Hiroaki of Motorex...jailed on $1,000,000 bail!

[usdm180sx]

Didn't see this posted here, so here goes: Motorex owner jailed, R32 and R34 legalization rescinded

Monday, March 13, 2006

According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the owner of Motorex, Nanahoshi Hiroaki, 33, was arrested Thursday and booked into the L.A. County Jail. He is being held on $1 Million bail.

Booking Details

Hiroaki's initial appearance is scheduled for Wednesday of this week.

Hiroaki and Motorex came to the recognition of Nissan enthusiasts in the US as they became the only Registered Importer legally authorized to legalize Skylines for US use. As Motorex was able to comply with stringent US crash-testing requirements, they petitioned the courts to protect their interest in the Skyline market by "locking out" other would-be importers from the list of necessary modifications.

Not only did this give Motorex a corner on the market for legal Skylines, it also allowed them to command a premium price for each legalized car. Motorex-prepped Skylines can fetch upwards of $50,000. While making loads of money, Motorex also made loads of enemies.

According to sources, the lease to the Motorex facility has been overdue for months, and is now locked out by the landlord.

The US Department of Transportation has offically rescinded importation eligibility for both the R32 and R34 Skylines, only 96-98 R33 Skylines are still eligible to be imported.

Here's the link to his booking information:

http://app4.lasd.org/iic/details.cfm?qwert=%27%2E2%24%5ES%3F%3FDQ%40%20%20% 0A

Another heads up: His r34 is sitting at dyno extreme in stanton up the street from autobacs.

Motorex spent a grip of money legalizing the r33 skyline. When they realized how much they spent they started cutting corners when trying to legalize the r32 and r34 skylines by forging paperwork.

Hiroaki took money from people intended for purchasing r32 and r34 Skylines even though they weren't legalized and spent it.

[SimpleSexy180]

damn. that sucks.

[SoSideways]

Good.

That guy started off as a good guy, but ended up a crook.

Guess money went to his head.

[S14DB]

It says he was arrested for Attempted Extortion.

[DRIFTING_SIL_EIGHTY]

dang my friend just told me about that. sux to be him.

[exitspeed]

Dang o they runied it for everyone else basically. What a jack ass...

[ranisron]

greedy businessman = good to get arrested for.

[wickdmarz]

Wow there's a good lesson for business morales...

[Skillvia]

nice that means it will be easier to find information on importing our own skylines.

[AllenRPS13]

he just asks for it...

[Nismo180]

Now that they've paved the way I'm sure one of the other importers will step up and get the R32 stuff all run through properly so I can someday buy my dream car. RIGHT?

[OptionZero]

No. Federal gov't is making it even harder to get the R-chassis into the states legally.

If you want a GT-R, get a second job and buy the V35.

[EchoOfSilence]

oh HELL fucking no

that bastard. why leave the ugliest model legal.
I'm moving to canada.

[nistech]

It says he was arrested for Attempted Extortion.
does anyone know what exactly did he do?

[revat619]

No. Federal gov't is making it even harder to get the R-chassis into the states legally.

If you want a GT-R, get a second job and buy the V35.

On the contrary, its quite easy to get them here. The process of getting the car here (or any jdm car for that matter) is really simple. Its making it street legal thats the problem. Cars that were also sold here and the motor is the same (ie. supra, mr2, FC, FD, etc.) are A LOT easier to register and be deemed street legal. But yeah, getting a skyline is easy, having it registered as a street legal car is HARD.

[BigVinnie]

Finally jailed though... He has been under investigation for the last year. I can't believe he was trying to get away with approved VINS for the R32 and R34 by doctoring papers. You would have to think that customs and the FEDS were breathing down his neck the minute he legalized the R33.....

[91CRXsiR]

[ pays to read ] jail sucks... enjoy the balogney sandwiches buddy...

[Ricks15]

Thats sucks I allways thought that place was legit but I guess not.

[willlangford]

yay! im so glad that motherfucker got what he had comming to him. he just fucked it up for everyone that wants a skyline tho. but at least you can still get r33's into the us. i gotta find out what changes need to be made tho for getting them street legal. i was at a local shop and talking to a guy that used to have a r33, and another guy that had a r32 from another scam company ..he said the reason the r32 couldnt be legalized in the us was because it didnt have airbags stock...and thats one of the things i guess that motorex cut the corners on. i dont know what corners were cut on the r34. but the r33 was the ONLY skyline ever crash tested..no r32s or r34s were ever crash tested and thats why they had problems getting them legalized plus the government didnt even know there were 3 models of skylines. quite impressive if you ask me.

this might make a few people drool...pictures of skyline at gray car and motorex that are in holding because of them fucking up.

http://www.panwestaviation.com/etc/users/aaron/skylinehell/

enjoy the info..

