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Maybe you guys that have dealt with them need to start leaving lovely reviews on google and Facebook or whatever. What I don't get is they will spend the time and money to paint it and detail the engine bay, but can't be bothered to put tie rods on it or the correct tires? What kind of half assed poo poo is that? Either sell it as is (with disclaimer) right off the boat, or fix poo poo that's broke and clean them up like kaker does. So they import cars from Japan, whoop dee do, they're still acting like a typical shady auction used car dealership and should be called out for it. They shouldn't get a pass just because they're selling tyte JDM cars.
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Dec 30, 2019 15:49
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Yet another thing that makes AI so great. Kaker is a massive resource in this area, how many other auto forums have somebody willing to be so frank and upfront about this stuff?
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Dec 30, 2019 15:59
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But it's typical used car sales bullshit and nothing new, the only difference is the auctions are in Japan and not here. They are completely taking advantage of a situation to line their pockets and apparently don't give a poo poo how their clients feel about it.
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Dec 30, 2019 16:08
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Yeah the thing that drove me away from looking at Japanese classics (and later ended with me finding this thread and importing myself) is that at the end of the day all these jdm dealers are just that - used car dealers in the classic sense. They are shady and just don't care, because if they aren't ripping you off they'll just rip the next guy off.
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Dec 30, 2019 21:13
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wilfredmerriweathr posted:Yeah the thing that drove me away from looking at Japanese classics (and later ended with me finding this thread and importing myself) is that at the end of the day all these jdm dealers are just that - used car dealers in the classic sense. They are shady and just don't care, because if they aren't ripping you off they'll just rip the next guy off. Hey I know a guy <gestures furiously at Kaker>
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Dec 30, 2019 21:17
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Haha, came back to address that very issue - obviously kaker, Dave et al are not included in that even though kaker has a dealer license. Hell, he goes to great lengths to explain exactly how to do this, how much you should pay, and rightfully exposed how much Japanese classics was ripping people off. But you know what I mean - in the wa/or region there are also a ton of these dealers and they all charge an arm and a leg while claiming that their vehicles have been gone over with a fine toothed comb. I can't speak to their thoroughness of going over their cars pre-sale but I see the prices people pay at say, vanlife northwest, and my jaw drops. They put their own sticker on the vans, too. I saw a lite ace with a vanlife northwest sticker on it the other day. Advertising that you paid too much, nice.
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Dec 30, 2019 21:51
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I wish we had a goon doing this In Seattle
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Dec 31, 2019 01:10
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I wish Kaker would buy vehicles between 15 and 25 years old and store them at my place until they're old enough to be brought into the US.
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Dec 31, 2019 01:40
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Fermented Tinal posted:I wish Kaker would buy vehicles between 15 and 25 years old and store them at my place until they're old enough to be brought into the US. This leads to a question I've had. If I did buy a vehicle that was something like a year too new to be brought in, but the vehicle was A+ and so was the price, would there be a place in Japan that would let me store it for a reasonable monthly fee?
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Dec 31, 2019 02:40
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Fermented Tinal posted:Slightly overpriced? They're charging over 100% markup. I get it's a niche market and margins can be high but the average going rate for one of these at auction is $3,500, add that again to get it delivered (and that's a high estimate on importation and freight). This car isn't worth $8,000 cost of convenience on top of the $7,000 total they've probably spent on it. I dunno man if you look at MR2 turbos here, with the gen 2 motors and the T tops, they aren't much less than they're asking for the blue GT-S. Then again this may very well be me justifying my own Japanese Classics purchase.
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Dec 31, 2019 02:44
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LeeMajors posted:I like the Japanese Classics website because there are lots of fapworthy pics and I dig the startup videos but that poo poo all sounds like a RUN DONT WALK AWAY FROM THIS CAR. Red flag city. Which is a bummer because that is a beautiful loving color on the SW20. Wow. It's clear that Japanese Classics is not ran by enthusiasts otherwise this 'it wasn't like what they said' wouldn't be a recurring thing. There is money to be made without being dicks about it. wilfredmerriweathr posted:Haha, came back to address that very issue - obviously kaker, Dave et al are not included in that even though kaker has a dealer license. There is plenty of money to be made without trying to manipulate the system. A part of why I went hard into figuring out how to import stuff was nobody would answer simple questions I had about importing. I surmised that it couldn't be that hard because a bunch of people I thought were acting like morons about it seemed to be doing OK at it so I thought I could do it too. Turns out I was correct. That's why this thread is here, it's why I document how and why I'm doing things, and why I tell goons to do it themselves. I understand people don't have the time or want to expend the effort and that's cool too. At least we all know how it actually works. I can't speak for how Vanlife Northwest does things, but I haven't heard anything bad, just yeah the incredible cost for their vehicles. If someone buys one, loves it and has nothing bad to say then I can't really fault Vanlife for that. Business is business and I'll just sit over here being incredibly jealous  We put stickers on our cars too but if anyone says anything about them it's that they like them. People like stickers, and that aesthetic of having a bunch of them on your traveling van is in right now. People walk around with giant expensive Rolex and Mercedes with the emblems the size of a large pizza, of course people want to advertise how much money they spent. Fermented Tinal posted:I wish Kaker would buy vehicles between 15 and 25 years old and store them at my place until they're old enough to be brought into the US. Canada has too many imports already bub, these ones are for US 'MERICANS  French Canadian posted:This leads to a question I've had. If I did buy a vehicle that was something like a year too new to be brought in, but the vehicle was A+ and so was the price, would there be a place in Japan that would let me store it for a reasonable monthly fee? Yes, there is a whole industry based around this. If you want something and are willing to pay for it, this is the proper way to do it.
