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Original Post
Owning a Skyline in the US
i have this plan to get an r34 Skyline, but i live in the US. I've thought about this for a while and would like to know if anyone sees a problem with it, because i can't. I buy one of these cars from an auction in Japan, and have it imported to Canada. In Canada i would have some land to store the Skyline at. Once this car becomes 25 years old i drive up to Canada and trailer it back to Texas where i could register it and have my own Skyline.

i'd prefer to buy it before it becomes legal here because once it does im sure the price will skyrocket. This kind of seems too simple, so i was wondering if there are any problems i missed with this plan.
Tree
R34 Skylines are desirable cars in japan already, I highly doubt a small handful of enthusiasts in the US will drive up the price more than it would cost to:

- Own/rent land in Canada.
- Pay for storage/maintenance on a car you're not driving.

Take a look at these guys, btw: http://www.japaneseclassicsllc.com/

e: I should note that I know these dudes will buy interesting cars that aren't legal yet (For a specific example, they own multiple SR20DET Silvias, and are importing them as they become legal, since the 25 year rule applies down to the month on the chassis), and store them in a lot in Japan before shipping them over in batches as they become legal. I wouldn't be surprised if they already had multiple r34 skylines ready for import.
Last edited by Eleeleth; Jan 25, 2016 at 10:07 PM.
<~suomynona> TITS OR ELEELETH
With the r32 becoming legal in 2014 the price skyrocketed on those. I would expect the r34 to do the same. Also, I would think more than a small handful of enthusiasts would try to get their hands on one of these cars.
Tree
I saw a pretty great, US legal r32 with a r34 front end, mostly converted, for about $25k a while ago. Very good shape too.

If you've got the money to be splashing out on importing a r34 then getting the required work done and whatnot in order to register it, why not just get a new GTR?
Hoss.
Originally Posted by Hyde View Post
I saw a pretty great, US legal r32 with a r34 front end, mostly converted, for about $25k a while ago. Very good shape too.

If you've got the money to be splashing out on importing a r34 then getting the required work done and whatnot in order to register it, why not just get a new GTR?

You... do realize even his plan, with all the storage costs and such would still be immensely cheaper than a new GT-R, right?

Once the 25 year import ban passes, the cost of importing is basically down to shipping + a bit of customs paperwork. Hardly an arm and a leg, considering I'm looking at cars for under $10,000 with all of that handled already, including a tidy profit margin.
<~suomynona> TITS OR ELEELETH
Originally Posted by Eleeleth View Post
You... do realize even his plan, with all the storage costs and such would still be immensely cheaper than a new GT-R, right?

Once the 25 year import ban passes, the cost of importing is basically down to shipping + a bit of customs paperwork. Hardly an arm and a leg, considering I'm looking at cars for under $10,000 with all of that handled already, including a tidy profit margin.

Is it that cheap? Basing my opinion off of research I did a few years ago.

E: just did a quick search, cheapest R34 GTR(with the twin turbo) I can find is 39k not including any other cost. I'd imagine you could score a GTT for much less though, I forgot they existed.

Even more edits: a 98/99 R34 GTR would run you 70k+ just for the vehicle. Source: further googling.
Last edited by Hyde; Jan 26, 2016 at 06:11 AM.
Hoss.