Registrating a JDM Silvia in the U.S.

Post by **IowaSilvia_S13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

Hey. I just bought a 91 Silvia S13 Q's off of a guy on ebay. I got it the other day and the DOT is being stupid with me getting it registered here in iowa. I have the original title (in japanese) and the ownership document. The dot is telling me that i have to get paper work stating it was legally imported here, epa compatible, and safety compatible with the yr. it was manufactured. I called nissan and they said that the sil. was a gray market and never to be driven in the states. what the **** should i do now. look and drool at the car sitting in my garage. ugh.

I'm half tempted to buy a really cheap 240sx coupe and take the title, register it and put the vin#'s etc. on the Silvia and say i did a silvia front clip swap on it. but just junk the 240sx. cops don't know nuttin here anyways.. what do you guys think... how should i get this bad *** ****er on the road. thanks

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

go for it!

call me up and i'll help ya do the VIN swap...i always wanted to break the law

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

1) You will not be able to register it, the DOT will not let you no matter what you do because you cannot get the papers.

2) Switching VINs is a Federal Felony punishable by a MINIMUM of 5 years imprisonment and a MINIMUM of a $15,000 dollar fine. However, it's your choice. : )

Enjoy your day!

Post by **NeedCAforS13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

why not just buy a crappy 240 coupe shell and swap everything from the silvia to the 240 coupe? that way you still are using the correct chassis for the vin number...no jail time, or fines and you'll have a silvia (errr... 240sx!)

Sean

Post by **Eklectrick** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

why don't you just move to japan and import the car from there to japan?:D

Post by **MasterMan** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

screw it man just swap the vins.. no one will ever know.. but just dont tell anyone u did it.. no one on any board.. no one in your town.. and so on.. u wont get cought...

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

There are more distinguishing VINs than just the engine and dash VIN, and if a cop sees RHD, he's going to pull you over.

Post by **NeedCAforS13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

would you really get pulled over just for RHD? Sucks to have a skyline

well not really....but sucks to get pulled over for no reason!

Sean

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

Here in Iowa the cops will pull you over, and then look for a reason so they don't get in trouble. If you're legit, they'll let you go ( it's not illegal to have RHD ), but if you aren't, most of them aren't dummies, I guess it depends on where you live and whether or not you think they won't figure something like that out.

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

no, i've seen a R33 driving around before...he had no problems passing cops

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

You also have to take into account a lot of cops are going to know what a Skyline is, whereas they may or may not know what a Silvia is.

Post by **NeedCAforS13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

so i know this has been discussed many times, but i don't know if i've ever heard a final answer...is a rhd converted 240sx illegal?

Sean

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

No, RHD itself is not illegal.

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

oh ok...so why would he get pulled over if a cop sees RHD?

Post by **NeedCAforS13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

hey IowaSilvia_S13

you could get a 240sx LHD dash and put it in your Silvia and swap the VIN numbers! if the only thing that would attract police attention is the RHD then thats an easy way to do it...yes you run the risk of getting caught, but I'd think you'd draw much less attention to yourself

still, i would have thought about all this before i bought a $6500 car that i can't drive...

Sean

Post by **IowaSilvia_S13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

hmmm.. still don't know what to do.. I'm itching to drive this car. got new rubber on it and love listening to the whoosh of the bov. 1st 2nd and 3rd scratch good. and the smell of tires burning give me a chubb...but i think it's going to be months before i get to legally drive it.

has anyone heard of registering it as a kit car? that's what the guy said they were doing in cali. but having problems with smog test. in iowa we don't worry about that. cuz we gots 4X4 chevy's running without cat's and rusted all to hell

Post by **NeedCAforS13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

hey dauntt, weren't you gonna register silvias and skylines and such...i realize you'd charge a fee or some kind, but i'd be easier than any other option..and weren't you registering them as kit cars too?

Sean

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

I do import cars now, but I can't register his, the process starts in Japan. If he wants me to do his it would cost more money than I"m sure he wants to spend. Also, Maine, the part you don't seem to get is where we live, in *Iowa* the cops will pull you over for that. When you sit and look around here you see truck, truck, suv, cavalier, suv, neon, truck, truck, minivan, cavalier, minivan, etc. If you see a RHD Silvia go by as a cop, you're going to be like, wtf and go figure out what's up with it. I got pulled over for passing a cop doing 6 over because I "didn't get in the left lane when I went past him" while he was sitting on the side of the road in his car doing paperwork, then he proceeded to inspect my car until he found things to get me for. : ) That's what they do here, it's not like California where they impound you, but a lot of them having nothing else to do than to write tickets.

Post by **IowaSilvia_S13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

How much money are you talking faunt? you live in iowa too.. don't it suck here man. i live by algona iowa. near the minn. border. fixing on moving soon.

what kinda car do u drive faunt? what cars do u import? is there a chance of me registering this car as a kit car or rebuilt car. it was brought in as a rolling chassis and parts car. not as a whole car. much cheaper that way.

Post by **IowaSilvia_S13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

sorry i thought it was faunt......... it's daunttless.. sorry again

Post by **Daunttless** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

Call me, 319 396 6030.

Post by **BuudWeizErr** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

Really dark tint, hehehe.

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

windshield tint... :rolleyes

Post by **kingsoup** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

I don't think they'd ever bother you up here in Canada.

But seriously man, if their was a reasonable way too do it, legal or not, you think most of us would be pissing around fixing up rusty 240s and going too all the trouble of SR'ing a car when we could buy a mint, low K Silvia for 2k and import it?

Stupid as it is or not, good luck on this one.

Post by **Megaseth** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

http://www.j-garage.com/sale/u....htmlwhere else can you find a 95 TT Fairlady Z for $7500

Post by **MainEvent212** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

w/e man, just buy a F*ed up 240 and do a complete mechanical conversion...EVERYTHING swapped over...even the RHD setup...as long as you have the same chassis that matches the VIN ur set...lol

Post by **Megaseth** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

someone said something about just swaping a LHD dash in in the silvia, well, the seats and e-brake and steering column are on the wrong side. it wouldnt be easy. like main said, just get a really trashy 240 and swap everything.

Post by **nlzmo400r** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

just dont register ur car, put all the money of legalizing it into the car itself, make it fast enough to out run cops, and if u ever get flashed down by cops, jump on interstate and run to cananda for a few days, duh, why hasnt anyone else thought if this, geez

Post by **maxpower** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

nlzmo400r wrote:just dont register ur car, put all the money of legalizing it into the car itself, make it fast enough to out run cops, and if u ever get flashed down by cops, jump on interstate and run to cananda for a few days, duh, why hasnt anyone else thought if this, geez

Post by **redrps13** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 7:49 am

just swap the vins and keep your mouth shut..........talking about it on a nationwide website wont do anything but make it more shady

Registrating a JDM Silvia in the U.S.

Registrating a JDM Silvia in the U.S.

Nissan Forums

Infiniti Forums

Datsun Forums

Technical Forums

Classifieds / Marketplace

Nissan Motorsports

General Forums