Hello all. I just picked up a Nismo R32 through International Vehicle Importers and now they're helping me wade through the registration process but AZ MVD as expected is making for a bunch of hoops to jump through.

Anyone here from Arizona as well who's gone through this process and can tell me what it involved and/or any advice?

I have all the relevant paperwork AFAIK but they're telling me I need some others and a level II inspection. I'm pretty sure the extra paperwork they're asking for isn't needed and doesn't really exist so I'm just interested in what others went through and whether they had the same issues.

Thanks in advance.

I didn't register in Arizona, but I had to give my inspection sheet, export cert, customs paperwork which had the hs7 and the epa one.. forgot the name of it.. after that, they verified my mileage and gave me a title that said odometer mileage unknown, lol.. because it's in km.

i'm not sure what a level 2 inspection sheet differs from a regular inspection sheet.

We're in the same boat - I just got my Pao, and am dealing with the same nonsense. Are you the guy in Yuma?

I'd chalk it up to AZ DMV not being adequately prepared / trained for the 25-year imports.

Let's update this thread as we go, as I intend to do a how-to article once we're all cleared, to hopefully help future owners through the process.

Congrats on the new ride, welcome aboard, and let's see that R32!

syc wrote:I didn't register in Arizona, but I had to give my inspection sheet, export cert, customs paperwork which had the hs7 and the epa one.. forgot the name of it.. after that, they verified my mileage and gave me a title that said odometer mileage unknown, lol.. because it's in km.

i'm not sure what a level 2 inspection sheet differs from a regular inspection sheet.

I have the California bill of sale/transfer doc from IVI, DOT HS-7, export cert (with translation), EPA 3520-1, and a letter from the NHTSA confirming my car is legal and all the Fed papers are originals stamped with the customs release but yeah, they're making me jump through hoops unlike in your case.

The level 2 inspection is an Arizona thing that is supposedly more detailed and done for cars with "foreign history" - usually it's for cars from Mexico so I don't know if that really applies to my car. Gonna have to go back to DMV and see if I can find a supervisor to clear all this up

AZhitman wrote:We're in the same boat - I just got my Pao, and am dealing with the same nonsense. Are you the guy in Yuma?

I'd chalk it up to AZ DMV not being adequately prepared / trained for the 25-year imports.

Let's update this thread as we go, as I intend to do a how-to article once we're all cleared, to hopefully help future owners through the process.

Congrats on the new ride, welcome aboard, and let's see that R32!

Yeah, I'm from Yuma lol. I guess you're the guy IVI mentioned to me that picked up the Pao for Arizona. Small world lol. I didn't get to see that car at their facility so I'm curious what it's like. Cool that someone gave it a good home.

I was thinking the same thing that most of AZ MVD doesn't know what to do with these imports. IVI said I should find a supervisor to talk to so I'm gonna head back on Tuesday to the main MVD office down here. So far the most I've been able to get is a 30-day temp permit from a third party title place so I can at least drive the car legally until this all gets sorted. It's a start I guess

EDIT: Oh yeah, I'll try to post pics today or tomorrow. At work right now lol.

Yep - IVI updated me this morning, the supervisor at the DMV here was just pulling stuff out of her a$$, babbling about "original owner" (like it matters) and needing proof that the car wasn't stolen. <SMH>

She asked me, "Where's the title and bill of sale?" I asked her if she had a title for her toaster - because that's exactly how vehicles are dealt with in other countries.

AZhitman wrote:Yep - IVI updated me this morning, the supervisor at the DMV here was just pulling stuff out of her a$$, babbling about "original owner" (like it matters) and needing proof that the car wasn't stolen. <SMH>

She asked me, "Where's the title and bill of sale?" I asked her if she had a title for her toaster - because that's exactly how vehicles are dealt with in other countries.

Yeah, the concept that Japan doesn't have titles seems to make their mind lock up. I had to explain this to the guy at the title place as well that THERE IS NO JAPANESE TITLE. The Export cert basically states this car is legal for export and no, it's not stolen.

They're going to take our money to register their cars so why can't they just make this process easier for all of us lol?

