Skyline seizure b.s.

  • Thread starter Thread starter CyborgGT
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JaiAE86
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.
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A 17 year old driving a 300BHP+ Japanese grey import popularly used for street racing.... good luck getting insured on that. Unless you're rich, you'll have to wait another 12 years to own anything bigger than a 1.6 hatchback.

Back on topic: I'm not sure of the full details of this but there has to be a proper reason for confiscating these Skyline's, other than "they're unsafe". I'd be willing to bet those Skyline's are much safer than most classic American/European cars, yet they're not confiscating those. I didn't read the entire article, but those Skyline's must have been imported illegally otherwise the US government wouldn't be able to confiscate them.
 
X-Power
I didn't read the entire article, but those Skyline's must have been imported illegally otherwise the US government wouldn't be able to confiscate them.
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This:
Philly
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.
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Basically, the importer(s) squeezed through a loophole that they shouldn't have been able to. Equal blame goes to the government, though. If they themselves declared it legal, and the owners then did everything proper to register it, they should be grandfathered in. There are plenty of cars on the road today that wouldn't pass current crash or emissions standards, so why not go after them, too? This is government waste at its finest. I can see pulling the cars' registration and revoking their street-legal status, but seizure? Come on...
 
These cars are dangerous, and should be removed from our streets immediately!



Nevermind the idiots jumping straight onto a liter bike, or joe-schmoe down the street building his homebuilt kit plane in his garage - those are perfectly safe.
 
Josh
These cars are dangerous, and should be removed from our streets immediately!



Nevermind the idiots jumping straight onto a liter bike, or joe-schmoe down the street building his homebuilt kit plane in his garage - those are perfectly safe.
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Yes, never mind these people...


MIND THE SKYLINES. BTW, no skylines in that video, just perfectly legal cars that are NOT taken away.
 
motortrend
MIND THE SKYLINES. BTW, no skylines in that video, just perfectly legal cars that are NOT taken away.
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That's a problem with the drivers not the cars. Maybe the police just need to go after idiot drivers and confiscate their licenses. Then we'd have safer roads and less traffic to deal with. Everybody would be happy.
 
Philly
That's a problem with the drivers not the cars. Maybe the police just need to go after idiot drivers and confiscate their licenses. Then we'd have safer roads and less traffic to deal with. Everybody would be happy.
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Exactly what I mean, it's not really the car the main problem, it's the driver
 
motortrend
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?
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I believe it was emissions and safety laws that prevented the Skyline from being sold in the US. Bringing it under those laws was part of the conversion process Motorex used to do. Weirdly enough America's emissions and safety laws seem to be a lot more stringent than other countries.
 
X-Power
A 17 year old driving a 300BHP+ Japanese grey import popularly used for street racing.... good luck getting insured on that. Unless you're rich, you'll have to wait another 12 years to own anything bigger than a 1.6 hatchback.
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Hey it's not impossible. I'm 19 and I purchased a brand new mustang with my own money and able to afford insurance. So it's possible, just gotta work for it.
 
I don't plan to get a Skyline as my first car, apparently in the UK you have to have something small for the first 2 years of owning a license.

I certainly don't want a '98 Ford Fiesta, I'm looking more along the lines of something like a Cappuccino. If I can afford the insurance on a Skyline I plan to get one as a second car. The car doesn't cost much, I'd imagine the insurance does.
 
*chuckle*
apparently, the japanese THEMSELVES haven't heard of "grey Market Imports". one of th guys respnding on the previous page was from Osaka!
i agree with the bulk of the people who give a reason why. they're probably crushing them because they're "dangerous polluters"

q: why are they chasing grey market cars instead of such and such?
a: grey market cars are easier to catch.
 
So now i would be a great time to import Gtr's from Us??
:D

From what i understood from the story is that motorex (import) crash tested just a R33, to look for the safety level. So all R32 and R34 had the same "documents" which were achieved with the R33.
So they never really tested the R32 and 34.

????
Is that all the problem?
 
I wonder what American auto giants have to say about the persecution of Skylines in America?
 
motortrend
Yes, never mind these people...


MIND THE SKYLINES. BTW, no skylines in that video, just perfectly legal cars that are NOT taken away.
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Sucks to be that Elise driver when he planted it in the barrier. I'm all for blasts thought the country but stay within the lines. Duh.
 
motortrend
Exactly what I mean, it's not really the car the main problem, it's the driver
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In this case, though, the car is the problem, more or less, the safety & emissions of it.

