Register a Japanese truck in Utah.

Where the truck lands

A direct Japan RoRo to Los Angeles or Long Beach is often about 2 to 3 weeks. The booked ship sets the date.

Los Angeles / Long Beach, then I-15 through Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Provo, and Ogden. Tacoma is the other quote if that sailing is sooner. The I-15 leg is the one we plan first.

After it is in Utah

Utah is on this list because buyers there are already reaching the site. A private-vehicle safety inspection has not been a registration prerequisite since 1 January 2018. Emissions inspections are required in Cache, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties. The Utah State Tax Commission Publication 9 is the county sheet: in the four Wasatch Front counties, gasoline vehicles six years and older are tested back to model year 1967, with a different cutoff in Weber and a narrower rule in Cache. A 25-year Japanese truck titled in Salt Lake County is still an emissions-test vehicle unless that cutoff exempts it. Counties outside those five do not run the program. Use tax is paid in Utah. It is not in the Japan price. VIN inspection is done at the DMV.

The office that handles the plate is Utah Division of Motor Vehicles. Read their current page before you pay the vehicle balance. County rules change, and the page they publish is the one that titles the truck.

How old the truck has to be in Utah

NHTSA’s rule is the same in Utah as in every other state. A vehicle at least 25 years old, counted from the date of manufacture, can be imported without regard to the full federal safety standards. That entry is HS-7 Box 1. The badge year on the fender is not the clock.

The Utah DMV does not publish an import age of its own. The age is the federal 25-year manufacture date. A private-vehicle safety inspection has not been a registration prerequisite since 1 January 2018. Emissions inspections remain in Cache, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties, including many vehicles back to model year 1967 on the Wasatch Front. A 25-year Japanese truck titled in Salt Lake County can still be an emissions-test vehicle.

The federal file, then the state

The federal gate is the same in every state. NHTSA’s 25-year rule runs from the date of manufacture on the plate, not the badge year. The entry is HS-7 Box 1. EPA is a separate file. CBP’s vehicle page says a vehicle is exempt from EPA standards when 21 years have passed since the original production year and it is still in original condition. Form 3520-1 is filed at entry. A truck can clear one clock and fail the other. Your broker files the entry at the discharge port. CBP’s importing-a-car page prints auto duty at 2.5% and truck duty at 25%. Those printed rates are not in our price. US$500 by card starts the Japan-side order. Ocean freight is quoted after the sailing is booked. State title, use tax, and any inspection come after CBP releases the truck. A federal release is not a state plate.

NHTSA: importing a vehicle · EPA: importing vehicles and engines · CBP: importing a car · United States overview