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I see you are in Oz-the whole question is kind of moot for the vehicles you are mentioning. You may be able to use them as your own vehicle for 1 year if you are temporarily living here, but as for importing them, they must be "federalized" (long and expensive), over 25 years old, or you can let customs dispose of them for you (crusher). The US is really strict on this. And even the 25 year old exemption isn't a given, as people have been having trouble getting Defenders into the US, which annoys me as I was hoping to import one for myself.
The issue isn't RHD, there are plenty of them here, the US mail had RHD Postie Jeeps, but differing safety and emission standards.
federal safety standards dont apply on cars over 25 years of age, however EPA emissions standards do. they must meet the emission standards of the year of manufacture. if you bring in a 1972 what ever vehicle, it has to meet the federal and state emission standards for a 1972 vehicle.
It's possible (barely) to import non US market cars under 25 years old into the US, but it's time consuming and expensive and if you're only staying a year I'd doubt it be worth it. The US is very protective of the Detroit three, which is why there are two sets of standards for auto makers: FMVSS (US) and UN ECE (everyone else). A lot of parts that meet UN ECE standards also meet or exceed FMVSS standards, but cannot be used because they are not DOT certified. All of those parts must be replaced and the car has to be certified by an approved importer. It's stupid and it's all done in the name of protectionism.
The 25 year old rule is usually pretty cut and dried. Once a car is older that 25 years, the restrictions are waived. The reason Defenders are so hard to import right now is, because their outward appearance changed very little over the years, people are trying to import later versions and faking the age, then reselling them. So they're getting extra scrutiny these days. Here's a good read on the issue...
Thanks Brian - this is a bit of a curiosity isn't it? I'm not going to get into Yankee bashing here (I'd be overstaying my welcome very quickly), but whilst the US of A was not the pioneer of global trade, they've certainly done wonders to create an environment in which it has flourished (by and large for our collective benefit). However, talk of 'Free Trade' is somewhat patronising when you consider all those levels of protectionism which most countries promote at some level. You kinda wonder which way you need to twist your neck to be able to see the 'level playing field'. Thanks again for the assistance.
This is completely incorrect. There would be no trouble to import the cars he is mentioning.
OP, yes, you can drive RHD vehicles here in the states. As was already mentioned, there are some vehicles here that already are RHD like mail trucks and such.
Basically, the rule is that if the LHD version of the same car is sold here, then you can get the RHD version here. All the car needs is to meet the same safety and emission standards we have here. So for a 2008 or 2009 M3 is what you want, we already have those here. The car is almost exactly the same, as far as the chassis is concerned, it's already been crash tested and DOT approved, etc.
A friend of mine went through the process a few years ago to import a 1998 RHD 3000GT VR4. The car was of course already sold here as a LHD, he had no problems importing it because the only difference was that the steering was switched. He used a company in CA to do it, I'm not sure if you have to do it through a Registered Importer or not, but it was a lot easier to do so I'm sure.
Thanks Brian - this is a bit of a curiosity isn't it? I'm not going to get into Yankee bashing here (I'd be overstaying my welcome very quickly), but whilst the US of A was not the pioneer of global trade, they've certainly done wonders to create an environment in which it has flourished (by and large for our collective benefit). However, talk of 'Free Trade' is somewhat patronising when you consider all those levels of protectionism which most countries promote at some level. You kinda wonder which way you need to twist your neck to be able to see the 'level playing field'. Thanks again for the assistance.
The issue is not protectionism against foreign brands. Once you get here you'll quickly note that roughly half our car fleet consists of foreign, primarily Japanese, marques (trucks are a different story -- those are mostly American marques), and you'd have no easier a time trying to import an Australian-market Ford Focus here as you would a Renault Megane. It was actually U.S. subsidiaries of foreign brands (particularly Mercedes) and their dealerships that fought for these restrictions back in the 70s and 80s after they got tired of having to compete with foreign versions of their own cars that they themselves weren't allowed to sell here. For quite some time the USA was pretty far ahead of the curve in terms of emissions controls, meaning we often got de-tuned versions of cars that had higher horsepower outputs or just plain different/better-performing engines in other markets; or certain models simply weren't available here at all because it wasn't worth the manufacturer's resources to bring them up to U.S. safety and emission standards. Car buyers started bringing those cars here from foreign markets by the tens of thousands; the dealerships threw a fit and won strict "gray market" import limitations.
Anyway, it's not as simple as "if they sell it here in the U.S. then you can bring a foreign version here" as has been implied upthread. Getting a gray-market car U.S. EPA and DOT certified is an extremely expensive process, and the importer McKinneyOwner linked you to states right on their website that they will not import anything under 25 years old. Here is a list of EPA-approved importers who are certified to import cars newer than 25 years old.
