Feds Seize Illegal Nissan Skyline GT-Rs In Cali [Illegal Imports]
 

10-01-2009 08:30 AM

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...ine_Seized.jpgAfter warning letters were sent to owners 60 days ago (below), teams of Kevlar-armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are seizing grey market Nissan Skyline GT-Rs imported by Kaizo according to GTR USA Blog. Below, why it happened.

Last August the letter below was sent from the Southern California United States Attorney's office stating that "the referenced Nissan Skyline automobile... is not in compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation requirements." The letter goes on to state that the vehicles can't be operated and the feds are coming for them within 60 days. They weren't lying.

According to GTR USA, two R34s and an R32 have already been seized and, if the letter above is an indication, an R33 is on the list.

Importing vehicles without the appropriate credentialing from the appropriate U.S. agencies almost always ends up with cars being seized by the government, especially Skylines, and people getting fined or jail time. In this case, the cars were imported by Kaizo under a special exemption for automotive parts. They brought over the shells and drivetrains separately and then reassembled them. They were then, apparently, registered under the law as SB 100, which is for kit/show cars. This exemption allows vehicles not driven frequently to be registered without smog checks.

We have a feeling these cars are being driven frequently.

The U.S. Attorney ended his letter "Very Truly Yours" but it looks like those Nissans are now "Very Truly His."

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...kyline_DOJ.jpg

[Document Credit: GTR USA Blog, GTR USA Blog]



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Good,

Let them go and buy a MKIV supra...R34 Are heavy s hell and under powered on stock RB26CRAPCRAP. And moding these Small lag producing engine will cost you and arm and a leg and your youngest kid,

Go MKIV Supra :snoop:

WTF??
What does a MKIV have anything to do with this article? the point in this is that even if you had a JDM MKIV supra and it was imported properly you wouldnt be able to keep it either.
shut your pie hole.
with all your 2JZCRAPCRAP, HAHA yeah cuz supra parts are sooo much cheaper.

who cares, really. its a skyline. Big woop. I see 5 a day.

Fuckin government. Don't they have anything better to do, like fix the massively fucked up California budget? I'm sure these seizures are costing taxpayers money.

Why would the feds care about California's State budget?

Customs under Homeland Security has plenty of money post Sept. 11th to protect us from illegal imports. Everybody crys about protecting our borders...

Waiting on the Kaizo fanboys to chime in. Letters aren't so fake now huh?

Whoops, misread the letterhead. In either case, still stupid of them to waste resources on this.

Your in Canada and we don't see R34's or S15's which are :wackit:

Special Agent Jeffery Eastman> your GTR sneakiness..




:rofl::rofl:

You also live in Canada

Well that's a bust I know a few people with skylines locally who are going to be sad =/

damn that sucks, i know a couple guys with skylines that drive them on the streets hope theirs doesn't get seized.

these guys are getting paid pretty good to hunt down all teh skylines.. id say a few hundred thousand probably being invested in this hunt.. =(

I'd probably cry myself to sleep for the next few years.

They are going after Kaizo cars...basically, they had a warrant and seized Kaizo's computers and records, which they are now using to track all these cars. So unless you went thru Kaizo to get your car into the country, you should still be good for the mean time. Shitty part is, I know a couple military folks who went thru them who are about to get fucked royally.

dammit. always in cali!

damn, that sucks.

just another reason for you guys to leave cali...

If I had a Kaizo skyline and I got word of this, I'd spend a day pulling the engine, gutting the interior, and putting it up on jacks in my garage. That way when they came, what can they do? I was building a race car.

^^^^ most agreed with this above statement

fk CA and the gov't

Better be ready for more anal reamings from the governments "feeling" probe.

Just a noob ? is it just the Kaizo or Motorex and others as well...just wondering cuz...if they go after one they'll go after all of them. no?

i believe motorex was done years ago they got shut down.

OH so does that mean there wont be anymore LEGAL skylines?? Just wondering cuz this sucks azz...

