Trying to understand land cruiser import situation

[Rare Breed]

I understand the 25 year rule of being able to import a land cruiser to the US from a foreign country such as Africa or even Canada. What I don’t understand and have read here often “ you can’t import a new land cruiser from another country to the US.”. Is this strictly true? Or can you still do it understanding you will have to do modifications that may be costly to make it legal? Just want to put this to rest please

 

[Hombre]

You can import a brand new land cruiser but it can not be registered for highway use. For instance, if you have a big ranch and want it ONLY for hunting on your ranch than it can be done. You will need patience to get it done and will need someone who is familiar with the import process.
You will never be able to do the modifications to meet US highway standards. Let that thought go, ask me how I know?
If you have deep enough pockets, there is a guy in Florida that can import a vehicle from middle east and he will basically rebuild it with compliant parts(frame/motor/body) to make it street legal.
Pockets better be deep.

 

[Rare Breed]

Thanks for answering. nope no deep pockets here.

 

[BourbonTrail]

Interesting thread, but this stuff always makes me ask the question: how in the f*** do people legally drive the POS vehicles and OHV’s on the road, like they do, without getting in serious trouble. You can’t tell me that one of those obnoxious side by sides is road worthy, yet we have at least a dozen drive down our road every week. I watched a guy drive a truck with different sized wheels and his bed falling off, license plate tacked onto the roof. Yet a Land Cruiser is dubbed not road worthy.

Oh wait, it’s all about the

 

[JimP]

Interesting thread, but this stuff always makes me ask the question: how in the f*** do people legally drive the POS vehicles and OHV’s on the road, like they do, without getting in serious trouble. You can’t tell me that one of those obnoxious side by sides is road worthy, yet we have at least a dozen drive down our road every week. I watched a guy drive a truck with different sized wheels and his bed falling off, license plate tacked onto the roof. Yet a Land Cruiser is dubbed not road worthy.

Oh wait, it’s all about the

A lot is going to depend on where you live. A number of localities have made it legal to drive a ATV on the roads providing that they have a few safety items. Other areas you can drive them from your home to a local riding area. Some areas have licenses for them that are required if you are going to use them on highways or other roads, with the license comes the requirement for more items that you need to add such as turn signals and mirrors.

The biggest problem with a Land Cruiser that hasn't been built for sale in the US is the emissions. You can purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser here in the US, but it isn't the same one that you can purchase in Africa. I would love to have one with the 2000 cc diesel engine but by the time all the US emission crap is put onto it you have defeated the purpose of buying one.

 

[Inkgardener]

Can’t you legally drive a tank down the road?

 

[yfarm]

Was driving north on I 95 near WPB Florida and passed two Transport trucks each carrying 8 new white Landcruiser pickups. Was told there is an upfiiter on the eastcoast that receives the vehicles and fits for some governmental agency that then ships offshore. Perhaps the final destination precludes our government from purchasing from a US manufacturer.

 

[spike.t]

A lot is going to depend on where you live. A number of localities have made it legal to drive a ATV on the roads providing that they have a few safety items. Other areas you can drive them from your home to a local riding area. Some areas have licenses for them that are required if you are going to use them on highways or other roads, with the license comes the requirement for more items that you need to add such as turn signals and mirrors.

The biggest problem with a Land Cruiser that hasn't been built for sale in the US is the emissions. You can purchase a Toyota Land Cruiser here in the US, but it isn't the same one that you can purchase in Africa. I would love to have one with the 2000 cc diesel engine but by the time all the US emission crap is put onto it you have defeated the purpose of buying one.

A 2000cc diesel......don't recall seeing one of those on a cruiser......they just started putting the 2.8 turbo from the hilux in it along with auto transmission...no thanks....will stick with my manual 4.2 straight six....think they just recently stopped making it with the 4.5 v8....in sa also get a v6 petrol one....but been a few different engine sizes over the years

 

[Surgeon1]

I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A NEW CREWCAB LAND CRUISER WITH THE TURBO DIESEL.
got to ride and drive one a short distance in Zim a couple years ago. It would be my everyday truck on the ranch and to town the rest of my life!

