shipping my 180 to the states

[ThuG LyFe]

i would also try to ship to canada and vin swap it but i dono if it's as easy as it sounds...

worst comes to worst you might have to part with it...i know you spent a lot of money and time in it but things are replaceable...maybe even with something better.

maybe you could just sell it, buy a swapped 240 in the states and fix it up a little bit. or maybe go a different route and buy a chassis with different engine swap, or maybe even go ka-t since you only had sr.

whatever happens hope it works out for you man. good luck.

[chaosli]

isnt the car good with every regulation but emmision.

BTW my friend got his motor with the fluid still in the motor stright from jap

[johnnyballs180]

lol here's something funny.. my dad and i both owned skylines, ECR33s, and even things like the windshield had stickers or stamps that read

"DOT"

...THERE'S NOT EVEN A DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION HERE.

i could be wrong.. but i don't think i am; tariffs, taxes, blah blah.. i didn't buy the car in the states, it wasn't manufactured in the states.. bringing over a car from another country, the government doesn't make a dime.. unless you have to pay to get it registered and legalized.i don't know the technicalities, but that makes enough sense for me. why let in a bunch of japanese free of charge? (minus shipping and all that)

it doesn't matter. the fact of the matter is, it's expensive to bring my car there, if even possible.

i might not even ship anything. i might just sell itmaybe get into V8s or something. lol

and thanks for the luck, ThuG LyFe. i'll update you guys and let you know how it goes.

[shinerunner1]

hey im in the same boat i want to buy one over there then ship over to washington so i did some research i went to the top of the list USDOT and to the NHTSA dont know if it will help but it should give the basic layout of what you have to do although i couldnt find any prices

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

[CMG]

Ship it to Vancouver Canada then drive it down to Washington.

[johnny butt]

To the OP:

Who do you work for?Why are you transferring jobs?

Usually if you are working for the US Military and in a foreign country they can bring the car in for you.

[johnnyballs180]

i'm not EXACTLY working for the government; i work for the air force MWR. in order for an american to stay here, they need to be either sponsored or have SOFA status (status of forces agreement). a decade ago, it was a piece of cake to get sofa, but since then they've been real stringent.. it's very hard to get it for someone like me.

i'm a dependant, meaning i have sofa via a parent/gaurdian (parent in my case). if they leave, my sofa magically disappears. i'm trying to get sofa through my job here, so i won't have to leave.. i don't know what's going to happen, but i have about two months to find out.

otherwise, johnny butt, the military's pretty cool about shipping things.. even though it takes forever and a day. but if i do have to leave, i'll no longer have anything to do with the government, and so they won't be able to help me.

shinerunner1, i'm going to look at that link a little more when i get home from work tonight. i'm starting to make piece with the possibility that i'll have to sell my car. i just don't think it'd be smart to invest all that money into shipping and legalizing.. my car is sooooooooooooooooooo illegal, even by japanese standards (which are pretty low)..

[janda240sx]

Ship the car to canada. Buy a 240 when you get here. Take the VIN #'s off the 240 and put them on yours. piece of cake. done it twice to keep my old car on the road. If anyone asks tell them you done a RHD conversion.

[johnnyballs180]

when you say buy a car "here," do you mean, in canada? or the states? i keep hearing talk about the vin swapping, and if worst comes to worst, maybe i will. but i still have to ship the damn thing.. plus buying another car, bleh.

say i were to do this... and then drive it down to washington, would i have to go through any emission testing?again, i don't know much about owning a car in the states.. just keep that in mind.if a car DOES get tested and passes with "flying colors" and all that, is there record of this? i'm wondering because if i transfered vins, and if there's record that another 240 with that particular vin number passed emissions, then i'd be set, right?

or does this make no sense and i'm dead-wrong?

i hate clean air

[AreszONE]

Like someone else previously stated Florida has no emissions so I would have no clue about the emissions part but VIN swapping is basically like chopping a car. You must replace the dash VIN and the door jam VIN. Most of the time the police only check the dash VIN(well in Florida) there is also a VIN on the motor but even having a 240 in the states with an SR swap the VINS wouldn't match up(obviously). The best bet would probably be too do the VIN swap over trying to actually get the car imported and registered as an Import. If that makes sense.