True. Tons of shady stuff there. But didn't they actually go through the process of having their converted R33's crash tested?

The cars that were at the shop were seized by the gov. if I remember correctly.

How ever most of the cars that had already been sold got grandfathered in because the Dot/Epa had already deemed them legal.

Wont make a difference, these are the Feds going after the Kaizo cars. People in TX, CA, NV, NM, NC, SC, WA and FL has been hit up. They searched and seized all computers from Kaizo that had a list of all their clients. Needless to say, they have a fucking shopping list of cars to go after.

Like I stated above, they are going by the list they obtained from Kaizo...so if you have a Skyline and you didnt go thru Kaizo, you are kinda safe for now. But it wouldnt take much for them to go thru every states DMV and search up Skylines and JDM vins listed to go after you.

As far as Motorex, all Motorex cars were grandfathered in. Basically if you have your car already and you went thru Motorex and they actually went thru all the process of making it legal...its legal to have in the states.

Kaizo is getting hit up because they imported the cars as Chassis only. Feds are not playing dumb, they know that these cars were brought in, reassembled and driven on the roads with illegal engines. Guess thats what got their panties in a bunch. I bet if you have an R34 and you stuffed an LSx in there, you'd be golden.

I was wondering how Paul Walker got to choose 3 Skyline's from the secret government computer in "Fast and Furious," - guess they were Kaizo cars...

shut up what does supras have to do with the article...


funny there no point of doing this im sure they will end up on a fed auction somewhere and some rich fucker going to buy it. still ends up in the US. fucking wasting my tax dollars, how about cutting us a break here in CA

Actually, they will get crushed...

hearing that makes me want to cry, so on that note.. i will cry myself to sleep

... in fact, they were.

a piece of me just died inside.

why isn't customs spending this money to remove all the illegal and undocumented mexicans here in california, espsecially the ones here in los angeles?

Because mexicans arent the only ones that are illegal. Aliens stand for any illegals. way to generalize buddy:spank::fawkd:

becasue they rather fuck people over and how do they know whos legal or not im retty sure you seen born in east l.a what the fuck are we all gonna have to carry our fucken passport so we wont get deported ? racist fuck

Cause it's not Customs job?

JDM cash for clunkers, except fo free :cry:

fuking EPA wasting more of the taxpayers money.......there should just be fees according to the emmisions, like England....... gov. makes money instead of wasting it....

Bingo, i mean come on, money in the bag with that

californian's getting fucked in the ass again....

are the owner going to get compesated

LOL hell no.

Only if they sell the car overseas before the govt. get's it. Did you read the thread?

yay for california car nazi laws..and the gov having some free time and money to spend

These are federal laws... :ughd:

Ide just say mine was stolen to avoid getting it taken away or just say you are using ti for a track car only.. there no rules on that stuff..just cant street drive them anymore really ..sucks i guess. how can they take them away for no reason?

i read an article about this in import tuner or one of those mags- the government is going to get thier money, bet on that

They were brought into the country under false pretenses. You can't keep it. If you brought it in properly as a track or show car you can use it as such. There ARE rules. Vehicle Importation Regulations

every one is hatin on the skiline but the fact of the matter is the skyline is a beast and its sexy as heel they should let them come into the states "its a car" cheese and rice like we got lambo's and all this other shit legal here and like wtf reaaly

way to be an idiot.. oh and your vagina is leaking :cry:

if you want a skyline so badly, just move to Canada! Tune your skyline, smoke some dank canadian grass, and go do your best smokey nagata impression on the freeway! Problem sloved....

otherwise, bust out your sex grease and keep jerkin'! Or go about importing one correctly and spend the 80-90 large on a 10-16 year old car.

