Importing, Letter from TOYOTA??

[girraffe]

Ok, I am in Japan right now and own a HDJ81V. I read through the importing section and did not find anything that answers my question. I am beginning to research bringing my truck back to TEXAS. I have contacted a NHTSA Registered Importer in Houston. They told me to get the letter from Toyota that specifies that the RHD version will adhere to the same FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARDS as the LHD version and they will do the rest. Sooo... I called Toyota USA and they would not give me a letter; they said that they couldn't do it because they have no way of comparing the two versions. BS-I think... My question is: Has anyone actually been able to get a hold of one of these letters?? Could I get one from Toyota Japan?

 

[d0ubledown]

in the US, i thought vehicles had to be minimum of 25 years before they're eligible to import?

 

[_Walker_]

you should be able to get one from Toyota Japan (that says it complies with Japanese requirements, recalls etc), however it will likely be in Japanese so you will have to get a licensed translator make a copy for US authroties.
Also from my understanding it has to be 25 years or older to go state side...

I was not aware of there being a requirement for a letter stating LHD/RHD compliance (however Iv done very little with US import, primarily Canadian.)
So not knowing the full story, something sounds a tad fishy to me with their request, leading me to the conclusion they haven't done one of THESE before.... IF indeed the LHD/RHD letter is BS then id say find another importer.

PPS Iv heard of people making friends with someone at a dealership and getting a letter that way, printed on letterhead.... maybe something to look into....

 

[Pogue]

its not a LH or RH problem but a crash test and JDM lights do not meet U.S. standards and a lot of other tiny yet very expensive things to fix and toyota will fight you every step of the way form what i have heard.

 

[girraffe]

Thats ok. I have enough time to figure this out, so any more help/verification is greatly appreciated. Also I looked up this page http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/elig010807.pdf Which contains a list of non conforming vehicles that are eligible for importation. This page says that you either need the manufacturer letter or if manufacturer will not give a letter the vehicle can be crash tested and if test results are approved the vehicle can be imported. If my summed up version is wrong please let me know.

P.S. I will be talking to a couple of my Japanese repair shop buddies soon. Also, how do you tell if you lights are US approved? I was told that if they have the circle around the "E" and number they are approved. is that wrong?

 

[Pogue]

You have to supply three vehicles for the gov. to destroy and if they pass you get to keep the fourth. Again, this is very expensive and even then the fourth will have to meet all of the lighting standards and being a diesel it will probably have to meet California emissions to come in unless you can get it directly here to Texas, where we really don't care about those things.

 

[Pogue]

Also as far as grey market you can import the truck as parts if you pull and ship the drivetrain separately. It is not considered a vehicle that way and is not subject to any regulations. But you can't register it here unless you reassmble it on a U.S. chassis.

 

[girraffe]

Yeah I've thought about that. Hmmm... Anyone with experience importing a 1hd-t with A442F? Not changing my plans yet. Just building up some options.

 

[cruiser_guy]

You can get lhd lights and all that sort of thing. They've been doing it in Canada for the last 4-5 years at least. Sometimes it even comes down to separating the lens, which is the offending part, from both the RHD and a junker LHD and replacing the LHD lens on the RHD light.

There are LHD HDJ81's in Central America.

 

[d0ubledown]

...or you can move to canada and import them legally haha.

 

[Tapage]

I'm not clear in the hole picture .. but here are a few members that have non 25 old Cruisers legaly in US .. how .?

 

[roscoFJ73]

I'm not clear in the hole picture .. but here are a few members that have non 25 old Cruisers legaly in US .. how .?

One way is to have a wife with dual citizenship of a country with good cruisers

 

[girraffe]

Im not too worried about the LHD/RHD issue or emissions-TEXAS. When i talked to toyota USA they told me that driver side doesnt matter-The biggest issue is the SAFETY STANDARDS. Did anyone read the NHTSA llink i posted? So i guess i need to figure out what designates US approved seats, seatbelts, doors and lights. any comments/suggestions???

 

[Pogue]

I would contact a registered importer either here or there as someone probably has a letter from toyota on file and could help with at least a list of things that need to be done to make it eligible.

