Ned Ramsay Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Hi All, Been a while since my last post due to work/girlfriend/bad weather. It looks like Im going to be moving to South California in June/July for the foreseeable future or until my pasty English skin has had enough and I wilt. My question: Is it worth taking my car with me? Buying new/2nd hand over there? Pro: Right hand drive cars are cooler FACT. Con: cost of taking a car abroad. Anyone know any weird anomalies like "if your car is made in japan it must pass an anti-communism test" or somesuch? Looking forward to some interesting and informed discussion!!
Monkey_matt Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 I'm interested in this thread as well, will keep an eye on it, as after spending 2 weeks out in the states (Albuquerque, NM) with work, and working out there (no holiday) i'm interested in moving out to the states as well at some point in the future
Ned Ramsay Posted 14 January 2011 Author Report Posted 14 January 2011 (edited) Im just V lucky that I am a dual nationality Brit/Yank so its not such a big deal, but they have so much Red Tape with everything else I hoped there may be an old sea dog who knew the score on here. A quick search of Autotrader.com shows that your "average" cars are cheaper (such as the celica) but things like a Lotus Elise are about £5k more expensive. Edited 14 January 2011 by Ned Ramsay
Vince Noir Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Mate when I was looking into moving to Boston I went down this road re' a TVR Cerbera or Supra TT. Believe me, it is NOT worth the hassle unless it is a very rare marque. For instance at the time i was looking, only one person in history had managed to import a Cerb and that was for a 1yr import limit - must be exported before the year was up. While a similar spec gen 6 out there could in fact be slightly more expensive (New cars = way cheaper, Second hand cars = not such an extreme lack of value for old cars) it's still not worth all the Import hassle associated with a right hooker (if it's a non domestic engine, eg the 3SGE/3SGTE then its even worse). Go have some fun and buy something different out there
Briano Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 depends if you love your car or not, I will be taking my gen 6 to australia in about 18 months
bigstring Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Do I take the Sleeka? Nope you take me instead! My Mrs loves California and used to work out there, hook me up with some digs out there for a week or two........
Angus Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 1. Bastard. I should have moved out to SoCal in the 80s when the chance was put in my lap whilst I was working out there. 2. Get rid and buy a Corvette (petrol is about 50p a litre, remember). Seriously, with the amount of traffic on the roads once you get into town, I wouldn't fancy driving a RHD car. It's bad enough in somewhere like Paris or Milan, so might as well not disadvantage yourself in LA or San Diego. Angus
Bill T Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Get rid. Cars are far cheaper in the US. He's right, and the steering wheel will be better positioned. What's the shipping cost?
izzzzythedog Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 petrols 92 cents a litre angus going on last month would i ? ummmm nope i wouldnt , the main reason is this , you have no idea of what car you will need when you get over there , you could find your car bloody useless , america has big ass cars with soggy rides for a reason , the roads are chronic and people drive like they dont give a shit , without all the hastle of registration theres still the problem of using a rhd car in a lhd country , parking is a bastard , you cant see to over take and as the entire country is based on drive throughs you will soon get pissed off with getting out of your car to do whatevers needed be it a burger or a parking ticket
Sawyer Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 My mate lives in LA and reckons there's loads of Celica's over there - Gen7's.
izzzzythedog Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 when i was over there in the taxi from the airport the misses says ``theres a celica`` , spotted it before me !!! it was a white gen 7 with daft spolier and a black bonnet , didnt see another till near time to come home when i saw another 7 but this time in that silvery browny shitty colour , totally standard so i near missed it , didnt see another and i did look for them , the vast majority of cars were funky camereo taxis , huge buses , limos and oddly ford transit connects
shmotorsport Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Buy a left hand celica and then you can turbo it
Vince Noir Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Some useful sites: Canada to Montana border route - http://forum.ivoac.ca/ Registered Importers (RI's) - http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/web...st01122006.html Importation Guidelines - http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/gra...RI_list5108.pdf
i_broke Posted 14 January 2011 Report Posted 14 January 2011 Sell your car before moving mate!! Even if you love it, the fact ir's RHD will mean it'll soon become a menace and you'll not be able to sell it over there very easily! Not even worth the hassle imho!!
ams Posted 16 January 2011 Report Posted 16 January 2011 importing cars into the US is a real pain from what i can remember - isnt this why people "build" gt4s out there - as they cannot do a straight import from another country
InsolentMinx Posted 18 January 2011 Report Posted 18 January 2011 much easier and cheaper to buy a car out there to be honest. Plus you can probably get some 'nice' cars for the cost of just shipping yours out there. If you'd have put a serious amount of cash into your car or if it was a rare one, then it might be worth it... otherwise you're better off buying out there. Check out newcelica.org if you want to find another Celica to buy while you're out there
nthnmunky Posted 18 January 2011 Report Posted 18 January 2011 Ah California, the least mod-friendly state in the whole US of A Sell it, buy something big and luxurious and utterly ludicrous once there. It's going to be much cheaper..... Just don't try cornering in it like you would in a Celica! Oh, and best of luck for the planned move fella. Hope it all works out well for you.
wtfgecko Posted 18 January 2011 Report Posted 18 January 2011 Sell it, buy a car out there. Cali has exceptionally strict laws on modifying cars especially with regards to emissions, numerous threads on newcelica.org regarding this matter.
Ned Ramsay Posted 23 January 2011 Author Report Posted 23 January 2011 Thanks all for your advice. i didn't even consider the state laws for mods etc. damn them and their rules. As mentioned, i guess until i know exactly where I'm commuting from or too, i may need a 4x4 with some of those roads. I'll keep you all posted as things develop....the things we do for the fairer sex eh!
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