Was thinking about buying a skyline gtr

[h22sparkle]

Should I? If I am unable to get a new one for whatever reason im probably going to get one used. If not I was thinking right hand drive but that shits a bit skeptical to me and then leaving it around parked up for even the slightest second. Any suggestions on where should I get the japanese gtr from since all the others are getting confiscated?

[ric3rboi23]

steal one from police impound.

[1990accordex-r]

Import one from Canada, there are plenty up here.

[Law Grandeur]

we have some here too lol

http://orlando.craigslist.org/cto/2795050126.html

[sulimed]

you should be safe with a r32 or r33.......just stay away from r34s

[Saidaigen8]

What car are you looking for? There is a difference between the NEW GTR and skyline gtr. They wear the same badge but ultimately the skyline has been discontinued. If youre in the U.S. then ALL skylines are illegal except the new gtr. The rumor about r32's and r33's being okay is false. There are a few imported and registered as 240's. As for finding them there are still a lot of people trying to sell before they get taken away.

[Lynx]

A girl I used to work with drove an R33 GT-R RHD. Loved the sound of that thing, lol.

[Shadow1]

What car are you looking for? There is a difference between the NEW GTR and skyline gtr. They wear the same badge but ultimately the skyline has been discontinued. If youre in the U.S. then ALL skylines are illegal except the new gtr. The rumor about r32's and r33's being okay is false. There are a few imported and registered as 240's. As for finding them there are still a lot of people trying to sell before they get taken away.

Wrong. The R32s and R33s are legal to have in the US. The 34s aren't. This I know because I used to work at a Nissan dealership and the owner had both an 32 and 33. Both were legally registered as Skylines. How do I know they were legally registered? I got to ride in one when he came by one of the hang out spots I was at up in that area. We got pulled and the officer let him go. His registration and tags both had "Skyline" as the model.

[deevergote]

Wrong again.

The laws have since been adjusted, and it is illegal to own ANY R32/33/34 Skyline in the US. There are very few remaining in the country that are 100% legal, and those were imported before the laws were changed (mostly the Motorex-imported ones.) No crash test data exists for any GT-R, as Motorex crashed a low-end R33 and used that data. Apparently, even that data has mysteriously disappeared, and is no longer able to be used.
R32s and R34s were imported using that data, but it has been discovered that they are not similar enough. Even the R33 GT-R is different enough not to count.

The only way to get an R32/33/34 GT-R legally is to find one of the handful of truly legal ones that remain from the "gray area" days of Motorex. Those are expensive... R32s fetching $30,000, R34s fetching $80,000...

I've heard that used car dealers can get away with owning and registering them somehow... not sure how that works...



Sparkle, if you want a GT-R, your best bet is to buy the new, non-Skyline version that we have in the us.

[Hopeless]

Wrong. The R32s and R33s are legal to have in the US. The 34s aren't. This I know because I used to work at a Nissan dealership and the owner had both an 32 and 33. Both were legally registered as Skylines. How do I know they were legally registered? I got to ride in one when he came by one of the hang out spots I was at up in that area. We got pulled and the officer let him go. His registration and tags both had "Skyline" as the model.

this is wrong.

the only skyline thats legal here in the states is the series 2 r33 gts and gtr ('96-'99?). all of the dot testing was submitted on that car between rb motoring, jk motoring, and motorex. Motorex used the dot certifications on the r33 skyline as the paperwork for r32, r33, and r34 skylines to make them legal, until the DOT found out. such is the reason why only the later gen r33's are "demonstrated as capable of being modified to fit federal regulations"

That being said, they STILL require the car to be converted to full d.o.t. specifications to meet compliance.

JK motoring has since become JK technologies, and they do DOT compliance testing on cars... installing sidebars, putting in d.o.t. glass etc, but get ready to pay a pretty penny to get it taken care of legally.

http://www.jktechnologies.net/veh_imports.htm

http://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/elig100111.pdf


all other cars are either:

1) not street legal, track/show use only

2) grey market from canada, which takes a ton of work and routing to get legalized in the US, which then becomes illegal as soon as they sell it (if im not mistaken)

3) motorex imported, with legal documentation but not necessarily legal. many of these has been confiscated if i remember correctly.

4) is registered as a "kit car" by using a 240sx vin on the skyline chassis (vin swapping/ vin fraud). THIS IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL. something you dont ever want to get pinned with.

my ex has an r34 gt-r that was motorex and she still has it and has managed not to get it taken away. her brother uses his channels to keep it on the road, but i dont knwo what those channels are.

another of my old friends has a legal motorex s13 silvia. and i havnt spoken to him in a while, but last time i had talked to him a couple years ago, he was having trouble getting it re-registered.

[Flatline]

dealers can get away with it because, like transporter tags, dealer tags aren't registered to a particular person or car but to a company directly.

