
Originally Posted by
Cool Cat GTR
If you want to do it as right as possible, you need to budget $17,000.00 for OBD1 cars and $25,000.00 for OBD11 cars. Shipping will cost you an additional $1,500.00 for roll on-roll off if you can get on a schedule or $4,000.00 to use a container which is quicker and safer. Plan on six to nine months once the car is found and purchased. The above amounts will be used for de-registering the car in Japan, bonding for the states, customs fees, DOT fees, NHSTA fees, and EPA fees. That's to do it right.
Or you can go to some less reputable companies who disassemble the cars and ship them to the states in parts. The cars clear customs with no problems and you put them back together and tell the state DMV that you built a kit car and the state gets their fees and there you go. That can back fire on you if somebody gets sand in their vagina and reports you. Also, some of the cars that enter the states as I just described are cars that were stolen in Japan with no de-registration so you could ultimately be found guilty of receiving stolen goods.
There are all kinds of ways to do it but it all depends on how much risk you want to take.