If you are looking to import a Land Rover Defender 110 or 90, Look No Further
Here's how bringing Land Rover Defenders into the US breaks down. You can only import a vehicle to the United States that is
- over 25 years old
- or on the NHTSA import list.
If it's the latter, you are in for some major PITA. It'll need to be brought in through a Registered Importer and readed for EPA and DOT certification. That means modifications and that means cash.
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The Landrover defender 110 NAS. You can has, for a price. Image wikipedia.org
A landrover 120 diesel You no can has. Image wikipedia.org |
The First Rover Defenders Are Now 25 Years Old
It's 2009 and the first Defenders reach 25 years of age and can enter the US legally! You will be able to import them and pay duty but without the EPA emissions certification they will never be titled and driven on any road. How do you get EPA emissions certification? Pay through the nose. New
So you are looking at a land rover defender 90 or 110 for sale, and you want to know if it's legal?
You'll need to open the drivers door and look for the NHTSA/DOT plate that reads: "This vehicle conforms to all applicable Federal Motor Safty Standards, blah blah blah." If you don't see that, you need to call the DOT with the VIN.
The best resource for information on Land Rover imports
A company called East Coast Rovers builds Land Rover Defenders, Series, Discovery I and IIs for action. They've also been importing older rovers for a long time. They are very free with information they've gained in the process:
Have a look at this little tidbit:
"Also, just as a side note... The last time we looked into importation and bringing in more Defenders... you know who shut us down on that? Land Rover North America. They don't want any more Defenders in the USA and they did everything in their power to shut us down. Luckily we don't do anything illegal so they couldn't, but they did try."
Read the rest of what they have to say about importing a Defender.
FAQs
Why doesn't Land Rover sell the Defender in the US?
Because in 1998 regulations requiring air bags and side impact standards went into affect. Land Rover decided they couldn't upgrade the Defender to meet those requirements.
Were there any tdi or td5 diesel Defenders imported into the United States?
No all Defenders legaly imported into the united states were 3.9L v8s or 4.0L v8s.
Only 535 Defender 110s were imported into the US.
They were all white.
They are all badass.