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Dec 31, 2019 03:00
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I guess) but I wish all these folks were actually passionate about cool cars and not just movers.
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Fermented Tinal posted:I wish Kaker would buy vehicles between 15 and 25 years old and store them at my place until they're old enough to be brought into the US. French Canadian posted:This leads to a question I've had. If I did buy a vehicle that was something like a year too new to be brought in, but the vehicle was A+ and so was the price, would there be a place in Japan that would let me store it for a reasonable monthly fee? i was also curious about something. i've done a reasonable amount of googling with no luck, so... i'm in canada. our import laws are 15 years. US is 25 years. the closest port to me is NYC, though. is it feasible / legal for me to purchase a car that's less than 25 years old and have it land in NYC if i'm immediately driving it home to toronto? would tossing it on a trailer work? (the driving option is easier for me, but...)
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Dec 31, 2019 03:04
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Adiabatic posted:I dunno man if you look at MR2 turbos here, with the gen 2 motors and the T tops, they aren't much less than they're asking for the blue GT-S. You are justifying it, and that is okay, we have all been there. I overpaid for the vehicle I love too.
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Dec 31, 2019 03:19
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Gomi Day posted:i was also curious about something. i've done a reasonable amount of googling with no luck, so... It would be far easier to just have it shipped to Toronto than trying to figure all that out.
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Dec 31, 2019 03:23
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As Kaker has thoroughly said I don’t trust Japanese Classics but I do follow them on IG and wish my pics and detailing were up to that level. I import cars to sell cars but I am honest to a fault, that is why I am trying to build a small “brand” to move 5-20 cars a year. But I see a lot of people making a lot of money by using social media and things and misrepresentation of what they have. I have skylines with 18k, 36k and 60k miles and I Sellers’s asking a Lot Moreno than me and getting it. Kaker is good people he has shown me and everyone exactly how to do this on their own if you want to import a car. Or if you are going to buy an import here find someone besides Japanese Classics or 100 other people doing the classic username car salesman approach. I am out of town til the 6th and auctions are Closed but I’m Going to try to be more professional and take things up a notch in 2020.
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Dec 31, 2019 04:35
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Gomi Day posted:i was also curious about something. i've done a reasonable amount of googling with no luck, so... A foreign national driving a car from a third country that’s not legal to have in the United States is asking to spend some time with a bunch of federal agencies not known for their nuanced understanding of law and kind treatment of foreigners. I advise against this idea.
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Dec 31, 2019 06:25
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Gomi Day posted:i was also curious about something. i've done a reasonable amount of googling with no luck, so... I'm no expert, but if for some reason you can't get the car shipped from NYC across the border to Toronto or wherever, then getting it shipped from Halifax would be preferable - assuming you can't just put it on a boat going to Montreal/Toronto.
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Dec 31, 2019 13:46
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If you can sort out the paperwork ahead of time so it's registered to you, then you would be a foreign citizen driving their own car in the US, which there is an allowance for even if not compliant to US regs.
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Dec 31, 2019 13:59
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I’m curious if anybody has experience registering an import in Montana? I know that it’s a thing to do to avoid sales tax, but what if I want to avoid the CA DMV and CARB? It seems nice from a resale point of view, register the car to LLC and just transfer ownership of that for $20 when sold.
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Dec 31, 2019 18:28
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Big Taint posted:I’m curious if anybody has experience registering an import in Montana? I know that it’s a thing to do to avoid sales tax, but what if I want to avoid the CA DMV and CARB? It seems nice from a resale point of view, register the car to LLC and just transfer ownership of that for $20 when sold. https://jalopnik.com/the-pitfalls-of-the-montana-license-plate-scam-1711216059
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Dec 31, 2019 18:33
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Also worth saying, CA is an additional special case here - on top of the tax issue, you will get hosed HARD on trying to circumvent CARB. It exists for a reason.
