Wanted to see what you guys think, well my eclipse is not running due to crank shaft issues and the crank needs to be replaced and I have to rebuild the motor. This wouldn't be an issue if I weren't going on a job in a few days. I will be out of town for 4-8 months and I will only be home one day every few weeks, and i want to get another tuner to drive, and I have been thinking of getting a 94 300zx twin turbo well the only issue with this is I would have to ship the car from japan, A. the car in general is cheaper than it is over here. B less miles, 50,132 to be exact and C. its a right side drive car. After shipping in all im looking at dropping 11 k on this car, would you guys do it, or hate me for forever for thinking to buy something other than a dsm.

I think I've seen them for less than 11k.....

Sounds kinda fishy, as I thought there's more involved to having a car imported over here; specifically in the safety. It has to meet the crash standards here or you cannot legally register it.

why don't you grow up and buy a nice corolla.. every car tuner needs reliable transportation. while your in japan bring me back a few unicorns ill pay for s&h

I wouldnt do it. Back before I got my DSM I was looking into getting a 95 Skyline GTS. The price over there was cheap, I think it was about 8 grand but once my dad got all the information to get the car shipped over here there were lots of different procedures to get the car and it would have ended up costing nearly 20 grand to get the car. If youre looking to spend 11k and you really want a Z Im sure you could find one in the States for that price or even cheaper. My brother has one and its a cool car but its a PITA when something breaks and you have to replace it. If I were you I would buy another DSM and be satisfied. Check out the prices on mods for the Z and you will see why, my brother just went out and bought a 99' GSX because of this.

Yeah, IDK what the infatuation is with "JDM" this and "JDM" that... I can understand it if it was a car that was ONLY made for the Japanese market... but a 300xz; you can get over here. I wouldn't trust the "50k" miles either. Most of these things end up being scams...

FWIW, those people that bought over Skylines to the U.S. spent somewhere around 80 grand after it was all said and done to be able to drive it over here. There are some here that are not legal...

I have already, checked in to shipping and insurance for the car its 2800, to ship it over here and I would have to drive to Florida to pick it up. The reason I want to ship the Z from japan is I want a right side drive z and the only ones in the U.S for sale are 15-20 k and they have 150k miles on them. Im not to worried about cost on shipping and what not, or how much they cost to keep in the road, are they good cars I dont know any one with a 300, and I want a personal opinion on the car. 332hp rwd sounds pretty nice to me.

For a car to be legal in the us it has to be crash tested and like 11 cars have to be tested, new skyline x 11 = a ton of money nissan has to drop to sell the car in the us

The 300 is already crash tested in the U.S
And kit cars are legal for some reason???

Irrelevant and contains no technical info = moved to hangout.

I thought importing the Skylines was only expensive because they were never shipped to the US so there's tons of legal stuff to do because of no crash testing ever being done to the US's liking. Things that were shipped to the US are much easier to import and register for this reason, or at least that's the impression I've always had when everyone was importing integras and civics for dirt cheap.

300x's are cool, there's even a few threads on there from other members who have made the switch at one time or another. Not sure how much you know about them or anything, but a lot of people complain about lack of room and having to take apart half the engine or pull the engine just to do simple things.

Importing Your Car into the US - Import a Car, Bring a Car, Import Your Car, US Customs

^^
This link shows you the many steps you are going to have to go through to get a foreign-market car over here. Even if it was a car that was produced for this market, the EPA and DOT standards are different between here and overseas. BUT it defiantly would be easier to make a car that was made for this market legal due to the fact parts would be available.

Personally, I don't think it's worth the time, money and hassle just to have a RHD car. But to each his own...

300xz's (z32) are cool cars. They tend to be reliable; but they are expensive to repair if anyhting were to go wrong. I used to own a z31 turbo car. The thing was beat to crap, rusted out, but ran like a top. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one, really. Then again, the z31's are more friendly on the pocketbook.

99eclipse420 said:

And kit cars are legal for some reason???

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Kit cars are a different classification altogether. Those are shipped here in pieces and then assembled here. There's been a few people I've heard of that took cars like a Skyline, had them dismantled then shipped over here. They then put the car back together HERE and had it titled as a kit car. But it still has to go through an inspection.