[Kaleo55]

Dude, I know you love your car, but it not like it's a one of a kind Ferrari. Sell it and get another here. sounds like you should be able to get at least $4-5k for it. You can pick up a descent 240 state side and do a swap for that $. Plus the money you save in shipping you can put toward improving your car. Unless you have to have a RHD, then it's going to be a hassle any way you cut it. IMO it aint worth the aggrevation. Spare yourself a lot of grief, and get a street legal USDM version, build a killa KADET, and smoke dat SR!

[johnnyballs180]

hahahahaha

i totally understand exactly what you're saying. i'm actually thinking the same thing. still though, i'm really hoping i can stay. i could probably get about 6000, 5000 at the least here. there's so many of these damn cars here, and people want to eat them up. no to mention, it's hard to find one that isn't all ragged out like a cheap hoe.

i'll let you guys know what happens... me leaving or me staying. if i stay, then i can ship parts to you guys, if you need any

thanks to everyone who tried to help.

[dsc4130]

email susan at http://www.adrenalinexxx.com, your going to pay some money but she can help you if you really want to bring the car back. she is a registered RI and has brought many skyines,civics, and silvias over

[maxxmoses]

when I was in Japan, my friend bought an s13 silvia with an sr20det and we just cut it in half. took everything nice off of it and sent it with the whole front clip to florida. went to florida and bought a 240sx. and just transfered everything over to. alot of work. but it was worth it i think

[S133P3R]

hahahahaha

i totally understand exactly what you're saying. i'm actually thinking the same thing. still though, i'm really hoping i can stay. i could probably get about 6000, 5000 at the least here. there's so many of these damn cars here, and people want to eat them up. no to mention, it's hard to find one that isn't all ragged out like a cheap hoe.

i'll let you guys know what happens... me leaving or me staying. if i stay, then i can ship parts to you guys, if you need any

thanks to everyone who tried to help.

what ever happened here JB180? been meaning to find you on here to see wht you could do in the neighborhood of rain/smoking window visor thingies..... hit me up man.

[24j0hn]

well... if its a 180sx, you better bring it here... If you ship it customs and other people arent going to put it through emissions!... juss need to smog, register, transfer the location from japand to washington, and pay the smog guy $100 to pass you for smog!!! haha

[Beanstalk]

email susan at http://www.adrenalinexxx.com, your going to pay some money but she can help you if you really want to bring the car back. she is a registered RI and has brought many skyines,civics, and silvias over

...Dude susans a awesome girl but she is not a registered importer nor can she really do anything for him that he cant do for himself .... JonnyB hey look on our DOT website http://www.ntsb.gov and get the number and call them but I will save you some time .....1. It is called an HS-7 form you already have the car so its good cuz you need a jdm vin or serial#......2. It costs like $28 and you have to find a registered importer and sweet talk them into just telling you the mods you have to do and do them yourself. save alot of money. and they will just inspect and let you have it.... ( in a perfect world)lol ......... OR there is hope canada is the **** find a guy in canada hook him up ship the car to him and pay a duty tax fill out a few forms and pick it up swap vins from a us s13 and drive it across the bodo....But wait theres more pull the engine and trans ship them seperatly and that can get you through customs ... cuz you label them as parts .... but call the ntsb and ask them if that still slides... sum you have to cut in half.. ...But dewey from stl got a s15 in and he cut it in half???? but there is most of my info that i got from trying to get my r32 gtr in but good luck

[placham]

I hope you don't strip that thing and ship the parts to USA, just leave it where it belongs. Why would you want to come to the states anyway(unless you got family here or be student)? I would rather go to Japan and live over there. .USA is g@y when it comes to cars. Just look what they did with the Skylines "Illegal" , can't import them. And what about Canada, their legal as F@ck. I would hate to see you be one of those people, that pays for their car to be shipped. And then the US customs, wont release your car to you, for some stupid reason.

Instead just get a Rb26 if you can get your hands on it, ship that to the states. Get a S14 or Z33/Z32 over here instead.

Even tho this is an old thread.

