skylines in the US?

[Exil3D]

hi i live in California and i just wanted to ask if any of you guys no if skylines are sold here, besides the fact that they have to be legalized and shipped from overseas. i see people having skylines often in texas and in florida. is there like a private dealer or a real dealer who does the procress of shipping skylines over and legalizing them for sale. i read from motorex they have been selling them since jan of 2000 in the US. do you guys know where they might be selling in California and at what price and what process of "legally" owning one? thanks for any help you guys can give to this newbie.

[pushnlacs]

truth is moterex is a rip off, they charge an arm and a leg just because they are the only ones to legalize and sell skylines in the us so they know people will pay it.

it depends on what type of skyline but i know gtrs go like this r32 gtrs 30k and up (in japan 5-10k tops), an r33 through moterex 50k and up(in japan 10-20k) , an r34?? you ask? motorex 90-100k(japan, guess?? yep 20-30k tops)

i want motorex to show me were it cost 70 thusand to make a r34 street legal, i know they had to do r+d to figure out what to do to make emm street legal but 70k?? come on , im sure if they just charged 10k over priced from japan prices theyd still make all their money back and alot of people would go to them so theyd make huge profit still.

but instead they are greedy bastards and i heard they might go under(wouldnt be suprised, a gtr is awsome but not many people that know about the gtr are people that have 100k)

you could try the direct from japan approch and legalize it for so and display only. witch honestly aint a bad idea. i live in chicago so i wouldnt drive one year long anyway just as a summer weekend car. and u can drive a "show car" legally for 2500 miles witch is more than enough for a summer weekend car. hell i think i might buy my r32 sedan real cheap from japn and swap in a bigger rb series into it, just yet. lol

[Exil3D]

wow considering the skylines are "new" year-wise and still cost more than a brand new mercedes/porchse. if i were to just leagilize it as display only how much would that cost me compared to the motorex way...... Then again if all else fail you can always convert a s14 to a skyline....at least you can pretend to have one

[DanCouga]

Your best bet is to contact a registered importer. NHTSA's list.

NHTSAs guide to importing If you have a question that an importer can't answer, contact them. I was looking at getting a R34 GT-T two summers ago and recieved quite a bit of help. In the end I determined it wasn't worth it, the car could have sat at customs for up to a year(at that time) before it would have even gotten approved.

[87supramart]

I think the easiest way to get a cheap skyline is http://www.batfa.com you can go on there and get a nice r32 single turbo for arround 2,900 last time i checked. There shipping is around 900 dollars to east or west coast united states. It is just something to look into. Im shipping one next year and im just registering it as a "farm vehicle", then i can drive it wherever i want, plus have super cheap inshurance!!!

[Exil3D]

o wow thanks 87supramart. wow some of the carshere are actually pretty cheap compared to motorex. except a few. still wow another source to obtain a skyline......excpet the new 2005 new skyline 350GT.........(the one that looks like the inifiniti) sorta lost the intimidation feel. And for $900 that is pretty cheap shipping. i feel weary about the insurance. ill probally look into it and if i were to purchase one ill have it under as a "display car". =). just the only thing that super worries me is if the company/dealer, batfa is reilable or not. but thanks for the input. ill research it. hope your sales goes through cause you must be really happy to be probally the only guy around your area to have an r32.

[87supramart]

Theres another one too if i could find it again, where you can get R33's for exactly $1,800. They have fewer cars that you would actually want (mostly vans) but they have some crazy cars that you've never heard of.

[HashiriyaS14]

Wow, there is some ig'nance in this thread...

Motorex is NOT charging you $18,000 because that's what it costs them to legalize a Skyline.

They had to crash test a number of cars, for (according to them) an upfront cost of over $1,000,000, before they could legalize and sell even one car.

This is why Motorex is the ONLY entity that can "legalize" a skyline in the US. Even Nissan USA cannot legally do it, because they didn't crash-test the things.

Don't think that Motorex is making a killing off this business, they're not. Actually, last I heard, they're OUT of business, as in bankrupt, or close to it.

Just because BAFTA is cheap doesn't make it a viable solution. The hard part is NOT registering your car, the hard part is getting it here. Any car not sold in the US (i.e. Skyline, Chaser, whatever) will be CUT IN HALF by customs unless you have a special arrangement already in place to have it brought through....

Honestly, your best bet is to buy one in Canada and try to drive it across the border somewhere.....remote. Then you can go through one of the multiple shady means of registering it, which can be downright easy in some states.

[87supramart]

Yeah you have a good argument but i'm from the sticks, i build up my own cars, i've never ever been to a mechanic or anything since i first started buying cars (2 years ago/6 cars/trucks later)! So atleast i have some knowhow when it comes to cars. So as long as you don't live in some gangsta wanabe cop town i'm sure u can get a skyline 2 ur house. Give me a bottle of Jim Beam and i can get a car moved anywhere i want (trust me, 2 blown piston rods, and she still started and drove home from main street with no tags, lights, or inshurance!). Useless quote of the day "When youv'e built things yourself without using mommy and daddy's money, you learn something others haven't and never will, so don't talk, if you haven't tried what you're talking about before". Thanx

[DanCouga]

Alright. I don't see what working on cars has to do with importing them. It is completely different. As Hash said, cars coming in on containers that go through customs that do not have the appropriate paperwork accompanying them are either destroyed or deported, both at your cost. Getting caught with a transplanted VIN will also, more than likely, result in the death of the vehicle and possibly some hefty fines.

