Quote:
Originally Posted by DETRoadster
Quote:
Originally Posted by Darth One
So you're working with a company that buys the cars from the Japanese auctions, then? Are you sourcing the car from Japan and importing it, or buying a car that's already stateside, has gone through customs, etc?
Would be curious if you would recommend after all's said and done
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Exactly. 1 guy stateside and his business partner in Japan. That's important. You need an outfit that has eyes on the ground so they can scout the best vehicles. They buy at auction but they also buy private party, which is where this one came from.
The van is greater than 25 years old so it can legally be imported and federal crash standards and emissions standards do not apply. STATE standards may still apply so, sorry if you are in CA. In my case in WA state a 25 year old vehicle does not need to go through emissions.
Lots of importers will bring the vehicle in and hand it over to you with a wad of papers that you then take to your DMV and hope to be successful. One of the reasons I went with the guys I wen with is because they have me the van already licensed and registered in their dealer name, in the state of Oregon. So it has an Oregon title and an Oregon registration. For me that means it's a simple transaction at the DMV in WA. That was important as I dont want any headaches.
There's some dudes who are WAY more ballsy then me that will head across the border to Canada where these vans are plentiful and will buy one private party and drive across the border with all the papers. So essentially THEY become the importer. I've read stories from folks who sailed right through and others who hit a particularly nasty border agent and had weeks of headaches.
I'll post up a new thread when I get the van with my experience, but generally speaking I'm paying a premium to not have all those headaches. Speaking of paying, we have a contract that specifies the VIN of the van, what work they will be performing, what work they will not be performing, etc. No money changes hands till I pick the van up, with the exception of a small, contractually refundable, deposit that got the ball rolling. |
Sweet. That's my take too. Buy a car that's already stateside that you can inspect and drive. Works less well if you are looking for something rare and/or very specific, though
I was thinking of an R32 or a mint FD RX7...