I'm living in japan right now but i'm moving back to the states and need some info on importing a car from japan. if you know anything about it let me know, or if you know of a website thats cool too.

 

are you in the military or know someone that is stationed in japan? because i believe they are allowed to ship back one vehicle or something....if not its pretty difficult b/c you have to get it inspected for legal use in the states and prove that its crashworthy. Plus i believe in Florida you can only drive the thing for one year before you have to ship it back or take it off the roads..somethin like that.

I'd call the DMV and ask them first.

 

mark at titan was in the military stationed in japan

hence he was able to import the car

taka was not able to register more than the one car, which had to be shipped back after 1 year anyways.

 

This is nearly impossible unless you have a ton of money.

 

If you are military, you must ship a car over to Japan to be able to ship one back. If you did ship a car over to Japan, then you know that you must own the vehicle 2-3 years in Japan before you are allowed to sell it to a Japanese National. If you didn't ship one over, then your shit out of luck. Everybody says you can ship ot back as "Household Goods", but I have yet to meet anybody that was successful with that.

If you are not Military, and are NOT an american citizen, then you are allowed to ship 1 car to the USA for 1 year for personal use, and you CAN NOT sell the car, it must be deported or destroyed.

If you are an American citizen, then you can pay to ship it to the USA.

Regardless of whether or not you are Military, the car must be bonded for 1.5x the value of the vehicle. You must pay import duties (taxes) and storage fees. The car MUST be on the Approved Importation list, and must be converted to conform to US spec prior to being released to you. For this, you will need a R.I. (registered Importer) and an ICI (for emmisions testing). after all that, it will still be impounded for awhile...from shipping till delivery to your driveway= up to 6 months or more, and thousands in costs.

There are other "ways", but these are either illegal, or are heavily restricted.

Also, be sure to de-register the car in JApan, and MAKE SURE the japanese title is in your name.

Hope this helps. I've researched this subject greatly...and I know just about every restriction and regulation by heart (and I know how people try to get around them). I myself wanted to ship a car back from Misawa Japan back in 1995. I lived in Japan for 2 yearsr.

Charles

 

Try tearing dowon the car and shipping "parts" then put it back together on this side.
or something to that effect.
or just ship the most important parts like the engine, suspension pieces, front clip, things of that nature
i know this has nothing to do with your question