[masterdisaster]

I hope you don't strip that thing and ship the parts to USA, just leave it where it belongs. Why would you want to come to the states anyway(unless you got family here or be student)? I would rather go to Japan and live over there. .USA is g@y when it comes to cars. Just look what they did with the Skylines "Illegal" , can't import them. And what about Canada, their legal as F@ck. I would hate to see you be one of those people, that pays for their car to be shipped. And then the US customs, wont release your car to you, for some stupid reason.

Instead just get a Rb26 if you can get your hands on it, ship that to the states. Get a S14 or Z33/Z32 over here instead.

Even tho this is an old thread.

wtf........ just come to CANADA!! WE ACCEPT ALL JDM CARS(15 YEARS OLD.. SO YOU DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM :p) WE ROCK HERE AND WE GOT BETTER BEER!

[placham]

To above, I would, I use to have family in Canada. But they dont live there anymore .

I was looking at getting a '93 BNR32 nice clean Silver, but do to g@y @$$ laws in states. I'm doomed with a Chevy Crapaliter etc.. LOL.

$hit they got FD3S's GTR's JZA80's in Canada, died Canada died LOL.

[bman49]

To OP, it's not worth it. I've talked to lots of RIs and spent hours looking up laws for cars so I know exactly what it takes to import a car into the US. First off, your 180sx wasn't ever produced for North America and nobody has petitioned the government to show that the 180sx is closely related to the 240sx so it's already not going to happen legally.

[IDRFT95S14]

nice car good luck

[johnnyballs180]

i appreciate all the input, but i've decided to just sell the damn thing. i've actually been pondering the subject for months, but i've decided to just sell it and be done with it.

i was realllly close to just taking everything apart and shipping it (not to put back together, but parts for another car), but that's still not cheap, and a pita.

money's tight, so i'll sell it

..anybody want to buy a car that you can't sensibly ship back to the states?

and i have to leave because my SOFA status runs out. i've only lived here and guam in my life.

[!Zar!]

Since we have enough 240 here it will pass the crash test. Emissions if Washington is really strict you will have to hook it up. One of my buddys thats in the military said they only get inspected like once and thats it in washington. Check Washingtons DMV, there are plenty of places on the internet that tell you how to do this now. Stop being lazy and go read, and yes you will most likely have to drain all your fluids.

A 180 isn't a 240.

Though they look the same, they aren't. So even if to us it is a 240, I still don't see the government treating it that way.

Vin swap....Illegal but hey 180's and 240's look oddly familier and police won't be able to tell the difference.

There is still the vin that is STAMPED on the chassis/doors. Cops are checking for matching vins all over the car now due to import car theft with selling stolen parts.

So now you have not only do deal with why the pulled you over in the first place, but now the law is going to TAKE your car from you.

My friend bought a car from an older gentelman.

Come to find out the vins didn't match up.ONE part came up stolen; previous owner bought it not my friend.

The law took his car.

He wasn't even able to buy it back/take his parts that be bought legally off.

It isn't worth the hassle.

Is a 180sx legal in the US well yes and no, if you want to spend all the money to DOT legalize it and get a state issued VIN then yes. Its probably not as hard as a skyline b/c the 180 is basically a 240 with a different engine. My advice is call up the DOT of the state you want to move to, you'll probably have to talk to a few people before you get someone intelligent enough to answer your questions. Personally I don't think its worth all the trouble I'd strip the car down and put everything in a container, buy a clean 240 when you move to the states and swap everything over from your 180.

I would suggest just sending the parts over and scrapping the shell.

I agree it'd be smarter just to put it all on a 240.

There would be a LOT less bs you would have to do and you would save tons of money.

OP: What state do you plan on moving to?

If it's california, you're shi.t out of luck no matter what you do.

[johnnyballs180]

initially, tooele, utah. first thing i need to do when i get there is find a job.. then i can worry about car bs all over again never gets old, huh?

[stutterr]

Any idiots even mentioning swapping vins should GTFO. Way to bring heat and trouble to NICO Club. Also you risk serious fines possible incarceration for modifying changing VINS.
Modified by stutterr at 7:31 PM 2/7/2009

[s13_maJiK]

Any idiots even mentioning swapping vins should GTFO. Way to bring heat and trouble to NICO Club. Also you risk serious fines possible incarceration for modifying changing VINS.

Modified by stutterr at 7:31 PM 2/7/2009

very tru