[Ferrari355Johnny]

Hey, I am new to the forum. I am a Ferrari F355 owner and hopefully soon to be a Maserati owner as well. As soon as I'm finished fixing my ferrari, and i can afford to, i want to bring a Maserati from italy into the united states, California. I am interested in bringing a 1998 Maserati Quattroporte 2.0 V6 Biturbo Evo and maybe a Ghibli as well does anyone know if these cars have been brought into the US before, and if there were any major problems doing so? Does anyone know if i can bring a quattro in with little problems, will it pass required smog etc by the importation companies, and if not any ideas how i can get one in the US with out spending to much?


Thanks!

 

[squid]

Those cars were not federalized for sale in the US. There is a federal program that allows 100 cars a year to come in, should they otherwise meet standards. I forget what it's called. You can also bring a car in under the "show and display" law and hope your local DMV lets it slip by.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Those cars were not federalized for sale in the US. There is a federal program that allows 100 cars a year to come in, should they otherwise meet standards. I forget what it's called. You can also bring a car in under the "show and display" law and hope your local DMV lets it slip by.

There is no 100 car a year quota.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/

There are (generally) five ways to bring the car in:

1) it is substantially similar to a car already sold here - VSP (not in this case)

2) NHTSA just decided it was ok (VSA)

3) has been approved for importation (a VCP) which requires crash testing or other evidence, and petition for the VCP and then certification by a Registered Importer that it complies with DOT regs, as well as being modified to meet EPA standards (a RI will not go to the trouble of a petition unless he can see some volume demand behind importing these cars, typical cost is $100-200k or so per petition for both the RI and ICI (EPA cert))

list for 1,2,3:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/elig010807b.htm

4) is 25 years old or older (EPA standards not an issue once car is 21 years old)

5) show and display. You would have to petition the car to get on the list and I can tell you it would not. The car has to be very rare and also unique, or of some historical significance. You are also restricted to 2500 miles per year and still must meet EPA standards and have the car certified by an ICI
FAQ: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/ShowDisplay/howtosd072003.html
list: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/ShowDisplay/sdlist06202005.html

There are several ways to do it illegally but I won't recount them here.

I have imported two non-US vehicles legally (one RHD), it is a very simple process if the car is older than 25 years.

So the answer is wait until 2023, and it will be easy.

 

[squid]

There is no 100 car a year quota.

When I see people with Nobles, Ariel Atoms, etc. with plates on them they all tell me you have to get one of the 100 of some kind of waivers that are given each year. I keep forgetting the name of the program but they keep mentioning the 100. Wish I could find info on it...

 

[Ferrari355Johnny]

Is there a way to bring it in as a non running "parts car" and then somehow get it registered here?, and if it was brought in illegally, how would you register it? so it sounds like there is no easy way to get one here? would it pass the regulations do you think? i have seen a ghibli on ebay in the US before i think...

 

[Ferrari355Johnny]

also could i bring it in as maybe a kit car or something?

 

[Glenn Wallace]

When I see people with Nobles, Ariel Atoms, etc. with plates on them they all tell me you have to get one of the 100 of some kind of waivers that are given each year. I keep forgetting the name of the program but they keep mentioning the 100. Wish I could find info on it...

They are kit cars.

 

[Glenn Wallace]

Is there a way to bring it in as a non running "parts car" and then somehow get it registered here?, and if it was brought in illegally, how would you register it? so it sounds like there is no easy way to get one here? would it pass the regulations do you think? i have seen a ghibli on ebay in the US before i think...

To bring in the car, for customs and DOT to not be interested in it, it would need to be without both engine and trans. If you import the engine and trans and assemble it later, just to circumvent the law, it is illegal (per DOT). I think the EPA would want the parts cars to be basically not a complete shell, they are leery of anything that could POSSIBLY be driven.

You can always lie to customs. But if you are found out you've lost the car + a fine.

Physically getting a car in to the US is very easy. Getting it in legally is hard/impossible.

Many DMVs look for odd VIN numbers and alert DOT and EPA, Florida is one state that does this. Some states don't.

A lot of states don't care what regulations the car meets, the only issue is local emission testing. No state DMV or police official has looked at either of my imported cars.

Also note that customs will fill out special forms for some state's DMVs to confirm the car has been imported legally (I had more trouble with this on the first car which was imported by a broker, less trouble doing it myself).