輸入案内 — Import guide
Four things decide whether your car can land, what it costs and how long it takes: its age, its grade, its paperwork, and your state. Here's each one, without the sales pitch.
A vehicle never certified to U.S. federal motor vehicle safety standards generally cannot be imported — unless it's at least 25 years old, counted from the month of manufacture, not the model year. At that point it's exempt from FMVSS compliance and can be entered as a classic.
Two details catch people out. First, it's the month, not the year: a car built in November 2001 isn't importable in January 2026 — you wait until November. Second, the build date on the Japanese export certificate is the one that counts, and it often differs from the model year in a seller's listing.
Emissions run on a separate clock. EPA treats a vehicle over 21 years old with its original engine as exempt, so in practice the 25-year safety threshold is the one that governs.
Rules change and enforcement varies by port. Treat this page as orientation, not advice — we confirm every car's position with our customs broker before you commit a dollar, and you should confirm anything you read anywhere with yours.
Every car entering a Japanese auction is inspected by a third party employed by the auction house, not the seller. The inspector assigns an overall grade, a separate interior grade, and marks damage onto a diagram of the body using letter codes. This report is the most useful document in the whole transaction — and it's written in Japanese shorthand that even fluent speakers find opaque.
| Grade | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| S / 6 | Essentially new. Delivery mileage. Very rare on cars of this age. |
| 5 | Exceptional. Low mileage, no notable damage, often a collector car. |
| 4.5 | Above average. Small cosmetic marks only. A good target for a keeper. |
| 4 | Average for a well-kept older car. Some marks, nothing structural. Most of what we buy. |
| 3.5 | Visible wear or a repaired panel. Fine if you're honest about the budget. |
| 3 | Significant cosmetic issues or older repairs. Project territory. |
| R / RA | Accident repair history. Not automatically bad — the extent matters enormously. |
The diagram carries letter-and-number codes. The letter says what kind of damage; the number says how much. Roughly:
We translate the entire sheet, including handwritten inspector notes, and tell you which codes matter. A U1 on a rear bumper is nothing. A W2 across two adjacent panels usually means something happened, and it's worth asking what.
An auction grade is a third party's opinion on the day, not a warranty and not an inspection you commissioned. Treat a 4.5 as a strong indicator and a reason to look harder, never as a guarantee.
JDM Hunt sourcing deskThe hammer price is usually 75–85% of what you actually pay. The rest is auction and inland fees in Japan, ocean freight, the 2.5% U.S. duty on passenger vehicles, customs clearance and port charges, and the sourcing fee. Run a rough number here, then ask us for a real one.
Run a real number. Our full estimator pulls a live JPY/USD rate and models every line separately — tiered auction fees, marine insurance, duty by vehicle type, the actual CBP charges, delivery and state tax.
State rules
Federal clearance gets the car onto U.S. soil. Registering and plating it is a state matter, and the states are not consistent with each other.
California surprises people most: it has its own emissions regime and a limited annual allowance for direct imports, so a car that clears federal customs without incident can still be difficult to plate. Several other states require a VIN inspection, a bonded title, or proof of the customs entry before they'll issue a title at all.
None of this is a reason not to import — thousands of people do it every year, including in California. It's a reason to check your specific state before you commit money rather than after the car is on a ship. Tell us where you live on the first call and we'll tell you what you're walking into.
Watchlist
Prices spike in the months after a chassis becomes importable. The way to avoid paying that premium is to be bidding before the date, not after it.
Opens April 2027
The final 1,500 FD3S cars. Type A is the two-seat, manual, Bilstein-equipped version and the one everyone wants.
Opens May 2027
Only 140 built. Expect the market to move sharply the month it opens; watchlists on this one are already full.
Opens August 2027
V-spec II Nür and M-spec Nür, 1,000 cars combined. The last R34 variants still on the clock.