"Loping Camshaft" (Loping_Camshaft)
04/22/2014 at 12:49 • Filed to: None
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"Loping Camshaft" (Loping_Camshaft)
04/22/2014 at 12:49 • Filed to: None | 2
| 11 |
...Like a 13 year old A-Class.
I've had the idea of something like this for awhile, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from yesterday. I posted it in the comments, but it was late and didn't get any attention. Have look.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
First, a little Inspirado:
Here's a business idea, tell me where I'm wrong:
So, I think the rule is that you can drive a foreign registered car for a year in the US. Think like if you snowbirded in Mexico and kept a car registered down there. Given you're able to insure it, you should be able to drive it in the US. Just be sure to drive it though customs back and forth and renew. Insurance is the known unknown.
People familiar with Mexico: what do you need to register a car there? Is it just an address, driver's license and some cash? Do you have to have some kind of citizenship? If so, what about other Central American countries? I assume the import laws in Mexico et al. are much more lax than the US, maybe just a fee?
If so, I'd like to see a service that will handle these complications. Get your grey market car (maybe they can help with that too), ship it to Mexico, and get it registered for you to drive to the US. Would it be possible to have an agent deliver it to your door? Set up your insurance and drive your car for up to a year, at which point the car would need to be sent through customs again. If you get hassled in the US, you just have to say that it's registered to you in Mexico, here's the paperwork.
Once the technicalities are figured out, it should be an easy process. Maybe establish a few contacts in the common export markets (ex. Japan, UK, Germany, Australia) to help the process along. They can find and ship cars to the place in Mexico, or the buyer can personally ship it, if they are in country (like someone in the military shipping a car home). I figure the whole process shouldn't be that expensive, considering we're usually talking about cars more valuable than an A-Class.
Inputs? If anybody wants to do it, I'm in (but I have no money).
Ohto Kangas
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 12:56 |
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds… This guy brings VW Amarok's into the US. Not sure how
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Loping Camshaft
> Ohto Kangas
04/22/2014 at 13:07 |
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I kind of got the idea from the guy behind Expedition Portal and overland Journal (outstanding mag BTW), Scott Brady and his NZ spec (I think?) LJ78 Land Cruiser. Here's a thorough rundown , and here's the corresponding forum thread . It lives in AZ, but registered at their "Canadian office". I think somewhere in that thread the process is explained in a little detail. But basically, it's registered in CAN and they have to drive it through customs once a year and officially re-import it.
Vicente Esteve
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 13:18 |
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My Cabrio actually was imported from the US, thousands of people do this with Explorers and whatnot. You need the documents of the american car, some cash, and in a special office only made to import cars they will give you the licence plates so it is legal to roam the country. Theres a but though, you can't import a car that doesn't start with numbers in its VIN. That means, any car that was made either in Germany or Japan, its only Mexican and American made cars you are permitted to import.
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Loping Camshaft
> Vicente Esteve
04/22/2014 at 13:52 |
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That sounds good, but what about driving foreign regged cars in the States? What do you need to register a car in Mexico or Canada?
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Vicente Esteve
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 14:14 |
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I don't know exactly, but Id guess some paperwork and cash.
Bird
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 14:14 |
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"So, I think the rule is that you can drive a foreign registered car for a year in the US."
Stop there.
Start here . Your plan is not legal, and many people who have tried to get cars in under loopholes have seen them crushed. The proper way to do this, is to change the law.
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Loping Camshaft
> Bird
04/22/2014 at 16:31 |
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I've been though that site before. I haven't ever heard of anyone having an issue with what I'm proposing. Again my example is the guys at Expedition Portal seem to be doing exactly this (just based from Canada). I have no doubt they follow any letter of the law to the "T" as that rig is tied to two businesses that are central to the community.
If you know there is something I missed in the NHSTA code, show me. People start to have issues when there are VIN swaps, half-cuts, engine swaps, and cars reassembled from parts (the old "home-built" loophole).
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Bird
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 17:02 |
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I would have to know all the details to know if their importation is legitimate. If they are doing it the way I think they are, it is not.
If they checked box 5 on the HS-7 in order to say they were bringing it in for 1 year, then something is fishy. Only a non-resident is eligible for that exemption, but it seems they are both US residents? Or are they not residing in the US full time?...So if that's the case, either the car is here illegally, or their residency/immigration status is incorrect. Or both. The fact the car is registered to a company might make it easier to get that past Customs, but it doesn't make it legal.
People have problems when they try to find ways around the written laws.
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Bird
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 17:04 |
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Also, don't assume because a business is doing it, that it must be correct. The company Left Hand Utes is run by someone known as an upstanding member of the community. He's still illegally importing utes. He thinks it's legal, but I doubt he's spoken to a lawyer about it....ignorance is bliss I suppose.
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Loping Camshaft
> Bird
04/22/2014 at 17:13 |
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Ok then, so residency IS a factor? They probably have somebody that has at least dual citizenship. They've had it for over two yeas now. And now that you mention it, I vaguely recall somewhere in that thread , or maybe when discussing their other vehicles elsewhere (they have several drool-worthy rigs) that it had something to do with it being related to a long term magazine review or something. Not sure on that.
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Bird
> Loping Camshaft
04/22/2014 at 18:09 |
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Yeah, it matters. Read the HS-7, a lot of information can be found there.
As I said, start with the NHTSA site and start reading. If you really want information on the subject it's all out there. Laws and regulations are public record...
Other peoples experiences mean nothing. Only the laws and regulations do.