Companies can get away with most things these days. As long as they have the money.

[turboAccordHSF]

This has been covered before, if not I think I've seen this topic on DSMtuners. The DMV teamed up with an agency to track down most Nissan 90-02 Skyline GT-Rs street & Track. All of them were required to go through this test as stated above and obviously the R34 & 32 had failed but since the Skyline GT-S or GT already been crashed tested in Canada and like other foreign countries the GTS became as close as you can get to a GT-R. Even guys especially in California who have a so-called Skyline and its badged out as a GT-R had cop trouble. I never knew the skylines would even be register as a 240sx thats 2 totally different cars. All I know shits changed since 2004 and the DMV is all up on Skyline owners. Best bet is get a Nissan Skyline GT-S from Canada then swap in a RB26TT but seriously ...the fact that you own the car and its in a good running condition you'll gain the head turns and respect you want . Not everyone knows the difference between a skyline and a GT-R they all just know its a fast as car street legend e.t.c. I wouldn't bother modifying it that's just asking for more courses for you to go through. And the question still stands....

Do you want to own a skyline GT-R?

I believe there's a website that pretty much has a lot of U.S Skyline owners fighting against this new law but no luck or changed has been made so far. And the older these cars get the more harder they'll be to find and register.

[crazymikey]

Moving to Canada would probably just be easier.

[Gemini]

Moving to Canada would probably just be easier.

x2

[deevergote]

this is wrong.

the only skyline thats legal here in the states is the series 2 r33 gts and gtr ('96-'99?). all of the dot testing was submitted on that car between rb motoring, jk motoring, and motorex. Motorex used the dot certifications on the r33 skyline as the paperwork for r32, r33, and r34 skylines to make them legal, until the DOT found out. such is the reason why only the later gen r33's are "demonstrated as capable of being modified to fit federal regulations"

That being said, they STILL require the car to be converted to full d.o.t. specifications to meet compliance.

JK motoring has since become JK technologies, and they do DOT compliance testing on cars... installing sidebars, putting in d.o.t. glass etc, but get ready to pay a pretty penny to get it taken care of legally.

http://www.jktechnologies.net/veh_imports.htm

http://icsw.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/elig100111.pdf


all other cars are either:

1) not street legal, track/show use only

2) grey market from canada, which takes a ton of work and routing to get legalized in the US, which then becomes illegal as soon as they sell it (if im not mistaken)

3) motorex imported, with legal documentation but not necessarily legal. many of these has been confiscated if i remember correctly.

4) is registered as a "kit car" by using a 240sx vin on the skyline chassis (vin swapping/ vin fraud). THIS IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL. something you dont ever want to get pinned with.

my ex has an r34 gt-r that was motorex and she still has it and has managed not to get it taken away. her brother uses his channels to keep it on the road, but i dont knwo what those channels are.

another of my old friends has a legal motorex s13 silvia. and i havnt spoken to him in a while, but last time i had talked to him a couple years ago, he was having trouble getting it re-registered.

The S13 would be much easier to legalize, as there is a US equivalent. It's fairly easy to import a car with equivalent US models, because we have DOT and EPA requirements in place for those particular cars. There is no US equivalent to the R32/33/34 Skyline, which is why they are nearly impossible to import.
I had read (the source is long since forgotten) that the R33 that was crashed to obtain the crash data was not a GTS or GTR, but rather the lowest possible model you could get (of the least popular generation of the more modern Skylines...) I also read that because of this, the desirable GTS-T and GTR models were not able to be imported using this data.

Importing from Canada is no different than importing from any other country. The fact that we share a land border makes it seem easier, but paperwork must be filed to have a Canadian car in the US for an extended period of time. A car that is illegal in the US could not be sold in the US (to be driven), and would be required to return to Canada after a period of time. Sneaking one in and attempting to keep it here would be more difficult than it's worth, and would probably require the use of illegal registration methods.

In order to import ANY car that requires modification, you must go through a registered importer. The RI takes possession of the car directly, before you can touch it. The RI is then required to modify the car to meet US standards. There's really no legal way to bypass the RI and attempt to modify the car on your own... unless, POSSIBLY, importing it as a race/show car, performing the necessary modifications, and submitting it for DOT/EPA approval.


I've looked into importing a Skyline many times... and I've decided that it's not worth the cost or effort. For what I'd spend to get a car that would really only be truly impressive to fanboys of The Fast and the Furious, Forza, and Gran Turismo... I could get myself into a late 90s Ferrari F355 (or better... a used 97 F355 can be had for $40,000... what I see GTRs going for.) A car that is easier to find, 100% legal to own, more powerful, and more impressive (if having an impressive car is of importance... for me, I'd like to own a car that people would see and say "wow, look at that!")