A petition to chagnge the law on gray market cars in the United States

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RocZX

RocZX

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If you want a gray market car in the US you most wait 25 years to import it. But now there is a petition to change that.

http://jalopnik.com/5859623/disagree-with-25+year-car-import-ban-sign-this-petition

The petition can be found here https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitio...and-change-dotepa-exemption-15-years/L50BZzwj
The Department of Homeland Security spends a shockingly disproportionate amount of its budget not on security initiatives, but on customs seizures. In particular, importers of grey-market vehicles have been targeted by monies taxpayers have intended to be used to secure our country against terrorism and terrorist activity. We call upon the Executive Branch to immediately cease this wasteful activity, and furthermore to change the DOT/EPA exemption time on grey-market vehicles from 25 years to 15 years (to match the vehicle regulations of Canada), recognizing that the 25-year rule was enacted due to support from special interests such as Mercedes Benz North America.
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So, if passed, it would mean that in 2015 a 2000 Nissan Skyline GTR R34 would be allowed into the United States?
 
I'm only 16. Can I sign it?
 
Interesting stuff. 👍 Some of it I never even knew. :lol:

crispychicken49
So, if passed, it would mean that in 2015 a 2000 Nissan Skyline GTR R34 would be allowed into the United States?
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I don't think so because the Skylines (32-34) don't follow certain safety rules.
 
EliteDreamer
Interesting stuff. 👍 Some of it I never even knew. :lol:



I don't think so because the Skylines (32-34) don't follow certain safety rules.
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correct, but i dont think that applies to cars once they are older than the regulation specifies :)
 
If the regulations change I'd imagine.
 
Even if this does not pass, there is a way around this. You can do what a man I met up with this year at a car show did. He purchased his desired car, he had the car completely disassembled in Japan (R34 - btw), then he had this car shipped in pieces to various ports throughout the U.S. . From there, he made multitudes of trips across this country to gather up all the pieces and parts to get it back to his home and assemble it.

I think this was a bit extreme on his behalf and it had to be quite costly. His biggest issue is licensing it, a lot of red tape to be gone through here. For now, it's a trailer queen, making some rounds at various car shows / cruise ins.

I questioned this guy, " Is it really worth it ? "
A simple smile and an emphatic "yes" was his answer.
 
What exactly is a gray market car? I know cars like supras, skylines, GT-R are not allowed in Canada do to certain regulations of parts like bumper clearance or really random things, but you can just change them to have it road worthy. Kit cars like the other person said is a way around certain laws too. As long as its not assembled than your only buying parts. Once you put it together even if the car is illegal your kit car version is fine. Weird loop holes.
 
Wait, a kit car of an illegal car is ok? What?! How does that make any sense? :confused:
 
EliteDreamer
Wait, a kit car of an illegal car is ok? What?! How does that make any sense? :confused:
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I really wish I remembered the name of the car this was when I first heard it, but it looked like a race car. Literally no bumpers kinda looked like a Toyota that old race car that's all white with the big spoiler. That is illegal on the streets since it fails like every law, but they said if you get the kit version and build it yourself it is fine since kit cars follow different laws. It's cheaper too since its not assembled.
 
shmogt
I really wish I remembered the name of the car this was when I first heard it, but it looked like a race car. Literally no bumpers kinda looked like a Toyota that old race car that's all white with the big spoiler. That is illegal on the streets since it fails like every law, but they said if you get the kit version and build it yourself it is fine since kit cars follow different laws. It's cheaper too since its not assembled.
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Most kit car are built on legal and cheaper cars but the kit car must be road legal.
 
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I don't get why they won't let us do the modifications needed to make this car legal. Honestly, as long as the gas tank doesn't explode when rear ended (Which the Ford Pinto had) then what harm are we doing, we know the risks! And if emissions is the problem, then why don't work vehicles have to conform to these laws? Honestly, nothings stopping me from owning an R34 one time in my life, even if it means moving to another country!
 
I know you can import buy them, but you just have to change all the parts to meet regulations. That's also just to drive on the road you can buy it no problem and just have it sit till you make the changes. Easiest is buy one already in the country. That way it's simple car deal and no over seas charges, import fees, street legal stuff, etc.
 
^Yeah, one over here sounds really good. Only problem is finding an unmolested one.
 