 

[JimP]

A 2000cc diesel......don't recall seeing one of those on a cruiser......they just started putting the 2.8 turbo from the hilux in it along with auto transmission...no thanks....will stick with my manual 4.2 straight six....think they just recently stopped making it with the 4.5 v8....in sa also get a v6 petrol one....but been a few different engine sizes over the years

It may of been the 2.8, I just asked my last PH after he filled it up with diesel and he told me that it was a 2000cc

 

[Muskox]

I retired from the military almost 15 years ago. The entire 15 I have worked for DOD.

We have hundreds of Toyota LandCruiser FJ70 series crew cab and single cab pickups, and wagons and troopers, at big western military bases for training. Maybe thousands. They cost like $30,000 new when we get them from the company in Japan or Belgium that has the contract to sell them to the USA.

Toyota Belgium is the distributor for Europe and Africa.

When we crash them which is about 40-50 a year, they get stripped for parts and sent to Barstow, CA for storage.

When you see them in the USA 99.99% chance they are DOD owned.

25 year old ones not withstanding.

Used to be a pretty good inventory of Defender 130's, 90's, 107's and 110's but I have not seen one in a long time.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

I know a company in Ohio that will grey market one in and do the work to make it road legal but the cost about 8yr ago was over $25k plus the vehicle, import tariffs, etc. Way too much for me. The 25yr olds are grandfathered. I would love to have an FJ70 crew cab or suv with the V8 turbo diesel but, my USA legal FJ Cruiser is close enough. My PH in RSA used to own an FJ Cruiser and said it was more capable than his land cruisers due to the lighter weight and shorter wheelbase. You can buy used diesel FJ40's in Costa Rica. Toyota has been selling them for years there. But, the FJ40 is pretty damn spartan and is on part with a Willies from WWII and not much more.

 

[Rare Breed]

I retired from the military almost 15 years ago. The entire 15 I have worked for DOD.

We have hundreds of Toyota LandCruiser FJ70 series crew cab and single cab pickups, and wagons and troopers, at big western military bases for training. Maybe thousands. They cost like $30,000 new when we get them from the company in Japan or Belgium that has the contract to sell them to the USA.

Toyota Belgium is the distributor for Europe and Africa.

When we crash them which is about 40-50 a year, they get stripped for parts and sent to Barstow, CA for storage.

When you see them in the USA 99.99% chance they are DOD owned.

25 year old ones not withstanding.

Used to be a pretty good inventory of Defender 130's, 90's, 107's and 110's but I have not seen one in a long time.

The thing is the new land cruisers in the US are nothing more than a SUV period. If I want to stay with Toyota the closest to an Africa Land Cruiser is a Tocoma 2 door pick up

 

[SaintPanzer]

I've done this with a 25 year old Land Rover. I did a lot of research when I bought my Rover, and studied the process.

You have to understand a few things up front. First, there is the difference between Federal Law and State Law. Federal controls the importation into the country. State controls the operation of the vehicle, licensing, things like that. This is why there are "safety rules" regarding vehicle type importation, and the operation of ATVs and such on highways. It also means, for instance, yes, you can import that 25 year old diesel Land Rover, but you are NOT registering it for use in California.

Vehicles over 25 years old are considered "safe" in that they are not likely to be used enough (or in enough volume) to be a widespread hazard on the road.

"Newer" vehicles are considered a "volume/hazard" since the '80s. If you remember the 80s, the Deutschmark (and several other currencies) were at low value compared to the dollar. This led to the import of many desirable "gray market" cars like Mercedes and Porsches which could be bought in Germany (as an example) for far less real cost than purchasing the car in the US. This caused many problems, so federal law on importation was changed.

So as it stands today, for a car less than 25 years old, it must be listed on the NHTSA "good list" as meeting the same standards as the same car sold in the US. If it's on the list, it then must be imported by a registered importer, who will make the appropriate modifications to meet US road standards. These modifications usually concern things like tail light color, bumpers, things like that. This list can be found in Appendix A to Part 593—List of Vehicles Determined to be Eligible for Importation (link: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-593/appendix-Appendix A to Part 593).

For the Land Cruiser, I see:
Toyota Land Cruiser (manufactured prior to9/1/2006) IFS 100 series 1999-2006

So you can beat the 25 year rule there.

