I don't get this at all. What a colossal waste of time and money.
Hide your Defender
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Originally Posted By: morepwr
I don't get this at all. What a colossal waste of time and money.
Exactly, this is what the government does because they have been
"paid off" by their high priced lobbyists walking the halls of
Congress. These representatives do NOT represent ordinary
citizens, they represent those that can afford to buy their favors.
I don't get this at all. What a colossal waste of time and money.
Exactly, this is what the government does because they have been
"paid off" by their high priced lobbyists walking the halls of
Congress. These representatives do NOT represent ordinary
citizens, they represent those that can afford to buy their favors.
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
The reality is that you need to hide your questionably imported Defender.
It sucks for anyone who bought an illegally imported model unknowingly. But it seems a lot of the enthusiasts who bought them probably are knowledgeable enough to know something is going on.
It seems parts swapping/vin-swapping and other shenanigans have been somewhat common among some in the Defender enthusiast community.
A car with bogus vin numbers is contraband, and immediately seizable, of course, but otherwise, why is it just assumed that a car that was illegally imported once upon a time is contraband and therefore immediately seizable at any time, the same as Cocaine? If the pack of Marlboros in your house was illegally imported from Mexico two steps before you bought it does the government get to raid your house?
This isn't "bureaucrats run amok" This is "Plutocrats having their way." The article makes it pretty plain that this was a law passed, pure and simple, to protect the luxury importers at a time in the late 1980's when the dollar was very strong and there was a strong economic incentive to bring in "gray market" imports. The Tom Cruise character in the movie "Rainman" was a gray market car importer. No one thought it was the least bit shady back then.
A political scientist studied our political system from a high-level, just based on policy proposed and policy enacted and concluded that based on the high percentage of oligarchical legislation passed, we qualified as an oligarchy. Never mind the exact mechanism by which we got there. This case just proves it.
The reality is that you need to hide your questionably imported Defender.
It sucks for anyone who bought an illegally imported model unknowingly. But it seems a lot of the enthusiasts who bought them probably are knowledgeable enough to know something is going on.
It seems parts swapping/vin-swapping and other shenanigans have been somewhat common among some in the Defender enthusiast community.
A car with bogus vin numbers is contraband, and immediately seizable, of course, but otherwise, why is it just assumed that a car that was illegally imported once upon a time is contraband and therefore immediately seizable at any time, the same as Cocaine? If the pack of Marlboros in your house was illegally imported from Mexico two steps before you bought it does the government get to raid your house?
This isn't "bureaucrats run amok" This is "Plutocrats having their way." The article makes it pretty plain that this was a law passed, pure and simple, to protect the luxury importers at a time in the late 1980's when the dollar was very strong and there was a strong economic incentive to bring in "gray market" imports. The Tom Cruise character in the movie "Rainman" was a gray market car importer. No one thought it was the least bit shady back then.
A political scientist studied our political system from a high-level, just based on policy proposed and policy enacted and concluded that based on the high percentage of oligarchical legislation passed, we qualified as an oligarchy. Never mind the exact mechanism by which we got there. This case just proves it.
This seems like tariffs. What happened to Free Trade.
LOL buy American! Cars were illegally imported and were actually 2005 models according to the officer in the vid. Laws are there for a reason. Don't break the law, your car doesn't get crushed. Pretty simple, really.
Defender Link
I do feel sorry for the people who bought one, but if they bought from a US dealer they would have been safe.
I do feel sorry for the people who bought one, but if they bought from a US dealer they would have been safe.
While there were some folks clearly pushing the letter and spirit of the law here, the fed's response seems clearly out of proportion to the actual "crime" although it appears that they are focusing on the trucks imported by an individual. Unfortunately a lot of innocent people got caught up in this.
There were two taken in my town, both of which had 1 or 2 local officers and 4 or so CBP folks showing up at the crack of dawn. Hiding may not help..heard they grabbed a couple at second houses, etc...they were observing for some time. What struck me was this occurred in the midst of the recent border issue and those couple hundred agents should have been there not addressing what is very close to a victimless crime.
That said, when I was looking for a RoW Land Rover 90 (they started calling them Defender in 1990 or so), I did come across a few very nice Defenders w/ ABS, the later 300tdi engines, etc. registered as mid 70's-80's vehicles. I passed...not that much of a gambler.
There were two taken in my town, both of which had 1 or 2 local officers and 4 or so CBP folks showing up at the crack of dawn. Hiding may not help..heard they grabbed a couple at second houses, etc...they were observing for some time. What struck me was this occurred in the midst of the recent border issue and those couple hundred agents should have been there not addressing what is very close to a victimless crime.
That said, when I was looking for a RoW Land Rover 90 (they started calling them Defender in 1990 or so), I did come across a few very nice Defenders w/ ABS, the later 300tdi engines, etc. registered as mid 70's-80's vehicles. I passed...not that much of a gambler.
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
LOL buy American! Cars were illegally imported and were actually 2005 models according to the officer in the vid. Laws are there for a reason. Don't break the law, your car doesn't get crushed. Pretty simple, really.
Pretty much all the cars had titles issued by the state (eg North Carolina) and passed as imports through US Customs and had appropriate papers. Many had been registered and driven before.
Plus, we are to assume the officer in the video is factually correct, when he was going off information provided by a 3rd party, that ran the last six digits of the VIN out of laziness.
LOL buy American! Cars were illegally imported and were actually 2005 models according to the officer in the vid. Laws are there for a reason. Don't break the law, your car doesn't get crushed. Pretty simple, really.
Pretty much all the cars had titles issued by the state (eg North Carolina) and passed as imports through US Customs and had appropriate papers. Many had been registered and driven before.
Plus, we are to assume the officer in the video is factually correct, when he was going off information provided by a 3rd party, that ran the last six digits of the VIN out of laziness.
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