xr-stu

anyone know the craic? as far as taxation/import duties, regestering, testing etc etc goes?

any help would be ace!

foreigneRS

don't know much except that they have to have reflectors on the sides, different lights etc. don't know if used cars have to have ABS and the same emissions standards that new cars do.

american

The United States of America is a large country. It contains 50 individual "states", each state has its own set of rules regarding importation. Some states do not have MOT or air quality regulations. Some states have very strict rules and standards. If the vehicle is less than 15 years old then I would say, if its not sold in the USA already....then its not going to be legal for importation. Special exemptions can be made for "museum/collectors/race" vehicles. Generally, the older the vehicle, the easier it is.

1. what vehicle?
2. where is it going to be located?
3. what year?

xr-stu

ive been able to find some info and seems fucking complicated. im just trying to find out for curiosity sake as im considering moving there later in the year and A. would like to take my fiesta over there (1989, only a handful of standard original parts though) and B. ive noticed how much landrover defenders seem to sell for over there, and would like to import the odd one or two to sell and make a profit if i move over there.

would be looking at aprox 1995-2005 models, either diesels or V8s, both i imagine would fly through the emisions retrictions. they'll be imported into california and then sold potentially nationally, to any state.

going to contact a few ICIs when im over there in a couple of weeks on holiday and see if they have any experience with the defenders and know what needs to be done to bring them up to scratch regards the 'bumper' standards/legislation.

american

California? Good luck trying to get any answers from customs or the DMV. CA is the hardest place in the USA to register a "normal" car, Honda swaps are practically illegal now.

1. The Landrover Defender was sold here, not with a diesel. The reason was that the diesel motor was not clean enough for 50 state certification. Anything after 1996 will require OBD elctronics, do they have this? You might be better off selling parts or trying the "kit car" route.
The "kit car" route will require documentation of build, pictures, reciepts and time....lots of it.

2. Diesel is almost $5.00 a gallon here. You can't give away diesels now and forget about chip fat conversions. They exsist but most Americans couldn't be bothered to do the work to convert it.

3. The fiesta, with the motor swap. Very unlikey as well.

foreigneRS

if moving to california, i would just buy a convertible and a bike local and chill out and just enjoy everything

xr-stu

the new diesels are much better than the old oilburners of the 90s though, id imagen they have a better chance, ill look into what the figures are anyway.

what do you mean by obd electronics? seeing as some defenders were imported by LR in 97 i guess theyll be alright in whatever this is?

i cant find figures for the diesels fuel econemy but i cant see it being to bad, 25mpg+ id guess.

might be impractical/impossible by the sounds of it but worth looking into a bit more. theres low millage 1997 defenders with all the toys going for $60-$70k on ebay!!! thats Ł10k worth of car over here!

xr-stu

thats the plan but ive spent ages building the fiesta and dont want to sell it for pennies or spend 6 month breaking it

american

I understand the levels of emissions, that's not the problem though. You can't get approval for a motor that wasn't offered for sale by USA dealers. Since no diesel Landrovers were ever sold, you can't get a CARB certification for that motor.

The Defenders that were sold here were sold with petrol motors. They sold for $50,000 back in the 90's. Very few were sold, that's why you see $70K examples on Ebay.

OBD, is "On Board Diagnostics". There are two versions OBD1 and OBD2. This system was put in place to assist mechanics in problem solving, engine tuning and emissions certification. Any vehicle sold after 1996 has either of those two systems. Again, the OLDER the vehicle. The easier it is to get certification/importation.

foreigneRS

OBD is the universal On Board Diagnostics system that was developed so that anybody, not just main dealers for that manufacturer can access information from the ECU using standard equipment to read and rectify fault codes etc

google OBD and OBD II

xr-stu

is there not like a way of getting the cars emissions checked over there and certified that its below the maximum 'smog' limit or whatever they call it?

although a very simple way round this problem is just to import only vehicles with the 3.9/4.0 V8 or whatever was fitted to the US spec defender when they were sold?


lets make things easier (maybe). what if i wanted to import a 1995-1997 (or whatever the years are they were sold in the USA) V8 defender, same model essentially as was sold back in the 90's. i realise that there may be some differences in the bumpers, reflectors, indicators or whatever, but you would assume the emissions would be the same, or near enough (maybe remap required?) and itd be possible to get one through that side of things with minimal agro?

foreigneRS

what about the minor issue of the steering wheel being on the wrong side? or are you importing from europe?

captiva

I think you might be "barking up the wrong tree" as the NA Defender was specifically built for North America and had things like a roll cage and relocated fuel tank (inboard) so forget about it as I have imported Defenders in to Canada and I ran a Land Rover dealership. Here in Canada the only L Rovers allowed in are NA Defenders and ones that are 15 yrs old. As a general rule they have to be 25 yrs old to get in to the states. People get others in and change the VIN number and paperwork to match but if you are caught look out as they will make you export it immediately or they will cut it up in front of you and you have no claim to the parts

xr-stu

ive seen a fair few lhd V8s for sale so that wouldnt be an issue.


captiva, thanks for that, piss on my picnic why dont you nah seriously, thanks, i didnt realise there'd be so many mods. it did seem to good to be true, and obviously is. you have to look into these things though eh!