a minor thing. Just think before you do something, if you can buy a Japanese car for less price in Mexico, that's a cool idea, go for it, but buying a Euro car (Alfa, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda) that is not officaly sold in North America's market, is just a bad idea.
Click to expand...
i dont get it .. the dude is swedish .. and they arrested him for driving a UK reg car i California? .. is the really illigal?
so a canadian cant drive a canadian reg car in the US?
man ... that suks...
In norway we have a simple rule .. a norwegian can not drive a forign reg car in norway unless he is a citicen of the contry the car is registerd inn ..

ohh and if your renault brakes down in the US .. nissan can fix it .. (ever heard of Renault-Nissan.. its a big company..)
 
PeteJayhawk said:
POWERRR!! said:
I'm just wondering if it would be possible to get across the border without The Man catching on.
Click to expand...

I see cars with Mexican tags quite often. Of course, I am a little closer to El Mexico than you are. :D
Click to expand...
 
PeteJayhawk said:
I think I'd be OK if I got it home, as there are at least a couple other people who live here who sport either Mexican or Canadian plates (college town, ya dig).
Click to expand...

those don't happen to be mexicans/canadians who come studying in the US, do they?

maybe that's the solution: change your civilianship (?? :?, don't even know what word i'm looking for) to mexican, and you'll be able to drive a mexican car in the US ;)
 
Kebab gud said:
Salar said:
US law for importing includes for cars that are older than 25 years old, it means you can for example import a Lambo Countach from Europe or Canada and drive it LEGALLY on road. Mr. Eriksson's imported Enzos and SLR McLaren don't even have California plates, hence police arrested his wife driving the SLR McLaren. They're show cars only. (UK plates)
By the way, this law exclude some models of cars, like the cars that are officially sold in U.S. (I mean cheaper than like 100K)

And dude, why a damn Renault? yeah, you would be the only kid driving a Renault around town but what's gonna happen if it breaks down? nobody will buy it in U.S, and there's no Renault dealer or anything in U.S. You have to tow it back to Mexico to just repair a minor thing. Just think before you do something, if you can buy a Japanese car for less price in Mexico, that's a cool idea, go for it, but buying a Euro car (Alfa, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda) that is not officaly sold in North America's market, is just a bad idea.
Click to expand...
i dont get it .. the dude is swedish .. and they arrested him for driving a UK reg car i California? .. is the really illigal?
so a canadian cant drive a canadian reg car in the US?
man ... that suks...
In norway we have a simple rule .. a norwegian can not drive a forign reg car in norway unless he is a citicen of the contry the car is registerd inn ..
Click to expand...

The cop only took notice of the SLR because it was such an expensive car with strange looking foreign plate. He then would have checked the registration of the car found out that it wasn't registered to drive and then check and found out that it was reported as stolen in London. That is when it got impounded.
 
I think it would be different (legally) to drive a car with UK plates here than it would be to drive a Mexican-registered car. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that Mexico and Canada have some sort of reciprocity with the US as far as car registrations, given that, you know....they're really the only two countries whose citizens would have cause to drive on US roads (apologies to the rest of Central and South America but, well, you know). If nothing else, having a long, yellow, rectangular piece of metal on the back of your car is sure to arouse the suspicions of the local constabulary, who generally are not known for their worldliness...as opposed to Mexican/Canadian plates, which are by and large of the same general design as those here.

As for why I said Renault? Dunno...just the first company that came to mind who sells cars in Mexico and not the US. My second post tried to clarify, cause I'd love me a new Alfa 159.

And yes, that's exactly why we have foreign cars here in the heart of Red State Madness, bone...people studying here at the Harvard of the Great Plains.
 
PeteJayhawk said:
I think it would be different (legally) to drive a car with UK plates here than it would be to drive a Mexican-registered car. I don't know for sure, but my guess is that Mexico and Canada have some sort of reciprocity with the US as far as car registrations, given that, you know....they're really the only two countries whose citizens would have cause to drive on US roads (apologies to the rest of Central and South America but, well, you know). If nothing else, having a long, yellow, rectangular piece of metal on the back of your car is sure to arouse the suspicions of the local constabulary, who generally are not known for their worldliness...as opposed to Mexican/Canadian plates, which are by and large of the same general design as those here.
Click to expand...

That's right.

I see a lot of cars with U.S plates over here. (California, Washington, HAWAII (!), Florida etc), I guess they can keep their cars here in Canada for a short period of time, maybe 2 or 3 years. OR they would get Canadian license/plates.
 
Re: Importing Cars - Possible?

PeteJayhawk said:
Hypothetical question here....sorry if it sounds a little disjointed; I'm kind of going stream-of-consciousness here.

I know it's damn near impossible to import a car to the States, especially one which isn't sold here in the first place. But Mexico has a lot of nifty cars (or at least brands) that we don't. So.....let's say I had a buddy who lived in Mexico. Would it be theoretically possible to buy a car there, register it all Mexican-like under said buddy's name, and just drive it back here over the border and voila? I'd be the only kid in town with a Renault (or whatever, you get my drift anyway), and with Distrito Federal plates to boot.