Dustin Westberry of Largo Fl,was doing the titles for Kaizo untill the state stoped him from doing it.He still took $ from kaizo for titles and didnt title anything,so he robbed from kaizo.The kaizo cars in cali that got seized were not titled and reg in cali,they were done in other states.the only way they could of find those cars was for someone to tell them where they were.so the one who ratted was Dustin Westberry .Dustan had copies of all the kaizo titles he did and he knew where the kaizo cars were.When DOT and customs spoke with Dustin months before the kaizo raid,he gave them all the copies and locations.

I have to agree, tear the car down and rebuild it as a weekend car, otherwise you have no choice but to hand it over. There's so much red tape anymore with cars and importation regulations there's just no point anymore.

Part of me feels like our government is stripping people of these vehicles because they weren't built stateside. they feel like our "Local" manufacturers are suffering and can't give cars away. i.e. -Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge and so on.

I understand these cars were illegally imported and those incharge should be disciplined for their actions, But I believe our government has more important things to be concerned with then someone driving a vehicle which was illegally imported. It's alot like attacking a man for J-walking when theirs a guy down the street stealing a neighbors T.V. Sad day when enthusiasts can't enjoy the cars of their dreams simply because of a few individuals in GOV who can't find something better to do with their lives.:bigok:

How is suggesting that we maintain an actual border for this country a racist comment. Race has nothing to do with it

so sad, the US gets jipped on everything. We need to learn from europeans.

I think that the massive amounts of money spent on this investigation and man power to complete this task would have been more beneficial if it was spent on anti-terrorism security or educational purposes for our children. There are so many schools that could have used this money on buying new books, or learning curriculum material! They should have used this money to fund more border patrol agents to keep drugs out of the reach of children. Or even spending it to increase security in schools to keep children safe from that one kid who was not liked enough and decides to come to school with a gun. But instead, their wasting money by removing cars just cause they dont pass standards of American government. When was the last time that a skyline hijacked an airplane and crashed it into two major buildings? When was the last time that a Skyline walked into a school and killed 20 children? When was the last time a skyline set off a roadside bomb? This is a complete waste of money!

i hear you man

+1 bro I feel you

think about it,every timethey go and seize a car from someone out side of the port.the $ spent for investigation,money spend for the man power,getting the agents out to the location and bring the impoud truck in,warrents,paperwork,etc...then its transported to a customs warehouse,they inventory it,post it on there website for auction.and they make it that the car has to be exported out of the country.so it will sell for pennies on teh dollar.for what that car sold for at auction.doesnt even cover the cost of gettimg the impound truck to go get the car.so how many tens of thousands of dollars were spent to take someones car.when that $ could of gone to something that can benifit the american people.i hate this country!!

What? If you guys really "feel" that way. When the last time you guys went out and voted? When was the last time you took a active step in voicing your opinion? When was the last time you wrote your congressman or senator? You guys do realize they need public opinion to survive in any office they are running, so even if they personally don't agree with your voice, they are still basically required to give you attention.

Secondly, this money that is for the FEDs is pipelined and locked within a budget. These rules are in place to keep money from being transferred, untracked, and gives a specific budget justification.

For example. Lets say the FBI needs a average of $10 per year to operate. But because of the tight budget and fighting with other government organizations to get the most amount of money in the same pot which everyone feeds off of, the FBI must come up with sort of justification why it needs $10 for a up and coming year which no one can predict the future. Sometimes with how things are so unpredictable a entire organization, such as the FBI, only used $7 out of the entire year. So that extra $3 is basically locked and MUST be spent before the end of the fiscal year. This money can't go to other notable things because it's completely unethical. In short it sounds awesome to donate that money to find the cure for AIDS or something like buying school books, but in reality and dealing with any kind of law, any government organization giving money away is a complete waste as you can simply say, "why did we budget you $10 for the entire year in the first place?"

