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Importing Scion TC's into Australia

Fc_2JZ
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Fc_2JZ Progessing

Fc_2JZ

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Hello everyone.

I'm 17 years old and halfway through my L's. I just thought that now would be a great opportunity to grab a brand new car to replace the crappy R31 sedan I've been stuck with for months and I never had the time to perform the proposed 1JZ engine and drivetrain swap. Looking through the new car market, there wasn't much I was interested in, whereas on the used car market there were plenty of grey-import JDM vehicles like the Skyline V35, Silvia S15 etc. However I did stumble across the Scion TC as a friend of mine in the US had one and I was instantly attracted to the car. Simple and funky styling, coupe body, great interior; this car pretty much was what I wanted.

Google however wasn't much help to me as all I could dig up was a certain New York dealership that had no interest in exporting the car halfway around the world. So I was wondering if you guys could lend me a hand into finding a US auctioneer or exporter that would be willing to ship the TC from the US to Australia, as I really do want to get behind the wheel of one of those cars. Thanks! :)

p.s. I know it's left hand drive, and I will learn to live with it.

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there are a few dramas with this

1) its LHD, so it would only be legal in NT or WA

2) its not on the SEVS list (see below), so you cant import it for road use.

SEVS list

more info about importing/complying here RAWS

Unless you can find a RHD version of it, and get it approved and put on the sevs list, then imported/complied/etc/etc you will have to find a different car to lust after.

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Fc_2JZ Progessing

Fc_2JZ

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Yeah, Scions are only sold in LHD form so I guess I'll have to find a specialist which would be willing to convert the car. Though if I were to go to the trouble to get the car SEVS listed, would it set me back a dime?

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Yeah, Scions are only sold in LHD form so I guess I'll have to find a specialist which would be willing to convert the car. Though if I were to go to the trouble to get the car SEVS listed, would it set me back a dime?

SEVS list info

Read the above link regarding getting a car on the sevs list... its not easy or cheap.

Then getting it converted to RHD is going to be difficult (if not impossible) and more than likely very expensive...

e.g a Camaro SS is $148k AUD complied and converted to RHD... whereas the same car is worth $35k in the US.... bit of a difference there.

If you have stupid amounts of money to waste then go for it, but personally, I would not bother even if i had the cash...

The only company i could think of that could help are performax

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DJKOR Grand Master

DJKOR

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Yeah, Scions are only sold in LHD form so I guess I'll have to find a specialist which would be willing to convert the car.

You guess you'll have to?

Have you really thought about all this seriously? You must be made of money to consider this because even without enquiring, any person who puts some thought into this would know that it's not cheap to convert a car to RHD from LHD.

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SecaBoy Grand Master

SecaBoy

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i dont know how much they are worth in the states, but for arguements sake, lets say they're $20k...

to get it here, get it complied/engineered/converted to RHD/approved/etc. i'd add at least $100-150k...

as mick said above... the camaro is $140k on the road here in oz.. and thats once the company has already jumped through all the bullsh!t hoops the government puts out there..

if you do ever manage to get it done, then good on ya, but unfortunately, its more than likely just going to be a dream for you... :(

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Andrew357 Grand Master

Andrew357

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Scions are only worth roughly $10-15K in the US so I'm sure it'd cost way less than $140K. but I guess I'll get my hands on one of those when I move to NJ next year. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

But the costs to do the work to convert won't change that much. It's still going to cost a fortune regardless.

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SecaBoy Grand Master

SecaBoy

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Scions are only worth roughly $10-15K in the US so I'm sure it'd cost way less than $140K. but I guess I'll get my hands on one of those when I move to NJ next year. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

if you're moving to NJ next year, why bother importing one here?

rough timings:

1 mth to find/purchase a car

1 mth to ship it over and clear customs

3 mths for conversion and compliance

thats 5mths... why waste all that time/money for a car you can buy in NJ when you move there... :lol:

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Mole Veteran

Mole

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Doesnt matter how much the initial car costs... theres a huuuuge amount of labor to convert to RHD. Think about it, they have to essentially fabricate a whole new interior! What if its just not possible to move things like the steering rack to the other side? You'll need new headlights as well.

If you want a similar looking car... try a JDM Civic Coupe, or a 7th Gen Celica.

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Fc_2JZ Progessing

Fc_2JZ

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I don't plan to permanently live in NJ though, may return to NSW after some years of studying. I just thought the TC would be a good car for my lifestyle because of it's simplicity and the 2AZ engine, meaning that it wouldn't take much effort in finding new parts should any of the engine components go AWOL.

For now I'll stick with my R31, might get a Nissan Cube.

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  • 1 year later...
Mouse Contributor

Mouse

Posted
Posted (edited)

there are a few dramas with this

1) its LHD, so it would only be legal in NT or WA

2) its not on the SEVS list (see below), so you cant import it for road use.

SEVS list

more info about importing/complying here RAWS

Unless you can find a RHD version of it, and get it approved and put on the sevs list, then imported/complied/etc/etc you will have to find a different car to lust after.

Yeah, Scions are only sold in LHD form so I guess I'll have to find a specialist which would be willing to convert the car. Though if I were to go to the trouble to get the car SEVS listed, would it set me back a dime?

I realize this is an older thread/topic and I'm breathing a little life back into it, but I have first hand knowledge on the (Toyota) Scion tC, so I thought I'd share. :) I'm from and still in the U.S.A. (right now, but I lived in Australia for a while & can't wait to get back there) I currently own 2 tC's myself, a 2006 & a 2008. the '06 is my daily driver, and the '08 is my custom build baby. It's actually not true that Scions (a division of Toyota) are only sold in LHD. Actually the tC model is the ONLY one that is NOT offered in RHD. It's just that the tC was the only Scion model that was specifically designed/build for the U.S./North American vehicle market. The Toyota model sold in Australia as the Toyota Ruckus is sold in Japan, U.S., & Canada as the Scion xB. The only saving grace there might be for a RHD conversion is if you could use all or a portion of the steering assembly from a Ruckus/xB. Since the motor and trans. are mounted transverse in the tC, that would probably be the only truly viable option w/o it becoming prohibitively expensive in custom fab. I'm going to read up on your country's laws for importing vehicles as well. But I can see a big difference between the two countries already. Here (U.S.), it's not that difficult to import, license, and drive a RHD car AS IS legally on public streets. There's NO LHD conversion required. As long as the vehicle meets U.S. required safety and emissions standards.

I welcome any questions anyone may have. Cars have always been a passion of mine. And I've been restoring and building custom performance cars for a long time. I've had several of my personal builds featured in National publications here in the U.S. if that says anything. :)

Edited by Mouse
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