The last I checked the skyline is still illegal in the us, UNLESS its a kit car, which means the car was torn down shipped in pieces and rebuild over here, in this case you run in to same situation as building your own bike or something like that. I have never built a kit car so I have no idea what you have to go through to legalize them. But I do know I will have no issue with the 300 since it was imported here from 1990 to 1996.

They can be fast and reliable cars but don't expect anything to be inexpensive. They are extremely hard to work on compared to a DSM. Where were you looking for a 300? I would never pay that much for one. They sell here in Virginia for around 8 or 9k in decent condition. I would stay away from getting a car imported though, Ive seen a few good cars imported but I have lots of friends who had Silvias and Integras imported over here with "low miles" and the cars were beat to S*@%. I think Japan miles are a lot different then ours.
Its your money so spend it how you want. If its in good condition I say go for it. Bolt-ons gives those cars lots of power but when it breaks be prepared to hit the bank . My brother's Z is lots of fun to drive, its quick, and handles very good but I still love my DSM!

If you are going to have a car imported, get one that is not sold in the US, like a Citroën.

Versatile, high performance and yet affordably-priced

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World Rally Championship - Results

"Citroen takes sixth Manufacturers' World Championship title"

The damn things are French, but these are the cars to beat.

But yeah, they aren't sold here, and aren't tested here. So you'd have to jump through some hoops.

What is the big deal with right drive? To be baller? I guess that is kind of cool but damn just find a new Z or 240 here and call it. Save the cash and do a 240.

I love the Citroen, Peugeot and FIAT 500 Abarth. I know the Abarth is coming but be nice to have the other two.

I love 300zx's and it will be similar to importing a jdm civic, not as bad as a skyline but still a slight pita for a while. I really wanted a 300zx for a while. I see tons in washington and i think theyre super sick. If you do it send me a pic of it

If your gonna spend the money to have anything imported from Japan you may as well pick something from the list of cars that is already been approved. I am active duty Air Force and spent three years over there.Trust me I have already spent the time looking into it. Just because a car was manufactured for both countries you would still have to have it inspected for the US. Japan has different requirements for their roads and it is a lot of times easy enough for them just to leave out the stuff that don't deem necessary, especially when it comes to performance cars. Mitsu did it with the GTO and left out a ton of crash protection stuff that wasn't required in over there to make the car lighter than it's US counterpart.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/elig092210.pdf

Besides those businesses that "import" your car have them brought over to some nasty sweet shop in a little third world country to have them dismantled and brought over as parts. Then they just throw them back together once they are hear and do god knows what to them to Make them "legal". You really want to trust your car to somebody who only gets paid about $4 a day and has the equivalent of about a 3rd grade education to put your car back togeather... O wait, most new cars are put together this way nowadays.... on that part I guess you would be alright.

Not all Z's are in the 10-15K range you just might have to do some traveling to get one.
1991 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo

I would do it, and then convert the RHD car to LHD.. RHD is just ####ing stupid IMO. "but it's so JDM cool yo" I gives a ####, I am used to shifting with my right hand, and I like it that way.

As far as the import process.. except to spend some money if it's not on the DMVs import list. Things like emissions equipment, headlights and some times ECU's have to be swapped out or moddified, then sent to DOT for testing which is NOT cheap. And most of these import companies will tell you up front. They do not garentee it will pass DOT testing on the first attempt.

Now if you have already looked into the whoel process and called up a importing company and discuessed it all with them, then ignore the fallowing but if not you might want to read it.

I was looking at importing an Evo VI from Germany since im stationed there back to the states. But to do it legally... is a PITA mostly due to the lights. $800 to mod them, then DOT testing cost $2000 and they might have to be modified and tested 2-3 times to pass U.S. Specs... #### that. The emissions and ECU side of it was to easy of a fix though.





