EPA DOT requirement today

Hi all:

What are the latest requirements for EPA and DOT? I had heard there were some changes over the past few years. If a car has a US title but was originally a Euro car, does it have to have EPA and or DOT papers if it is over 25 years old?

Thanks.

jts

 

i am no expert but i thought that after 25 years a lot of that goes away.

tom w

 

that is not correct.

Doubt EPA or DOT will come looking for it, although if there is ever an insurance claim, a smart insurance company could try to get out of paying. I have seen this happen. The car is technically has not been legally imported to the states and they are not oblidged to insure it.

You could export the car and reimport it and everything would be ok, checking box R on importation docs ( I believe) that the car is EXEMPT.


This is the Dick Merritt (DOT) answer.

Been there, done that, got the T Shirt.

 

Used to be 25 years old or older was exempt, speaking as a former registered importer. All the forms and rules are available on the different agencies websites

www.NHSTA.DOT.gov
www.epa.gov

Look at importing a vehicle. One of the hickups could be that it may not be imported for resale? However if the vehicle arrived here illegally all bets are off. DOT might give you a break but EPA will not and making an old car pass the cold start test could be a nightmare.

David

 

just brought my 78 boxer in from montreal, was a Pozzi car.. exemt from epa and dot, but it sat for 2 weeks while we convinced the inspector that it was exempt, and they charged me storage!!

 

I spoke to Dick Merritt about 7 years ago about this and he sold me about the insurance issue. I then called State Farm corporate headquarters and they said that was insane and that no respectable insurance company would deny a claim after taking premiums (and the attorneys I spoke to said it would not likely stand up in court if they did deny payment when they had the VIN number all along).

Based on my net research, I think the rules have changed and you dont need DOT releases any more for cars over 25 years old. It has to be correctly imported but does not need all the rediculous changes you used to have to make. But I could be wrong....

 

No doubt you could bring one in now if its 25 years old or more. The question is, if its already here, do you have to send it out and bring it back in to make it legal?

 

"Bad Faith" is a term insurers dread. They will never prevail in court in a jury trial when they accepted the risk and took your premium, even if the car was from Mars.

 

Having just imported a multimillion dollar Ferrari, that was born before the EPA and DOT rules existed, I still had to make sure the correct boxes, etc. were checked to get the car into the country. That is, you still have to remind US Customs about the EPA & DOT rules and how they don't apply to the car so the correct stuff gets checked off on the forms.

Which, gets to the first question about having a Title from State in the US with no EPA & DOT papers. The car has to be imported into the US legally, whether you need EPA or DOT work or not. Now, will US Customs and Border Control come looking for the car, I dobut it. They have bigger fish to fry. Personally, I like to make sure all my paperwork and fees are in order. I don't need the hassle of rude awakening one morning.

By the way, on the above mentioned Ferrari, US Customs and Border Patrol still screwed up the paperwork, or my Customs Broker did. Several months after releasing the car to me, I got a call from US Customs at JFK because some form or another wasn't filled out right. I'm not even sure which one it was, they just re-sent all the forms for me to fill out again to keep their paperwork straight.

Steve

 

According to Bill Noon from Symbolic Motors, pre 1975 cars that are brought into the USA today have an DOT/EPA exemption and are road legal in all states.

That should finalize the matter.

 

While the importation process for these older cars we love so much has gotten a lot easier the actual movement and expense has gone up quite a bit. There are now three forms for the pre-1975 50-State Exemption that you should make sure are on file. However once a State has issued title and registration the Federal Paperwork will have a lot less importance. After September 11th, there was added in a new twist on the import process that is rather hard to avoid. This is the new US Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Customs and Border Protection Entry form. If this does not get a pre-approval your container or pallet will never even make it to Customs to get released. Otherwise it has nothing to do with registering a specific car in any state. I will try and attach copies of the latest version of the forms for a pre-1975 exempt vehicle.

Warm regarsd,

Bill Noon
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Anyone is welcome to contact me if they need help or assistance moving a car in or out of the country. I would however recommend you contact the best in the business. Call 415 777 2000 and explain what you are planning on moving and if it is short term movement for an event or a permanent movement for export / import. This is the number for Cosdel International and they are the very best in the business.

Cheers,

Bill

 

If I have a 1971 car, US Version, sold originally in the US, have the original Invoice from a dealer in Texas, but the car was taken to Mexico in 1974, and I want to register the car again in the US, will this be to much trouble, will it be easier for me to keep the car in the US but with the Mexican license plates?

Thanks in advance.

 

Thank you Bill for the very eloquent tutorial on the import process. It is well versed and accurate IMHO.
I believe that the questioner may be concerned about a car that is here and does not have releases. It is also my opinion that any car that is in the US without the correct documentation is the result of somebodies lying at some point in time. Then it becomes a US Customs issue.
Customs has the authority to seize all such vehicles although they seldom do. One of my closest friends was the director of the auto-theft task force for many years and was primarily concerned about cars leaving the country not entering. If you assure everyone that you are a "third party innocent purchaser" and are willing to make things right they will cut you some slack.
The most important thing to do is to get someone from Law Enforcement to run the VIN with NCIC and go back twenty five years plus. Stolen car VINs fall off the NCIC after seven years unless the theft report is renewed. You certainly do not want to go through all the trouble to discover you have purchased a stolen car!!

 

I agree with Bill on this one. I normally use COSDEL as well. And, the one time I didn't, it got screwed up. I'm sticking with COSDEL in the future. Every time I imported a car through them it was a painless process. Highly recommended.

Steve

 

I noticed how Mr. Noon's scanned document says "engines" also.

If I want to import a race prepared production engine, for racing only, do you get into all this mess too?

What concerns me is a 911 Porsche engine produced less than 25 years ago but NOT to run anywhere but on the track. The id number would not be American and not old enough. Would I want to have the engine disassembled and import it as parts (at great reassembly cost)?

 

While the inter-State registration transfer seems like the easiest hurdle, it was not in my case.

My Maserati Bora is a full Euro version and was imported from Italy by the second owner prior to me. The owner that imported it was deceased and the guy who sold it to me had no DOT/EPA papers but did have a proper Texas title and registration.

When I bought it 19 years ago, my home State's Highway Patrol had a mandatory inspection of all incoming cars' VINs upon entering the State (this has now changed as NLA). The Bora had no Federalization plate in the door jamb and this caused a few problems and delays. I wrote letters, accumulated some factory production papers, and presented a fairly good case to the WSP and then was granted State titling. It took a lot of time and effort, but it did happen.

PS - As a byproduct of this investigation, the previously registered year date of 1976 was corrected to the actual production date of 1972.