So, to update - yesterday I went to the main MVD office here in Yuma and the lady at the counter (who actually was helpful) asked me to get a level 1 inspection first which they do on-site with no appointment needed. The level 1 inspector was less helpful and almost immediately said the car needed a level II inspection "in order to confirm the markings that say it is road-legal per NHTSA'. I had to interrupt her explanation to correct her that this car is not subject to that requirement because it's 25 years old hence NHTSA exempts it as stated in form HS-7 that my car has. She didn't seem to believe me but went to talk to her supervisor who confirmed that I was correct however he still said I needed to do the level II inspection because of the whole "of foreign origin" thing. Sounds like a whole lot of "let someone else deal with it" to me.

Therefore now I'm stuck waiting until the 21st for that inspection since that's the soonest available appointment unless someone cancels. And then I may have another fight on my hands because of their stupid insistence on a "bill of sale" from the previous Japanese owner. God, it's amazing this country doesn't degenerate into chaos with all the crazy bureaucracy lol.

You don't need a L2. Bill of Lading = bill of sale. We went through all this.

I forgot to update this thread, but I went in for a L1, took my BOL document, went straight to the counter, got my reg and plates, and am all legal.

If they'd like to contact the supervisor here, she can set them straight. Trish 602-771-2422

AZhitman wrote:You don't need a L2. Bill of Lading = bill of sale. We went through all this.

I forgot to update this thread, but I went in for a L1, took my BOL document, went straight to the counter, got my reg and plates, and am all legal.

If they'd like to contact the supervisor here, she can set them straight. Trish 602-771-2422

Thanks for posting that contact info. I'll try and call her today and see if I can get clarification then go back to DMV next week if she confirms a level II isn't needed. My only issue is that I don't have a bill of lading - IVI explained to me it's because the car was brought in from Canada so no BOL. All my US paperwork is stamped as released by Customs in Washington when the car was brought over and I have a California bill of sale from IVI. I'll see what she says about that.

Oh, and before I forget again - pics lol:





Here's the R32 meeting her younger sister:

Excellent.

Ah. That changes things. Yep, you might be on the hook for some delay.

AZhitman wrote:Excellent.

Ah. That changes things. Yep, you might be on the hook for some delay.

I talked to IVI about it and they said I shouldn't need the bill of lading - my California bill of sale should be enough. I also talked to Trish and she gave me the name for the supervisor at my local DMV and advised me to go back and ask for her by name. She was very helpful so I'm gonna head back on Tuesday and see what they say after I tell them what we talked about.

Excellent. Keep us posted!

Hello my name is sam
I want to apologize for being a noob and yes I have a used the search button but I am in a weird situation. Sorry for thread jacking. I have been interested in skylines since I first saw one in the fast and furious movies. I have investigated into how to import and register a skyline but after all the dead ends I gave up. Finally the 25 year rule came out and now I have a chance.

I have a friend of a friend who bought a 91 r32 gtst from an auction in Canada and some how got it over the border and has sat for many years. He's in a problem and needs money. I can pick it up for a descent price. Only few problems. He has no paperwork absolutely nothing at all. He said he will look but not sure if he has anything. I will be bringing it from the states away to Arizona. I have applied for a bonded title and registered an old truck but obviously it was American origin. Anyone have any idea on how should I go about titling and registering this skyline? Regular mvd (dmv in az) or third party?

Thanks for the help.

Welcome aboard, Sam.

That car won't ever be legal to register, unfortunately. Walk away, unless you intend to use it as a track-only car, and never use it on public roads.

Required reading:
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/the-fa ... tes-1.html
so-you-want-to-buy-a-skyline-in-the-us-t159216.html

SamDili wrote:Hello my name is sam
I want to apologize for being a noob and yes I have a used the search button but I am in a weird situation. Sorry for thread jacking. I have been interested in skylines since I first saw one in the fast and furious movies. I have investigated into how to import and register a skyline but after all the dead ends I gave up. Finally the 25 year rule came out and now I have a chance.

I have a friend of a friend who bought a 91 r32 gtst from an auction in Canada and some how got it over the border and has sat for many years. He's in a problem and needs money. I can pick it up for a descent price. Only few problems. He has no paperwork absolutely nothing at all. He said he will look but not sure if he has anything. I will be bringing it from the states away to Arizona. I have applied for a bonded title and registered an old truck but obviously it was American origin. Anyone have any idea on how should I go about titling and registering this skyline? Regular mvd (dmv in az) or third party?