I think some of you are missing the point; the sales channels started to block gray-market importing in 1988 because the dealers weren't moving as many units. The cars aren't crash tested to any United States standards, so basically you'd have to sign some sort of waiver that would hold manufacturers and suppliers harmless in the event of a potentially unsafe vehicle. The problem is that no such legal contract exists that would stand up to courts in all states and federal court. Manufacturers already have to go to court to prove the safety of domestic market vehicles that have been legally adulterated, let alone if performed overseas or some third party arrangement.

But:
A) Mercedes probably wasn't losing that many units. Maybe a few other exotic brands were, but a weaker dollar could have been to blame.
B) European/Japanese crash standards have been roughly equal since the early 1980s.
C) This was okay until the lawyers got involved. Or when hot coffee suddenly became a bad idea to hold between one's legs.

Other than the above reasons, it's a silly law, and enforcing it is kind of wasteful, unless means of fraud are committed in the manner of obtaining these automobiles (i.e. taxes aren't being paid, cars aren't being insured properly), and they are not registered for the correct reasons (racing vehicle-only, show vehicle-only...et cetera), then a valid reason exists for seizure. Not that I agree to it, but we all know how much weight online petitions carry.
 
Under current grey market regulations, it states that when a vehicle is at its minimum age of eligibility (currently 25 years after it was produced) it is exempt from all emission and safety requirements applying to the that vehicles's model year. So in 2014 a 1989 Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) is eligible. With this petition we could get an 1996 R33 GT-R if passed now.
 
Honestly it's a stupid law. If this was pressed all over the news it would create an outrage, why people's money (A good portion too) is being spent paying for a service that, supposedly, tries to protect national security, yet spends it's time seizing cars! Though that's why it's not hitting the media, they want to keep it quiet, so nobody finds out about it. :rolleyes:
 
crispychicken49
I don't get why they won't let us do the modifications needed to make this car legal. Honestly, as long as the gas tank doesn't explode when rear ended (Which the Ford Pinto had) then what harm are we doing, we know the risks! And if emissions is the problem, then why don't work vehicles have to conform to these laws? Honestly, nothings stopping me from owning an R34 one time in my life, even if it means moving to another country!
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Build a half dozen of them and give them to the NHTSA along with the fees to have them crash tested and emissions tested and all the other things that every production car has to go through and then you'll be good to go.
 
A friend of mine showed me this yesterday. I didn't know this was happening until he told me. Signed.
 
How much money does it cost to pay a wrecker to put a car on a flatbed and drop it off at the impound? $120? Oh god, somebody write to Congress! We're gonna go into debt!
 
Eric.
How much money does it cost to pay a wrecker to put a car on a flatbed and drop it off at the impound? $120? Oh god, somebody write to Congress! We're gonna go into debt!
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You definitely have no idea how it's done.
 
Signed.
This won't change a thing but at least I have something to feel good about.
 
R1600Turbo
You definitely have no idea how it's done.
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Do you really think that the money the government spends to "search and destroy" cars amounts to anything in respect to the rest of government spending?

Fifty-three cents of every tax dollar goes to war.
 
Eric.
Do you really think that the money the government spends to "search and destroy" cars amounts to anything in respect to the rest of government spending?

Fifty-three cents of every tax dollar goes to war.
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No, but it's certainly more than a $120 tow bill.
 
Crispy
Honestly it's a stupid law. If this was pressed all over the news it would create an outrage, why people's money (A good portion too) is being spent paying for a service that, supposedly, tries to protect national security, yet spends it's time seizing cars! Though that's why it's not hitting the media, they want to keep it quiet, so nobody finds out about it. :rolleyes:
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Actually if it was all over the news people wouldn't give a 🤬. A huge majority of Americans have no idea what cars are out there that the US never sees nor do they actually care if they are imported or not.

The real thing I pissed about is the amount of wasted money and time from Homeland Security. So you know instead of trying to thwart threats against the US citizens, they are trying to round up cars. I could not care less about what the cars are, they could be rounding up Toyota Camry's for all I care, but I do care when the government acts stupid.
 
Eric.
Do you really think that the money the government spends to "search and destroy" cars amounts to anything in respect to the rest of government spending?
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Do you really think that the half dozen or so guys and week of effort that they usually throw at each individual claim couldn't be spent doing something a bit more productive than raiding car dealerships and tuning garages?
 
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