Importing Car From U.S.

[kmo]

Any pictures of your friends converted s2000 you can post? I'd like to be able to see the conversion quality. After reading some of these threads regarding converted cars, it seems to be sort of a hit and miss as far as quality.

ill try to take pics and post is if we get to see each other again well just a while ago, i saw another recetly purchased silver s2000 it was purchased for 1.4m also converted with 30k on the odo ... the conversion of this one is almost identical to the other with everthing on the correct side already the only concern is the airbag at the passenger side. but if you compared, the first one that i saw that was purchasd for 1.3M is better than this one ... the interior is more intact, etc but overall this is also a pretty much perfect conversion of an s2000

[rtuazon4]

ill try to take pics and post is if we get to see each other again well just a while ago, i saw another recetly purchased silver s2000 it was purchased for 1.4m also converted with 30k on the odo ... the conversion of this one is almost identical to the other with everthing on the correct side already the only concern is the airbag at the passenger side. but if you compared, the first one that i saw that was purchasd for 1.3M is better than this one ... the interior is more intact, etc but overall this is also a pretty much perfect conversion of an s2000

What year are these S2000's that are going for this price? Thanks.

[kmo]

What year are these S2000's that are going for this price? Thanks.

i think both are ... 01/02? coz its the model that still has the 2.0 engine and not the newer 2.2 engine

[rtuazon4]

i think both are ... 01/02? coz its the model that still has the 2.0 engine and not the newer 2.2 engine

I'm not sure about the other countries but here in the U.S. the 2.2 engine in the S2000 didn't show up until 2004 but the actual redline went down. That's why i'd like to keep my 2003.

[bunge]

is there such a thing as perfect conversion from RHD to LHD? to think that this are not just ordinary cars in terms of power. safety should be considered deeply. i don't think that these so-called perfectly converted cars can really be push to their limits.

[ronald_m]

i think those are the poorly converted s2000 units ...



there are far more exotic / rare cars here in the philippines compared to the honda s2000, there are murcielagos, gallardos, diablo, even a miura, a ford GT, a PERFECTLY converted nissan skyline R34 GTR nur, a monster trd supra, 2 merc SLRs, mclaren F1, ferrari f430, saleen mustang, aston martin db7 etc you name it, the philippines has it hehe almost

If they're not filthy politician, They do have connections.

[rtuazon4]

is there such a thing as perfect conversion from RHD to LHD? to think that this are not just ordinary cars in terms of power. safety should be considered deeply. i don't think that these so-called perfectly converted cars can really be push to their limits.

I agree, that's why if i find it too difficult to import my car into the philippines, i'd like to at least find one in the philippines locally that was originally a left hand drive.

[Helios]

If they're not filthy politician, They do have connections.

sorry for butting in Sir Rt but I'm just itching to ask the same folks here if it would be cheaper to discreetly ship in the car piece by piece under different names and times without those hassles you've mentioned earlier?

[woodfire]

Just an advise brod, maybe its not worth the hassle. I brought in a BMW M3 (first generation) from Germany and it took me a couple of weeks to iron out the wrinkles at Customs. The "extra" cost to bring it out almost burnt a hole in my wallet.

After using the car for 9 months, I sold it to another enthusiast, hehehe.

[ptk675]

i remember back when we had our W201 benz sent here from Maryland. Freight and customs charges more than doubled the price of the car. And when we picked up the car at customs, the battery was replaced with an old (and dead flat) one so we had to push start the car. Someone also took a liking for the factory Blaupunkt head unit.

[rtuazon4]

i remember back when we had our W201 benz sent here from Maryland. Freight and customs charges more than doubled the price of the car. And when we picked up the car at customs, the battery was replaced with an old (and dead flat) one so we had to push start the car. Someone also took a liking for the factory Blaupunkt head unit.

Just wondering how old the mercedes was when you sent it to the philippines?
Roughly how much were the freight and customs charges you had to dish out? Thanks for any info.

[rtuazon4]

Just an advise brod, maybe its not worth the hassle. I brought in a BMW M3 (first generation) from Germany and it took me a couple of weeks to iron out the wrinkles at Customs. The "extra" cost to bring it out almost burnt a hole in my wallet.

After using the car for 9 months, I sold it to another enthusiast, hehehe.

Yeah, i've heard i should prepare for it to be a nightmare. If i was planning on just bringing any coupe or sedan, i'd just definitely buy locally but i've checked out the market for used convertibles there and the prices are still crazy.

[the_wildthing]

I wonder if it's as much a hassle for an old car. Like a 930.

[ptk675]

Just wondering how old the mercedes was when you sent it to the philippines?
Roughly how much were the freight and customs charges you had to dish out? Thanks for any info.

it was an '86 model that we bought in '93. The car cost around US$20k +/- iirc. the dollar then was just hovering in the 20s, so the car itself cost maybe Php450k, 500k tops. after adding in the cost of freight and custom taxes and "taxes" it came out a shade below 1 mil.

