What do i have to do to register a car here in the states from a foreign country like japan? -

i found this site which sells japanese cars in japan, its a pretty good site, you pay in dollars and the cars are awesome at a low price. the thing is, what happens next after they ship my car in the states? lets say ok, im at the pier and theres my car, can i just drive it home? of course not, it has to be legalized right? so what exactly do i have to do to get it registered here on the states?

First you have to import it, which is VERY expensive. Once its over you need an angent who can get the paper work done to get it through customs. If you dont have this, customs wont let your car in the country, if you dont move your car within 4 days, customs cuts the car in half and you are out all the money you spent. Secondly, its not even legal to import some cars from japan. Thier saftey standards arent the same as ours, as well as emmisson standards, if the car doesnt have any of that it cant pass. Plan on adding $20,000 to the price of the car for importing and delivery fees. That is assuming the car doesnt have to be changed to meet emmisons and saftey requirements. Over all its not normally worth importing a car from anywhere.

The vehicle must pass all emission standards. It must meet safety requirements like laminated glass in the windshield, re-enforced doors, approved shifter lever and knobs on dash, head restraints, etc. After you finally get everything to pass, are there any parts for this foreign built car that may not be available in this country if repairs are needed?

The only way you can drive a car that s made for a foreign market, and in not approved for sale in the US is if the car was manufactured at least 25 years ago. If it s newer than 25 years ago it would be prohibitively expensive to make it meet US DOT (Department of Transportation) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) standards. Don t even waste your time thinking about it.

because the US government does not know it s legal