looking to import a japan 928 located in canada whats the process and what will it cost?

 

It is the same as though you were importing it directly from Japan or a Euro car from Germany. Simply read up on grey market cars , federalization , impound , DOT bonds ,Federalization labs, certification and plan on spending $10,000 or so...UNLESS the car was originally sold in the US then exported.

 

A car from Japan would be not worth the $$$$$$ and effort to import into the US even if you got it for free.

I imported my '87 S4 from Canada. Not a big deal if the car originally was sold in Canada since they had the same safety and smog stuff that's required in the US. The big thing is that my Canadian car has metric markings on the speedo and that is a no no in the US. That was circumvented by promising to change over the speedo immediately and send them a picture of the instruments with the US marked speedo in MPH. That I did except I used a pic from my neighbors '85 instrument cluster and I haven't quite gotten around to changing out my instrument cluster yet.

If you do import a 928 that was originally a Canadian car, work through a customs broker. It'll cost $150 or so, but well worth it. They know what forms need filled out and how to do it. It struck me as sort of a bribe/payoff type thing, but very effective and time saving. With the skids so greased, I slid into the US without even an inspection or glance by Customs. I could have been driving an entirely different car loaded with whatever I wanted.

 

If it is in Canada wouldnt it already be federalized?

 

FYI ............" Canada, cars that are older than 15 years may be legally registered and imported, which has led to the importing of many "exotic" Japanese sports cars such as the R32 Nissan Skyline.

Many (but not all) late-model vehicles manufactured for use in the US also qualify for permanent importation into Canada with restrictions. Typically, requirements to meet Transport Canada importation standards will include the provision of daytime running lights and tether anchorages to permit secure attachment of infant car seats, documentation indicating that any repairs required in response to the original manufacturer's factory recalls are complete and registration through the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV), a private contractor.

Labelling of the vehicle to indicate its imported status, to warn that the odometer is counting in miles (as made-for-Canada odometers have used kilometres since the 1970s) and to translate safety-related warning labels (such as airbag maintenance procedures) is typically necessary. Speedometers in US and Canadian vehicles indicate both miles per hour and km/h, so may be left unmodified.

Some vehicles cannot be modified to Canadian standards, often because of the use of passive restraint systems such as motorised seatbelts.

The RIV process is targeted primarily at the importation of built-for-USA vehicles. As Canada uses the system of driving on the right, late-model vehicles from the United Kingdom, Australia and most other Commonwealth Nations countries are unsuited to Canadian use and normally are not imported........"

 

My '87 Jap-spec S4 is exempt from the Canadian Federalization requirements because in Canada it's a 15 yr old threshold to qualify for "vintage car" exemption.

 

In Canada, we can import practically anything on wheels without restriction and/or modification from any country on the fifteenth year plus a day past the month of manufacture ( not model year). There is no 'federalization' process required and these vehicles bear a full Provincial Title without restriction once registered ... as any other Canadian vehicle; however, as has been pointed out, the VIN remains unchanged - and is a clear signal as to country of origin.
The USEPA/DOT rarely miss out on this point were such vehicles to be imported to the US.
For vehicles of <15 years, there is a list with RIV of approved vehicles: without exception, these vehicles must bear manufacturers labels attesting compliance with either or both of Canadian and/or US safety standards. Basically, we can mutually import approved vehicles between Canada and the US:
We cannot import anything of <15 years from any other country without these certifications - I've tried.