80 series diesel in California?

[Landpimp]

the guy(owns a cop supply shop) I get my gun goodies from bought a used Mercedes from the local Lexus dealer, it was 80K and VERY special and VERY fast. Well it turns out it was a non US gray market car, brought in the US by a diplomat, then sold to a guy in Florida that buys stuff like this(knowing its not suppose to stay in the US) then sold to ,then Lexus sold it as being brought thru a US RI and it was up to snuff.........well it wasn't.

Now the governement wants it GONE from the US. Also seems this LExus dealer knew it was not suppose to be here but sold it anyway and has pulled this before. Lexus dealer will be paying(10K+) for the work to be done to make it US legal......if not they are libel for 3x the damage, which would be 80K x3........

 

[Landpimp]

yes but it must meet US requirments.

diplomatts can bring in whatever they want but must take it home with them. Forigners can bring it non US cars for a certain period of time.......but it must go home with them.

Something to note about getting foreign vehicles into the US.

I've been told in the past -- and it seems to be true based on what I've seen people do is this --

If you live outside the US and return to the US, you can bring 1 personal vehicle back with you. I don't know how long you have to live outside the country to be eligible; i.e. I don't think you can vacation for a month then bring back an 80.

I have a number of friends who have brought personal vehicles into the US from other countries without problems. This may be dependent on safety devices (DOT stuff, airbags, etc.).

Tying this into Drexx's explanation of the history of his rig, the Czech guy most likely brought his personal vehicle to the US.

 

[crushers]

i thought it was a year max and then it had to be gone...
just curious...

 

[Landpimp]

yeah that rings a bell. guess the guy in florida advertises someplace that he will buy the stuff so they don't have to take it home.......but of course thats not quite legal as my freind has found out

i thought it was a year max and then it had to be gone...
just curious...

 

[madams557]

When I lived in Germany, some of the other U.S. citizens there would pick up some very nice Beemers at awesome prices and wanted to bring them home. There were plenty of NHTSA and EPA items that had to be added that it didn't make it cost effective.

I remember a friend of mine picked up a VW Bug and besides the glass having to be replaced, there was a safety bar or some safety mechanism missing in the front doors that stopped him from bringing it home.

Recently when I looked into importing from Canada, I made a call to a government office in D.C. that handled NAFTA exemptions. The officer there mentioned two stories. The first was a Canadian that came to the U.S. to work and brought her Pontiac with her. When she decided to stay and naturalize, she was unable to register her car because the Canadian Daytime Running Lights were way to bright and exceeded NHTSA standards. She had to pay to have it sent back north.

The other story was about eBay and the hassles that Customs is having dealing with how easy it has become to make purchases online. This involved a V-12 Mercedes S class that someone had bought online, only to find it stopped at the port. And later had to pay for it to be shipped by overseas.

 

[crushers]

i was warned up front, bring in a vehicle that can not be imported and i would have to send it back at my cost.
i have heard of guys taking illegal diesels into the states and having to cross back over the Canadian border to get it properly imported...
cheers

 

[Landpimp]

this is the car by freind is having problems with a Mecedes V12 german spec.......he didn't buy on-line however, but from the local Lexus dealer.....so the dealer is on the hook in the end.

the daytime running lights shouldn't have been an issue, just unplug em

. This involved a V-12 Mercedes S class that someone had bought online, only to find it stopped at the port. And later had to pay for it to be shipped by overseas.

 

[paulj]

The increased cost of parts and service of non-USA vehicles has been covered in other posts, but reading the above about gray-market vehicles jogged my memory. I knew a guy whose wife had a BMW she got in Germany before they were married, and back in the good old days when there weren't so many Nazis in the federal bureaucracy. Well, she had a pretty major accident in it and when they got the repair estimate it was sky high because of all the non-USA parts that had to be special ordered. I don't know if insurance covered the extra costs.

 

[tlcruiserman]

Very cool!!!

Ok, now this is very interesting, Drexx I will send you an email on your 80

Not sure if you remember me, you were going to give me a reciever hitch for an 80 a few years ago, I am in San Diego.

Cheers,

Michael

 

[lumpy70]

What year is the HDJ-80?

Craig.

 

[drexx]

What year is the HDJ-80?

Craig.

1996... but production year is late 1995