Can I bring my Tuscan to California
Discussion
The short answer is, no, you can't.
Unless:
1. You are a diplomat and have authorisation from the British Government
2. You are a member of the British armed services
3. It is going to be used in a movie and not going to be driven on public roads
4. It is going to be used on race tracks and not going to be driven on public roads
5. You can prove that it meets all safety AND emissions (federal and CA <- draconian) regulations in effect at the time of production, file a petition with the NHTSA, and wait the 6-18 months until they issue a ruling one way or the other (99% chance of being rejected with a TVR--they are not going to fall for the "representations" that need to be made).
6.
If you are in the US on a non-immigrant, temporary basis, you can also bring a car over for up to one year on a temporary import bond. It is not terribly difficult, but it's only good for one year. California local authorities (eg. city police and highway patrol) are not too well aware of the laws governing this, and you can expect to have major problems virtually every time you drive the car. Prepare to be detained for very long times each time you are pulled over. And you will get pulled over ALL the time with your foreign-looking car with its foreign plates and RHD layout. Securing insurance cover will also be difficult. As will getting parts or servicing.
There is a law in California that all vehicles that have been in the state for longer than 10 days need to be registered with the state. The temporary importation is a federal procedure, and the local authorities will insist that you conform to the state law and start to register the vehicle. When you start the procedure, they will insist on you paying several thousand dollars. You will do so, thinking "oh good, they know what the procedure is". You will then realise that you can't complete the registration because you either need an out-of-state title or a manufacturer's certificate of origin (MCO) with documentation of crash certification and emissions compliance from the manufacturer. At that point, you will be well and truly screwed because you are:
- in violation of the law
- unable to proceed
- out several thousand dollars
- liable to have your car confiscated.
- facing several thousand more dollars in attorney fees just to store your car--you can't legally drive it
- additional expense of several thousand more dollars to store it under their watchful eyes
- additional expense of several thousand more dollars so you can export it back
There's a poor fellow in Texas who went through the same hassle with his Lotus Elise.
There's a poor fellow in the San Francisco area who was forced to sell his beloved Exige even though he had modified it with a Honda motor and it was legally a kit car.
There's a poor fellow in Los Angeles with a Tuscan he can't drive, looking at exporting it back.
Remember, you will be dealing with several different organisations, none of whom know anything but their OWN requirements. Their advice is only good for their own requirements. It is up to you to follow up and make sure you are in compliance with the requirements of EACH organisation:
Customs (Dept. of Homeland Security)
Federal (NHTSA and EPA)
State (DMV and CARB)
------------------------------------------
Sorry. The best thing to do is buy a track toy, such as a Lotus 340R. Or a go-kart or Cobra replica. Or buy some regular car and put a monster motor in it. Plenty of choices around, some of them quite nice, but none of them a TVR, unfortunately.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Saturday 18th March 06:27
Unless:
1. You are a diplomat and have authorisation from the British Government
2. You are a member of the British armed services
3. It is going to be used in a movie and not going to be driven on public roads
4. It is going to be used on race tracks and not going to be driven on public roads
5. You can prove that it meets all safety AND emissions (federal and CA <- draconian) regulations in effect at the time of production, file a petition with the NHTSA, and wait the 6-18 months until they issue a ruling one way or the other (99% chance of being rejected with a TVR--they are not going to fall for the "representations" that need to be made).
6.
If you are in the US on a non-immigrant, temporary basis, you can also bring a car over for up to one year on a temporary import bond. It is not terribly difficult, but it's only good for one year. California local authorities (eg. city police and highway patrol) are not too well aware of the laws governing this, and you can expect to have major problems virtually every time you drive the car. Prepare to be detained for very long times each time you are pulled over. And you will get pulled over ALL the time with your foreign-looking car with its foreign plates and RHD layout. Securing insurance cover will also be difficult. As will getting parts or servicing.
