What Is The 25 Year Import Exemption For Vehicles?

What is the 25-Year Import Exemption Rule?
This is a rule that allows vehicles that are 25 years old or older to be imported without all of the same import requirements typically required by the EPA, DOT, and other customs requirements.

Customs Requirements Exemption
The 25-year requirement only excludes and exempts vehicles from US customs requirements. It does not require states to exempt vehicles from their titling and registration requirements.

New Opportunities in 2025
Now that it is 2025, there are some additional vehicles—tremendously interesting vehicles—that can now be imported into the US without having to go through the stringent import requirements. This is a great article in Motor Trend about some of these new additions to the approved list.

Featured Vehicles
Toyota Caldina GT: An all-wheel-drive rally-type wagon, similar to a Subaru WRX but in wagon form, available for around $10,000 to $12,000.
Subaru WRX Type STI: An upgraded version with 276 horsepower.
Mitsubishi Lancer: A very interesting vehicle, typically priced in the $30,000 to $40,000 range.
Honda Accord SiR Wagon: A cool car from the late 90s/early 2000s, now importable.

Final Thoughts
Once you take a look at the new allowances for these Japanese imports, you can see which ones might be of interest. Just make sure that you’re going to be able to get it through the titling process in your state before you start shelling out a whole bunch of money to get one of these cars through customs, because customs is only the first step before it goes into a situation where you can put it on the road and be driving it.

Visit Our YouTube Channel for more insights and discussions on various topics. Consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Click here!