Rental cars move all over the place, so the plates often don't match the state they are in, but we are not talking about rentals here, we are talking about owning something.
In the US, if you are just driving around on a trip, it does not matter where your vehicle is registered, but it is in the laws that you have to have your driver's license in your state of residence, and also in the laws that your vehicles have to be registered in your state of residence. In this way, they ensure that they get the taxes and fees from their residents.
Now its one thing if you have a vehicle that is legally in the US. If I live in California and still have my Texas registration on one or more of my cars, the worst that can happen is they fine me and I have to register the car in California, but if I have a vehicle that cannot legally be registered in the US, and I get nailed for it, there is a good chance that the vehicle will be taken from me and I'll have no recourse to get it back.
Personally, I think it sucks. I feel that I should be able to buy any vehicle I want to, demonstrate that it can pass emmissions, and that it is not a danger to others, and be able to drive it. It really makes no sense to me that I can drive a 25 year old vehicle, that has tons higher emissions and is much less crash-worthy, but I can't import a Suzuki Jimny. I can ride a motorcycle, which has no crash-worthiness at all, but heaven forbid I get in a Jimny!
But that is the state of things, so I live with it. I'll drive my '88 Samurai and be happy about it, while wishing that I could have a Jimny. There are worse situations to be in, like having no Samurai or Jimny at all...
Rental cars move all over the place, so the plates often don't match the state they are in, but we are not talking about rentals here, we are talking about owning something.
In the US, if you are just driving around on a trip, it does not matter where your vehicle is registered, but it is in the laws that you have to have your driver's license in your state of residence, and also in the laws that your vehicles have to be registered in your state of residence. In this way, they ensure that they get the taxes and fees from their residents.
Now its one thing if you have a vehicle that is legally in the US. If I live in California and still have my Texas registration on one or more of my cars, the worst that can happen is they fine me and I have to register the car in California, but if I have a vehicle that cannot legally be registered in the US, and I get nailed for it, there is a good chance that the vehicle will be taken from me and I'll have no recourse to get it back.
Personally, I think it sucks. I feel that I should be able to buy any vehicle I want to, demonstrate that it can pass emmissions, and that it is not a danger to others, and be able to drive it. It really makes no sense to me that I can drive a 25 year old vehicle, that has tons higher emissions and is much less crash-worthy, but I can't import a Suzuki Jimny. I can ride a motorcycle, which has no crash-worthiness at all, but heaven forbid I get in a Jimny!
But that is the state of things, so I live with it. I'll drive my '88 Samurai and be happy about it, while wishing that I could have a Jimny. There are worse situations to be in, like having no Samurai or Jimny at all...
That's a good one Vader, lovely post. I hope you'd become the US president one day :P
Some of us can remember when Land Rover pulled out of the north american market in the mid '70s.
People then tried to import a new LR from England.
Most of them ended up being 'off road only' since they could not be registered in ANY country in north america.
Once the dust settled and LR began to 'play nice' with USA they began to come in again.
My vote goes to those who say it will be a heart breaking task.
Sell the Jimny there and use the cash to get a good Suzuki in NY.
Outside that if you could hook up with a person wanting a Jimny for Offroad only purposes...bring it in and then sell it... to them.
But driving an unregistered or 'funny' registered vehicle in the USA will be ticket magnet if you get no accident and a HUGE lawsuit if you do. Those 'murican lawyers would almost follow you around to get in court with you. Know wat ah mean...wink wink nudge nudge.
I realise this thread has been asleep for some time, but ive got a few things i'd like to point out.
First, North America, Canada included, have these so called "super strict" safety regulations to keep our own poorly engineered domestic companies in business, if we let companies like Peugeot or Daihatsu in here domestic economy cars wouldnt stand a chance. While the Jimny is a kei truck or SUV, it is not at all comparable to a mini truck, as it is actually sold almost everywhere in the world excluding US and Canada, and does quite well in many countries. The point about being aloud to ride a bike but not a Jimny is absolutely correct, its really quite stupid. Infact actually, the worlds most successful mini/electric car is made and designed by a Canadian company in Toronto, but its not allowed to be sold here.... LOL
Another thing i would like to point out, is Alternator claimed that the Toyota 4runner and Tundra were only sold in US, not true. The 4runner, Tacoma, FJ Cruiser, Hilux, Fortunner, and Land Cruiser(120,150/or Land Cruiser v6 or Prado region depending) Lexus GX are all on the Toyota 120 platform, but most differ quite a bit. The GX and Land Cruiser are identical, The Fortunner and Hilux share many parts and cosmetic features and tub, mostly the same, FJ is more or less its own, sharing the short Prado frame, and the 4runner its mostly its own, same with Tacoma, these two havent been the same as a Hilux in some years, and the 4runner being sold as the Hilux Surf outside North America. The Tundra is made in the US, not Japan, and is only available in North and South America's if im not mistaken.
What is quite amusing, is if you go to Cuba or Dominican Republic, you can go for an offroad excursion/Jeep trip, but they dont use Jeeps, they use convertible Jimny's (the O2 model), because nobody anywhere else in the world thinks Jeep's are any good, they all know better.
"Amen brother", I lost my job at Amreican Suzuki Motor Corp as a District Manager for 12 months over Consumers Union B.S. back in the day. Don't forget that Chrysler and Ford were involved on this as well since Jeep sales tanked after the introduction of the Samurai, and Ford's competition was the Bronco II.
So has anyone ever gotten one in? I am currently working on trying to get back a 1992 SJ70. Call it a Jimny/Sierra/Samurai I'm not real sure of (it does say Samurai on the side but who knows if that was put there later). I am trying to call and find out all these restrictions. It is a RHD which the US HATES!!!!! Funny thing is while out of the country I bought 2 Samurai's, my RHD and a LHD for parts. The only part that didnt work was the steering box and the mount for it is welded on opposite sides on the Chassis. That is the only difference, yet I contacted the manufacturer to see if I could get a letter about the safety standards of the RHD and they said no because
"Vehicles entering the US must comply with E33 specifications and be homologated for the US market.
For a Samurai RHD sold in 1992 the model would not comply with the E33 spec or homologation required to enter the USA market."
No clue what that means. Moreover I have looked at the regulations of safety for a vehicle as old as mine and it requires head rests and seat belts. That is all I can find. I am confused because all US parts have gone onto the jeep, I cant imagine they used thinner aluminum for the body or chassis so I don't know where the difference in safety truly is. Any advice greatly appreciate or any info anyone can give me, I can give my chassis # if someone can look it up. I live on St. Kitts and we ran it here but nothing was correct, it said it was LHD etc. Maybe that would work towards my advantage because the plate under the bonnet and the chassis match up. Maybe I can import it as registered LHD since that is what it is classified here from the dealer
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