[Exil3D]

ouch. i guess an easy way is just to have it as "display"as pushnlacsearlier said. buying the car is nto a problem but definetly importanting and trying to get it to your house without and "trouble" could be the major setback. then again you can always say you baought it as "display" and sorta ease your way out. or if you really want a w/o doing all this skyline you can always get a g35 and just do some cosemetics and there you have it the "new" skyline................ never understood why nissan desgned the new look for ht e new skyline sorta killed the intimidation. but thanks you guys all for the input. so far i might consider BAFTA iono it feels risky so i guess ima wait until someone has "successsfully" imported a car over from BAFTA and can go through his/her experience and problems. if you guys know anyone or have done it i would really appreciate you to share your experience. thanks again

[brolyfilth]

I bet pushnlacs does not know what he talks about. listen in japan cars are priced like this or i should say in this case GT-Rs. ok in japan the cars cost depending the milleage and color. white cars are more expensive than any other. prices for GT-RR32 from $6000 to $40,000R33 from around $13 $14 $15,000 to $60,000R32 From $28 all the way to $100,000 how i know well i live in japan and i have my own GTR R32 that cost me $11,000 year 1990, black and over 50,000 miles so make numbers. anyway i came here to this page to get help from anybody cause i want to bring my GTR to the states and GNK the company that was doing it in california does not do it anymore so help me guys. please.

[AZhitman]

Please see the sticky at the top of this forum before the BS gets too deep.

Like I've said a million times - If it could be done legally, I'd have 2. Period.

[w1ngzer0]

we have a skyline and getting a fancy GTR in 08'

[Bosrudorfer]

its Nissan fault for being cheap and hating the US so much that they didnt even released the skyline here. honestly what where they thinking? it would have been great against the supra

[oki_bum]

Japan just loves to keep the good ones to themselves.

[speeddocsson]

True But they had to reck a few cars and do all kinds of stupid things for the US to let them bring the cars in. I happen to know a guy who has a R33 GT-R vspec. He got it through Motorex and payed lower than 50 for it.And if you think about the process of finding the car, bringing it over here and doing the small mods they have to do to get it leagal.Its not that bad. Plus I know he enjoys not worrying about getting screwed by the cops.So you are pay for a whole lot of stuff.

Just a thought.....

[jamied311]

Im shipping one next year and im just registering it as a "farm vehicle", then i can drive it wherever i want, plus have super cheap inshurance!!!

ok... sorry, but. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha good luck with that one!

[adrianfromthecastle]

its Nissan fault for being cheap and hating the US so much that they didnt even released the skyline here. honestly what where they thinking? it would have been great against the supra

revenge on WWII hiroshima bombing?

[jamied311]

revenge on WWII hiroshima bombing?

yea... really, i think thats the official, but never stated reason!

[DJ42]

ok... sorry, but. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha good luck with that one!

Agree..... that the reason I went through Motorex.... Didn't want to take a chance at loosing everything by getting into an accident.... Don't trust any company or person that says they can bring in Skylines.... Lies.... All lies.... It took me 3 years and 10K in lawyer bills to get mine....Hiro even went to jail in the middle of the process.......

[Chaos the Xile]

check out rinkya.com I hear that they have specialist that can help you bid/buy cars that are for sale in Japan, they also help out with getting the car over to the US... As far as regestration goes??? If you know a noteree I'm sure you could have anything done. I know one I'll ask her what she could do to get them legal...

[jamied311]

I hear that they have specialist that can help you bid/buy cars that are for sale in Japan, they also help out with getting the car over to the US...

We can do that as well... http://www.takaramotors.com/autoauctions or just e-mail me for more information if you are serious about buying!

[One_Love]

yea... really, i think thats the official, but never stated reason!

Nissan was gonna bring the skyline over here but USA would make them change to many things. It wasnt worth it.

[jamied311]

Nissan was gonna bring the skyline over here but USA would make them change to many things. It wasnt worth it.

yea... i can see it now. A KA powered skyline!

[One_Love]

not just the engine but the whole car, as in the look, interior, bla bla bla

[Chaos the Xile]

We can do that as well... http://www.takaramotors.com/autoauctions or just e-mail me for more information if you are serious about buying!

This is why Takara is the ****. Peroid.... no questions asked I love you guys. From my RB25 ITB's to owning a real Skyline they got me covered!

[Carkeeper]

No one is twisting your arm to buy one. Supply and Demand, no more complicated that that! If you want a legal one, you must find a previous owner of a Motorex car cause they are the ONLY Skylines recognized as legal by the DOT, even though they were federalized in a not so standard fashion. But that is the bottom line. I could tell you all I know, but that would not be very wise; so beleive me[or not] I just gave you the absolute straight "skinny." One of the 152 Motorex cars or no deal unless you want to get one under the radar and that my friend would make the $50K to $90K you are questioning a bargain!! P.S. No R34s were federalized by Motorex. Only a few R33s and about 125 R32s.

P.S.S I got mine with all the work for $45K, find me a $45K car that can even touch a R32 in any way!

[akwikz]

Actually, there were 4, or so, R34's legalized by MotoRex. A blue LHD converted one, another blue one in Northern Ca., a black one in Washington, and a white one. There may have been a couple more, but those I know exist.

Brian

[JaS3113]

Actually it is under 20 R34's that have been legalized by Motorex. About 5 or 6 of them was released on the last batch by DOT.

John