The truth about importation - EI and Evo VII's
Feb 7, 2003, 03:42 PM
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The truth about importation - EI and Evo VII's
After sorting through posts I thought it might be worthwile that I chime in on this subject as I have pretty extensive experience in the matter. As well as rallying for several years I was also personally affected by this:
When I rallied I had an Evo IV and an STi II as well as several other U.S. spec cars. The Evo IV was never actually registered ... as I never actually got to race it and the STI II was a bare shell conversion, but the point I was getting to is that back when I was racing .... none of the top cars were legal. Remember, that to rally, the cars must be registered, licensed, and insured to drive on the road because between stages you drive on public streets. Now the order of the day was bare-shell conversions, foreign registrations, swapped VIN's, or kit car registrations.
Now back then, I thought that "legal" was being able to register and inspect the car ... I figured that all those methods were good enough. In truth, the only one that is actually legal is a foreign registration. That's what the factory teams use these days.
Any type of car that is not supposed to be imported has been registered and imported by somebody ... every model of Evolution, Lancia Integrales, Every WRX STI model, Lotus Carltons, Peugeot 205 T16's, GT-R's before Motorex, tons of Lotus Elise/340R's/Exiges, Porsche GT-3's ..etc ... etc ... but if it is not on the DOT list .... it simply isn't legal .... no ifs ands or buts about it. ... If you keep a low profile, dont' advertise, and don't get into accidents ... hey, you might just get away with it ... but what fun is that? .. if you are just a collector looking to put another car in your garage .. maybe .. but it sure ain't for me any more ... there are so many good cars available and becoming available that there simply isn't any point to it.
My views have hardened quite a bit since a custom's officer knocked on my door to seize my Lotus Exige. Luckily, they were willing to work with me since I was not directly involved in the importation of the car. They let me keep control of it and export it for sale.
There are customs officers who know what to look for, and they can seize your vehicle on site. If they catch you driving it, they will be much tougher on you. They will either seize it and auction it off for export only ... and you will get pennies on the dollar ... or if they are nice, they will allow you to export it and you keep possesion of it ... but of what use is a car in another country? .. at least in this scenerio (Constructive Seizure) you can expect to get greater recovery.
So ... when someone driving an Evolution VII gets into a wreck ... the cops get curious ... and someone fingers EI ... you might have a customs officer knocking on your door a few months later .... If you're lucky, you will be out a few thousand dollars by the time you get the car sold ... if you are unlucky ... they will auction off your car at an unpublicized auction somewhere in the US for EXPORT only ... you will get a portion of the proceeds ... but don't expect much ... or if you are really unlucky ... they might take you to court
Imported Elises to be seized?
Following checks on a car involved in an accident in Florida whilst drag racing, two men have been charged with illegally importing Lotus sports cars. Although not proclaimed as such it is believed that the cars involved were Elises and Exiges.
The cars violate federal motor vehicle safety standards as well as the federal Clean Air Act and cannot be sold in the United States. Between them the men have been charged with illegally bringing at least seven Lotus sports cars into the US, and US Customs officials are reported to be tracking down and seizing the imported cars.
from Pistonheads
Following checks on a car involved in an accident in Florida whilst drag racing, two men have been charged with illegally importing Lotus sports cars. Although not proclaimed as such it is believed that the cars involved were Elises and Exiges.
The cars violate federal motor vehicle safety standards as well as the federal Clean Air Act and cannot be sold in the United States. Between them the men have been charged with illegally bringing at least seven Lotus sports cars into the US, and US Customs officials are reported to be tracking down and seizing the imported cars.
from Pistonheads
Now back then, I thought that "legal" was being able to register and inspect the car ... I figured that all those methods were good enough. In truth, the only one that is actually legal is a foreign registration. That's what the factory teams use these days.
Any type of car that is not supposed to be imported has been registered and imported by somebody ... every model of Evolution, Lancia Integrales, Every WRX STI model, Lotus Carltons, Peugeot 205 T16's, GT-R's before Motorex, tons of Lotus Elise/340R's/Exiges, Porsche GT-3's ..etc ... etc ... but if it is not on the DOT list .... it simply isn't legal .... no ifs ands or buts about it. ... If you keep a low profile, dont' advertise, and don't get into accidents ... hey, you might just get away with it ... but what fun is that? .. if you are just a collector looking to put another car in your garage .. maybe .. but it sure ain't for me any more ... there are so many good cars available and becoming available that there simply isn't any point to it.