 

[coldtaco]

Did you read the threads dealing with importing a vehicle? All the answers are there. You can import a younger than 25 yrs old vehicle, you just have to go with a RI or I forget the other thing and they have to make sure that the vehicle meets all applicable Federal DOT and EPA requirements for that model year. This is the expensive part, especially for a diesel. Lot's of Mercedes G wagens where imported this way, but hardly any diesels as this really increased the costs. Last time i checked there was only one EPA approved emissions testing station for diesels and it was in Michigan. If you are the first to import a specific model vehicle and go through all the hoops, like crash one or two, you get the rights to import that specific model, but again, you need to figure out the costs to do all of this and then see how many vehicles you would have to sell states side and for the price you need to recoop the costs and will you be able to sell these? As far as the HDJ-81 is concerned, I don't think you would have much problems with the DOT requirments like head lights and safety stuff as they are both equiped the same stuff. It will just take finding the right contractor to do the work. The problem and hard part will be the diesel getting it past the EPA requirement. By the way, Any imported vehicle has to meet ALL Federal EPA requirements before getting the stamp of approvel, no matter what state you will be registering it in to get it out of "quarantine". Anyways, long story short, you need to find a contractor that will work with you and it will cost you money. Then there are all the back door ways that people have figured out.

 

[Tapage]

One way is to have a wife with dual citizenship of a country with good cruisers

Mmm let me see, my wife it's from Spain, but she have a sister in Australia !

For the lights, all they are for RHD so have the RHD light pathern. In a Mot thread time agoo I remember see the diference with the LHD pathern ..

 

[d0ubledown]

Did you read the threads dealing with importing a vehicle? All the answers are there. You can import a younger than 25 yrs old vehicle, you just have to go with a RI or I forget the other thing and they have to make sure that the vehicle meets all applicable Federal DOT and EPA requirements for that model year. This is the expensive part, especially for a diesel. Lot's of Mercedes G wagens where imported this way, but hardly any diesels as this really increased the costs. Last time i checked there was only one EPA approved emissions testing station for diesels and it was in Michigan. If you are the first to import a specific model vehicle and go through all the hoops, like crash one or two, you get the rights to import that specific model, but again, you need to figure out the costs to do all of this and then see how many vehicles you would have to sell states side and for the price you need to recoop the costs and will you be able to sell these? As far as the HDJ-81 is concerned, I don't think you would have much problems with the DOT requirments like head lights and safety stuff as they are both equiped the same stuff. It will just take finding the right contractor to do the work. The problem and hard part will be the diesel getting it past the EPA requirement. By the way, Any imported vehicle has to meet ALL Federal EPA requirements before getting the stamp of approvel, no matter what state you will be registering it in to get it out of "quarantine". Anyways, long story short, you need to find a contractor that will work with you and it will cost you money. Then there are all the back door ways that people have figured out.

...and at that point, you're better off finding a high mileage but mechanically sound 80, and doing a swap. either way..its not gonna be easy and is going to require some dolla dollahs..

 

[joshoisasleep]

...and at that point, you're better off finding a high mileage but mechanically sound 80, and doing a swap. either way..its not gonna be easy and is going to require some dolla dollahs..

Sounds like a good idea. Remove the drivetrain and import the two separately in the same container. There's a guy on here who seems to be able to find working 80's for $400 a piece. Swap your drivetrain, mint seats, factory extras etc. into one of those... home free with a parts car and you're LEFT HAND DRIVE. That's worth the work alone... there's a bazillion RHD HDJ80's on Vancouver Craigslist, but no lefties. Plus you can export freely if you ever want because technically it's now US manufacture.

Either that or go the cheap, simple, and sketchy route... ship it into Canada, don't import it to Canada (i think you can do this and just say it's for parts), do the ole ghetto VIN swap with yer junker 80 and Uship it home for $600.

 

[rchalmers3]

There's a guy on here who seems to be able to find working 80's for $400 a piece.

Who da guy and where's he fishing for these??? US? Central America? South America???

Please direct me to how you spotted him.

I could use a half dozen of the trucks at that price!

Rick

 

[d0ubledown]

Either that or go the cheap, simple, and sketchy route... ship it into Canada, don't import it to Canada (i think you can do this and just say it's for parts), do the ole ghetto VIN swap with yer junker 80 and Uship it home for $600.

you forgot about the part where if you get caught or get into an accident, your vehicle most probably wont be covered, and will get impounded. and you can probably go to jail...

no..not that big a risk at all!