Thanks for the help.

If you can see how much grief the DMV is giving me over a Skyline with FULL paperwork including letters from the NHTSA saying my specific car is legal I'd walk away from that deal quickly. Even if you can somehow get a title from the local DMV that doesn't mean the Feds won't take issue. People have had their Skylines seized by the Feds for less.

I'm the last person to tell people to not get their dream car but even with the 25 year rule, no paperwork means no luck for you if you want a street car. Besides, if you do want an R32, you better have some extra money because they are 25 year old cars that are quite complex so if anything breaks or needs reconditioning it will not be cheap. Save up for a properly imported one in good shape instead if you really want a Skyline.

Another update after talking to the supervisor at my local DMV today. After making a few phone calls she still asked me to get a level II inspection but she was able to get me in today and get that taken care of so at least that's done. She did ask for a bill of lading. The guy that sold me the car at IVI said I wouldn't need it and he would talk to the DMV if they did ask for one - well after she called him he said they would be sending the bill of lading. Unfortunately they couldn't do it today so I still will have to make one more trip to the DMV next week to finish everything but at least it looks like the biggest hurdle is done since the inspection was taken care of and now it's just one more piece of paperwork.

The supervisor and the officer that did my inspection both seemed to be understanding. Now the ball's in IVI's court. If they can just get that final piece of paperwork sent to the supervisor I should be good to go. Keeping my fingers crossed lol.

Nice. Good luck brotha!

sorry guys for bumping this thread... i been on nico forums for a while.. and recently went to a honeymoons.. and i am getting a skyline next week . here it a catch , the skyline im getting is r32 and the build year is 1989 . and the owner said he got the title and the pink slip for it ,and it 26 years old , and he said the car it full legal with california , and he took it to get emission , and he got recent tag for it and also he is driving it on the street, and if he sell it to me .. he will get me a bill of sale and fully signed on the release of the ownership on the car... and he does have an california title , so my questions is .. will i have any problems ? I DONT SEEMS TO see if their is any problems since the car is fully a US car now and it driven on the street . i mean it have to be legal to drive it on the street and the last state u wanna drive it is CALIFORNIA... so any input guys ?

So, one final update. Time to celebrate because I finally got Arizona MVD to let me register and title my R32! Woot!

IVI had to mail me a bill of sale signed by the Japanese exporter all the way from Japan to prove that they sold my car to them but finally the supervisor was satisfied and after paying the fees I'm now OFFICIALLY the first owner of my Nismo R32 here in the States. Never been so glad to be able to throw a plate on a car ever lol.

Now that my R32 is legal I've started a blog to discuss the ownership experience and plan on doing some posts explaining the import and registration process with some help from people I've been in touch with. If anyone's interested in that I've added a link in my sig.

08550 wrote:sorry guys for bumping this thread... i been on nico forums for a while.. and recently went to a honeymoons.. and i am getting a skyline next week . here it a catch , the skyline im getting is r32 and the build year is 1989 . and the owner said he got the title and the pink slip for it ,and it 26 years old , and he said the car it full legal with california , and he took it to get emission , and he got recent tag for it and also he is driving it on the street, and if he sell it to me .. he will get me a bill of sale and fully signed on the release of the ownership on the car... and he does have an california title , so my questions is .. will i have any problems ? I DONT SEEMS TO see if their is any problems since the car is fully a US car now and it driven on the street . i mean it have to be legal to drive it on the street and the last state u wanna drive it is CALIFORNIA... so any input guys ?

You need to be careful with any Skyline sold privately here in the US especially in California where technically they shouldn't be legal without a lot of crap to wade through to meet CARB compliance. If that car really is legal here in the US (I'm not saying it can't be, just that there are a lot of ones out there that aren't) then the owner should have the paperwork to back it up. Remember, for a Skyline to be legal here it has to have proof that it's been okayed by BOTH the Feds and state DMV. A state title only assures you it was okayed by your State but doesn't necessarily prove it was brought in legally per the Feds since a lot of black market cars have been titled through questionable means.