There is a law in California that all vehicles that have been in the state for longer than 10 days need to be registered with the state. The temporary importation is a federal procedure, and the local authorities will insist that you conform to the state law and start to register the vehicle. When you start the procedure, they will insist on you paying several thousand dollars. You will do so, thinking "oh good, they know what the procedure is". You will then realise that you can't complete the registration because you either need an out-of-state title or a manufacturer's certificate of origin (MCO) with documentation of crash certification and emissions compliance from the manufacturer. At that point, you will be well and truly screwed because you are:
- in violation of the law
- unable to proceed
- out several thousand dollars
- liable to have your car confiscated.
- facing several thousand more dollars in attorney fees just to store your car--you can't legally drive it
- additional expense of several thousand more dollars to store it under their watchful eyes
- additional expense of several thousand more dollars so you can export it back
There's a poor fellow in Texas who went through the same hassle with his Lotus Elise.
There's a poor fellow in the San Francisco area who was forced to sell his beloved Exige even though he had modified it with a Honda motor and it was legally a kit car.
There's a poor fellow in Los Angeles with a Tuscan he can't drive, looking at exporting it back.
Remember, you will be dealing with several different organisations, none of whom know anything but their OWN requirements. Their advice is only good for their own requirements. It is up to you to follow up and make sure you are in compliance with the requirements of EACH organisation:
Customs (Dept. of Homeland Security)
Federal (NHTSA and EPA)
State (DMV and CARB)
------------------------------------------
Sorry. The best thing to do is buy a track toy, such as a Lotus 340R. Or a go-kart or Cobra replica. Or buy some regular car and put a monster motor in it. Plenty of choices around, some of them quite nice, but none of them a TVR, unfortunately.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Saturday 18th March 06:27
There's a guy in San Fran who's on his second cerbera out there now, I know because I exported it for him. (he also had an exige or elise motorsport so might be the same person orgas is talking about) .. he was tvrfreak on PH but not heard from him for about a year or more now, He was the Ash (phoenix fame) of USA!!. Might be worth tracking him down though to see how he got his through the registration proceedure.
trackcar,
from the website in your profile, I see race prep, but no import/export services. Did you do the actual paperwork and containerising/palletisation, or did you just deliver the car to the actual exporters/shipping company? And was this as a one-off favour or do you actually provide an export facilitation service?
If you do provide this service, I believe it would be useful to a lot of Pistonheaders if you could describe in some detail what is involved--at the DVLA, outbound Customs, and at the shipper's. Who knows, maybe others need to employ your export services too.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Saturday 18th March 21:30
from the website in your profile, I see race prep, but no import/export services. Did you do the actual paperwork and containerising/palletisation, or did you just deliver the car to the actual exporters/shipping company? And was this as a one-off favour or do you actually provide an export facilitation service?
If you do provide this service, I believe it would be useful to a lot of Pistonheaders if you could describe in some detail what is involved--at the DVLA, outbound Customs, and at the shipper's. Who knows, maybe others need to employ your export services too.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Saturday 18th March 21:30
There is another way. You can take the motor out of your tuscan before you send it to the u.s. this lets you claim it as a kit car of sorts. Once you do that im pretty sure you can find a new engine that will allow you to pass emissions here. I only say find a new engine because im not sure if kit cars have to go through emissions or not since they are "home built" and that means there would only be about one of its kind on the road- theoretically. Sorry i don't know much of the details but i beleive that is how they got the macca f1's and other such exotica over here.
orgasmicliving!! said:
trackcar,
from the website in your profile, I see race prep, but no import/export services. Did you do the actual paperwork and containerising/palletisation, or did you just deliver the car to the actual exporters/shipping company? And was this as a one-off favour or do you actually provide an export facilitation service?
If you do provide this service, I believe it would be useful to a lot of Pistonheaders if you could describe in some detail what is involved--at the DVLA, outbound Customs, and at the shipper's. Who knows, maybe others need to employ your export services too.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Saturday 18th March 21:30
Hmmm! Smart-rse or p-sstaker? or you obviously have some expertise in the import/export business, so do tell us, based on your vast experience, what can or cannot be acheived?
