Skyline seizure b.s.

  • Thread starter Thread starter CyborgGT
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CyborgGT
I know, right? Only in America...
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Not really. Things are impounded, fined and confiscated at borders all of the time. Several Canadian provinces have cracked down on grey importing of legally-imported cars for very legitimate concerns. It's not just about big government picking on people it doesn't like, there are some bigger issues at hand (mostly insurance-related, I'd suspect)
 
Wasting my tax money on anything like this when there are MILLIONS of illegal persons here doing things like BREAKING LAWS.
 
JCE
Wasting my tax money on anything like this when there are MILLIONS of illegal persons here doing things like BREAKING LAWS.
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Aye. And the worst bit? These cars do not pose a greater threat to other drivers than anything else of the same size/performance class, only to the driver.
 
I can see that there's some legal problems with grey/black-market cars (face it, gray-market is a nice way to say black-market), like insurance and what happens if one of them gets in an accident and hurts/kills someone else. Certainly, that's an issue that many lawyers will point to this law or that precedent, and they'll have a point that something arcane like a chin spoiler from some weird foreign car is hurting our children.

But it's really such a tiny handful and by shifting the onus and risks onto the owners of the cars, you can get around all this nonsense. Unfortunately, things don't work out that way in a litigious society, and so I could go on and on and eventually tie myself up with some contradictory statement, but they're cars...not weapons of mass destruction (er, wait...transportation incidents kill more Americans than guns and dogs and falling pianos combined).

It's like our war on drugs; we're going to pile a lot of taxpayer money onto an issue that can't be fully resolved and winds up taking away court time and police resources towards more important issues, like teenage smoking and library books that are overdue and making sure ultra-right-wing bigots aren't getting bricks hurled at them for loudly haranguing dead gay soldiers.

If they don't stop, I may import a Peugeot in retaliation.
 
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It's been a current topic w/ DFW owners who make up a large portion of the US owners. Many no longer bring their cars out of fear for being repossessed.
 
There's a kid in town with an R33, I'd hate to see that thing disappear. I'll see if I can ask him about this kind of thing this weekend, he's usually out cruising with the rest of the tuners.
 
I'm not a Skyline fan at all and could careless if they are scrapping them or not. What does irritate me about this is that our government is facing a shut down because they can't figure out a friggen budget and this is what we are worrying about. I know it's not really significant in the grand scheme of things, but still!

Oh and I'm really glad Homeland Security is all about this instead of, you know, protecting our homeland and going all yippe-ki-yay on terrorist.
 
So what difference would it make for the government to tell the owner that the car can never be operated on the roads again, it could be used for show/motorsports only (being trailered of course), etc?

I've looked at the NHTSA's importing site before and I seem to recall that its pretty much legal to have any car imported for off-highway use (I hate that terminology - it means it can't be used on public roads).

Worst case, slap the owners with a fine of some sort, if they can't pay it then the car could be impounded, but otherwise let them keep the car so long as it isn't used on the road...

The fines shouldn't be ridiculous, particularly for owners like this one that seem to have a fully legal car. But I know some people will register them as 240SXs or something, those owners should get hit with worse fines for knowingly committing fraud.
 
That is rather pathetic indeed. Goes to show that you should know who your doing business with, especially when importing.

JCE
Wasting my tax money on anything like this when there are MILLIONS of illegal persons here doing things like BREAKING LAWS.
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I have to say, this argument has to be the worst argument ever.

It's basically the "You shouldn't be writing me a ticket for speeding when there are murderers out there" argument you hear on cop shows all the time.

Just because it's a petty crime and there are major ones going on doesn't mean the petty ones should just be brushed aside.
 
I've always found it funny just how far they up their own asses ICE officials are when it comes to the importance of their jobs.
I remember when they impounded that Cizeta a couple of years ago which literally just sat in an auto showroom for the previous 8 years (and was unregistered and not driven on public roads), they were talking about how they saved the public from "a vehicle that posed a threat to public health and safety” or some nonsense like that.
 
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I think there's a blue R34 here. Saw it in person a few years ago, haven't heard form it ever again.
Here's a video of it

Looks pretty impressive and unique in person
EDIT: found a picture of it
38019_1448099995765_1031154230_31253781_7275551_n.jpg

Man I wish it were easier to own one of those
 
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Justin
That is rather pathetic indeed. Goes to show that you should know who your doing business with, especially when importing.



