Importing Aussie Landcruiser78 into the US?

Australia most likely has different safety and emission requirements. It might be cost prohibitive to have to fix/change/adapt an Aussi car to comply with US laws.

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:22:49 GMT, Skip wrote to alt.autos.toyota.trucks:

Hi Skip,

I was thinking the same thing but didn't know if that also applied to diesel powered vehicles. NZ is a pretty "green" country and they seemed to have quite a few of the LC78s on the road as well, but I don't know if their emissions laws are any more or less restrictive than ours.

Thanks for the reply.

Mark

Check with U.S. Customs before you go ahead with the importation. Ken

alt.autos.toyota.trucks:

You would need to contact toyota in the states to get an epa/dot compliance letter. They would be able to tell you over the phone(hopefully) whether it meets dot and epa compliance measures in effect at the time of manufacture. Let me see here though.. since its a78 thats makes it over 25 years old which would make it exempt from epa and dot compliance. Check with customs at the port you are planning to import it, as sometimes inspectors make up their own rules. Really though, all that will be required would be any duty, assuming the cruiser would be made in japan? Given the value of the vehicle, that shouldnt be that much. A 7501 and you are off to dmv.

alt.autos.toyota.trucks:

1975 and before are exempt from air quality OR safety standards or much of anything else.

Here in Portland Oregon my 76 pickup still has to pass smog tests.

But those vehicles from down under keep trying to drive on the wrong side of the road.

How are you at shifting with the left hand?

(I still remember the bus driver in NZ suddenly stopping as we approached a little town on our way to Mount Cook. Somebody asked him what was going on and his reply was that the vehicle headed towards us on a collision course was an American tourist and he'd wake up that we was on the wrong side of the road in a minute. It happens all the time he says and they're used to it.)

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Hmmmmm..... New to reading the group, but here is some info that might be of assistance....

I was recently enamored with the idea of importing a BJ-70 from......well anywhere in the rest of the world where they are available. I checked with a bunch of inporters in the Pacific Northwest, the internet, and a bunch of different other sources that I found while on the internet......

Here is what I found:

There are four organizations that you have to appease in one way or another.

U.S. Customs.

Their requirements are as follows: You need to fill out a form (I forget the form number) and pay a duty.....I think like 2% on 2-door vehicles and 25% on 4-door vehicles. On the form, you have to declare that the vehicle meets EPA regs and NHTSA regs. OR see below.

EPA

Their requirements are as follows: The vehicle has to conform to current USEPA standards for emissions. There are no standards for the vehicle if it is older than 21 years.

NHTSA - National Highway Transportation Saftey Administration

Their requirements are as follows: The vehicle must meet current federal safety standards (this is not quite accurate.....but this response is already too long.). There are no standards for vehicles older than 25 years. Exception: For vehicles that WERE available in the US the same year of the vehicle that you wish to import, or are basically similar, you can get a letter from the manufacturer stating the your vehicle is basically the same. In a conversation with someone at the NHTSA, four doors is not BASICALLY the same as two doors, even if the rest of the vehicle is the same. Different engines, apparently DO constitute the same vehicle (everthing else being the same), though.

If you are fortunate to get this letter....good luck, though, i understand that the manufactures are.....shall i say....rather reluctant....to give this letter due to e economic considerations having to do with, for instance a landcruiser in the canadian market is considerably less than the US market....leading to the graymarket importation of non-US vehicles saturating the market, undercutting US dealers...blah...blah.....again, good luck, where was I.....? Oh yeah....

If you are fortunate to get this letter, the vehicle still has to be imported through a REGISTERED IMPORTER....under bond, and the odometer/speedometer and anything not up to US Federal Specifications has to be changed to comply with the regs.

YOUR LOCAL/STATE REGS

If there are any........for instance in King County, WA (and Pierce and Snohomish Counties) the vehicle would have to meet the local emissions regs.

Soooooooo........My theory is........

Import a 1983 BJ-40 (3B diesel..i think) from Japan or another LHD country.....and it does not need to meet EPA regs (older than 21 years) and it doesn't need to meet the NHTSA regs because the FJ-40 was imported into the US, and, i believe, the NHTSA has a letter on file allowing it to be imported as a "like vehicle" or something like that. You need that letter only because the vehicle is less than 25 years old.......but you would still probably need to have a REGISTERED IMPORTER recieve it, under bond, to have the odo/speedo changed.......since a like-vehicle was imported...almost everything else on the vehicle would probably meet the NHTSA regs for that model year....

Or import a 1979 (or older) anymodel landcruiser, becaues it fits both of the exemptions for EPA and NHTSA, and you don't need any paperwork, just check the two exemption boxes on teh customs form and pay the duty. This one can be diesel, RHD, convertible, whatever...

ME? I still want a BJ-70 or 74...... I'm just going to have to wait intil

2008 till the 1983 BJ-70 meets the 25 year exemption and i can get one into the US with the least amount of trouble.....parts for my BJ-70.....heh...heh...heh....i have no idea.....that is going to be whole nuther kettle of monkeys....

Good luck, and I hope that this helps....

Ron

alt.autos.toyota.trucks:

Hey not too sure what the difference is between the 78 and the 79 is but the company i work for has 9 Series 79 and 1 series 75 in canada, we import them for underground use. The only reason they're not suitable for road use is the braking system on them, if it wasn't for the tri-braking system it would be perfectly legal for road use.

What's so special about Aussie Lanscruise? Do they run on two wheel like kangaroo?

My neighbor has an old LandCruiser, they are cool looking. But not hard to find here in US.