The Kaizo offices were raided on June 4, 2009. We will assume prior to ICE , DOT, EPA, and CARB raiding the office that there was some kind of investigation to even bring on the search warrants.
I had a call recently from someone that said the FBI was also in on this investigation. They had asked some information about some transactions. So now its FBI , ICE, DOT, EPA, CARB all on the chase of about 50 cars that were sold over the last three years. In that same amount of time, about 30,000,000 cars were sold new in the US. Way to use resources to chase after the dangerous car peddlers. The same guys that pay the taxes, and registration fees on the cars they put together here in the US.
Supraforums has an ongoing discussion on Kaizo here .
My latest post :
Actually, from what they said, Kaizo was recognized in over 30 states as a manufacturer. The problem is that they never were an RI or ICI, so for them to even be bringing in these cars/parts was a bit questionable. Not even sure how Silvia's were starting to show up as well. |
So if Kaizo was "recognized as a manufacturer" by a state, and states are the ones that deal with titling a car, then were they in the right ?
Importing auto parts is legal. Titling cars is legal. So is this not a state issue, not a federal issue now ? Up to the individual states, like marijuana laws in California ? Although Federally its not allowed, on a state level it is allowed with certain restrictions.
If Kaizo only sold rolling bodies less engine and transmission like say Rossion or Superperformance, then where are the differences ?
http://www.superformance.com/Faqs.aspx
" How complete is a Superformance roller?
Imagine a complete car – take out the engine and transmission (transaxle) and that is our replica. They are completely assembled and painted at our factory by experts that have produced over 2500 MKIII’s plus our other product lines. "
"How do I register my Superformance chassis?
Each state in the USA has different requirements and regulations with regards to the registration of your specially constructed vehicle. We highly recommend that you verify all requirements with your local DMV office.
SEMA has posted a list of state by state registration information : visit this link. SEMA SAN."
6 comments:
Don't worry about there not being any charges yet, justice will prevail! Those evil Skyline owners will be brought to justice for breaking the law! They should all go to jail!
The nerve of people! Thinking they can actually import a Japanese car with no drivetrain as parts and then put an engine in it! Bunch of sickos if you ask me!
Next time, buy American!!
True! If we don't put a stop to this, b4 you know it, people will be building cars in thier back yards!
dunno if is just the picture, but the hood on the red car looks really faded. i followed the red car's build on the old jspecconnect site and it looked like it matched perfectly back then. If that car ever gets released to its over seas owner, he's gonna be even more pissed!
Especially when he finds out parts have been jacked from under there LOL!!
The government employees must be having a blast with Daryl's smoke machine!
I'm am nowhere near as expert as Mr. Morris is when it comes to Skylines, but I can read. From what I have read here and the documents provided elsewhere, I have to say that it seems to me that Kaizo was setting themselves up for trouble with the EPA.
While its true that there is an NHTSA "loophole" for motor vehicle parts without the drivetrain, and the EPA has gone along with this for the most part, the EPA has been very clear in the past, and in their own documents that removing the drivetrain to ship a car through customs then adding the engine back once you clear customs is under their purview and is illegal. They consider that rolling chassis a complete car, not motor vehicle parts.
If it were that big a loophole, then all those scammers who buy the cars in Japan and ship it pieces wouldn't have been busted by the EPA and those people buying the Skylines wouldn't have lost their money and cars.
What worries me is that the ICE agent was asking a Kaizo owner if Daryl gave him a Japanese owners manual for the car. If he did, he's in serious legal jeopardy. People will lose more than just their cars and money, they could go to prison.
Giving someone an owners manual for the original Japanese car means that Kaizo/Daryl would have been fully aware that owners would reinstall the original NISSAN RB26 engine - which is kind of the point of spending all that money on a GT-R, right? The owners manual is for servicing the original engine for a Nissan car.
That would mean that Kaizo/Daryl were shipping Nissan Skylines with Kaizo VINs. The government is going after them to prove conspiracy to defraud the US Government! Prosecutors love low-hanging fruit and will pile on whatever charges they can and make their case. They are going after Kaizo because they made it too easy by being too visible and thinking they had outsmarted the government.
I hope I'm wrong. I hope Daryl comes out of this with his car - I love that R34 more than he does - and his reputation intact.
What I just read in this post complicates things a bit, about Kaizo being recognized as a manufacturer. If that's the case, then the governments job might be easier or more difficult. People putting Nissan's RB engine into a Nissan chassis with a Kaizo VIN could be very, very bad. On the other hand, being a manufacturer means that they are not an RI or ICI, as Sean has said, and could give them some wiggle room on the loophole question and the EPA's oversight.
If Kaizo says 'We're a manufacturer and we can't help it if people put Nissan engines into our chassis." Without the EPA violation on importing cars, conspiracy charges would be a whole lot harder to prove.
And to answer Sean's question about what makes Rossion different from Kaizo, Rossion is licensed to sell Noble's chassis here in the states. But they aren't putting Noble's engine or gearbox or anything in those chassis. Rossion is putting their own engine - which I'm kind of assuming passes EPA inspection - into the chassis and selling the car under their own badge.
Hope I'm shedding some light on this for all of you.
"If it were that big a loophole, then all those scammers who buy the cars in Japan and ship it pieces wouldn't have been busted by the EPA and those people buying the Skylines wouldn't have lost their money and cars."
what are you fucking talkin about? This has never or VERY RARELY happened if ever. Work for the EPA much? or the "FBI". Or maybe you just post on NICO?
Or maybe the CIA.
"Giving someone an owners manual for the original Japanese car means that Kaizo/Daryl would have been fully aware that owners would reinstall the original NISSAN RB26 engine - which is kind of the point of spending all that money on a GT-R, right? The owners manual is for servicing the original engine for a Nissan car."
Let a REAL lawyer in these matters handle this one, Mr. Spy.
Right, I must be a federal employee or a troll poster from some other Web site. Being a spy is the only rational explanation for my long-winded comments.
Truth is I'm just a guy who doesn't post anywhere who loves Nissan Skylines above all other cars who happened to find this blog not too long ago. Visit my Myspace page and you'll find that the only things I care about are drifting, The Stig and porn stars.
And for God's sake, chill out. I posted a comment on a blog. I didn't file an amicus brief on behalf of the feds or anything.
I admitted at the start of my comment that Sean is way more of an authority on legalizing and importing GT-Rs. If there is fault in my logic or in my reading of the rules and regulations in all of this, I welcome the correction. But there is no needy to get all shouty and call people "Mr. Spy," especially when my name is quite clearly next to my comment. That just makes you a giant douche nozzle.
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