yhpj8r

would importing a celsior to america be easy?
how would one do this?

would you be able to switch out parts from a ls400 if it does not already comply with U.S. standards?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

no.
u cant. not legal in any way, shape, or form.

no.

anything else?

yhpj8r

why is it illegal?

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

a-isnt DOT certified
b-isnt epa certified
c-reason why we dont have many skylines in the US (and now all those are of questionable legality since the company that imported/converted/crash tested them is in the ****.)
d-not cost effective
e-pretty much impossible to get it titled/registered.
f-wont pass a visual smog
g-not really much gain.

yhpj8r

aww man i really wanted a celsior oh well
what japanese cars are dot and epa certified and how do you know?

jasonm

iTrader: (5)

Thats what one peice headlights and celsior badging is for.

pfantom68

You can import a Celsior for parts, but there is no way that you're going to be able to drive the car until it's 25 years old.

One thing you COULD do is a complete RHD conversion, I think. I know the Honda guys do it quite often, but I assume it would be a lot more work on a Lexus. You'd need to completely swap everything needed over from the Celsior to an already-registered LS400. I don't know how it would fly in states with inspection, but no one's had any problems in Michigan.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

when a manufacturer has a car crash tested/epa approved it is only valid for models meant for the US market.

there are many times significant changes to crash structures and emissions systems for non-US markets. it doesnt matter if the car ur attempting to import is pretty much the same, as the govt. wont believe you unless you somehow manage to con Lexus/Toyota corporate headquarters to write a letter to the govt. for you saying that there are no differences between the JDM and USDM models that would affect the parameters specified by the NHTSA, EPA, and DOT. no manufacturer has ever written one of these as far as i know. even motorex got screwed since they only had the R33 approved and told the govt. that the R32 and R34 were the same basic car, which they werent, and once the govt found that out from nissan all hell broke loose.

yhpj8r

dang thats a lot of trouble to go through to import a car.
im wondering if the celsior is so hard to import and its amost the same as an ls400. what cars are easier to import?

thanks for all the replies guys

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Do you see any RHD cars around? save for the mail man?

Is there not one car that you like that actually was sold here?

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

Finally something Canada has over California in the way of aftermarket.
In Canada we can have Skylines , Celsiors and Soarers . Funny enough we can;t import a scion TC ???
It is great to be Canadian and drive a right hand.....

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

We actually do have a couple of R32, R33 Skylines and even an R34, (Although last I heard someone from the mainland bought the R34) here in Hawaii. Far and few no doubt though.

That said, personally wouldn't bother importing a Celsior from Japan as the car is too similar to the Lexus LS aside from the right hand drive. I'd import a Chaser myself which I do know a few people here are working on doing or already in the process of doing. It is amazing what kind of cars you see in Hawaii at times. Someone here just completed the import process and street legal registration on an R33 Skyline not too long ago even after the Motorex shutdown.

yhpj8r

so whats the process of importing a car to hawaii?
i think i kinda sorta understand it. from what i think i read all you have to do is bring the car your importing into epa and dot requirements. i would think this would be easily done by switching out parts with an ls. therefore making the ls an easy car to import, not an impossible one as puredrifter had said earlier
please correct me if im wrong.

i feel dumb for contradicting puredrifter's answer

ToyotaFan

Like what skperformance has suggested, move to Canada! If you can't wait for the Celsior ro turn 25 years old.

They have a rule that allows people to import any car that's 15 year old, from the year & month the car was manufactured. Just don't spoil it for everyone by swapping the VIN of a R32 to an R33 (There are people who do that, and they DO get caught in the end.).

Otherwise, New Zealand & Russia are also good places, as they're regarded as heaven for used & new JDM cars.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

I have no idea myself, but we do know it has been done as I've seen a few of those cars driving aroud myself at one time or another.