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Mondeo, Import ???

Z

ZeroHour

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So I was wondering, since we can't import a Mondeo without getting reemed in the butt through conversion and shipping costs,

Could you buy the top half the mondeo rear end, a trunk lid, and all the lighting??? Then go chop shop on a contour and replace it with the Mondeo parts. It wouldn't get you everything a Mondeo has, it would dramatically change the look of a Contour just to have the Mondeo rear on it.

Edit: And a rear bumper, forgot the trunks aren't identical as ours has an indented lip.
 
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Why ????????????

LOL

There are a lot of cars you have over there we would love too but for the reason you mentioned we could not afford the shipping.
 
haha It would have to be cheaper to ship only part of a Mondeo!!! And there would not be any costs to make it US DOT approved.
 
bob a said:
There are a lot of cars you have over there we would love too but for the reason you mentioned we could not afford the shipping.
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Wait... what cars do we have that you guys, in general, like, or would want?
 
bob a said:
There are a lot of cars you have over there we would love too but for the reason you mentioned we could not afford the shipping.
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heh .. shipping is the cheap part, getting it DOT approved is the difficult/frustrating part, and then converting it to US spec is the expensive part.

Sounds like an idea. I'm not sure if the Mondeo rear bumper would qualify for safety. But I'd love to retrofit a Mondeo hatch.
 
its just probably the basic v6. not the beefed up v8 or the roush racing styles or anything
 
AFAIK, most Mustangs in Europe are imported from the USA, usually by GIs over here who sell it to a willing participant (note, in Germany, there's something like a 25% tax on what it cost new! Customs is a ******). After they get it, it also has to be converted to Euro spec, which there is a company that makes rear taillights with yellow turn signals for something like $500.

I read something on the DOT or NHTSA website that said even parts of a car fall under regulations. Stuff like the windows must have a DOT number printed on them, etc.
 
I,m sure theres pretty well any car you can have (either way) if you have the money !
Theres plenty of Huge Dodge Rams and the Ford SVT trucks running round the UK
 
Now, that's something it did say on the DOT website... if the car is semi-complete and just missing a few parts, it still falls under the laws and must be converted.

They got this importing foreign cars thing all worked out :cry:

Supposedly in the 80s there was a loophole that allowed GIs to bring a less than 25yr old non-US spec car... I guess that loophole was patched up around 1990 or so :blackeye:
 
I've been researching into getting in on the importing business. I see within the next 2yrs a lot more cars coming over. Not just older than 1995 either.

I have a friend in Oregon that had his R34 GTR shipped in a container through customs registered titled and insured.
 
Spyderman said:
I've been researching into getting in on the importing business. I see within the next 2yrs a lot more cars coming over. Not just older than 1995 either.

I have a friend in Oregon that had his R34 GTR shipped in a container through customs registered titled and insured.
Click to expand...

Customs is supposed to make sure the car is US spec before letting you get it, but I can see them letting a few through now and then.

Oh, and it's 25 years or older non US spec cars that don't have to be converted. Anything newer "has" to be converted (note there are ways around... i.e. going through Canada and making it a gray market vehicle). So far we're at, what, 1982? Some cool cars from around then.

Problem with converting is that a Registered Importer are the only authorized people to convert the car. Your 1995 and older is for OBDI cars, which are easy to convert... 1996 and up is where it's hard... If it doesn't have it already, OBDII must be installed, as well as dual airbags!

From what I've read, a Skyline costs around $15,000 to convert to US spec. Things like the speedometer must read in MPH, windows have DOT stamps on them (every Euro-spec car I've seen has em), bumpers be 5mph, meet US emission standards for the year manufactured, headlights/taillights/signals/foglights/etc must have DOT stamped on them, "passive restraints" on 1989+ vehicles, dual airbags on 1996+ vehicles, OBDII on 1996+ vehicles, etc.

Read that a mid-90s S-Class costs around $8000 to convert to US spec.

A guy in my shop was going to give me a 1980 S500 that he was going to junk since the tranny was shot. It was a prior conversion from Euro to US spec. Only thing I could see different on it was stuff like the speedometer was from a US model car (MPH in big numbers, Km/h in small).... I could tell it was Euro spec from the electrically-adjustable headlight height, and switch for 2 separate horns (one loud highway one, and a quiet city one), and it had 'E' code headlights with city lights instead of parking lights.

All I can say, if your buddy got the car shipped from Japan with no modifications, he's a lucky SOB!
 
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