PS Obviously you know little about Jools, apart from being well respected on these forums he is not one who is given to fanciful speculations, and who precisely are you?
maclf01 said:
There is another way. You can take the motor out of your tuscan before you send it to the u.s. this lets you claim it as a kit car of sorts. Once you do that im pretty sure you can find a new engine that will allow you to pass emissions here. I only say find a new engine because im not sure if kit cars have to go through emissions or not since they are "home built" and that means there would only be about one of its kind on the road- theoretically. Sorry i don't know much of the details but i beleive that is how they got the macca f1's and other such exotica over here.
You are right about the kit car, but a bit off the mark with respect to the McLaren F1s that were imported earlier on.
Yes, without an engine, your car's body is nothing but an assemblage of vehicle parts that can be shipped in, in theory. Actually, there are a few other specific conditions you will have to meet (about the degree to which it is disassembled). This can be done. Just need to contact US customs and make sure you meet the criteria.
Finding a new engine to fit will also be an adventure, but I am sure it can be done.
Once it is able to move under its own power, in order to drive it on US roads, in any state, you will have to get it inspected for roadworthiness, and you will have to meet federal and local emissions standards. The roadworthiness inspection is easy and far less stringent for a home-assembled vehicle (kit car) than the testing required from manufacturers. This would not be a problem, even for a RHD vehicle. However, there is no exception to emissions certification. None. If you put in a US-spec motor and the appropriate cats, however, this should be easy as well.
They never removed any motors from McLarens to get them into the US. At first, they were imported into a free-trade zone and modified by a company called Ameritech. They were euphemistically called "kit cars." The rules were far more relaxed then. Fake bumpers were added, seat cushions were removed, and a few other minor modifications made to qualify them as kit cars/remanufactured vehicles. The person who brought them in, Dick Fritx, affixed his own VIN numbers besides the McLaren numbers. They were then classified as "remanufactured cars".
Once those rules started being enforced more stringently, enough people protested to result in the creation of a Show and Display exemption for very special cars. Cars such as the Prosche 959, Porsche GT1, McLaren F1, BMW Z1 (!), Mercedes CLK GTR Jaguar XJ220, etc. There's a list of cars that qualify online, but TVRs will *never* be on that list (except perhaps the Speed 12). Cars allowed in under this exemption do not have to meet safety regs, can only be driven 2,500 miles per year, and HAVE to meet federal and state emissions requirements.
Cars that are 25 years or older can also be imported. That used to be the case, anyways--they were simply vintage cars and exempted from everything, since emissions regs did not exist 25 years ago. That is changing. Vehicles have to meet the safety requirements in effect in the US at the time of the car's production, so it will always be difficult to impossible to import cars built after the mid-70s. TVRs would never qualify automatically, but perhaps someone enterprising enough can modify them to meed the emissions regulations and go the kit-car route.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Sunday 19th March 17:18
yellabelly said:
[quote=orgasmicliving!!]Hmmm! Smart-rse or p-sstaker? or you obviously have some expertise in the import/export business, so do tell us, based on your vast experience, what can or cannot be acheived?
PS Obviously you know little about Jools, apart from being well respected on these forums he is not one who is given to fanciful speculations, and who precisely are you?
I didn't mean any disrespect. I was asking about what's involved in exporting a car from England. I don't know anything about that, and thought if he had any information, it would be useful to share (if he was willing to, of course). But honestly, I wasn't implying anything else by the question. I was genuinely curious about English/British procedures and requirements.
I do know about the US regs, and have posted what I know. I wouldn't call my knowledge or experience "vast" though. At this point, if you have read everything I have written in this thread, you know at least 3% as much as I do
It's hard to convey tone through online postings, but I don't see anything remotely smart-arse or any piss-taking in my earlier post. Perhaps I was being too direct for your fine British sensibilities? Sanguine apologies if that was the case.
See, I can do sarcasm too.
>> Edited by orgasmicliving!! on Sunday 19th March 17:28
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