"Dsscats" (dsscats)
02/29/2016 at 20:18 • Filed to: None
3
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"Dsscats" (dsscats)
02/29/2016 at 20:18 • Filed to: None | 3
| 10 |
So I see a lot in various places people who see a sub-25 year imported car and say “Oh, pity it’ll get crushed” and things along those lines.
The truth about that is yes, an illegally imported car CAN get crushed. Does that mean it will? Hell no! In fact, it’s incredibly unlikely for that to happen. Almost all of the cars that have been crushed within the last 7 years have had alterations to the VIN number, or, in the case of the recent red R33, VIN fraud (originally registered on the R33 VIN as a 240SX). See: All the recent Mini and Land Rover seizures.
Modifying the VIN in ANY way is a surefire way to get your car seized or yourself screwed over in the end.
Kaizo:
In the case of the California Skyline seizures and crushings, almost all of them were Kaizo cars. Kaizo claimed the R-chassis they brought in were kit cars to avoid EPA and NHTSA regulations, which, shockingly (/s), backfired. In the end, the owner of the company had some of his personal cars were seized and crushed (the blue Fast and Furious car and a red R34 drift car are two notable examples), and a couple of customer cars were taken.
That includes a white R34 GTR which was a showroom car for South Coast Mitsubishi at the time.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
One more car that was “seized” (the owner was told to export it) was this yellow R34 GTR. The owner of the Focus Auto Sales R34 GTR (also a Kaizo car) was required to export the car. It ended up in Canada and is still there (and is believed to be the only Lightning Yellow R34 GTR up there). It is believed by some that this car’s feature in Sport Compact Car brought it too far into the limelight.
As for the rest of the Kaizo cars, the NHTSA is no longer actively searching for them. They haven’t been issued bond releases like the Motorex cars that weren’t legalized, but there’s also only a very small chance that they’ll get taken.
State titled cars:
Ah state titled cars, my favorite. Once again, I see everyone commenting about these cars “IT’LL GET TAKEN, OH NO.” Once again, the fact is, the car COULD be seized at any time. That doesn’t mean it WILL be. The other fact is, with the sheer volume of sub-25 imported cars in the US, it would be impossible to track them all down without an insane amount of money and resources. The sheer volume and diversity of state titled cars in the states is incredible. The cars that will be taken 100% of the time are sub-25 year cars brought in from Canada and Mexico straight through the border and sold in the US with Mexican papers or no papers at all. The border patrol takes note of the VIN of every imported car entering the US.
On for sale ads:
If a car is for sale and has been federalized, it will almost always be disclosed, at length, by the owner. If not, assume it hasn’t.
In the end:
It all comes down to if someone is willing to take a risk for the car. All I want to impart is that the risk is VERY low, far lower than most people would assume or make it out to be. And just remember, that’s the owner’s choice to make.
Berang
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 20:26 |
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Why are they crushed again? Where is my tax money going?
PanchoVilleneuve ST
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 20:26 |
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With the Skyline, it’s really tricky and confusing because of the whole clusterfuck that is the Motorex debacle. Any GT-R you import may or may not be ok because of really arcane, confusing reasons that really amount to little more than “because”.
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Dsscats
> Berang
02/29/2016 at 20:28 |
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Because Mercedes NA is a dick.
Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 21:17 |
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Glad we’re using our resources to their fullest potential
Levitas
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 21:24 |
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I usually hear how these imported cars are unsafe (like the Zonda, because the front airbag can’t change deployment force based on passenger weight).
And then I think: isn’t everyone else in the world human too? How is it suddenly unsafe since it’s in the US?
And then I also realize that there exists a very large population within the US that drive bald-tired, rusted, headlight-missing, wiper-lacking beige mobiles.
But heaven forbid an R34 or Zonda kills someone.
daender
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 21:33 |
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the blue Fast and Furious car
This one, right?
Also, I spooked myself seeing that Focus Auto Sales GT-R. It reminded me of the
Dandy Bonneville R34 GT-R that’s also in Lightning Yellow
...then I remembered it’s still in Japan and not in the US.
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Dsscats
> daender
02/29/2016 at 21:53 |
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That is silver, and that one’s still out in New York. Well, the real one is
CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
> Dsscats
02/29/2016 at 22:02 |
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The Blue R34 GTR is sketchy as fuck (the one from 2 Fast 2 Furious) as it survived the jump with a busted firewall and quite a bit of damage. It was sold by Universal on to someone on certain terms (mostly involved not selling it and it was illegal etc). Someone actually rebuilt it and tried to sell it but was intervened by Universal. (this info from Craig Lieberman TST podcast episode)
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Dsscats
> CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
02/29/2016 at 22:05 |
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There were several blue ones. All the stunt cars were GTTs or Bugs, and the real GTR belonged to Daryl Allison. That was the one that was seized. It was never owned by Nissan to the best of my knowledge.
Danger
> Dsscats
03/01/2016 at 00:12 |
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Breaking a law is not always noticed, but if it is you’re SOL. Check, thanks for that tip.