But, you may be in luck. One of the exceptions to the gray-market import ban is a non-resident bringing your own car here for personal use for up to one year as long as you don't try to sell it while you're here. So if you're only going to be here that long, you may be able to swing it. Another option is to contact a US Audi dealership and ask if you can special-order a RHD model.
This is completely incorrect. There would be no trouble to import the cars he is mentioning.
OP, yes, you can drive RHD vehicles here in the states. As was already mentioned, there are some vehicles here that already are RHD like mail trucks and such.
Basically, the rule is that if the LHD version of the same car is sold here, then you can get the RHD version here. All the car needs is to meet the same safety and emission standards we have here. So for a 2008 or 2009 M3 is what you want, we already have those here. The car is almost exactly the same, as far as the chassis is concerned, it's already been crash tested and DOT approved, etc.
A friend of mine went through the process a few years ago to import a 1998 RHD 3000GT VR4. The car was of course already sold here as a LHD, he had no problems importing it because the only difference was that the steering was switched. He used a company in CA to do it, I'm not sure if you have to do it through a Registered Importer or not, but it was a lot easier to do so I'm sure.
Now, bringing a car in that was never sold here can be much more difficult. But for the cars you are asking about, it's not a problem.
Actually, a couple years ago, the USDOT changed the rules to say that a car that was RHD was no longer considered to be "substantially similar" to a USDM/LHD car of the same type.
This was mainly because people were shipping over Japanese Supra's, RX7 FD's, 240SX's, 300ZX's, CRX's, Type R's, etc. A USDOT-approved import meets crash and safety standards for the US, and these standards include such inconsequential things such as different thickness glass and headlight materials, to emissions equipment, to additional structural support beams. When the JDM craze kicked into full gear, an FD with a blown engine was fetching $12k and a non-turbo AT Supra with 180k was commanding $25k, you could pick up a clean model with 40k in Japan for $4500 and another $2k to ship. A Skyline or other non-US car was another animal altogether to deal with, but a registered importer could take an RHD version of a car that was crash tested and approved for the US and as long as they proved they had the same basic chassis, they could switch over the glass, lights, seatbelts, slap on a US cat, and call it a day The DOT eventually wised up.
In importing a RHD car into the US that has a domestically-available and federalized analogue, you'll also have to pay the tax on it, which drives up the cost. You can't simply slap the parts on yourself, you have to go to a registered importer that's been approved by the DOT, and they will charge you an outsized amount... plus, they'll require you to buy off-the-shelf parts from the BMW/Audi/Porsche dealer, meaning that you're looking at many thousands of dollars for lights, glass, US catalyst equipment etc.
The other option you'd have would be to import the car as a show vehicle, which allows for it to be driven a very small amount every year (2000 miles IIRC). You have to plead your case that there's something substantially unique enough about it that it'd be worthwhile to bring over, and they'd also want some proof that it'd be shown at shows and whatnot. The tuner crowd does crap themselves over RHD cars that are identical to what you can get here, so maybe you could contact a company that sells wheels or wax or something and they'd agree to slap a set of wheels on it and have it at a booth for a day and that'd be enough. The other possibility is that you could import it as a race/track vehicle, meaning that you couldn't ever legally drive it on the roads, but you wouldn't have to federalize it or pay state licensing/smog fees. I don't know how the taxes work in either of these scenarios.
Ultimately, I don't think there's much of a point in doing this, especially considering that you could buy a LHD version of either of those cars here for a fraction what it would cost to buy one overseas at a higher price than you'd pay here in the first place, then ship it, pay duties, get it federalized... only to have it go back home at the end of the day anyways. If you have limitless resources and/or a special sentimental attachment to the car then sure, go for it, but prepare for a really expensive headache!
An R8 starts at $279,500 AUD in Australia, which is about $258,000 USD currently, which is about $100k more than in the US... so I really don't know why would in the first place.
Anyway, it's not as simple as "if they sell it here in the U.S. then you can bring a foreign version here" as has been implied upthread. Getting a gray-market car U.S. EPA and DOT certified is an extremely expensive process, and the importer McKinneyOwner linked you to states right on their website that they will not import anything under 25 years old. Here is a list of EPA-approved importers who are certified to import cars newer than 25 years old.
The cars he's asking to bring in are not gray market cars. And it's not an expensive process, because the cars already qualify from the manufacturer.
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Originally Posted by 415_s2k
Actually, a couple years ago, the USDOT changed the rules to say that a car that was RHD was no longer considered to be "substantially similar" to a USDM/LHD car of the same type.
