importing silvia s13

[ace004]

hey, Im I was thinking about importing an silvia k to Wa state. I dont know alot about cars and I hope you guys can help me on this I heard you have to do something like replace cat and manafold befor you can even get it released to you in the states.
Is that true? If so what all would i have to do to the thing. also i have a hookup so i dont have to pass emissions. I really need to know all the expenses i will have to dish out befor looking into this any further

[RBS14]

Car=$3,500
Shipping=$2,000
Customs fees=$1,000-3,000

Never being able to register it in the U.S.=Priceless!

[Kookaburraz]

You don't know anything about cars, so why do you want to import a Silvia? JDM and popular? Cool man, have fun driving it around your back yard.

[Strider]

Originally posted by RBS14
Never being able to register it in the U.S.=Priceless!

Not true, if you have a hook up on emissions. Getting it registerd in the US, should be a lot easier for you. Depending if you want to do it the dishonest way. All you have to do is get it registered, and when you do register it as a USDM 240sx. Don't tell them its a JDM car else you screwed. And when the insurance asks, you tell them its a "show car" which explains it having a new motor and it being RHD. I don't know exact details but thats an overal summary. Anyone else want to add anything?

[Kookaburraz]

Yeah, you need a VIN. Are you going to be buying another 240 just to take the VIN off of?

[mrmephistopheles]

Originally posted by Kookaburraz
Yeah, you need a VIN. Are you going to be buying another 240 just to take the VIN off of?

Which happens to be *kinda* illegal, and may have you ending up in a federal "pound-me-in-the-ass" prison.

[Kookaburraz]

Of course.

[TheBigFatSnail]

Car=$3,500
Shipping=$2,000
Customs fees=$1,000-3,000

Never being able to register it in the U.S.=Priceless!

Thats some funny shi+, lol ! !

[misnomer]

Classy :P

This topic has been beat to death, but keeps coming for more. You have to envy it's tenacity

Anyhow, yes there are ways to register it, but they are either waaaaaaaay expensive (see what was need d to get skylines. . . ) or significantly illegal. Fraud never looks good on your criminal record. . .

Check with your DMV. Some states might be more lax than others. All in all seems like way too much work to get an otherwise cheap car (240sx).

[andrave]

I'm not completely sure what the point would be... it'd be easier to get your stuff and do the conversion to a regular usdm lhd car, cause then you would have all your documentation....

[ace004]

thanx for the info. see to me i think importing a jdm car would be cheaper then doing the swap on a 240 am i wrong?
Car 3500
frontclip 2500
jdm front end 1000
and having a shop doing all of it is probably gonna cost alot.
and if your gonna do the sr20det swap you might aswell do the r20det swap instead which then i have to have a drivline made and all that other **** so what seems to be the better situation? seeing that i dont have to pass emissions. it looks like jdm to me so i guess i just have to call the dmv and find a way to register it also i need more info on the VIN

[andrave]

dude I have no idea what you just said. "if you are going to swap blah then You might as well swap rb20?"
why?
an RB20det is actually cheaper than an sr20 right now, if you check the prices at venus. It doesn't require the instense fabrication that people seem to think.
and, if you swap an rb20det into a 240sx, its not a silvia. its a bastard child.

Something to think about if you are going for cheap:
right now, you could come up to morgantown, WV, to unique motors and get a 240sx (89) with 214k, a good chassis, and a coulple dents (front end needs a little attention) and an automatic for 995. thats the damn sticker price, I'm sure he would come down.

You could then buy a ca18det (which came in silvias for 2 years) full front clip for 1500 from venus auto (hundreds less if you can get a shop to order it for you) and then you could get the silvia front end from the group buy forum for something like 900 plus shipping.
do the math, if you do the work yourself (you and your friends can handle this) you have, at worst:
995 for the car
1500 for the clip
900 for the conversion
add 500 or so for shipping and you have the major stuff for 4000 or so.

[drift freaq]

quote....
[thanx for the info. see to me i think importing a jdm car would be cheaper then doing the swap on a 240 am i wrong?
Car 3500
frontclip 2500
jdm front end 1000
and having a shop doing all of it is probably gonna cost alot.
and if your gonna do the sr20det swap you might aswell do the r20det swap instead which then i have to have a drivline made and all that other **** so what seems to be the better situation? seeing that i dont have to pass emissions. it looks like jdm to me so i guess i just have to call the dmv and find a way to register it also i need more info on the VIN]

ok, lets get some things straight here. By the time you get the car here after purchasing , import duties if you bring it in legally , otherwise it will be hid in the back of a container, read : ILLEGAL! Going through all the other hassles , you will have spent as much time, money and effort or more than you would have just buying a car here and getting a swap done. On top of that buying a car here means the car itself will be legal. Your engine swap technically will never be legal be it SR , CA , RB even KA Turbo. To correct you from above there is no R20det and I would assume you meant a RB20 . Well that my friend is going to cost you more time than a SR swap.
Saying since you are going for a SR swap you might as well just do a RB swap is a very misinformed statement.
You need to sit back read and do more research on this stuff. Plus you can by SR swapped cars here already for under what you would pay someone to bring in a JDM vehicle that will never be legal unless you commit Fraud! Yes thats what switching vin plates is. Its a lot worse than having a swapped motor in your car if you get caught.
They throw people in jail for that stuff . Swapped motors get fined at most and have to put a stock engine back in.
YOu can get a SR for $2300 a silvia front end for $1000 . Have the SR installed for $1500 thats a total of $4800 and putting on a silvia front end can be done in your back yard its not that hard. If you are going to do that stuff anyways you do not need to buy a car for $3500 . You could buy one with a almost dead KA for $1000-$1500 hmmmm that would put your total at around $6k
hahahhahaha cheaper and less headaches than trying to be a JDM vehicle and trying to get it registered.
Plus if you are really that desperate for a swapped car I could sell you one ha .
$8-9K with the Silvia front and SR installed ready to go.
$5500-7000 with a SR conversion.
Do the math your better off buying a car off me. Oh ya and if you want ask Yoshi, he will tell you.

[the head]

i don't know about washington but look into kit car registration i know a few people to get JDM cars registered that way

another think to think about if you don't know about cars who is going to repair this car of yours and how are you going to get the parts you need when (not if) **** goes awry with the car if they are not readly available in the U.S.

Search is your friend