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Used Car
Brief
The US Government (USG) does not
prohibit the importation of used vehicles. However, imported used vehicles
must comply with the same safety and environmental regulations as any
other vehicle sold in the US during the year it was produced.
Safety Regulations
Any vehicle sold in the
US is required to meet relevant Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
FMVSS requires vehicles to have been certified as having certain safety
equipment that is codified by the year of production standards. A
vehicle without a certification label must be imported as a nonconforming
vehicle and the importer must then register with a DOT-Registered Importer
(RI) and post a bond with DOT for one and a half times the vehicle's
dutiable value. The cost and time needed to bring a vehicle into
conformance can be substantial. Be aware that Bonds are often times
unavailable at any price. The National Highway Traffic Administration's
home page provides an excellent description of what you need to do.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration;
Environmental Regulations
Any vehicle must meet U.S. standards for the corresponding
year that it was manufactured. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
requires vehicles to comply with Federal emission requirements. Non-U.S.
version vehicles will not meet
U.S. EPA emission requirements.
EPA does not accept passing a state inspection test or having a catalytic
converter as proof of compliance. The vehicle owner may contract with an
EPA-certified Independent Commercial Importer to import the vehicle as a
non-U.S. version vehicle and to convert it to meet EPA requirements. EPA
does not recommend the importation of nonconforming vehicles as conversion
is usually very expensive and sometimes impossible or impractical. More
detailed information on EPA's requirements can be found on the
Environmental Protection Agency website.
The following passenger cars,
light-duty trucks, heavy-duty engines and motorcycles are subject to
Federal emission standards:
- Gasoline-fueled cars and
light-duty trucks originally manufactured after December 31, 1967.
- Diesel-fueled cars originally
manufactured after December 31, 1974.
- Diesel-fueled light-duty trucks
originally manufactured after December 31, 1975.
- Heavy-duty engines originally
manufactured after December 31, 1969.
- Motorcycles with a displacement of more than 49
cubic centimeters originally manufactured after December 31, 1977.
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