What's the rules on stuff like that? Or should I just worry about the political theory test I have Wednesday that I'm supposed to be studying for?
Click to expand...

Due to the way the customs/NHTSA/EPA/DOT laws are, if you bring a car with the engine/driveline removed, wheels and a few other bits (I can't recall exactly), you can claim it as parts and you don't have to deal with safety BS. After that the only way to register the car is as a kit car. There has been guys who have imported Lotus Elise's this way, along with a couple of guys who imported Skylines (there's a company currently doing it and has been talking with DOT/NHTSA about the legallity of it, and so far no complaints from them), also have heard of Nissan GTi-R's, and military guys were bringing back the old mini's this way.

If I were doing it the way you mentioned, I'd get the friend to bring it across (assuming he won't have to fight with trying to cross the border) since it's in his name. Then title the car in the US as a kit car in your name. This gives you legal plates, and kit cars are cheaper to insure anyway. Good luck getting parts for a Renault, they do not like grey market cars, ask anyone who owns one of the 30 legal Renault R5 turbo's (the mid engined ones).

While this is of questionable legallity, the only arguement is amongst those who don't really matter, it is legal.

Edit: If Alfa's had a better reputation, I'd be all over going for a 159, they are sexy beasts. If they are made available hear (rumour is 08 or 09) I'd go in debt to have one, even if it was only for a few months. :thumbsup:
 
Kebab gud said:
Salar said:
US law for importing includes for cars that are older than 25 years old, it means you can for example import a Lambo Countach from Europe or Canada and drive it LEGALLY on road. Mr. Eriksson's imported Enzos and SLR McLaren don't even have California plates, hence police arrested his wife driving the SLR McLaren. They're show cars only. (UK plates)
By the way, this law exclude some models of cars, like the cars that are officially sold in U.S. (I mean cheaper than like 100K)

And dude, why a damn Renault? yeah, you would be the only kid driving a Renault around town but what's gonna happen if it breaks down? nobody will buy it in U.S, and there's no Renault dealer or anything in U.S. You have to tow it back to Mexico to just repair a minor thing. Just think before you do something, if you can buy a Japanese car for less price in Mexico, that's a cool idea, go for it, but buying a Euro car (Alfa, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda) that is not officaly sold in North America's market, is just a bad idea.
Click to expand...
i dont get it .. the dude is swedish .. and they arrested him for driving a UK reg car i California? .. is the really illigal?
so a canadian cant drive a canadian reg car in the US?
man ... that suks...
In norway we have a simple rule .. a norwegian can not drive a forign reg car in norway unless he is a citicen of the contry the car is registerd inn ..

ohh and if your renault brakes down in the US .. nissan can fix it .. (ever heard of Renault-Nissan.. its a big company..)
Click to expand...

Nissan can't fix it. Most dealers seem retarded. My bro has a 350z and even though it shares all the important parts with the infiniti G35, the policy for fixing them are different. The rear axle on my bro's car has failed several times, and the Infiniti fix is greasing the axles properly while nissan's idea is to replace them, the infiniti way is just as good, the nissan way is just a waste of parts and an extra half hours labor.

He wasn't arrested for driving a UK reg car, it was stolen along with the enzo, and they weren't registered on the road in the USA. Cars registered as show cars are legal to be driven on the roads for 2500miles, you can thank Bill Gates for that little stipulatin (he really wanted to drive his 959). Beyond that if he's not a US citizen he has little rights in this country.
 
thedguy said:
He wasn't arrested for driving a UK reg car, it was stolen along with the enzo, and they weren't registered on the road in the USA. Cars registered as show cars are legal to be driven on the roads for 2500miles, you can thank Bill Gates for that little stipulatin (he really wanted to drive his 959). Beyond that if he's not a US citizen he has little rights in this country.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that includes all the high-end supercars. I've heard a guy lives in Tampa drives his CLK GTR and 911 GT1 on street as well. 2500 miles per year.
 
Doesn't suprise me, I don't think those were legalized here. Anyway, both of those are probably more rare than the 959's that porsche refused to crash.

On the orignal posters topic:
Even though you mentioned this is just a dream but if your going to import a car that was unavailable here consider these words:

-Why wasn't the car available here?
---If a brand thats not here, why isn't the brand here? Italian cars are unreliable by european standards.
---Notice You don't see any old Peugeot's or Renaults running around?

- Given the last point, consider going with something thats not available here, but the brand is, like nissan. If you go for say a sunny GTi-R atleast you can get parts in the US for most of the engine, and probably make something off another model work (parts bin).

- If your dead set on a company thats no longer in the US, atleast buy a car that has had time to be figured out. This way you can know what to expect to fail, and either try and fix/prevent the problem or atleast order up spares before bad things start to happen. New model cars don't give you that. Plus the first year or 2 of a new car is a bad buy, and thats multiplied by being Italian or French.

- How would you pay for a new model car? And as I pointed out, you'd basically have to strip it (or drive it from Chile with the 159), do you want to do that to a brand new car? I don't see how you'd get financing.

Just thought I'd shit on your dream like many have mine over the years :twisted: :p j/k

Get a 2nd hand 166, I'm sure if you can find one, they are quite cheap. :thumbsup:
 
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