Feds launch new crackdown against Nissan Skyline owners
41 replies, posted
[url]http://ca.jalopnik.com/5775509/feds-launch-new-crackdown-against-nissan-skyline-owners[/url]
[quote]The owner of one of the nation's largest forums for Nissan Skyline fans got a call three weeks ago from his wife, telling him that Homeland Security agents were on their doorstep looking to seize his Skylines. Their goal? "To get them off the road."
Since Nissan never legally sold the Skyline in the United States, those that are in the country had to pass a maze of federal standards for emissions and safety, including crash tests. Thanks to the failure of an importer who didn't perform the proper test, only a small run of Skylines from 1996 to 1998 can be legally brought to the United States, and many that were originally OK'd for import later had their papers pulled. Those cars are contraband as far as the U.S. government cares — even if they were considered legal when their current owners bought them — and there's nothing current owners can do to make them legal
The proprietor of the SkylineOwners USA says he was expecting the worst when he got home on Feb. 11, but found just two Immigrations and Customs agents. What was more confusing was the agent's info:
It was evident that someone somewhere had passed on some bum scoop, that I was running a business with the sole intent of trafficking illegal non-conforming vehicles into the U.S. by the dozens. In addition they were under the assumption that I possessed a warehouse where I kept all of the vehicles and also did all my automotive repair and modification work at.
The owner, known as Vandrel, had just two Skylines; one that's old enough to be exempt from vehicle import rules, and another for which he had extensive paperwork. After their visit, the customs agents called Vandrel back to say his second Skyline had been deemed illicit, and they would return to seize it on Tuesday.
But when they came back, Vandrel had a surprise for them:
I made it very clear that my intent was to retain ownership for the time being and export the vehicle from the country, and that I had already made arrangements for a sale to be conducted as well as export of the vehicle, which of course shocked them completely since all past Skylines seized were not owned by someone who carried the ability to execute an export on the spot. With no car and no material items left in my possession that would cause me to worry about being questioned or investigated by the federal government any further, I now have nothing to lose by challenging them and I intend to do so to the fullest of my abilities and resources.
The move has motivated the Skyline community, but also raised the eternal question of whether such pursuits are the best use of government resources. We've left a message with Homeland Security, but the answer to why agents are tracking down every last Skyline may be the ages-old one: Because they can.[/quote]
YAY Freedom of choice!
for more:
[url]http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/breaking-news-us-government-turns-up-heat-on-skyline-owners.html[/url]
Very, very stupid.
That's a shame too because the Skyline R-34 is actually one of the more reliable cars you can get, along with being extremely sexy, heavy and powerful too
Wow, are you fucking serious? They should be looking for illegal immigrants, not hunting down cars
That guy is a badass for exporting the car before the feds could seize it
America land of the free who pay loads of dosh!
What a waste of resources. Assholes selling drugs and shooting people up, and they're hunting down people who legally (well, you know what I mean) purchased Skylines?
this is definitely an important issue that needs to be resolved immediately. I would kinda understand if it was a machine gun that was here illegally in large quantities but a car?
Shit guys, as 'Muricans we got shit to do. We gots to get rid of dem damn marihuana plants and them fuckin tuner curs that are stealin our jurbs!
This is nothing really that new or surprising. Cars that don't pass emissions and safety tests aren't street legal. And it's not like there's hundreds of agents on this, it's just an ongoing thing, one among dozens others.
[QUOTE=Xen Tricks;28411796]This is nothing really that new or surprising. Cars that don't pass emissions and safety tests aren't street legal. And it's not like there's hundreds of agents on this, it's just an ongoing thing, one among dozens others.[/QUOTE]
And it is more money that could be spent on necessities being wasted.
I'd trust Japanese and even Canadian safety standards over American any day of the week...
This makes sense?
I mean, yeah, it is a waste of resources, but you can't have cars driving around that aren't federally street legal, even if they are safe.
They're fuck shit ugly, though.
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;28412134]They're fuck shit ugly, though.[/QUOTE]
Just get back into your hybrid Chevy Civic and leave, please...
[img]http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/production-chevy-volt_021.jpg[/img]
This is a country where growing a plant(pot) is illegal. A PLANT!
What chance does a hot car have?
[QUOTE=Ridge;28412122]I'd trust Japanese and even Canadian safety standards over American any day of the week...[/QUOTE]
Oh god yes.
Which is why I don't have plans to buy any new American cars.
Sorry, but if someone legally buys something the feds have no business seizing it regardless of whatever test it failed, that's the problem of the owner now and their responsibility.
If they want to make the road safer they'll ban driving cars on it altogether.
This is bullshit. I love skylines.
[QUOTE=Rastadogg5;28412348]Oh god yes.
Which is why I don't have plans to buy any new American cars.[/QUOTE]
You do realize any nationality of car in the U.S. is pitted against American safety standards over their own?
Who are we trying to become, Australia?
[QUOTE=Ridge;28412211]Just get back into your hybrid Chevy Civic and leave, please...
[img_thumb]http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/production-chevy-volt_021.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/24x03mt.jpg[/IMG]
Nah, I prefer steel over aluminum.
[QUOTE=Ca5bah;28411842]And it is more money that could be spent on necessities being wasted.[/QUOTE]
I hate that argument cause you can extrapolate it to any level and argue there's something more important to be spent on. Why are cops pulling people over and not out caching murderers, etc. Mundane shit has to be done too, it's not a constant string of high profile stuff.
[QUOTE=ExplodingGuy;28412628][img_thumb]http://i54.tinypic.com/24x03mt.jpg[/img_thumb]
Nah, I prefer steel over aluminum.[/QUOTE]
shut up
Yeah that sounds like a pretty damn stupid reason to go sending homeland security on people.
does anyone know the website for reporting nissan skyline owners? I think my neighbor might be part of an illegal car-dealing ring :ohdear:
Those idiots, they should be hunting illegal immig-...no...I guess I don't really give a shit about that.
Yeah..well they should be stopping drugs coming over the borde-....no I don't really care about that either.
They should stop gun runn-...no that would be the coast guard and the ATF.
They should be checking container ships for- ...no that would be the TSA.
You know what? Fuck immigration and customs. They are a bloated piece of shit. Cut THEIR funding.
I don't understand how a (small) bunch of people owning and operating 10 year old 300hp japanese coupes pose a threat to homeland security
[QUOTE=Glitch360;28411368]Wow, are you fucking serious? They should be looking for illegal immigrants, not hunting down cars[/QUOTE]
But... but... those illegal immigrant cars are stealing all the jobs from all the legal cars.
[QUOTE=Captain Lawlrus;28413817]I don't understand how a (small) bunch of people owning and operating 10 year old 300hp japanese coupes pose a threat to homeland security[/QUOTE]
If you read the article you would see it was actually Immigration and Customs, which handle this exact kind of thing.
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