[waynehead05]

sucks... if i ever had the chance i wanted an R32 GTR. looks like it'll never happen now.

[khmerguy618]

its ok, i like the r33 better anyways, i won't ever be able to afford one but ehhhhhh. whatever. sucks they faked up it up for everyone.

[kazuo]

MotoRex was legit... assuming they were legalizing an R33.. and assuming they actually did the necessary modifications.

There's a wealth of information regarding what went down on FA.

Cliff notes: R32 and R34 eligibility has been rescinded, R33 model year 1996-1998 is still ok.

Any cars legalized before this month can stay as-is, as far as anyone knows, as the Feds have made no statements to the contrary.

Of course, it is basically impossible to make a R33 legal now as well, since 1996+ = ODBII, and, well, last I checked, they dont have ODBII systems. :/

[reccakun08]

just when i was going to buy a r34 from them... j/k

[willlangford]

well there has to be a way to find a loophole...i gotta do some googling to find out what else has to be changes to make them street legal. it also depends too on if the officer inspecting the car wants to ok it or not. our shop car was a s14 silvia, all the lights were replaced to dot standards, and it was a shell and built as a kit car. but because the officer didnt like the guy who braught it into the country they denided it..the bastards now the rhd shell just sits, pisses me off everythime i walk past the damn thing.

[CrimsonMX5]

Mike Jwn3d!!!!!

[OptionZero]

On the contrary, its quite easy to get them here. The process of getting the car here (or any jdm car for that matter) is really simple. Its making it street legal thats the problem. Cars that were also sold here and the motor is the same (ie. supra, mr2, FC, FD, etc.) are A LOT easier to register and be deemed street legal. But yeah, getting a skyline is easy, having it registered as a street legal car is HARD.

That's why i said "legal." Getting a chassis here was never a problem, being able to drive it without DOT and/or customs on your ass was and will be the challenge.

[ZK]

MotoRex was legit... assuming they were legalizing an R33.. and assuming they actually did the necessary modifications.

There's a wealth of information regarding what went down on FA.

Cliff notes: R32 and R34 eligibility has been rescinded, R33 model year 1996-1998 is still ok.

Any cars legalized before this month can stay as-is, as far as anyone knows, as the Feds have made no statements to the contrary.

Of course, it is basically impossible to make a R33 legal now as well, since 1996+ = ODBII, and, well, last I checked, they dont have ODBII systems. :/

They can legalized the 1995 R33 Skylines. The process to get one though would probably be hell.

Skyline America has been bringing over Skylines as well.
http://www.skylineamerica.net

[willlangford]

There arent ODBII systems in any skyline...i dont know the year that that system was required..but basically makes it impossible to register a skyline. aka i think possibly skylines in america are close to an end...unless someone wants to crash test r32s and r34s..

skylinesofamerica...the only way to really know if they can get skylines would be get a vin number from them and run it...but their email is to a hotmail..and phone to a cell phone..sounds fishy...that and they show r34's, r32's, s14 silvia's, and s15's...none of those can be legalized...makes ya wonder...

[ericherm1]

Sure glad I didn't have them convert my R32:fawk:

[AFSil80]

Sure glad I didn't have them convert my R32:fawk:

No kidding. Not to mention they tried to extort (sp?) more $$ than what they originally quoted for you.

[willlangford]

ya i love how they messed it up....its making it a bitch for me to find someone that can get me a r33 for race use only...

[turknjd]

no law breakers here huh?

[kazuo]

They can legalized the 1995 R33 Skylines. The process to get one though would probably be hell.

Incorrect.

Read the .pdf on the NHTSA's ruling.

1995 R33 cannot be legalized since it does not have a passenger side airbag standard.

While the '95 did have one as an option, it is not standard, and thus they ruled that it is ineligible. It is standard from '96 on, which is why only '96-'98 is legal, and they will require ODBII systems.

Again, in short -- no more legal Skylines.

[topsecretgold]

Did the government repo the skylines that were supposably "legal" but were forged legal paperwork? And if so are those people just out of luck or do they have any recourse.

[infinitexsound]

what do u think? u think theyre gonna be able to drive a illegal car on the road? and if the car is taken away.... do u think that their money is returned...?
money that motorex doesnt have,...... i think not..... theres no win in this situation...except the Gov.

[willlangford]

i think the cars that were already legalized can stay..just no more.

does anyone know how to add a odbII system to a car?

