Just Thought You'd Want to Know (2 Viewers)

[Callahan Offroad]

I (being the obsessive learner that I am) was doing some research on importation of vehicles from Canada to the United States. I was just curious what it would take to get a hj60 or hj61 here.

Well as long as your Land Cruiser was manufactured from 88-06, you can legally import them to the US under a pre-existing import eligibility number. Which makes the process much much easier.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/

Just thought it was interesting, so I shared.

 

[CruiserHappy]

Living in Washington, I went and asked at the DMV. If it is over 25 years old and you have a title, good to go. Plus no smog!

 

[american psycho]

That is great information.

Has anyone tried this out?

I wonder if the HZJ-81s fit in this scheme...

 

[Callahan Offroad]

Living in Washington, I went and asked at the DMV. If it is over 25 years old and you have a title, good to go. Plus no smog!

I was under the impression that was the case too (I thought it was 20 years). This is from the federal govt's NHTSA and they regulate the importing and exporting stuff. They actually explicitly state that nothing over 25 years old can be imported. But that being said, they also state that it is specifically a state-by-state issue also:

"NHTSA is not responsible for regulating the operation of motor vehicles on public roads in the U.S. or for titling or registering motor vehicles for such operation. That is instead the responsibility of the individual States. Some States may require a manufacturer's certificate of origin (MCO) or manufacturer's statement of origin (MSO) to register a new motor vehicle. These are not federally required documents. NHTSA, therefore, is not in a position to offer guidance to prospective vehicle manufacturers or vehicle purchasers on obtaining a needed MCO or MSO. Consumers with questions regarding these documents should direct those questions to their State’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Prospective manufacturers seeking guidance on obtaining MCO or MSO documents should contact the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) at 703-522-4201 or visit that organization's website at http://www.aamva.org."

 

[Callahan Offroad]

That is great information.

Has anyone tried this out?

I wonder if the HZJ-81s fit in this scheme...

According to the nhtsa it falls under catagory: VSP-218 so they should be okay to import.

 

[Granite Grinder]

Oh Oh, The Americans are going to sweep in and start relieving us Canucks of our cherished diesels… the horror, the horror

 

[Callahan Offroad]

Oh Oh, The Americans are going to sweep in and start relieving us Canucks of our cherished diesels… the horror, the horror

Well for me it gives me incentive to go to Vancouver, watch the Blues beat the Canucks, drink some good beer, pick up a diesel 60 or 80 series, and "borrow" some of the better hockey players for the american teams while i'm there

 

[Granite Grinder]

A Blues fan in Colorado, you must be popular at pubs!
I don't think team USA needs much help from Canada, damn good team
All you might have for a truck by the time you drive it home is a chassis, once you knock the rust off, at least the 60 series (other than JDM) the 80 series fair much better

 

[philthyphil]

Since we're on a tangent here...

I am a Blues fan and lived in CO for 12 years (Durango, GJ, Denver). Won a Ray Bourque jersey (raffle at a pub right after the game) when the Avalanche eliminated the Blues from the playoffs 10+ years ago, while wearing my Blues jersey... Sold it for $150 before I got my ass kicked... Nobody else saw the humor...

 

[Trapper50cal]

Since we're on a tangent here...

I am a Blues fan and lived in CO for 12 years (Durango, GJ, Denver).

So you're the other one...Blair Johnson and you. (Durango)

 

[polarweasel]

According to the nhtsa it falls under catagory: VSP-218 so they should be okay to import.

Incorrect, because they are right-hand drive. The 1990-1996 Land Cruiser entry on the November 2013 eligibility list (from this page) is for left-hand drive vehicles. NHTSA specifically calls this out on the first page of that list:

All eligibility numbers are for left-hand drive motor vehicles except where the initials "RHD," signifying right- hand drive, appear in the model type column. While there is no specific restriction on importing a right-hand drive vehicle, these may not be imported under eligibility decisions based on the existence of substantially similar U.S.-certified left-hand drive vehicles.

Also, your interpretation that NHTSA prohibits importation of vehicles over 25 years old isn't quite correct. They don't prohibit it; they don't regulate it. EPA and customs, on the other hand, would still like to talk, but all they want is a bit of your money.

A vehicle 25 years or older is really easy to import into the US. Younger than that, and you'd better be damn sure you know what you're doing before you bring it to the border.

Alex

 

[Spudman]

So does that mean we as in (Australians) got it right again bring in anything you like left or right hand drive, we don't care the more the merrier

 

[Granite Grinder]

So does that mean we as in (Australians) got it right again bring in anything you like left or right hand drive, we don't care the more the merrier

I'd say yes, but if you want drive around with a 6" suspension lift or a SOA it might be a bit more challenging. Not that I know first hand, just don't see a lot of heavily modified LC's from down under on MUD. Not a lot of rigs with 40"+ tires, again, not that I have any real world experience. But I have heard that the Gov't is pretty tough on vehicle modifications. I'm sure an Aussie can chime in…

New car dealers in Canada would like nothing more than to stop the importation of anything they can't make money on and they are a large lobby group, including RHD (or especially)

Sorry for the hijack (off)

 

[Callahan Offroad]

Incorrect, because they are right-hand drive. The 1990-1996 Land Cruiser entry on the November 2013 eligibility list (from this page) is for left-hand drive vehicles. NHTSA specifically calls this out on the first page of that list:



Also, your interpretation that NHTSA prohibits importation of vehicles over 25 years old isn't quite correct. They don't prohibit it; they don't regulate it. EPA and customs, on the other hand, would still like to talk, but all they want is a bit of your money.

A vehicle 25 years or older is really easy to import into the US. Younger than that, and you'd better be damn sure you know what you're doing before you bring it to the border.

Alex

Interesting. I had no idea the diesels were all RHD.
Again, I'm open to learning

 

[eknight]

So does that mean we as in (Australians) got it right again bring in anything you like left or right hand drive, we don't care the more the merrier

I was hoping to show you how there are more auto-related deaths in Aus per capita than the US, but I can't because the stats don't support it! We're pretty close, but you Aussies take all the marbles by a couple %(Queen's percentage, not metric)

USA regulators: TAKE NOTICE!
-as an aside, I'm sure some of you have heard about a dude here in Wilmington, NC who has gotten into quite a bit of trouble for improperly importing Land/Range Rovers recently. Seems he was taking too many Grey Market liberties--but I still can't figure out how he would have gotten them through customs without the proper documentation. We have a good sized port (for its size) here, so I suppose he was chummy with the officers or something.

Well, since my attempts at poking fun at Aus were dashed by facts and statistics, I'll have to resort to this: ALL BLACKS!!!