I have to say, this argument has to be the worst argument ever.

It's basically the "You shouldn't be writing me a ticket for speeding when there are murderers out there" argument you hear on cop shows all the time.

Just because it's a petty crime and there are major ones going on doesn't mean the petty ones should just be brushed aside.
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It's my damn tax money, that gives me the right to recommend it spend in a beneficial way. You know like stopping illegal immigration or stop funding some stupid program that enables my tax money to go towards an illegal's college education. :D Laws and penalties can be changed. Wasting my tax money hunting down owners of cars versus hunting down people that are trying to kill you or me (or abuse my tax money) is retarded.
 
I had heard that the cops in the Seattle area were using an R33 as an under cover car for work at the street races. That would explain why there was always one there and it always kept to itself.
 
CyborgGT
There's a kid in town with an R33, I'd hate to see that thing disappear. I'll see if I can ask him about this kind of thing this weekend, he's usually out cruising with the rest of the tuners.
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I have a friend with an R32 GT-R as well. Car is registered and insured, but of course that doesn't mean anything. I've told him to watch himself with that thing or it could get taken away.
 
R1600Turbo
I have a friend with an R32 GT-R as well. Car is registered and insured, but of course that doesn't mean anything. I've told him to watch himself with that thing or it could get taken away.
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Does he have it insured as a 240SX like some of the owners here. :lol:
 
The US Government must love Skylines and want to keep them all for themselves or hate them. I am more than happy to take some of the Skylines and parts the US government have now out of the country, there is a few bits a peices I need. (in the US next week) :D

I am curious, how does the Skylines get into the country, through customs, registered and driven on the road... then taken away? (guilty of not reading the looong article above :( ).
 
Jay
The US Government must love Skylines and want to keep them all for themselves or hate them. I am more than happy to take some of the Skylines and parts the US government have now out of the country, there is a few bits a peices I need. (in the US next week) :D

I am curious, how does the Skylines get into the country, through customs, registered and driven on the road... then taken away? (guilty of not reading the looong article above :( ).
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I was thinking the same thing. More to the point, why are they not just getting a list of all registered Skylines from the DMV or whatever you have and going door to door? What's with all the cloak and dagger stuff?
 
Philly
I had heard that the cops in the Seattle area were using an R33 as an under cover car for work at the street races. That would explain why there was always one there and it always kept to itself.
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Wise choice for them, no chance for the getaway criminals. Not like some Albanian cops (the Top Gear episode) and their Aveo cars!
 
McLaren
Does he have it insured as a 240SX like some of the owners here. :lol:
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No idea. He has family in Washington that found a loop hole, so he got it registered there then transferred the registration to Colorado.
 
Jay
I am curious, how does the Skylines get into the country, through customs, registered and driven on the road... then taken away? (guilty of not reading the looong article above :( ).
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The problem is that the company crash tested an R33 and then claimed that all R32s, R33s and R34s were similar enough that they didn't need to be crash tested as well. All were 'legally' imported at the time but then most were found to be illegal. I think there's still a dozen or so running around that were legally imported using the correct documentation and procedure ect.
 
Just learned my buddy has exported his out of the country & will be gone for the next 3 years to make sure the US govt. does not seize it. :(
 
I couldn't bare to see a Skyline crushed. I want one when in 5 years when I can take my driving test, I have no problem with them being sent off, but having them crushed is sick.
 
I sure don't care about emissions, those were my favorite tuner's from my childhood, they deserve to be sold in the US.
 
SuperGTRacer
I sure don't care about emissions, those were my favorite tuner's from my childhood, they deserve to be sold in the US.
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I don't think it has to do with emissions, just that they aren't legal. I am sure those cars could go with the US emission rules since Japan probably has stricter ones. Also, what if one brings the shell of A GT-R and puts let's say.... A 2JZ-GTE in it and calls it a kit car. Can that be done? What are the needs for a car to be a kit car?
 
motortrend
Also, what if one brings the shell of A GT-R and puts let's say.... A 2JZ-GTE in it and calls it a kit car. Can that be done? What are the needs for a car to be a kit car?
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From what I understand they have to be sold as "kits" in multiple quantities. I'm guessing it varies by location what that actually means.
 
Wait, let me get this straight, it's just because they're perceived as dangerous in a crash? That's it?
 

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