Rules And Regulations For Importing A Car Into The U.S.

If you are looking to import a vehicle to the United States, there are several hoops to jump through depending on where your new car is coming from. Some of these options will cost money, and not just a little bit. In some cases, you’ll actually have to buy a few of the same model, but we’ll get to that in a second.

Comply With Regulations

The first and most obvious way to import a vehicle without it being cubed before it even sets tread on a U.S. street is to bring it into compliance with federal laws and regulations. This can be prohibitively expensive, not only will you need to make sure that it features all of the required safety equipment, but that all the new equipment works. Which means crash testing your new car, several times - or rather crash testing several models of your new car, which you have to buy and make comply. The equipment necessary to test your car’s compliance isn’t always cheap either. The list of parts that have to comply range from replacing headlights to make sure their angle and intensity is up to snuff, impact reports including bumper strength, front and side impact zone structure support, and airbags if not already equipped, and reflectors on the front and rear. To test if your car meets impact safety standards means buying at least three extra vehicles just to test, plus the one you hope actually to drive. On top of that, the engine must meet EPA emissions standards as well.

Buy A Substantially Similar Model

This one is the cheapest way to import a vehicle but applies mostly to people bringing their vehicle over the border with our northern neighbors and not so much to European or Asian imports. This means of importing is pretty self-explanatory - you are arguing that your vehicle is similar enough to a model sold in the U.S. that additional testing is unnecessary. You will require a letter from the manufacturer that states the vehicle is, indeed, the same as the U.S. sold model. This just requires a quick call to the customer service line of whatever brand you intend to drive, they will send you the letter of similarity, and you get to send that off with your paperwork to the government to sign off on. Easy-peasy. Beware though that manufacturers are unlikely to sign off on overseas models because it opens them up to lawsuits if the standards of the exporting nation are less severe than here and someone gets hurt because of that.

Bring It Over To Show And Display

Everyone likes to show off their new ride, but if that’s the sole purpose of bringing it into the country, you may be eligible for this import exemption. That is if you’re importing a Mclaren F1 or an Aston Martin One-77. The government keeps a list of cars that are allowed under this clause and an even longer list of cars that don’t qualify. On top of having to match the model, your newly imported vehicle can’t log more than 2,500 miles per year on the odometer. You also can’t sell your freshly imported show car, since the government let you bring it in to show off, not to make money on.

Make Sure It's Of Age

If the car you are bringing into the country is more than twenty-five years old it can come in with almost zero regulatory oversight, the exception being in California. In California, any vehicle made after 1975 has to follow the regulations. If you don’t live in California, however, go nuts. Well, check your state laws as some will have their requirements, but California is the most stringent. This is probably the easiest way to bring your new car home - wait for it to turn twenty-five.

If you want an import car, it’s crucial that you follow the rules and regulation, lest your new sedan or sports coupe gets turned into the ultimate compact by a recycling plant.