Why is Nissan Skyline so exp. & why is it banned in the U.S.?

Question

Why?

Answer 1

You can own a Skyline in the US if it meets all its test,some states are more keen then others where some have very little to change and there are more in that area,whilst other states wont allow them at all.
The Skyline was only made in small amounts and even in the UK the only ones realised where a few R33 R34GTR'S,luckily the import ruling with emissions etc is slacker.
So it wasn't really worth Nissan paying out so much as these cars where not really meant to be a world seller.
Power wise these cars as where many Japanese where held back to below 300bhp due to agreements made in there country,so with there fans in mind many where released with higher then is in the books,and For instance the RB Skyline engine will take near on 500bhp with stock internals,so the car makers hid the power.
So reason why there so popular is because you can have 100k+ supercar performance for a stupily lot less cost.
Expensive wise well it is here in the UK also,some models are cheaper but others are still dear.

Answer 2

Supply and demand there were not all that many made in the first place production numbers were very low for the Skyline GTR-spec V and faster versions. 1990's technology the cars are now getting kind of old. Not smog legal not department of transportation legal and right hand drive. In the USA your money would be well spent building up a 350Z a car you can actually get parts for. AS for the new Skyline for anything lesss than 80,000 dollars? you will be dreaming! Dollars are very weak and the cost is going up for the 1,600 cars planned for the USA will carry a high dealer mark up too.

Answer 3

Don't listen to the guy who says it has to come down in power. Skylines don't have that much power stock. Only the GT-R models had decent power and even then it wasn't that high. They just take well to mods.

The reason they were never sold in the U.S. is because Nissan didn't want to modify them to pass U.S. crash and smog standards. Also, because of the position of the turbos the steering wheel can't be moved to the left hand side. The idea of marketing a niche car thats left hand drive didn't make monetary sense for Nissan.

I wouldn't use the word 'banned'. They're illegal just like any other car that hasn't passed U.S. crash and smog standards.

There is also no longer a company importing them to the U.S. and modifying them to be legal.

Answer 4

Nissan never wanted to spend the money to get the car to pass the regulations to be imported here. I can see why. There's an importer here in Orange County, California that ships them in. The problem is that the Skyline ends up costing almost double the actual cost to be brought in after all the red tape has been removed.

Answer 5

There are a few reasons:
It did not pass U.S. emmisions.
It did not have the safety requirments.
Nissan did not think that it would sell in the U.S. and they did not want to spend extra money to make it legal in the U.S. if they did not know how it would do in sales.

Answer 6

It's a really high performance car, why would it be cheap? The GT-R is going to be available in the U.S. in early 2008 for 69k.

Answer 7

emissions and stuff but in late 08' i think they are coming out with 1 here but its $70K it looks pretty nice
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/coupes/0601_nissan_skyline/index.html
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/GeneralFuture/articleId=117074
its faster then a porshe but it cost about the same i rather get a porshe

Answer 8

there are only a few left and they are banned because in order to bring one to the states it has to be brought down bout 200-300 horses

Answer 9

correction. it does have alot of power. exchange the ecu and you have yourself a car in the 350hp

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Answer 10

It doesn't pass US emissions and crash testing.