News to me, and I see no mention of this change on the NHTSA website. This page lists the cars that can be brought over. Click on the links under the "What vehicle can be imported?" heading. You'll note, there are a lot of LHD cars specifically mentioned. There are many more than meet the qualifications that are NOT listed, because they meet all the requirements and codes for the domestic models.
Now cost is another story, seems a waste of money to bring over the same cars we have here just for the RHD aspect, but if the OP wants to do so, he can for the cars he listed.
The cars he's asking to bring in are not gray market cars.
Yes they are.
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Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr
And it's not an expensive process
Yes it is.
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Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr
because the cars already qualify from the manufacturer.
No they don't. Only the cars that are built specifically for export to the U.S. and labeled as such will qualify. That does not apply to a UK/EU-spec car, which is what the OP is inquiring about.
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Originally Posted by MckinneyOwnr
Spare me the patronizing emoticon because there's really no room for debate on this. To import a European-spec R8 from the UK and have it brought up to EPA and DOT spec would run deep into the tens of thousands on top of the original purchase price. The OP may well be better off buying a US-market R8 and having it converted to RHD though that too would run well into the tens of thousands. The only other option would be to contact Audi and ask if they will do a special-order build of an otherwise US-spec R8 with RHD. And on that count, I'd put my money on "no."
The cars he's asking to bring in are not gray market cars. And it's not an expensive process, because the cars already qualify from the manufacturer.
They don't, though.
Say you buy a BMW M3 in Sweden. It's built to Euro specs, and was certified by the European powers-that-be.
Nowhere on that car is there any VIN, sticker, badge, serial number, etc that marks it as having been manufactured per DOT specs. For a vehicle to be US market, it has to be built to DOT specs. If it is a Euro-spec (or JDM or China or AU or...) spec but is in the US, then it is a grey-market vehicle.
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News to me, and I see no mention of this change on the NHTSA website. This page lists the cars that can be brought over. Click on the links under the "What vehicle can be imported?" heading. You'll note, there are a lot of LHD cars specifically mentioned. There are many more than meet the qualifications that are NOT listed, because they meet all the requirements and codes for the domestic models.
A motor vehicle that was not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable FMVSS, and/or was not so certified by its original manufacturer, in the form of a label permanently affixed to the vehicle, cannot be lawfully imported into the U.S. unless it is determined eligible for importation by NHTSA. The agency makes these decisions on the basis of a petition from an RI.
So basically, if the car was not built for the US market from the gate, then it has to be signed off on at port by a registered importer (RI), taken to their facility, converted to US spec, then they file a petition and the DOT/NHTSA sends over an agent to inspect the vehicle.
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These are business entities that are specifically approved by NHTSA to import nonconforming vehicles and to perform the necessary modifications on those vehicles so that they conform to all applicable FMVSS.
FTR I used to be an RI...
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The petitions must specify that the vehicle is substantially similar to a vehicle that was certified by its original manufacturer as conforming to all applicable FMVSS and is capable of being readily altered to conform to those standards, or, if there is no substantially similar U.S.-certified vehicle, that the vehicle has safety features that comply with, or are capable of being altered to comply with, the FMVSS based on destructive test information or other evidence the agency deems adequate.
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As previously indicated, an import eligibility decision can be based on the substantial similarity of a non-U.S. certified vehicle to a vehicle manufactured for importation and sale in the United States, and so certified by its original manufacturer. If the vehicle you are seeking to import is a RHD, even if there were a U.S.-certified left-hand version of that vehicle, it might not be considered "substantially similar" for import eligibility purposes.
See? Told you.
Read on...
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Our experience has shown that the safety performance of RHD vehicles is not necessarily the same as that of apparently similar left-hand drive vehicles offered for sale in this country.
Because the Japanese, Australian, and UK markets where the RHD cars were offered have different crash standards than the US does.
If you want to get really technical, any vehicle made after the late 80's when the US, EU, and JP all started instituting their own crash standards and testing in earnest and mandated airbags, etc, there were differences in the basic chassis of RHD, US LHD, and EU LHD vehicles to meet crash performance standards.
Let's use a Z32 300ZX as an example.
There were more Z32's sold in the US than in Japan, and you can pick one up in the US for >$5k in decent shape, but it will probably be an automatic or naturally-aspirated. In Japan, the registration laws increase the tax burden on a car after it passes 80k km; at this point, people tend to dump their cars. The Japanese DOT does this so that Japanese people continue to buy Japanese cars, and stimulate their manufacturing economy, and is a boon to their export and shipping businesses. Most of these cars end up being shipped overseas; sports and luxury cars tend to make it to the UK, Australia, HK, or the Middle East, while pickups, vans, etc end up all over the developing world. Because these cars tend to move at fire sale prices, this means that the same >$5k that would get you a '91 300ZX N/A AT that had 150k miles on it and had changed hands a few times, you could get a two-owner '98 300ZX TT MT for about the same, plus an additional $1500-2k shipping.
