Is RHD illegal to buy in the US?

[Watch Me Run]

Im just thinking life would be SO much better with RHD

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Watch Me Run

Im just thinking life would be SO much better with RHD

Depends on the State. Most will allow them after a certain age. I could stand corrected but believe it is 25 years in most places.

Oh and although it is fun for the reactions they totally SUCK to actually drive. Say goodbye to passing on two lane roads and simple turns can become a geometry lesson. The roads, parking lot's, etc here are not built for them.

[KR-S]

Most RHD cars are illegal to import in the U.S., but I have never heard of RHD itself being the reason why. There are few, but nonetheless examples of JDM cars that are legal for road use in the U.S.

That being said, why do you believe that RHD would be easier to drive?

[Watch Me Run]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Depends on the State. Most will allow them after a certain age. I could stand corrected but believe it is 25 years in most places.

Oh and although it is fun for the reactions they totally SUCK to actually drive. Say goodbye to passing on two lane roads and simple turns can become a geometry lesson. The roads, parking lot's, etc here are not built for them.

I think the roads here in the south bay area are ideal if not identical to japan in many respects. Almost all roadside parking is passenger side in and all the parking lots are bidirectional so those wouldnt matter, and boy it sure would be a lot safer to get out of the car and face the sidewalk instead of the busy street.

I would love to direct order a RHD car and so far no one has told me any proof that it is not illegal to buy a new RHD car.

[Watch Me Run]

Originally Posted by KR-S 86

Most RHD cars are illegal to import in the U.S., but I have never heard of RHD itself being the reason why. There are few, but nonetheless examples of JDM cars that are legal for road use in the U.S.

That being said, why do you believe that RHD would be easier to drive?

Because it sure seems safer to get out of a car and face the sidewalk instead of a street where cars are moving 45 mph+

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Watch Me Run

I think the roads here in the south bay area are ideal if not identical to japan in many respects. Almost all roadside parking is passenger side in and all the parking lots are bidirectional so those wouldnt matter, and boy it sure would be a lot safer to get out of the car and face the sidewalk instead of the busy street.

I would love to direct order a RHD car and so far no one has told me any proof that it is not illegal to buy a new RHD car.

No they are not "the same" All angles, equipment, safety feature, etc are designed to be approached from the other direction. You are on the wrong side of the vehicle for NA infrastructure, end of story. I have driven them and am speaking from experience NOT "I think".

A 5 second Google search brought up about 1,000 pages explaining very clearly why they are not legal to import but the conditions on importing them are very restrictive. Look it up yourself (especially California since you can barely bring cars from other States there much less cars from other countries)

Whether you would "love" to import one or not does not change the laws nor how impractical they are. You asked. I answered. You didn't like my answer. I don't plan to debate the subject with you any further.

[Watch Me Run]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

No they are not "the same" All angles, equipment, safety feature, etc are designed to be approached from the other direction. You are on the wrong side of the vehicle for NA infrastructure, end of story. I have driven them and am speaking from experience NOT "I think".

A 5 second Google search brought up about 1,000 pages explaining very clearly why they are not legal to import but the conditions on importing them are very restrictive. Look it up yourself (especially California since you can barely bring cars from other States there much less cars from other countries)

Whether you would "love" to import one or not does not change the laws nor how impractical they are. You asked. I answered. You didn't like my answer. I don't plan to debate the subject with you any further.

I dont want to debate, i just wish to know what you searched for to find this information so i can read it

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

No they are not "the same" All angles, equipment, safety feature, etc are designed to be approached from the other direction. You are on the wrong side of the vehicle for NA infrastructure, end of story. I have driven them and am speaking from experience NOT "I think".

This. The man knows what he's talking about.

that said, everything that's 25 years old is fair game:
https://www.japaneseclassics.com/veh...gt-twin-turbo/

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Watch Me Run

I dont want to debate, i just wish to know what you searched for to find this information so i can read it

You can't figure out a freakin' search term on your own?
Just type the bloody title of this thread into Google.
Jesus.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

This. The man knows what he's talking about.

that said, everything that's 25 years old is fair game:
https://www.japaneseclassics.com/veh...gt-twin-turbo/

Not everything that is 25 years old is and not every place. There are "Show vehicle" and "off road only" restrictions on many. A pile of Skylines got imported and then crushed after the first few F&F movies.

[swarb]

Originally Posted by Watch Me Run

Im just thinking life would be SO much better with RHD

Try turning left at a light with another car across from you. Or shifting with your left hand. Or calculating your speed in km while driving.

You can buy whatever you want. They won't say no to your money.
The problem is getting it on a boat.
Then through customs.
Then getting it dot approved. (head lights, tail lights, airbags, tires, gauge cluster, crash testing, etc)
Then getting a 17 digit california vin.
Then smog testing.
Then registering it.
Then trying to find insurance.

Sure you can try all this yourself, take years finding loopholes or have an expensive piece of metal sitting in a dock collecting fees and waiting to get impounded or crushed. Or do it the illegal way...
Or just pay an importer to do some of the work. (not cheap)

Unless you're wealthy, shady, or willing to have an average rhd car, it's not really worth it.
Your best bet is to 1. buy one with all the work done and registered in California, 2. move out of California, 3. or buy parts to do a RHD conversion.

I did see this car on the road the other day though...

[MrFisty]

LMAO have fun at the ATM and drive-thru and re-learning your driving perspective and shifting with your left hand.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Not everything that is 25 years old is and not every place. There are "Show vehicle" and "off road only" restrictions on many. A pile of Skylines got imported and then crushed after the first few F&F movies.

I think that was done prior to them becoming 25 years old as this just happened recently that they fell in that 25 year window, and it is only R32s currently. The vehicles crushed were mostly R33 / R34s.


I have been looking in to this a lot recently, and almost anything 25 years or older is fair game now.


http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/impo...ges/page2.html


www.japaneseclassics.com - Import cars, do maintenance on them, clean them up, and include all proper paperwork to register in all 50 states. You do pay a premium, but it might be worth it.


I have read of people doing it themselves and as long as they do their due diligence with the proper paperwork and getting a clean car originally.... it hasn't seemed to be too horrible for them.


I have always wanted to drive to Canada and find a clean one, but it might actually be cheaper to import a clean one from Japan, lol.

[Summerwolf]

Originally Posted by MrFisty

LMAO have fun at the ATM and drive-thru and re-learning your driving perspective and shifting with your left hand.

Here I am thinking ALL that would be fun......


Dave Demuro explained about driving a RHD car in America and apparently the worst for him was long left hand turns from a stoplight.


http://www.dougdemuro.com/automotive-columns/importing/