You can petition NHTSA for an exemption, but you'll find things like air bags, back up cameras, things like that may not be required in some foreign markets, but are required in the US, so they would fail in that case. I don't remember the year that back up cameras became a US requirement, but if they are not on the "newer" import you want, it's not coming unless they are added. One of the issues with Land Rovers, and the reason they stopped offering a US spec Defender in 1998 is 1998 was the year air bags were required, and there was no way Rover was going to be able to meet that change. I'm not smart enough on Land Cruisers to know what they have and what they need, but 2006 seems to be significant.

Oh, and one other thing on the 25 year rule: It's 25 years from the date of manufacture, NOT 25 years from the model year. Proving date of manufacture "to the day" can be a bit sketchy... but "date first registered" is a good substitute.

That's the best I have for a précis, but if there are other questions, I'll take a swing at it.

 

[BlueFlyer]

Toyota Land Cruiser (manufactured prior to9/1/2006) IFS 100 series 1999-2006

I get that LandCruiser series can be confusing. You need to understand there are the "Luxury" Wagons which include the 100, 200 and now 300series.
Then there are the utility workhorses which are basically the 70 series which is very basic and did not have airbags in Australia until about 2010. Any vehicle in Australia of 2000 vintage would have a 4.2L straight 6 single turbo diesel, many believe (myself included) that it was the best engine ever in the Landcruiser 70 series.
The 4.5L V8 single turbo diesel engine was introduced in 2007, it just does not have the punch of the previous straight 6.
In 2024 Toyota introduced the 2.8L 4 cylinder diesel with an auto transmision (prior to this they all had 5 speed manual) , due to immissions issues with the V8.

Currnetly running a 2008 4.5L V8 single cab with tipping tray.

 

[spike.t]

I get that LandCruiser series can be confusing. You need to understand there are the "Luxury" Wagons which include the 100, 200 and now 300series.
Then there are the utility workhorses which are basically the 70 series which is very basic and did not have airbags in Australia until about 2010. Any vehicle in Australia of 2000 vintage would have a 4.2L straight 6 single turbo diesel, many believe (myself included) that it was the best engine ever in the Landcruiser 70 series.
The 4.5L V8 single turbo diesel engine was introduced in 2007, it just does not have the punch of the previous straight 6.
In 2024 Toyota introduced the 2.8L 4 cylinder diesel with an auto transmision (prior to this they all had 5 speed manual) , due to immissions issues with the V8.

Currnetly running a 2008 4.5L V8 single cab with tipping tray.

They have had to offer a manual option on the cruiser 2.8 now

 

[Altitude sickness]

There are actually quite a few street legal LC’s here. Basic stock models to more altered models like this one.

First many people complain “why they are not available here in the U.S.” Then in the next sentence complain that it’s not the right color, height, width, length. Motor.
I wanted it with a snorkel. I wanted it without a snorkel.

You need to buy one and make it what you want. Or pay someone a fortune to sub contract it out just like anyone can.

Here is a pricey model. About what a loaded domestic pick up cost these days. There is also a more basic model in the $25,000 price range on Facebook marketplace.

 

[CBH Australia]

What you see in Africa is popular in Australia but we are a small market who follow other countries emissions standards.

Out emissions albeit small are probably from extracting raw material and fuels that are sold to other countries.

We don’t produce vehicles here since losing Ford and Holden manufacturing

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

A 2000cc diesel......don't recall seeing one of those on a cruiser......they just started putting the 2.8 turbo from the hilux in it along with auto transmission...no thanks....will stick with my manual 4.2 straight six....think they just recently stopped making it with the 4.5 v8....in sa also get a v6 petrol one....but been a few different engine sizes over the years

Moved over to the 2.8 Auto last year. Started with the old 4.2 straight 6, then onto the V8, now onto the Auto. By far the best Cruiser I have ever had. Will murder a V8 on the open road as well.

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Moved over to the 2.8 Auto last year. Started with the old 4.2 straight 6, then onto the V8, now onto the Auto. By far the best Cruiser I have ever had. Will murder a V8 on the open road as well.

My PH in RSA has both the V8 turbo diesel 5spd and the 4cyl diesel auto trans. He swore that the little 4 banger was a horse. I think both of his had a performance tune on them as well. Personally, I prefer a manual for my 4x4's.