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Dec 31, 2019 18:56
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How are diesels treated in California? When I got my Sprinter in 2010 I just had to get a visual check that it wasn't belching smoke and modification inspection. I imagine if it's a turbo diesel it's not that risky. I don't know if non turbo diesels would pose a bigger challenge to the smoking issue though.
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Dec 31, 2019 19:00
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I understand the tax implications. Let’s assume I’m willing to pay local taxes as appropriate, I just want to dodge CA DMV/CARB emissions testing. Plausible? The insurance question is interesting too, I wonder if a specialty company like Hagerty might be more flexible? Any actual experience here? As far as I can remember, no insurance company has asked me where the car is registered, just where it lives/is used.
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Dec 31, 2019 19:01
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Big Taint posted:I understand the tax implications. Let’s assume I’m willing to pay local taxes as appropriate, I just want to dodge CA DMV/CARB emissions testing. Plausible? The insurance question is interesting too, I wonder if a specialty company like Hagerty might be more flexible? Any actual experience here? As far as I can remember, no insurance company has asked me where the car is registered, just where it lives/is used.
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Dec 31, 2019 20:21
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It sounds like step 1 of How To Dodge CARB is: Don't live in California.
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Dec 31, 2019 20:42
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I certainly see a lot of social media posts of people who live in California, but somehow have Oregon license plates.  The woman with the blue AZ-1 that was on Jay Leno's garage is one example.
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Dec 31, 2019 20:50
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If there's a loophole it'll get closed, it sounds like they are very anal about it.
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Dec 31, 2019 20:58
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I'd be beyond pissed that they were transporting my car out in the open, in the salt spray, just for starters. Never mind that the dumb fucks appear to have no firefighting gear adequate for what they were doing and let the fire destroy the entire load.
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Dec 31, 2019 21:09
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As a former Californian I will say don't try to dodge carb, just get a diesel import or change states. It's locked down. That said, it sounds like minitrucks/kei cars can be registered for non-freeway use. Like it's not even a big deal. As long as you abide by the 25 year rule still. Check out the minitruck forums for threads on it.
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Dec 31, 2019 21:27
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Hmm... If I had some land near a docks in the US, I'd certainly look into what was involved in setting up a bonded warehouse kind of deal for almost-exempt vehicle storage.
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Dec 31, 2019 22:41
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When I'm filling out the item description on the ISF form...do I need to get all specific or am I digging a hole of confusion for the customs people? I'm inclined to only put "1 used vehicle, Isuzu Fargo". Alternatively, I could make it say "1 used vehicle, Isuzu Fargo, 4 passenger, manufacturer year 1995". I concerned about two things: leaving out too much info and also having it flagged as a 2-seater and getting charged extra import duty, etc. I'm using Sound Brokerage though they didn't get too specific on what to put down... Also, I need to apparently find the address of the manufacturing plant and put that on there too. Do I need to take that seriously or can I just put the Isuzu Japan corporate HQ address? I imagine there maybe have been more plants back in the '90s. Now there is only one in Japan apparently. JCD is closed for like 5 days but I want to get this ISF complete! French Canadian fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Jan 1, 2020 |
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Jan 1, 2020 00:44
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French Canadian posted:When I'm filling out the item description on the ISF form...do I need to get all specific or am I digging a hole of confusion for the customs people? I have never filled out an ISF form and had to look up what that even is.
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Jan 1, 2020 01:06
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What import broker do you use? Edit: Yoshi just got back to me (bless that man) and said the HQ address is fine. I asked him about item descriptions on the ISF but he said it's something to discuss with my broker. I sent Sound Brokerage the question and hopefully I get a reasonable answer. I don't want to mistakenly get hit with a 25% import duty because they think it's a 2-seater utility truck 
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Jan 1, 2020 01:07
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If Mat forgets To send the ISF or the info to my friendliest customs broker in the world the minute the vehicles are being loaded in Japan for voyage he GETS PISSED AT MAT. I have never filled out any ISF, JCD and your broker handle that poo poo. I only even fill out the most bare bones of anything EPA and DOT for my Brokers files just in case he is audited. But if your camper is en route the ISF should have been handled / filed before it set sail. I only know this bc often in the past my poo poo did not get handled but my excellent customs broker has always made things right.
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Jan 1, 2020 05:50
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French Canadian posted:What import broker do you use? I use Henry Mak at Great World Logistics. henry@great-world.com There are others I usually interact with though, right now I'm working with Jessica Zhang. Previously I worked with Dusten but I guess he doesn't work there anymore, rip. If everything is smooth, I'm working with Jessica. If there is an issue, I go back to Henry. Henry is always included in every message though, just rarely says anything. I'm like everdave in that I have never filled out that form. The only forms I fill out are the DOT and EPA exemption forms, one for each vehicle. Nothing else, that's what the broker is for! As far as the tax percentage that is done through the broker. I've had a few times where a Jimny or kei van will be mistakenly imported as a 25% tax vehicle, I send my broker a message and go "hey actually" then send pictures of the vehicle and the back seat. Then they go "Oh ok here is the new total" and it's all good.