[boyscout]

+1 its not worth it... !!!

[kmo]

is there such a thing as perfect conversion from RHD to LHD? to think that this are not just ordinary cars in terms of power. safety should be considered deeply. i don't think that these so-called perfectly converted cars can really be push to their limits.

yup i do think that there is a so called PERFECTLY CONVERTED cars .... if the car used all original LHD parts then i can consider this as perfect like for example most of the EK3 hatch here are RHD then if i bring it in, used original LHD pedals, dash, steering columns, etc other things that is needed to be conveted then i can say that this is a very safe conversion ...

if you wanna see a literally perfect conversion ... just take a look at the R34 Skyline GTR NuR by autoplus we all know that there was never a LHD version of the skyline, but what he did was send the car to the states where in a company is making LHD parts, dash, etc solely for the skyline ... right now the car has over 800hp and so far, the car is still in tact

of course for me, id still go for the original LHD vehicles instead of a converted one ... but if it was converted as cleanly and thoroughly as the GTR of autoplus .. then id take it

[redorange]

yup i do think that there is a so called PERFECTLY CONVERTED cars .... if the car used all original LHD parts then i can consider this as perfect like for example most of the EK3 hatch here are RHD then if i bring it in, used original LHD pedals, dash, steering columns, etc other things that is needed to be conveted then i can say that this is a very safe conversion ...

if you wanna see a literally perfect conversion ... just take a look at the R34 Skyline GTR NuR by autoplus we all know that there was never a LHD version of the skyline, but what he did was send the car to the states where in a company is making LHD parts, dash, etc solely for the skyline ... right now the car has over 800hp and so far, the car is still in tact

of course for me, id still go for the original LHD vehicles instead of a converted one ... but if it was converted as cleanly and thoroughly as the GTR of autoplus .. then id take it

I hope he didn't get it done at Motorex buy AFAIK they were the only one to do Skyline conversions in the US. See the case below from NHTSA regarding Motorex.

2) Motorex

After receiving complaints from State officials regarding vehicles imported and allegedly conformed by Motorex that failed to comply with certain standards, NHTSA initiated an investigation of the company’s practices as an RI. The agency’s investigation ultimately revealed that Motorex submitted false statements of conformity to the agency for 17 separate Nissan GTS and GTR “Skyline” passenger cars. Given the gravity of these violations, the agency asked Motorex on June 30, 2005 to show cause why its registration as an RI ought not be revoked. After considering Motorex’s response to the agency’s letter, NHTSA revoked the company’s registration on February 15, 2006.

In the course of its investigation of Motorex, NHTSA obtained from Nissan information that caused the agency to consider the need to partially rescind its prior decision that 1990 to 1999 Nissan GTS and GTR “Skyline” model vehicles are eligible for importation. On November 28, 2005, the agency published in the Federal Register a tentative decision to partially rescind import eligibility for certain model and model year Nissan Skyline vehicles. After considering comments received in response to the notice of tentative decision, on March 1, 2006, the agency published in the Federal Register a final decision to rescind import eligibility for the models and model years at issue. As a result of that decision, only R33 model Nissan Skyline vehicles manufactured between January 1996 and June 1998 remain eligible for importation. All other model and model year vehicles admissible under the prior decision are no longer eligible for importation. As a consequence, the agency rescinded vehicle eligibility number VCP-17, which covered vehicles admissible under the prior decision, and issued vehicle eligibility number VCP-32 to cover only those model and model year Nissan GTS and GTR passenger cars that remain eligible for importation. The rescission will only bar the future importation of the model and model year Nissan GTS and GTR passenger cars that are no longer eligible for importation, and will not affect the status of vehicles that have already been lawfully imported under vehicle eligibility number VCP-17.
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The owner is also being charged with embezzlement for failing to provide the cars to people who bought some of the Skylines. The cars they were converting did not meet safety standards after the conversion so they were shut down.

[redorange]

I wonder if it's as much a hassle for an old car. Like a 930.

AFAIK there is an limit to the age of the car that you are able to import into the country so it would depend if it's within the criteria.

[rtuazon4]

AFAIK there is an limit to the age of the car that you are able to import into the country so it would depend if it's within the criteria.

That's exactly what i thought, too. I believe anything over 5 years old is not allowed due to the philippines' "anti junk law" but i could be wrong.

[bunge]

if the car is 5 years old and above, the best thing is to use the balikbayan privilege. i think permit can be obtained from the department of finance for this privilege. but then, the hard part is still bringing the car out of the port of entry even if you have all the necessary docs without shelling out a substancial amount. you know what i mean. PILIPINAS po ito.