How to Import

[madams557]

I'll make another phone call to the border crossing to see if I need to get them the paperwork three days prior. When I called and spoke to the inspector this past summer, there was no mention of that, but things change.

Thanks for the heads up.

Michael

 

[cruiser_guy]

Micheal,
Call BOTH sides. We are in Canada but it was the U.S. side that needed the paper work 3 days prior to crossing. Once we got to Canada it was please pay your taxes : and off you go. I believe the 3 day wait was to check for stolen vehicles but who knows! They told us that if we did not wait for their clearance they would hit us with a $5000 fine (not to mention that the Canadian side asked for the U.S. clearance papers)!
Good luck, customs can be a barrel of fun!

 

[mancinator]

Anyway, I leave on the 15th of January for Calgary to bring back the FJ45, to I will post something once I am back successfully

dang...i hope your not going up there to get the same one i want lol...the one in calgary that i realy want is an fj40 so unless you made a spellign mistake i think its ok. wierd coincidence though...they must have all the cool ones up there.

thats about the same time i was hoping to get back into canada to make the trek up to get this other cruiser....of course it is all pending on if i can be conviced that i can import it and im still waiting for a couplel mor epics....one side profile isnt goinan cut it for me.

anyways, im goinan try and call customs this week and maybe ill find soem interesting info that some of oyu guys may not know, if i do i will post it here.
does anyone know what an importer charges....just in general...is it like 100 bucks/thousand that the vehicle is worth or what?

 

[wesintl]

go to birfield.com and search "importing" under dtlc. You should find everything you need for a post 79 cruiser or bj70

 

[semlin]

The 3B engine was also in the bj42 (never sold in the US) It can be imported into the US with little trouble.

Also, maybe there were only 600 BJ70's originally sold in Canada, but a whole bunch have been imported here from overseas as well. I was looking at a RHD turbo diesel 70 series with a removable hardtop on the weekend. No way that started out life here and the many turbo diesels and pickups sold here are either former mine trucks or imports or after the fact conversions. There are usually a few 70's for sale in Vancouver. Try www.buysell.com if you are interested in buying.

 

[Landpimp]

Yes, I know him, it's possible, same with a hj61, there are a few in the US...well at least one. Not my place to say how it was done.....but it was done.

Or you could do it another way, have someone in Canada keep it in their name, no issues with bringing a 15 year old non US Cruiser into the canada. Problem I see with this is insurance and such.

JOhn H

[quote author=HZJ60_Guy link=board=21;threadid=9209;start=msg80858#msg80858 date=1072547753]
Do you think that it's even remotly possible to import a BJ74? There is a guy down in AZ that is supposed to be driving one. The issue for me is that they werent ever brought into North America so how would they qualify twards any of our laws?



TB ???
[/quote]

 

[rick_d]

I am the "someguy in pheonix"

actually, in Tucson and Sonora (Mexico) and so far the truck has only come through Phoenix (aka Hell) on the way down from Las Vega$.

what I did certainly has a limited ability and depends on a certain 'donor' and a driver. I may be able to replicate it 1-2 times more, but since it is a PITA it won't happen just for anyone.

I tried the 100% RI route and was told:
convert to LHD using all NEW OEM parts supplied by RI or ESAD. Even the Ferrari guys in L.A. said "base cost of vehicle (insert under $10,000), no we won't touch it."- meaning they charge their fees based on purchase cost.

I'll say this, a Canadian spec truck is much easier to bring in that a non Canadian spec. The coveted letter from Toyota is unobtanium. Last, the 3B, and 2H and varients were not smog legal in US and NO CHANCE on later engine'd vehicles.

tell whomever asks the least amount of info and like I say, "mine was a Maine postal vehicle, goodbye"

 

[semlin]

Noticed a troopie for sale at the site linked above today. Never seen a troopie for sale here before. C'mon Holmaas, this is one you don't have!

87 TOYOTA Landcruiser FJ78, tan clr, troop carrier, X-mid eastern ambulance, no rust, new tires, rear, hard to find, asking $17,500 obo

 

[Landpimp]

this one?

87 TOYOTA Landcruiser FJ78, tan clr, troop carrier, X-mid eastern ambulance, no rust, new tires, rear, hard to find, asking $17,500 obo

well if its a 87 its not a 78 series, should be a hj75 or something like that, I think I have seen pics of it before. for 17k(even cdn) I bring in a low mile jpn bj74 like "somebody" yeah it's a postal Jeep


[quote author=semlin link=board=21;threadid=9209;start=msg82122#msg82122 date=1072815583]
Noticed a troopie for sale at the site linked above today. Never seen a troopie for sale here before. C'mon Holmaas, this is one you don't have!