In a nut shell, I hope you got a lot of money. The car might be cheap it's self, getting it to meet U.S. specs can be VERY expensive though unless you got some great plan or like I said the car happens to be on the DMV's accepted import list. In which case it's to easy. But im pretty sure there are no Z32's on the list. I haven't looked at it for a while but I don't think most JDM cars used EGR's in the 90's. That alone will prevent it from being on the list more than likely since the U.S has pretty strict limits on emissions, and things like accepted amounts of light from headlights going into the on comming lane...which in the U.S is 15% where as Germany is 18% for example.


BUT yea I could see getting rid of a non running DSM for a TT Z32.. just know that there a much bigger pain in the ass to work on. You have to damn near litterally pull the engine to change the turbos or do a timeing belt swap. (I think they use belts...if I recall right), your going to be buying nearly two of everything since it's a V6 as you upgrade stuff, and the parts are much more pricey than DSM parts. You got the cash though, then by all means, go for it. I'd just buy one state side though and not mess with all the importing bull shit.

Good luck at the drive thru's

BTW I just checked the list again. Theres no 300's period. Theres a Nissan 87 Stanza whatever the #### that is. 1987-95 and 2002 pathfinders, 1989 Maxima, 96-98 GTS and GTR R33's and 1988 240sx..So yea good luck getting it imported legally. It can still be done, but the cost of it just sky rocketed since it's not on that list.

There is two semi legal loop holes though. A. Drivetrain and chasie can be seperated and shipped by them selfs (as it's not considered a vehicle this way) and then assembled once you get it and try to register it as a "custom" or "kit car" it's hit or miss at the DMV if they are just to dumb to know any better or not though.

OR

Import it as a "off road use only" vehicle, which I think requires a letter from a sanctioned racing body to confirm you plan to use it in this fashion. And then again just try your luck at the DMV and hope there retards and let you tag it. So in my mind, legal is the only way to go about it unless you actually are going to use it for racing on a track.

So like I said hope you got a LOT of money or are willing to take some significant risks. Which with a wife and kid, im not. Hence i'll never get my Evo VI *cry* but life goes on.

Problem is, although it's tagged and "legal" it's still illegal... and if it's involved in a major accident expect the insurance company to likely uncover this fact and drop your coverage, and likely not pay for any medical bills etc.



P.S. I want to say that my research uncovered that IF and it's a big ####ing if. You can get Nissan to send you a noterized letter or signed whatever I forget basicly stating that the vehicle would perform the same in a crash in the U.S. bal bla bla then they would accept it as if it were on the list. BUT yea fat chance getting a company like Nissan to take that chance for one person they could give a #### less about... (just guessing)




So whats my point? Since unlike the Evo VI, we have TT Z32's in the U.S.... just buy one state side. Much less of a PITA.

so im either gonna go with a kit car situation or try to find a 300 in sc that hasn't been modded, I hate buying a car with mods, something always get messed up and I have to replace everything but the shifter knob. All because they put a "cold air intake" on the car. or buy 2 300's one tt and one n/a and convert the n/a to a right side drive rb25 or 26, might even try to to a jz2 motor just to see how the car would run, actually no I dont make enough money for that, it would prob cost me literary an arm to put a jz2 motor in a 300.

Ive heard of people putting a 2jz into a Z. I believe it would be very costly though. I think I would put a RB in it because its still Nissan.

99eclipse420 said:

might even try to to a jz2 motor just to see how the car would run, actually no I dont make enough money for that, it would prob cost me literary an arm to put a jz2 motor in a 300.

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2jz?

Anyways it's been done. There's a video on youtube that I would link to but it would get taken down for street racing. Just type in 2jz 300zx and there's a couple vids

I'm stoked to see if he goes thru with this.. All y'all being negative! Why not encourage him and see how it works out and how much he shells out...maybe you'll be doing the same thing one day if it's not so much!!

GOOD LUCK OP

When I sold my FD I was back and forth between a DSM and a r32. After a lot of research and my plan on modding the DSM was an easy choice.

I've owned an tuned Z32's for close to 15 years. I love them and as long as you can afford to maintain one (seriously dude, they're cheap enough for the car but maintenance is gonna kill you unless you got deep pockets) I've had TT's 2+2's and NA's and have toyed with the idea of importing one from Japan myself. If you can do it, I would. Just don't say I didn't warn you about the cost to keep 'em going.