I was wondering how hard it is to get a car from canada registered in the states? I was planning on buying a soarer front clip but if i can just buy the whole car it would be alot easier.

 

I've always been curious about this myself. I see a lot of you American guys trying to import Soarers from Japan, and always figured it would be a lot easier to import one from Canada.
Curious to see the responses..

 

damn also interested in response... even though there are a few ppl selling "real" soarers on craigslist... u should check them out in each state. Ull be surprised, things are so bad right now ppl are giving cars away.

theres a guy by me selling one for i think 18k and it is freggin mint and has a 2j swap and full bride interior

 

very hard, car has to meet dot standards. Wheres regular soarer does not. You will not be able to get the car over the boarder without correct paper work. Its a very long and difficult and costly process. The only thing you can get from canada over here will have to be 25 years or older and then its not that hard.

 

I've done a lot of research on this topic, and the conclusion is it depends on what you need the car for. If you're like you said just wanting to do a swap and have the extra pieces I.E dash interior tail lights badges etc it can be brought over fairly easily. If you are planning on making it road legal that is an entirely different story in which you must go through the daunting process MDSC mentioned above. The only other loophole I know of is when a Canadian citizens moves to the United States or an American serviceman after being stationed in a foreign country on active duty purchases a vehicle then exceptions can be made to bring the car back.

 

I just drove my evo 1 over a non gurded border station at night then registered it here which it needed to be bonded and insured before they would issue a title after they ran a check on the jap title. Costly but worth it in the end.

 

sneaky... i like that lol.

 

So you can go buy a Soarer and bring it over without any problems if your not intending to register it in the u.s.?

 

I live in Maine, which is right next to The Montreal/QC Area.

When a JDM car hits Canada, it's 5-7 number JDM VIN, gets converted to a conventional 17 digit North American VIN. That was easy.

On top of that, when you drive the car into Maine/USA a short customs check and you are back into the US.

Since my RHD Soarer I just bought from Canada has a 17 number vin, AND is 15-years or older then the Car technically doesn't need a title, although it helps with speeding up the process.

So buying a RHD 1992 Soarer in Maine, is as easy as driving over, and registering it.

6 Weeks later I get a Maine Title that is watermarked and US certified for a "Toyota Soarer". You got to love that.

 

Every state is different check with your state DMV first.
gl

 

Yes I did mine in IL it was pita!

 

Why live with the hassle of living with a RHD car . It would be a great thing to drive....if you're planning to deliver mail. Just get a 1SC and boost it if you're looking for performance.

 

thats my dream a rhd soarer....

 

Some states are really slack and will title pretty much anything. The bottom line is that it is not legal on a federal level unless it meets all the NHTSA requirements and gets the appropriate releases.

With that said, if you have a 17 digit VIN and can get the car state legal, you probably have less to worry about regarding federal seizure. I would imagine that a VIN with less than 17 characters throws up some sort of flag if the feds were to search state databases looking for "contraband" cars to seize.

 

Well what's the difference between an SC with SUPRA brakes/suspension +1jz swap vs a Soarer ?