87 TOYOTA Landcruiser FJ78, tan clr, troop carrier, X-mid eastern ambulance, no rust, new tires, rear, hard to find, asking $17,500 obo
[/quote]

 

[stevek]

Just remember if you forge numbers or lie in anyway about vehicle age etc you are violating federal law by commiting fraud. A buddies dad brought in a late 1980s D110 as a 1965 Land Rover and recently was involved in a crash. Somehow the cop knew it was not what it was titled as so now he is in a boatload of trouble. His insurance wont cover the accident, Customs sounds like they are going to fine him something major, and the local guys are after him for registration fraud. Not worth the risk...

 

[Poser]

Did he purchse that from those folks in GA doing just that?

 

[stevek]

He was going to go through some place in MT but ended up doing it solo. He already had a Series III 109 so he took the vin plate off of that truck to swap onto the newer D110 from Canada. What are the odds a cop who knows Land Rovers would be at the wreck?

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Rick D,

I may be able to replicate it 1-2 times more, but since it is a PITA it won't happen just for anyone

I dont understand. I'd like to buy a BJ74 from a guy up in Vancouver BC, but Im just not sure about the whole importation biz.

I have a HJ60 that was imported by the guy I bought it from. He used a RI.

I thought about getting the BJ and just throwing on the 60 plates and driving it around. I wonder what the penalty is for that?



TB

 

[Poser]

Pretty simple man,

He is not going to go through the process of importing trucks for people, especially people he does not know.

I like to think that Rick and I are pretty good friends, and I would not think of asking him to do something like that for me....


-Steve

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Ok, I get it. Thanks.

I didnt ask him to import a truck for me. I was just curious what he ment.







TB

 

[rick_d]

99% of Canadians I know (including cruiserheads) won't work with getting a non legal BJ74 into the US. Canadian paperwork for a Jap spec import for US importation is as useless as used T.P.. Using 60 series (or other non LC etc plates) on the truck is a sure fire way to get the chop if in an accident. When the underwriter asks about an 1983 FJ40 hood or radiator and it does not fit this flat style rig that is wrecked who is getting called B.S. on?

I'd never try to pass a 109 off as a 110, different bird.

What is most important to me is a safe vehicle that outperforms most other vehicles of the same vintage (mine stops better, starts, smokes less etc than most other mids 1980's Toyotas). That's my story and I am sticking to it.

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

When the underwriter asks about an 1983 FJ40 hood or radiator and it does not fit this flat style rig that is wrecked who is getting called B.S. on?

I can understand your point, but I'd never claim insurance on the thing anyway. I never have.

I've always believed that laws that when broken produce no victim are mostly a waist of time. That said, who's gonna know or care if a BJ74 is being driven around with the plates from a 60 series. Same year, same manufacturer, both land cruisers.

As long as the vehicle is not a danger to anyone, and your not doing anything stupid with it, what's the harm?


TB

 

[stevek]

What if the damage is not to your car? John didnt claim anything on the D110 (posed as a SIII 109) but did have close to 5K in body damage to the other car plus as yet to be determined medical costs for them. This whole thing could end up costing well over 100K for the guy...is it worth it to drive something cool?

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

Ok point taken, but I havent been in a accident sense I was rear ended on the Golden Gate bridge in 1985! And that fact is no accident!

My insurance agent told me that I was covered for ANY car that I drive. Shouldnt that cover THEIR car and issues?


TB


Happy new year!

 

[cruiser_guy]

[quote author=stevek link=board=21;threadid=9209;start=msg82947#msg82947 date=1072928363]
What if the damage is not to your car? John didnt claim anything on the D110 (posed as a SIII 109) but did have close to 5K in body damage to the other car plus as yet to be determined medical costs for them. This whole thing could end up costing well over 100K for the guy...is it worth it to drive something cool?
[/quote]

I'm still with HJZ60-Guy,
If he wasn't driving his Land Rover he'd have been driving something else. Driving an illegally imported vehicle is not going to make the other parties injuries any worse. It would be different if the vehicle was unsafe in some way like bad brakes, but then you'd be a dumb ass for driving it in even if it was legally imported