6G Celicas Forums

ship it as parts, take the wheels, doors, hatch, and whatever else that does not really matter, (I have wheels, doors and a hatch I would be more then happy to put on a gt-4.)

or yeah just get it in though canada, and drive yours up, swap in canada drive it down, and then fly up and drive yours back down.it would just take some good talking. well it woudl be that easy for me bacuse my car just went though the state inspection when I put the new motor in it, so I have all the papor work that says it was fixed for being totaled including the state sticker (inside the door) that shows that proof, all that is needed is to swap vins, then swap them back. and be shure to use separate boarder gate going accross.

I've been flirting with the idea of importing the GT4 GODESS as well for the past few years, and the deeper I dig, the more things I find out. For instance, even the glass would need to be changed (if someone noticed it ) because it's not "DOT"approved. But relatively speaking I've gotten quotes to import the car ,, wheels off! for (car 4500 usd, shipping 1100 usd, bonding/taxing/holding fees and someother little things for around another 800 to 1000 usd.. )total estimated 6300 to 6500 usd.... not modified to be street leagal at that price though! Sooo,, I've just to decided to keep saving and cross that bridge when I get to it:),, or buy one already here for the right price:) Less head ache for me.

how about just inporting it and regerting it as a custom .. but then u can only drive it like once a week...

I don't get it
how come it's "easier" to get a GT-Four in Canada?

the highway act up here isn't exactly lax and i don't see why shipping to Vancouver is any different than shipping to Cali

technically it is legal to import gt four on basis of it being a show car and strictly offroad. What I am going to do is find a gt-4 that is preferably lhd and just put tags and vins off my current celi on it. I mean I am goint to give it a major facelift anyways with bodykit and all so 99999/100000 cops would not notice a visible difference. Also I will most likely take care of odometer readings in case it is mandatory to show it to customs every so often.

for inspection i got this guy who guarantees a pass no matter what for a low cost of $90

Well actually, if you can get a lhd one in and just swap VIN's. You can just leave it the way it is cause everyone will think it has a bodykit anyways. You can always get a rhd one and convert to lhd though.

RHD or LHD won't make a difference both are legal in the states

its the fact that the gt4 was never tested by DOT and was never crash/safty approved

The shop that did my swap has done a lot of research on importing whole cars, they were thinking of doing it legally then selling them. They said the best way to do it if a version of the car exists in the states is to get the jdm car cut in half and ship the front cut on one boat and the back on another and then just put everything from the two cuts onto the us car. I guess you avoid tons of fees and problems with customs by doing it this way

is al this really worth the work? i think it would be freakin cheaper to have some one rent a plane and fly it her personally lol

i have to say this ..

i spent all day weds driving a RHD mr2 which is titled, and registered here in states . now he didn't do it but paid a shop a lot of money to get it legal and when i looked at it all they did was swap a US vin on it (dash) , and install USDM sunvisors otherwise car is pure JDM .. he got super ripped off on fees but oh well ..

it has been fully inspected by cop shop inside and out ..with zero issues and he has been pulled over 5 or 6 times and RHD was never an issue ..

the vin wasn't even welded to spot under dash it was just stuck on there ..

i am not saying do a VIN swap but he has been driving car around for almost 3 years without issue and even drove across the US .. We even stopped to talk to sheriff at lunch in parking lot as has known him for years ..

cops even said cool set up when he got pulled over ..

there is no DOT police .. you just can't be a total dumbass when owning JDM CAR.

the other guy with red GT4 has had zero issues with his car and he has it for almost 2 years ..

Most cops could care less as long as vin checks out and matches that car they could give a hoot about rhd ..

again not saying breaking the law at all but once car is in US and car was brought in as parts or listed as parts then DOT could careless about it ..

any dreams of a fully legal (with jdm number) US GT4 is just that a dream unless you can do it as kit car .. or can wait 15 more years ...

i could give mine up for enough money

its lhd

Tempting.... very tempting...

I have also thought about that....flying over there by plane then buying the car..then coming back here with a transit (on a boat or something)..but guess it is not that easy (customs)

how much?

they arnt hard to find nor are they that expensive its just getting the leaglized DOT on the road thats the issue guys

since i live in canada and laws here looks to be less stricts than those in US...I think the best way is to wait til a 6gc GT-Four becomes a "collector's car" (15 years+ old)

in 4 years , '94 GT4 will be fully legalize to import here better find a LHD in france maybe....

Im wondering where's cheaper to buy one from a country who has LHD

If you wanna be exact, some will be legal in late 2008 (those cars that were produced in late 1993 but were 1994 models). I'm definitely planning to get one.

i can get around 21-23k $ for it here in Iceland hehe

but then the dollar is very low at the moment.

a new STi costs around 60k $ here

This post has been edited by ParaNoiD: May 13, 2005 - 4:58 PM

ok going back to our conversation. There is a good saying: Nothing is impossible and I usually live by it. It is a matter of figuring out how to beat the system because the house does not always win.
Fact is that any country will gladly let you through their port but then in US they are cranky about those things.

Some say that shipping gt-4 in parts is the best option. How do you take a big vehicle like that and ship it here? Taking engine out will guarantee the entrance in us unless they find contaminants (ie bugs and other alien plant/animal species) they you are totally screwed.

So the question stays: where does one need to go to send the car out or where does one go here so that the agency would take care of it for you.

I personally find it a better solution if you drag your shiney hiney to the country where you bought it from (ie UK-just an example because ports are right there). You then buy the vehicle (obviously that might take time, but i spotted at least 12 on UK ebay so if one is desperate he'll buy one asap). You then take the car to a mechanic and tell him to take the engine out. Next step still eludes me for I am not sure exactly how the car must be packaged, whether it is in a container or whatever. Either way now you have 2 pieces and somehow you need to "transport" them to the port, have them packaged (i guess or put in a container). BTW at this step it would be a good idea to send it to 2 different addresses to 2 different names, so that us customs wont give you problems associated with it. As the car is shipped and as the engine is shipped you fly back, go to customs in US (have no idea where they are at but whatever). You then need to have your car inspected and if they ask you where is the engine.. you better come up with a believable excuse (remember at this step it is crucial they let is slide so being world's greatest liar would be beneficial). Same thing with engine (suppose your friend picks it up). Now later steps are easy however there is a catch. I dont know how the cops are in your area but in NJ cops can pull you over for anything and can impound your car if they suspect anything. So LHD would definetly save you there. All gt-4 tags, vins, signs, other fancy shmancy identifiable stuff must come off. You then take your celi, strip the st/gt/celica/toyota, stick it on gt4, remove vin (just in case) and replace it with your car (must be a hatchback, unless you can find gt4 coupe, which i dont think there are any), swap licence plate and store your US version of celi in your backyard, burry it, cover it, whatever, as long as it does not hit the junk yards, where they have to register the vins with us gov-t, and clearly you dont want that. Now the trick is to do that without going over reasonable price.
3sgte swapped st204 =/=awd st205 so that is why we are having this conversation.

I think if I could fit into $12K I would go for it. tickets+mechanic+transport+shipment+taxes+transport+mechanic

There are occasions that I do like living in the UK........this post has made me realise this

Richard