It's retarded but that's how the system fundamentally works for a government to move ahead in the fiscal year. I only know of this because I helped do some budgeting for my job in the Air Force and as much as it upset me at first to waste money, the more I looked into the more it makes sense. Whenever we hit the end of the fiscal year in Vehicle Maintenance and we had left over spare cash we would splurge on completely useless shit. Random $5000 tools that look awesome on paper and get absolutely zero action in the shop? We would have to spend our budget or the next year we get even less money to do our jobs as the number crunchers sit back and think "well they did need $10 last year, so lets just give them $5 this year."

Hopefully all that rambling makes sense. But seriously, if this bothers any of you, bitching about it on the internet, especially Zilvia really really really really accomplishes alot. Take 10 minutes out of your day and write your representing congressman, email the media, take proactive steps. The FBI is paid by people like you, me, and even the foreign assholes who come into the US and buy a Snickers bar. These guys have bosses, and just so be it thanks to democracy these bosses represent you.

well put, and thanks for the info. I think this was enough to get me motivated to atleast write some letters/emails and see where it gets me.

they are paul's cars, i have seen them personally.

Well said (entire post)

It's tough for people to understand how federally based budgets work, but (have done similar work as you did with the miltiary), it must be spent...as if it's not, it's essentially 'thrown away'...in the grand scheme, it's better to buy stuff you may not need, than just make XXX dollar vanish into nothingness.

:stupid:
YOU FAILLLL!!!!
GET OFF THIS THREAD!
2JZCRAPPP isnt shit. THEY CALL THE SKYLINE GODZILLA FOR A REASON. The same reason why Supra didnt get it was because the Skyline outperformed it in everyyyy way. Heavy? the Supra weights the same. Underpowered? Yea Nissan underpowered it BUT only on paper because of the 1990's Gentlement aggrement not to exceed 280hp. But Skyline produce 300-320hp STOCK.

I really hope the Skyline owners find a way to keep it. I feel bad for the fellow skyline owners who got their cars seized. Luck to ya!

man if I got a letter like that saying they were gonna take my skyline I'd hide it and say I crashed it and it got burned to the ground...maybe give them a crushed, torched POS car and tell them it was my old skyline

There is a good article on this in Nissan Sport magazine.

...a little update...
 

Another Skyline Owner Targeted

Time to "lie low", guys. Or better yet, get involved.

who cares



I am not a rich douche bag. if you bought and illegal car you should be prepared to face the music.

if you were stupid enough to pay 20-30k on a grey market car then whatever happens, happens

I could see them holding the vehicles until they can be disposed of legaly (ie sold), but to crush them is just retarded. It doesn't make sense. They could in theory make some of the money back by allowing the owners to dispose of them and then assessing a fee of some kind.

As said above. The more you hold your opinion back and chuckle about what your government agencies have recently done without doing something yourself, the worse it will get. Get active son. This is why states like California and NJ have lost the majority of its firearms rights.

Well-said, Shwag.

What the previous poster doesn't comprehend is this: Next thing is, they'll be taking away your right to drive a 20-year old USDM car. Or prohibiting any modifications.

Try and pay attention. No one said anything about anyone being "rich" or a douchebag. I suppose you'd think that of me if you saw my garage, and I can assure you that I am neither.

They can't be legally sold. Usually you get an opportunity to export it. But, it can't stay in the US legally. Crushing is the most efficient and cost effective.

Do you want them to give the drug dealers back their drugs after they have been seized?

In the grand scheme of things, I think it's an overwhelming waste of Uncle Sam's dollar....but at the same moment I do understand 100% that it is not legal.

who cares about this shit, its ancient history



for one, these cars can always be imported as track only cars... right? RIGHT. because they dont need to meet shits worth of standards, OBD-2? more like OBD-0... crash bars, etc etc.. its all pointless if its for track, which is what it should be.


people go through all this trouble to have a fucking ancient dated ass old car. even the headlights on that r33 make me puke, the shitty RHD halogen ones... which i might add, are completely unsafe and unfit for street use much like the s13 silvia lights all you fucktards are running. if you want to dance, you gotta pay the piper. go through all the fucking hoops to make these cars safe to use on the street. unless you're delivering mail, theres no point to having a RHD car in a country where LHD are the standard. theres no cool factor about it, there have been countless tests showing that there are safety risks involved with driving on the right hand side in this country.


these cars are not rare and not special, they're as universal as the fucking corvette in the States. leave it to the playstation generation to get all emo over a shitty old sportscar. want a gtr? buy a new one. they suck anyway.