A smart owner will have made copies of his Federal paperwork. In my case Arizona MVD took my originals when they released my title and registration as per their SOP but I kept copies so that no one can question my car is both Fed and State legal.

If you want to know more go to gtrusablog.com. That site is run by Sean Morris, the guy who brought in my Skyline and is pretty much the guru on GT-R importation. Loads of info on that site to help prospective owners. I'm planning on doing some blog articles myself to help people out with the buying and reg process but it'll be a while before I can get to it.

I may be a noob here but I have been doing TONS of research when it comes to getting a JDM car into California, and let me tell you, if this guy does indeed have a California title and a smog certificate, that thing is worth its weight in gold

CodyLovesSubie wrote:I may be a noob here but I have been doing TONS of research when it comes to getting a JDM car into California, and let me tell you, if this guy does indeed have a California title and a smog certificate, that thing is worth its weight in gold

If it's legit then yeah, that car is definitely a keeper but that's IF it was legitimately registered and titled with all the paperwork to back it up so that the new owner doesn't get in trouble with either local LE or the Feds. When I bought my R32 IVI was in the middle of trying to legalize a Nismo for California and they had had to adopt emissions equipment from another type of vehicle to try and meet Cali's requirements. At the time they were still getting the car ready so I'm not sure if they succeeded.

^ All correct. I'm still not convinced it's legit, or the price would be higher (and the paperwork would be present).

People tend to keep documents like that well-protected.

Im having similar bureaucratic run-arounds as well in Texas. I have made two trips to the local office to be rejected for one reason or another. At the latest, they wanted a complete 'certified' copy of translated export certificate and was giving me grief for not having a 'stamp' on my hs-7 form. Should get my 'certified' translation next week and will have to argue the "stamp" issue --wish me luck.

sevenscars wrote:Im having similar bureaucratic run-arounds as well in Texas. I have made two trips to the local office to be rejected for one reason or another. At the latest, they wanted a complete 'certified' copy of translated export certificate and was giving me grief for not having a 'stamp' on my hs-7 form. Should get my 'certified' translation next week and will have to argue the "stamp" issue --wish me luck.

I'm not too surprised given my own experience - the first clerk I talked to asked about a "certified translation" too but the supervisor didn't bother asking for one and was okay with the one I provided. As for the stamp, mine had them because it crossed in from Canada but a lot of port entries don't have them anymore because of paperless entry like it says here in the HS-7 description from IVI's website:

http://www.importavehicle.com/1.aspx

If you still have trouble maybe you can try and find other Texas owners and see what they did and where. I know another owner here in AZ had to shop around to find an MVD branch that would work with him. I put some tips together on my blog because the process is just such a crapshoot:

http://23gt.blogspot.com/2015/05/buying ... ivers.html

Good luck!

Thanks for the info GSX-R35! I finally got plates for my GTR. However, they still did not like the fact that translated copy had full company name as previous owner and original had abbreviated version. They even said my title request may be audited later. We will see I guess? Just happy to be able to drive it around now.

sevenscars wrote:Thanks for the info GSX-R35! I finally got plates for my GTR. However, they still did not like the fact that translated copy had full company name as previous owner and original had abbreviated version. They even said my title request may be audited later. We will see I guess? Just happy to be able to drive it around now.

Congrats on successfully registering your car! I'm not surprised your local DMV was such a PITA after my own experience. They can be so massively anal. Enjoy your car and drive safe! Oh and don't forget to post pics here on NICO if you haven't already lol.

Just won my auction last week, just waiting for the car to be shipped! Awesome to see some others in AZ who have gone through this process - I'd love to know the exact DMV's you guys went to? So I can go to someone with at least a little bit of experience in this.

mk3design wrote:Just won my auction last week, just waiting for the car to be shipped! Awesome to see some others in AZ who have gone through this process - I'd love to know the exact DMV's you guys went to? So I can go to someone with at least a little bit of experience in this.

Whereabouts in AZ are you located? Send me a PM and I can point you in the right direction for help. Also, if you haven't already, check out my blog for tips on getting an R32 imported and registered (popular links are on the right side or you can click the "registration" and "importation" tags in the tag list).

http://23gt.blogspot.com/