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Oh Man!!! If only it wasn't export only....
- Thread starter murphthelab
- Start date
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whoops i didnt read the requirements. export it to england then import it back.
This car was built in Japan and does not have specs required for use in the USA, and therefore CANNOT be used here. CANADA is also excluded due to its close proximity with USA
thats BS, where the heck was my truck made? Pretty damn sure my vin starts with a J....the whole built in japan makes no reason that its not legal for US but i know why it isnt allowed. still tho.
This car was built in Japan and does not have specs required for use in the USA, and therefore CANNOT be used here. CANADA is also excluded due to its close proximity with USA
thats BS, where the heck was my truck made? Pretty damn sure my vin starts with a J....the whole built in japan makes no reason that its not legal for US but i know why it isnt allowed. still tho.
For those of you not very computer savvy...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0183649356&category0=&fvi=1&item=140183649356
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0183649356&category0=&fvi=1&item=140183649356
emissions, most like it also doesnt have the propper DOT reflectors might not have certain other stupid regulatory things that the US demands.
Anybody else curious why this vehicle is in the US in the first place? The ballistic specs look correct, but the pictures look funny.
Just seems odd.
Just seems odd.
There's a company in Houston (and I'm sure others) that import international spec LC105's, armor them, then export them. How do I know this? Because they bought all the remaining Kaymar tow bumpers from MAF back in early '06 just days before I tried to buy one!
Just because the car is made in Japan doesn't mean it can be imported into the US. There are a bunch of NHTSA/DOT restrictions. Besides abiding by these, the carmaker has to crash test at least one vehicle, etc. The other way is if the carmaker applies for an exemption saying that the safety/emission features are comparable to US-legal import models. Nissan did this with the older Skyline GTR back in the 90's for the right-hand drive. If they do this, it basically sets a precedence so if you do import an identical vehicle (same year, engine, etc.), it's smooth sailing in getting it approved for legal import. There's a list of approved vehicles on one of the NHTSA websites. Last time I looked at it a few years back, the '96 LC was the most recent LC available on the list.
I've looked at the vehicle importation in some detail, as before I bought the LX, I was thinking about importing either a JDM HDJ100/HDJ80 (new JDM HDJ100 was $42K w/ cloth seats and rear diff lock) or HZJ105 and turbo'ing it. To import a vehicle, you have to go through a registered importer. That importer is responsible for the paperwork and making sure the vehicle mods are done. These typically include stuff like getting the VIN plate attached w/ stainless rivets, getting side view mirrors w/ the appropriate markings ("objects are closer than they appear"), replacing the glass/headlights w/ DOT headlights, making sure it has crash impact beams, dual front airbags, etc. Note that the international spec 105's DO NOT have airbags! IIRC, all vehicles after '95 require the bags. Some RI's are fraudulent in that they never file the paperwork or have the mods to the vehicle done. If this happens, the vehicle owner is responsible!! I've heard of cases where vehicles have been confiscated by the feds years later because the RI the owner used never bothered to file the paperwork. There are exemptions for temporary imports (if you are military and will be in the US for only a few months, car shows, etc.) and older vehicles. I can't remember exactly how old, but if a vehicle is like 20 or 30 yrs old, you can import it under the "classic car" restriction, which exempts everything (safety, emissions, etc.). So if you wait long enough, you can import an old vehicle like a BJ40 (if you're gonna do that, you may as well get one of those modified ones w/ the 1JZ twin turbo I/C supra engine or 2UZ engine swaps featured in LC mag for $15-20K.). I imagine another way you could do it is to bring a car in under a temp import, swap the body of your US-spec 100 onto the overseas chassis, put the international spec body on your old chassis, then get it a salvage title (the feds require you to render it inoperable like by cutting the car in half). Problem is the 105 is really a 80 with a 100-looking body on top, so the width is totally different. And if you're gonna go w/ an import, you may as well go all the way and get the LC 78 troopy w/ 4.5L twin turbo and factory snorkel. Who knows how you'll get DOT approved glass for that...probably have to go custom. At either rate, figure $10K+ in mods to get a 105 street legal. Then there are other emission restrictions (like in CA, you can't import a diesel vehicle unless it has some number of thousands of miles on it and you've owned it for so long, etc.)
Just because the car is made in Japan doesn't mean it can be imported into the US. There are a bunch of NHTSA/DOT restrictions. Besides abiding by these, the carmaker has to crash test at least one vehicle, etc. The other way is if the carmaker applies for an exemption saying that the safety/emission features are comparable to US-legal import models. Nissan did this with the older Skyline GTR back in the 90's for the right-hand drive. If they do this, it basically sets a precedence so if you do import an identical vehicle (same year, engine, etc.), it's smooth sailing in getting it approved for legal import. There's a list of approved vehicles on one of the NHTSA websites. Last time I looked at it a few years back, the '96 LC was the most recent LC available on the list.