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Jan 1, 2020 06:08
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Yoshi recommended Sound Brokerage so that's who I used. They seem competent and the ISF document is pretty easy but I agree it's like something I shouldn't have to do. I'll just have to call them and ask. They said they will sort it out if the vehicle sets sail before the ISF is submitted. I expect they understand the drill in the grand scheme of things and can help make sure I'm not incorrectly taxed. I don't want to switch brokers now because it's all basically in motion with the ISF and shipping and power of attorney signed over. I know the drat camper is gonna arrive. I am just hyper anxious about "hitting road blocks". Ask my wife for confirmation of that fact. edit: Okay for anyone who cares, I had a great conversation with Sound Brokerage and it's all cleared up. Mandee is very willing to answer all my questions. Yeah I guess it's kinda lame that I had to do a bit more on the ISF form but it gave me a chance to explain ahead of time that the vehicle should not be classed as a truck and now I don't have that concern in the back of my head for the next month. So that's sorted, the ISF is filed, and it's allegedly on this ship (https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:375146/zoom:10) which is en route for Panama right now 
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Jan 1, 2020 13:50
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 Put new tires on the Mira, slightly oversized (about 2%) but fit perfectly and they do not rub. Having the wheel covers repaired and repainted, will be picking them up tomorrow.  Also had the Soarer's front bumper and trim repainted, looks extremely good compared to what it used to look like  Need to clean up the wheels a little bit otherwise it's about time to put it up for sale. Isn't perfect but hey, 7MGTE Soarer with all the fancy TEMS and functioning air suspension and the little CRT with a hair over 30,000 km is probably pretty nice for someone.
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Jan 3, 2020 02:37
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Spotted on a parking lot at the Love's truck stop in Minden Louisiana. Somebody is getting a Toyota Prado EX with the 3 liter turbo engine.
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Jan 3, 2020 15:34
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Mira and Soarer look great! Currently playing the game of “what’s on the boat?”. I have 2-4 cars on a boat that left port the 29th. My broker has nothing from Mat and Mat Is just like Japan is closed for holidays I’ll send it to your broker when I get back. People file late ISFs all the time you need a new broker. Nah it’s not a new broker I need. And my broker (who I love) says he is dealing with another customer from JCD right now same exact situation and they do not use Mat so I assume Yoshi. Believe me my broker knows Mat by name very well. EDIT: well apparently he messed up so bad but in a good way for me NONE of mine that were supposed to be on the boat leaving the 28th are on the boat. But my close friends Prado 3.0 IS and nothing has been filed for it. I don't want to say any names bc I don't know if they are from here or who they are but someone who has a car coming from JCD to Norfolk has a $5k late fine they are facing and the port is not going to release it, and it is all because of JCD everdave fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Jan 3, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 15:55
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French Canadian posted:How are diesels treated in California? When I got my Sprinter in 2010 I just had to get a visual check that it wasn't belching smoke and modification inspection. I imagine if it's a turbo diesel it's not that risky. I don't know if non turbo diesels would pose a bigger challenge to the smoking issue though. Its complicated? Pre-97 diesels (light duty only?) don't need to do emissions testing, but post-68 direct imports they've been generally hostile to. Its apparently luck of the draw as to whether they catch on with pre-97 diesels. If you get flagged to get a vin verification from the CHP you might be out $8k or something to get a DPF added at G&K. People suggest trying to bring in cars already registered in other states. The delica forums have a lot of this stuff: https://delicaforum.com/index.php?threads/california-chp-vin-inspection-tips.1384/ https://delicaforum.com/index.php?threads/deli-dream-dead-for-california.78/page-2#post-2625 I've never seen any policy documents about any of this, as I understand its entirely down to the discretion of CARB. On the plus side, if you do get lucky you never have to do biyearly smog testing because pre-97. The vehicle is also safe after it has a CA title, because theres no emissions testing to get it flagged when its sold within the state. Krakkles posted:Also worth saying, CA is an additional special case here - on top of the tax issue, you will get hosed HARD on trying to circumvent CARB. It exists for a reason. CARB absolutely exists for a reason, and I doubt there are all that many people in CA who would want a world without it, but it does rather rub people up the wrong way when you can register an incredibly polluting 70s domestic truck without any problems but if you try to import a 90s 600cc kei-truck from Japan you're going to be out thousands for testing and modifications. astropika fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 3, 2020 |
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Jan 3, 2020 16:35
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