is it illegal to drive a right hand drive car in america, and if not would the insurance be high?

5 responses to “is it illegal to drive a right hand drive car in america, and if not would the insurance be high?”

1. 
   scarab

   April 11, 2011 at 9:58 am | Permalink

   Pefectly legal, in fact, Many US postal employees drive them for convenience. Insurance rates May be a little higher, but you would really need to check with your agent on that.

2. 
   Mad Scientist Matt

   April 11, 2011 at 10:12 am | Permalink

   Right hand drive is not the issue. There are a handful of right hand drive cars on the road in the US, mostly postal vehicles but some imported from other countries.

   There are two other problems you will need to overcome with this particular car. Nissan never made any effort to sell the R33 Skyline in the US market. Consequently, it hasn’t been tested for compliance with federal crash safety standards or emissions.

   There were one or two companies that somehow did get approval to import Skylines to the US; I’m not sure how. They may have had to crash test a few to get this approved. It is possible to bring an R33 over but it is not going to be cheap or easy.

3. 
   alex e

   April 11, 2011 at 10:23 am | Permalink

   while it is legal for you to own and drive a right hand drive car in the U.S., if your state has emissions controls similar to californias you will never be able to get the car registered because it will not have any emissions info registered with the E.P.A. which means it is impossible to test the emissions of the car. that is the major problem with importing a skyline. they are not street legal cars in some states. now if you are only planning on racing at a track, then go for it. otherwise you need to do some research about emissions laws in your area.

4. 
   Tiffany

   April 11, 2011 at 10:50 am | Permalink

   first off its not illegal for a right hand drive in america, you wouldnt want to buy a skyline from japan the reason for that is because it will coast you about 10 grand to get it legalized because japan doesnt stamp the motor or any other part of the car so thats the first thing that has to be done, all the exhaust has to be changed and the motor has to have alot of work done to it because according to the united states that car makes to much power from the factory coming out of a v6, so you would be better off getting a skyline that is already in the US that has been legalized, it will save you some money and a huge headache!

5. 
   Team Rotary

   April 11, 2011 at 11:32 am | Permalink

   I know how you feel… I am about to import my R32 from Japan also… Right hand drives is legal in the States. But like the other dude above me said a lot of changes has to be made to the car in order for it to be street legal… and the fact that Nissan has never made any effort in selling the Skyline here in the states… only certain aftermarket parts are available for purchase. I am currently in the process with my team’s sponsors to find the parts and make them street legal, without dumbing down the skyline’s performance. But you know what… I say just get it… It’s not like the cops are going to catch up with you on the road… they can try…hehehe… or if you wish to wait about 2 more years I do believe that Nissan is planning to bring the skyline here in the US for about $100+K. oh and yeah as for the girl said just “buy a Skyline that was made in the US”… umm… kinda hard specially when they never brought it here…