LOL you guys are hilarious. This should not be on the priority list of the government, they are singling out such a very small minority which has no negative effect on society.

so sad.

i voted.

nothing changed.

actually shit only got worse.

good luck in life...

Having driven a GTiR Pulsar around (RHD) a few years back, I'll be the first to admit how SHITTY is is driving one. Vantage points are all wacky, blindspots become SUPER pronounced and in general it's a bigger PITA than it's worth. Sure you can 'drive around it' but I'd rather not need to 'deal with stupid shit' on my fun car.


Now now, they are quite fun on track. Especially because you can actually listen to the radio and have the heated seats on. :mepoke:

man, people are so angry in this thread...i say just wait how ever many years we still have to wait, till they can be imported legally...then get one :)

or like the man said...track car :)

or stop putting the skyline on its silver platter. It's just another fucking car, rb's can be had so easily now and the technology behind suspension works and such make it so that you can pretty much build a 240sx to preform just as well as a skyline for fractions of the cost.

The only reason you guys care so much is cause of fanboy status, a car is a car unless you are actually into tracking them and making good use out of the car.

And, to my knowledge, you get 90 days or something like that to sell the car and have proof of deportation and you get fined if Customs catches it before being registered.

oh, and the seats suck too...


i know, i have a pair for sale

Bull shit I meet 2 guys with r32 gtr and a guy with a s13 silvia and another with a s15 Silvia and they have legally registered in California Blue tagged and everything

Naaaaaaah. You find me a car that quick and that comfy for that price and I'll be sold ;) I'm a vette guy, but be damned they are not nearly as comfy. It's like I can put a snapple in the middle and never even upset it!


I wish I cound find the pic of 4 of us in the GTR at NJMP LOL We were having a full blown conversation in that big pig and never realized we were still getting point bys hahahaha.

E39 M5 with a blower? :keke:

i know this is kinda off topic but has anyone heard or done deals with japan partner ltd i've been looking at there s15's and there pretty decent price for the car+documents+ship .they also ship to Cali port long beach and they offer dismantling services so u can put it back together ur self. my question is do u think it can be registered as a kit car if u put it together ur self?

they also have other cars and skylines

this is what i'm looking into s15 spec S for 5k flat includes car,documents,shipping

http://www.japan-partner.com/Picture...1/picture.htmlhttp://www.japan-partner.com/images/...b74e9ef58c.jpg


http://www.japan-partner.com/company-profile.php
http://www.japan-partner.com/new_images/pic_2.jpg


http://www.japan-partner.com/Picture...1/picture.html

In a nutshell no! You cannot register these cars as kit cars that is what kaizo( or however it was spelled) was doing down in Orange county and the Goverment started confiscating peoples cars after raiding them.

Unless you are going to use the car strictly for off road i.e. track only forget it.

And if it were that cheap and easy, don't you think more people would be going that route? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

go to the website and see for ur self... free membership

I don't have to go look at the website to tell you that if they are selling an S15 for 5k shipped that something isn't right with the picture. I sure you can find a website selling pink unicorns, but that doesn't mean that they are actually going to show up at your door.

I wish it was my job to go take people's Skylines, sounds pretty cool to me. But really, shut the fuck up unless you own a Skyline, I've literally heard enough about the god damn car because its really not that sick. Sure its a treat to see them eventually but do I have to molest the owner with questions about it because Im such a fanboy? Hell no. Shit, pretty much the only reason people buy them is for the attention they get from all the SNIP that act like their lives are going to be different if the few people that own these illegal Skylines can't drive them anymore...