I've looked at the vehicle importation in some detail, as before I bought the LX, I was thinking about importing either a JDM HDJ100/HDJ80 (new JDM HDJ100 was $42K w/ cloth seats and rear diff lock) or HZJ105 and turbo'ing it. To import a vehicle, you have to go through a registered importer. That importer is responsible for the paperwork and making sure the vehicle mods are done. These typically include stuff like getting the VIN plate attached w/ stainless rivets, getting side view mirrors w/ the appropriate markings ("objects are closer than they appear"), replacing the glass/headlights w/ DOT headlights, making sure it has crash impact beams, dual front airbags, etc. Note that the international spec 105's DO NOT have airbags! IIRC, all vehicles after '95 require the bags. Some RI's are fraudulent in that they never file the paperwork or have the mods to the vehicle done. If this happens, the vehicle owner is responsible!! I've heard of cases where vehicles have been confiscated by the feds years later because the RI the owner used never bothered to file the paperwork. There are exemptions for temporary imports (if you are military and will be in the US for only a few months, car shows, etc.) and older vehicles. I can't remember exactly how old, but if a vehicle is like 20 or 30 yrs old, you can import it under the "classic car" restriction, which exempts everything (safety, emissions, etc.). So if you wait long enough, you can import an old vehicle like a BJ40 (if you're gonna do that, you may as well get one of those modified ones w/ the 1JZ twin turbo I/C supra engine or 2UZ engine swaps featured in LC mag for $15-20K.). I imagine another way you could do it is to bring a car in under a temp import, swap the body of your US-spec 100 onto the overseas chassis, put the international spec body on your old chassis, then get it a salvage title (the feds require you to render it inoperable like by cutting the car in half). Problem is the 105 is really a 80 with a 100-looking body on top, so the width is totally different. And if you're gonna go w/ an import, you may as well go all the way and get the LC 78 troopy w/ 4.5L twin turbo and factory snorkel. Who knows how you'll get DOT approved glass for that...probably have to go custom. At either rate, figure $10K+ in mods to get a 105 street legal. Then there are other emission restrictions (like in CA, you can't import a diesel vehicle unless it has some number of thousands of miles on it and you've owned it for so long, etc.)
There is another place that does the armoring in Ohio. What drives me nuts about the whole thing is they are doing it for the US military. So you take a 105 import it from Japan and then armor it in the States and then send it overseas for the generals and other important people to ride around in. I have a photo of the weight sheets somewhere of what an armored and nonarmored 105 weighs from an Air Force friend. They loaded up a bunch of them. What I think is so strange is why the heck is our US military buying Japanese trucks to armor? Is there nothing good enough in the US? (I already made my comment on that with my purchase) Or is it because they appear to be NATO or Red Cross interntational trucks? The trucks the Air Force is using are 1FZE equipped with 5 speeds.
well one thing i can say is "over there" 100 series parts are much easier to come by if something were to break
I agree the pics look funny (you would expect to see matching colors, and highlights of the armor somewhere) and the eBay account is suspect to say the least. Hijacked?
I used to travel in some armored civilian cars while in the Middle East (Merc E-Class, Land Rover 90) and IMHO the pics there aren't the ones of an armored rig.
I used to travel in some armored civilian cars while in the Middle East (Merc E-Class, Land Rover 90) and IMHO the pics there aren't the ones of an armored rig.
x2. Those look like stock pics. I didn't see any of the gun ports, 39mm glass, overlaps around the doors, etc.
This ebay ad is likely a scam. He apparently does not own this vehicle, but can get it, or have one made, once he gets an order. Just send him $2000 and he will have it made for you, Rigghhtt.
BIG RED FLAGS.
All the manufacturers of armored vehicles sell direct; no middlemen, no dealerships, etc. And anyone who has a used one almost always trades it in to a manufacturer for a new one. The used ones are gone over and then sold, by the manufacturer. But this one apparently is new. No way, and not for 75K; at this level of armoring, B6, the price would be, at the cheapest, $135K, without leather. For a full-up FJ105, B7 level, at least 150K and up and up; I have seen some special ones that cost more than double that.
Absolutely no reason to go through a middleman. This is a scam.
g
BIG RED FLAGS.
All the manufacturers of armored vehicles sell direct; no middlemen, no dealerships, etc. And anyone who has a used one almost always trades it in to a manufacturer for a new one. The used ones are gone over and then sold, by the manufacturer. But this one apparently is new. No way, and not for 75K; at this level of armoring, B6, the price would be, at the cheapest, $135K, without leather. For a full-up FJ105, B7 level, at least 150K and up and up; I have seen some special ones that cost more than double that.
Absolutely no reason to go through a middleman. This is a scam.
g
I agree, and was thinking the same thing when I noticed the pics. If I was shelling out that kind of money, I'd wanna see a pic of the freakin' gun ports for crying out loud!
When my brother was in Iraq this past year, he sent me a bunch of pics of up-armored cruisers in use by contractors and such. This does not look like one. They were mostly all bare-bones 105s. If you want luxury, you buy the armored VX Amazon. I see no reason why the armoring would need to be done stateside, to a USA configured 100 (airbags, etc), with Jankel being right there in Jordan. Then again, there are other places an armored cruiser could come in handy than just the middle east.
Still seems fishy to me.
http://www.ridacars.com/new-19-47.html
theres one
of course, i would need this licence plate if i got one.
theres one
of course, i would need this licence plate if i got one.
there is a company in maryland that does it also but with regards to the post that says why are the importing japan cars to modify when you are there you do not want to stick out; I was in papa new guine and was in a armored 100 there beside the windows and the actual doors you can not tell the truck is armored it very nice and when you are in traffic with black tinited windows (whihc everyone has) you can not pick out the truck.
true
One word...reliability. When lives and livelihoods are on the line, what do people overseas buy? It's either a LC if they can afford it or a hilux diesel pickup.
TGS also offers Toyotas and can outfit them however you want. Some time back, there was a special on anti-personnel mine-proof flooring on the LC. They strip the interior and line it with ballastic cloth. You can also get bulletproof glass or the cheaper riot proof glass, run-flat rims in case someone shoots out your tires, etc.