If you ever thought of going Defender....

[REDrum]

....here is another reason why Land Cruisers are better than Land Rover Defenders; less attention from Homeland Security....

Today over 40 US registered Land Rover Defender 110s were seized today by Homeland Security. And more planned. These seizures were of "grey market" Land Rover Defenders; those that are not technically qualified to be in the US, but made it thru Customs and were registered here anyway. NAS versions are the only ones allowed.

Tonight there are lot of low-lipped Defender owners who just had their trophy trucks taken away. And they could be arraigned on felony charges.... Many predicted this would happen with some many being smuggled in and VINs being back dated.

http://www.defendersource.com/forum/showthread.php?t=54930

 

[scrowley]

Wow. Now that sucks for those owners. Hope your not one of them Niall....
How about the guy from the Maine trip?? He had some serious $$ in that thing to give it up for a total loss.


link did not work for me.

 

[REDrum]

Nope, not me. Back in '99 I tried to figure out how to bring one back from CR, but didn't want the risk of a felony.

No comment on the black bling-bling Defender....

 

[Mad Jack]

That's crazy......

 

[SouthBostonFJ40]

We were just talking about this on Saturday!

 

[Bostonfj60]

Holy Hell. 6am raids on a dude's house like their taking down a drug kingpin? WTF. Don't think Landcruisers are "safe". Though less likely, I'm sure their are some cruisers out there that have the same issue. All it takes is one bad importer that get's flagged, and bam...dudes get their trucks crushed by Homeland security/ Boarder Patrol. The Toyota community should take notes on this...Landcruisers are on a serious upswing in popularity and sh%* like this could happen. damn.

 

[SouthBostonFJ40]

Holy Hell. 6am raids on a dude's house like their taking down a drug kingpin? WTF. Don't think Landcruisers are "safe". Though less likely, I'm sure their are some cruisers out there that have the same issue. All it takes is one bad importer that get's flagged, and bam...dudes get their trucks crushed by Homeland security/ Boarder Patrol. The Toyota community should take notes on this...Landcruisers are on a serious upswing in popularity and sh%* like this could happen. damn.

I started typing this exact same reply in the thread in chat but stopped because I knew those savages wouldn't understand.

 

[REDrum]

Its been just over 36 hours since the first Defenders were seized, and a lot of "back story" has developed.

It seems this seizure/sweep effort, of dubious age Defenders, all stems from one importer in NC; who may or may not have been importing trucks that were stolen in the UK and EU. Evidently FBI, Interpol, and Scotland yard are all involved with DHS on this. So its basically an international truck theft operation.

That said, even if someone can prove their US registered Defender is not one of the stolen ones, they may have a tough time getting it back from CBP if it is non-compiant. In essence once a truck is arrested by CBP (even a clean/non stolen one) it basically has to go thru custom screening again. And the hard part is that CBP is much more educated on what is a compliant and non compliant Defender than it was 5 years ago when this started.

Yes, in time all the same could apply to Series 70 Land Cruisers, however the street price (and demand) for them in the US is nowhere near the insanity of Defender 110s. 70s simply do hot have the same cache as Defenders. What cracks me up is how cheap Defenders are in Central America vs same year Land Cruisers; less than half the cost. And for a good reason, you can hunt a round but few trucks break more more than a Defender--maybe a Lada...

 

[Sporin]

Yeah, seems like this is a much bigger thing than simply grabbing trucks.

That said, people have been playing the VIN swap game (and variations of it) with Landies for a long time, Classic Minis as well. It's against the law whether you agree with the law or not. So if the law comes a knockin' at some point, you have to pay the piper. It's the risk you take buying a truck you know isn't really legal in this country. i

I feel bad for people who got duped by an unscrupulous seller. I feel less bad for people who knowingly skirted the law and are just mad now because they finally got caught.

 

[chill will]

And for a good reason, you can hunt a round but few trucks break more more than a Defender--maybe a Lada...

I've never driven a Defender buy I can actually say I have driven a Lada. It was quite the experience first time driving on the wrong side of the road in a RHD car.

 

[40Flipper]

I almost had a truck get crushed after it was pulled off the boat early in Savannah GA. The shipping company accidentally typed 1993 on a 1973 truck. I had to prove the typo was legit and the VIN was accurate. They do not F around with that stuff at all. Everyone seems to be outraged but the import guidelines are exhaustively posted on the .gov websites.

That said, there are plenty of scumbags out there so be careful.