Japanese 964 Import Help
 

Hey Guys,

I found a great 964 in Japan that I want to bring over to the U.S. I need help in finding a company or a broker that can handle this kind of thing.
I would prefer the company/broker to perform the whole transaction. From Japan to my driveway.

Is there anything I should be aware of before buying this car? I'm in NY and don' know what's involved with registering it & getting it on the road.
SMOG? FEDERALIZATION STICKER? TITLE?

Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Thx
Johnny

Paging JBarnesRS ... he knows a lot about this

Spoke to JBarnesRS...He bought his imported 964 from Jeff Smith. Smith Motor Cars. Jeff only does cars he sells.
So I'm out of luck there.
JbarnesRS mentioned a ROI to help with paperwork and Customs.
What's an ROI?

Since it would be going East to West...maybe thru California, give Canepa a call they're the pros for importing cars (959) I'm sure they could do it all for you but it would be pricy.

Was he referring to a Return Of Investment. Assuming he wants to be paid for his time/help?

Is it sold new in Japan? If it's a LHD car it may have been registred in another country before it came to Japan.

The guys at https://azeuros.com have imported some Audis from Japan and one of them is a 964 owner, give them a shout.

New Zealand has been importing ex Japan cars for decades. Although it's a RHD road system most of the Porsche's were LHD new.

Japan has a few distinctive options. Few have sunroofs, there were more tipos than elsewhere and the rear seat cushion is distinctive.

FYI I did a dyno test with a Japanese ECU. It was noticeably lower Hp than my Singapore ECU with a Steve Wong Chip. Easy Hp.

Garage defend in japan can help you out.

They do alot of this, they have english speakers too.

Theres a place in VA called Japanese Classics they specialize in importation of JDM cars maybe they can assist you. I know two people who bought cars from them and had good things to say about them.

Sent you a PM OP and good luck hopefully he can assist you.

Did you have the exhaust temperature sensor hooked up or a resistor (in its place) attached to the Japanese ECU?

Sorry to butt in here and I dont wanto hijack the thread but are you talking about the one that goes into the japanese cat? If so does it matter? I've installed a cat bypass on my car and I just disconnected the probe.

No, that may have made a difference. My Singapore build car was no cat and no O2 sensor.

I'll try to give a bit of summary on the importation process so at least you know what to expect. I did a bunch of research and I re-imported my ex-US 964 from Canada back to the USA myself. I know you plan on using a registered importer so you won't have to worry about a lot of this. The import process itself is really simple as long as the vehicle is at least 25 years old; getting it registered for road use may be simple or tricky depending on your state laws.

First thing to note, there are two different levels of government requirements, Federal and state. Federal requirements can be effectively thought of as the minimum, and then each individual state can have requirements above and beyond what's at the Federal level, hence how hard it is to bring imported cars into California. I am only going to talk about the Federal requirements because my state doesn't require anything above and beyond that for registration. You'll want to check if New York has any additional emissions or vehicle inspection requirements before you can register your car.

To import a 25 year old car into the US, you'll need to have bill of sale and title/proof of ownership, and there are 3 forms that needs to be filled out and STAMPED by US Customs and Border Patrol:
1. Customs import declaration form with value and description of article, and importer information
2. NHTSA form where you declare you are importing a car and that it is eligible for import (check the "Exempt from FMVSS: over 25 years old" box)
3. EPA form where once again you are importing a car and it's eligible because it is over 21 years old.

Also:
1. You will have to pay import duty (exempt if duty already paid during a previous permanent import to US)
2. I think you are technically subject to gas guzzler tax that you have to pay to the IRS after import
3. You're supposed to wash the car including the undercarriage to minimize chances of importing dangerous pests

There are different/additional rules if you are doing a temporary import as a non-US resident, or if you're a car manufacturer doing tests, or if you're importing trucks, but none of those apply to this situation. Obviously, hiring an importer, they are going to do all this work for you plus any other documents like invoices, bill of landing, etc.. I guess you don't really have a choice here since the car would be coming by boat to Japan. Hard to ship a car back yourself.

Once those three forms are filled, verified by Customs, stamped and duty paid, car is legal to remain in the US. You'll need to take originals of all the stamped forms to your local DMV and jump through your state's hoops for registration.

Also, you'll have to figure out if your importer is going to have it delivered to you in New York, or if you will need to arrange for pick up elsewhere (another port, or even West Coast) since an East Coast drop from Japan means the car is going through the Panama Canal by boat and that's going to add time and cost to the shipping.

Good luck.