[kazuo]

i think the cars that were already legalized can stay..just no more.

Correct. Refer to the .pdf issued by the Feds.

does anyone know how to add a odbII system to a car?

Lots of money and understanding of the ODBII system.

[oridostyle]

oh wells ill just wait for R35:rofl:

[bboyt3nsk]

Im glad Evolution Imports is still around!

[project180sx]

man that hecka sucks no more R32s :(

[S14DB]

Im glad Evolution Imports is still around!
Not for long... ;)

[willlangford]

Not for long... ;)

expand on that plz...

[bboyt3nsk]

Yes, please explain

That place has to do with one 1 of 2 of my realistic long term goals Ive set!lol :rant:

[SilviaNinja240]

Skylines are pretty old cars, relatively. However 34s are still somewhat new-ish I'd say, but I think it would be probably better to invest in a new car than buy a Skyline in America (however, if the skyline prices in America reflected similar prices to the rest of the world, then go for it) I just think 30K for a R32 GTR is craaazy (I think that's what motorex was selling em for), even if I was garenteed that its one billion kachillion gazillion percent legal, I still think its too much.

[m072514]

i dunno... depending on the condition of a 100% legal R32 GT-R... for $30k might be worth it. but it would have to be HELLA clean!

[trsilvias13]

30k for a gtr is so worth it . It like buying an old NSX or and old Porsche. CLassic super cars.

[sciamop]

30k for a gtr is so worth it . It like buying an old NSX or and old Porsche. CLassic super cars.

No, it's not.

Prices for the NSX and 911 reflect true market value whether you are in Tokyo, Cleveland or Berlin. Local markets will have price fluctuations but not 100 percent markups over another...

$30K R32 is about $15K too much.

At the inflated price, you can buy a new car that 1) outperforms the R32 2) is also certified JDM tite and 3) comes with a warranty: Lancer Evolution (or, less so, the Impreza STI).

Another reason not to overpay for an R32 is that our neighbors to the north are now importing them for close-to-market value -- Get a visa and a post office box in Toronto, it'll be a couple years before they (US Feds, Canadian govt, etc) actually catch up with you.

I'm surprised that there aren't Canadian companies that are facilitating this sort of thing right now...

Finally, there is a rolling 25 year import law in the US. You'll be able to legally import a 1989 R32 GTR in 2014! Heck, that's right around the corner! In the meantime, import an early 80s JDM car: Celica XX, City, March, Century, Skyline, Cosmo etc.

On Topic: The Motorex thing is a shame. Naturally, the goal in business is to make a shitload of money.

However...

I wonder had they foregone that goal and fostered a large community of Skyline owners if it would have worked out differently: the gov't tends to listen to large groups of people more than tiny ones.

[SilviaNinja240]

^^^
truth (I didn't know about the 25 year import law though, interesting)

[1qwk1]

He got arrested and has 5 charges against him:

ATTEMPTED EXTORTION
ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPING
ASSAULT W DEADLY WEAPON/INSTR
ASSAULT W/STUN GUN OR TASER
THREATENING A WITNESS

http://app4.lasd.org/iic/details.cfm?qwert=%27%2E2%24%5ES%3F%3FDQ%40%20%20% 0A

http://www.thenittygrittyfiles.org/hirofiles

[Ricks15]

I dont know if this is BS but are people stealing things out of the motrex facility.

[willlangford]

I dont know if this is BS but are people stealing things out of the motrex facility.

from what i herd no, the only ppl able to get stuff outta the motorex warehouse (and gray car) are ppl with a court order to get the car they paid for.

[crazyikimasho]

I dont know if this is BS but are people stealing things out of the motrex facility.

Parts and cars were stolen:
http://forums.freshalloy.com/showthread.php?t=147776&page=2

[blackflag_Rms13]

Oh snaps... good thing a couple of the cars were recovered... '

[Ghost Dancer]

On the contrary, its quite easy to get them here. The process of getting the car here (or any jdm car for that matter) is really simple. Its making it street legal thats the problem. Cars that were also sold here and the motor is the same (ie. supra, mr2, FC, FD, etc.) are A LOT easier to register and be deemed street legal. But yeah, getting a skyline is easy, having it registered as a street legal car is HARD.

By next year it's not going to be easy to even just get them here. The days of bringing Skylines in as parts are about to be gone. I used to work as a Customs Broker and still have plenty of friends in Customs and the word on the street is the Skyline is going to be black balled. Even if you rip every panel off, pull the motor, the suspension, etc.. if it looks anything like a Skyline it's not getting through.

[B-spec]

didnt he try and kidnapp a customer?