Now, the DOT steps in and makes a few notes: first of all, the car was built for the Japanese market. The Japanese don't use US NHTSA guidelines for safety or emissions. Basically, as far as they're concerned, the car is no different from a Pakistani national applying for a work visa who doesn't speak English but swears they have a doctorate back home: that may be the case, but do they meet US standards and expectations? Second of all, the car may look the same as a US Z32 300ZX. It may share the same engine code, the same seats, and the DOT-approved glass and headlights may pop straight in.
But, what about the firewall?
In a frontal collision, it is expected that both vehicles will impact eachother at opposite points. If one car is LHD and the other is RHD, then this is no longer the case; the RHD vehicle places the passenger on the outside lane of traffic as opposed to the inside. Automotive safety systems are developed in part with this general assumption, and the construction of the fenders, radiator support beams, motor mounts, and firewall all take this into account. There is other equipment such as brake, clutch, and steering assemblies that are part of the crash process which are biased on the side of the driver and the vehicle's structure is modified as such.
Now, could you take the firewall and front fenders out of a disused US-market Z32, and then weld it into a JDM Z32? Certainly... but for it to be considered legal work, it'd have to be written off on by a DOT agent. For the DOT agent to write off on it, it'd have to be done by a RI. And at that point, you're taking a $5k car, spending $2k to ship it, another couple grand in import duties and fees, the cost of the parts from the US Z32, and the fees from the RI to make it all legal. You're now at least $10k, months of wait, and lots of headaches into a car that is basically no better and possibly worse than a legit $7-9k 1- or 2-owner USDM Z32 TT MT would have cost you from the gate.
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However, NHTSA will consider the vehicles "substantially similar" if the manufacturer advises the agency in writing, on the manufacturer’s letterhead (and not that of an authorized dealership or other such entity affiliated with the manufacturer) that the RHD vehicle would perform the same as the U.S.-certified left-hand drive vehicle in crash tests.
So basically, if you have a homeboy somewhere in Audi or BMW's engineering department who's willing to put their job on the line, then maybe.
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Absent such evidence, the petitioning RI would have to demonstrate that the vehicle, when modified, would comply. In this case, you might want to contact one or more of the RIs listed on our website to obtain their opinion on the feasibility of conforming the RHD vehicle to the FMVSS, and the costs involved in conforming the vehicle and petitioning NHTSA for a determination as to whether the vehicle is eligible for importation.
And there you have it.
Sorry to burst any bubbles. If it was as easy as many people think it is, then I and many others would not only be sitting somewhere in LA county on a pile of really sick JDM cars right now, but we'd also be pretty rich off it, too.
If you don't like it, consider moving abroad *looks out window at the lights over Liede Square* I can basically drive whatever I want here.
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Now cost is another story, seems a waste of money to bring over the same cars we have here just for the RHD aspect, but if the OP wants to do so, he can for the cars he listed.
And that is definitely true.
As I mentioned before, after conversion, a US-market R8 costs about $100k cheaper than its Aussie equivalent; a fully-loaded V10 spyder is basically $200k less I'm not super-familiar with AU import laws but I know from speaking to clients about six years ago that the cost of flying to the US with your family, buying a then-new Shelby, driving it around the necessary 5k miles for it to leave port, and then shipping it back and paying the import duties and tax was still cheaper than buying it at a dealer in AU outright. If anything, it'd make more sense to buy the car in the US and then ship it back home, which many Aussies already do.
Just curious, Foibles . . . why would you want to?
Many years ago while assigned to the Bahamian Islands, I witnessed many accidents primarily due to RHD (mostly English due to their heritage) vs LHD (mostly American) vehicles.
Driving in the United States, especially in the more crowded city environments, is complicated enough so why would anyone want to add to the confusion . . . legal or not so legal? I cannot believe there would be a cost savings considering the taxes and shipping involved.
Either way, Good Luck.
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I'm not super-familiar with AU import laws but I know from speaking to clients about six years ago that the cost of flying to the US with your family, buying a then-new Shelby, driving it around the necessary 5k miles for it to leave port, and then shipping it back and paying the import duties and tax was still cheaper than buying it at a dealer in AU outright. If anything, it'd make more sense to buy the car in the US and then ship it back home, which many Aussies already do.
