Stupid Feds:

Yahoo!

How about some reform of the import laws so people can actually get the vehicles they want legally?

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

The first 2 paragraphs say a lot.

"In years past, this game's biggest target were sports cars like the Nissan Skyline, the predecessor to the GT-R. Under federal rules, any car newer than 25 years old must meet the U.S. standards from its year of birth — or it's contraband.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, dozens of importers have tried to flout those rules in recent months — so much so that the agency held a public crushing of a Land Rover Defender earlier this month to emphasize its crackdown."

This video has been spreading around the internet lately for the reason. It was filmed professionally, it was released to a wide array of sights and advertised on purpose. Basically the customs guys did such a good job at banning ALL Nissan Skyline imports that the had nothing to do so they had to target something new.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Stupid guy who altered vins.


That's illegal... All the time. Stupid Feds catching people breaking the law.


I agree the import laws are irritating but altering vins is a crime regardless of how you attempt to spin it.

I'll have to agree with this. There are plenty of early 80's Defenders that can be shipped over right now and restored for a price that is lower then bringing over a much newer unit.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Those evil evil skylines!



DESTROY IT IN THE NAME OF FREEDOM! And Gran Turismo....

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Yes, stupid unelected pigs in DC banning things that should be totally legal. Personally, I hope that there's a gov't shutdown in October, and that 75% of the unelected parasites at NHTSA get fired without pension. Bonus points if some of them stay fired and end up jumping under a Metro train when they're broke and bankrupt.

So evil.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

Ironically we actually have Mercedes to thank for the closing of the Grey market imports (Look it up )


Here is the Skyline story

'MotoRex and the North American Skyline Fiasco" - the Skyline GT-R wiki

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

Sweet Ciabatta bread -- I feel unsafe just being on this thread. Please remove that picture or I will report your post for an infraction.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Just need to buy some congressman and make them legal...like they did for the 959.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Will they be coming next to seize my grey-market Mercedes?!

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DrDKW

Probably not.

Outside of Gwagens there were probably only a handful of Mercedes euro imports from 1988 till today. MBUSA finally wised up after the whole debacle and started to offer proper engines in their cars after the grey market gap had closed.

The agents in question are way more concerned with new imports then cars that are already here.


I think the saddest part about the Skyline story is that it would have been a legitimate business had the idiot in charge, not been in charge.

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."