And while that shouldn't seem like such a big issue, it really, really is with inspections.
 
McLaren
In this case, though, the bureaucracy is the problem, more or less, the safety & emissions of it.

And while that shouldn't seem like such a big issue, it really, really is with inspections.
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ftfy

...

Here's something to consider; how does someone not owning a Skyline make YOU safer (3rd party)? If you get hit by another car, how do the airbags in that car lessen the damage to YOU and YOUR car? They don't. Federal regulators constantly overstep their boundaries and create defacto laws and new taxes without any representation.

Emissions regulations in California, which is the benchmark, are insane. If you are a walnut tree and your purpose is to make walnuts; you'd be in violation of particulate emission standards.

All the evap equipment to capture gasoline fumes? Well, the millions of dollars invested in the equipment capture the equivalent of 1 drop of gasoline per year. Next time you fill up, think about that next time the gas nozzle drips on your paint or the ground.

Once upon a time, cars were engineered to create more CO2. These emissions people really have no clue what they're doing; they're more concerned with just doing 'something'. Same goes to the safety boards and regulators. Cars have been quite safe for quite some time. But you'd think people would by dying in the streets not 20 years ago.

The tests they use to determine safety ratings are collisions at 90 deg...or perpendicular. Ever see the wreckage of an accident resting in an intersection? Do you think that collision was perfectly perpendicular or do you think someone might at have turned their wheel slightly to avoid contact?

Accidents, especially the bad ones, do not occur like the tests performed in labs.
 
BrutherSuperior: they're not just worried about a "bottom line" (one of the reasons they're destroying the cars, of course, to reduce competition), but they're also worried about "lawyers"...'cause God knows if anyone is even BRUISED by the smallest mistake, the lawyers crawl out the woodwork.
 
Sniffs
BrutherSuperior: they're not just worried about a "bottom line" (one of the reasons they're destroying the cars, of course, to reduce competition), but they're also worried about "lawyers"...'cause God knows if anyone is even BRUISED by the smallest mistake, the lawyers crawl out the woodwork.
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Doesn't really matter; lawyers go after whoever has the deepest pockets. Do all the warning stickers inside your vehicle make you safer? No, of course not.
 
Lol, not an issue here in Canada where they're coming in by the dozens and our government who couldn't give a crap... lol america fails again.

I quite want to save a few grands and import a evo 3 here.. it'll be completely legal of course. 👍

Joey D
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.
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Ugh, it's couldn't care less...
 
Thank you grammar Nazi. :lol:
 
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motortrend
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?
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Yes, thats what they did to import them to US. And the results is obvious.
 
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That's a Mine's skyline and it looks like it was just shipped here, white plastic and all. So those pics are either old or unrelated. Plus the seized cars are going up for auction from what I read.
 
eSZee
That's a Mine's skyline and it looks like it was just shipped here, white plastic and all. So those pics are either old or unrelated. Plus the seized cars are going up for auction from what I read.
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Wait, what kind of backwards 🤬 is that?

ICE obviously doesn't want these cars in the hands of citizens, so they're going to auction them right back out?
 
McLaren
Wait, what kind of backwards 🤬 is that?

ICE obviously doesn't want these cars in the hands of citizens, so they're going to auction them right back out?
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When the vehicle is auctioned the buyer must export it within a certain amount of days, otherwise it's crushed. The goverment has no hand in exporting of goods.
 
Eric.
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.
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Actually thats incorrect. In order for a vehicle to be imported to the U.S. as a show car, race car,exhibit car, track car. It must be built for such purposes. Meaning when it was produced it was meant to be a race car. Not a road car. In other words you still can't import a GTR citing it's a "race car", I'm not going to use it excuse.
 
McLaren
ICE obviously doesn't want these cars in the hands of citizens, so they're going to auction them right back out?
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They basically steal them, then sell them to someone who can get it out of the country rather than letting the person they stole it from try to sell it.


JoeH187
Actually thats incorrect. In order for a vehicle to be imported to the U.S. as a show car, race car,exhibit car, track car. It must be built for such purposes. Meaning when it was produced it was meant to be a race car. Not a road car. In other words you still can't import a GTR citing it's a "race car", I'm not going to use it excuse.
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In fact, if you import a car with no intent to drive it on roads or be registered, ICE will still come and take the thing away from you.
 

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