My views have hardened quite a bit since a custom's officer knocked on my door to seize my Lotus Exige. Luckily, they were willing to work with me since I was not directly involved in the importation of the car. They let me keep control of it and export it for sale.
There are customs officers who know what to look for, and they can seize your vehicle on site. If they catch you driving it, they will be much tougher on you. They will either seize it and auction it off for export only ... and you will get pennies on the dollar ... or if they are nice, they will allow you to export it and you keep possesion of it ... but of what use is a car in another country? .. at least in this scenerio (Constructive Seizure) you can expect to get greater recovery.
So ... when someone driving an Evolution VII gets into a wreck ... the cops get curious ... and someone fingers EI ... you might have a customs officer knocking on your door a few months later .... If you're lucky, you will be out a few thousand dollars by the time you get the car sold ... if you are unlucky ... they will auction off your car at an unpublicized auction somewhere in the US for EXPORT only ... you will get a portion of the proceeds ... but don't expect much ... or if you are really unlucky ... they might take you to court
Last edited by Beldrueger; Feb 7, 2003 at 03:47 PM.
Feb 7, 2003, 06:24 PM
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Thanks for the insight....well written, I have some questions though... do you think there will be a problem with EI 7's then? I thought that is why people on this site were waiting so long to get their cars through the US epa laws so they were legal on US roads, I am sure their customers are issued with a piece of paper, an official clean bill of health if you will? If I were a customer of EI I would have to have proof the vehicle was legit......
Feb 7, 2003, 06:41 PM
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It's not the EPA that's the concern. It's getting the car to meet NHTSA standards for overwhelming similarity to an existing USDM car, because EI does not want to front the money to crash them (not that I can blame them for that bit) but they have a very difficult case to argue.
Feb 7, 2003, 07:08 PM
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Back when I had the Evo IV .. several people had already been denied petitions trying to prove similarity to the US Mirage.
Having looked through other posts, it appears that several people already have their Evo VII's and are driving them. Once you have the vehicle in country, it is not incredibly dificult to get it inspected, registered and insured ... that does not make it legal. If the car is not on the DOT's website that means that it has not been legalized.
... they might be able to prove similarity to the Evo 8 and simply install crash equpment from the USDM Evo 8 ... but it would still show up on the DOT site ... it might not show up immediately ... but it would be there ... and you also must remember that Mitsubishi has the right to veto any petition ... although you can appeal it .. this happened with Ferrari ... they tried to start vetoeing petitions .. the importers took them to court ... and the importers actually won.
On the face of it .. it appears that Evolution Imports is simply exploiting loopholes ... well so was the importer of my Exige ... it turned out that my importer was particularly inept in his strategy ... but regardless illegal is illegal
FYI .. when I bought my Exige I was given the car and the title ... I inquired about the importation method but was never given a fully satisfactory answer ... I took it in stride because of the sheer number of elises/exiges that are in the country and registered ... there are probably 50+ ... I figured that there must be some way to make it work ... well I was wrong ... all of those cars are registered illegally... Lotus itself imported some Elise variants for track use only ... these cars can stay in the country .. but absolutely no car can be driven on the street
Having looked through other posts, it appears that several people already have their Evo VII's and are driving them. Once you have the vehicle in country, it is not incredibly dificult to get it inspected, registered and insured ... that does not make it legal. If the car is not on the DOT's website that means that it has not been legalized.
... they might be able to prove similarity to the Evo 8 and simply install crash equpment from the USDM Evo 8 ... but it would still show up on the DOT site ... it might not show up immediately ... but it would be there ... and you also must remember that Mitsubishi has the right to veto any petition ... although you can appeal it .. this happened with Ferrari ... they tried to start vetoeing petitions .. the importers took them to court ... and the importers actually won.
On the face of it .. it appears that Evolution Imports is simply exploiting loopholes ... well so was the importer of my Exige ... it turned out that my importer was particularly inept in his strategy ... but regardless illegal is illegal
FYI .. when I bought my Exige I was given the car and the title ... I inquired about the importation method but was never given a fully satisfactory answer ... I took it in stride because of the sheer number of elises/exiges that are in the country and registered ... there are probably 50+ ... I figured that there must be some way to make it work ... well I was wrong ... all of those cars are registered illegally... Lotus itself imported some Elise variants for track use only ... these cars can stay in the country .. but absolutely no car can be driven on the street
Feb 7, 2003, 07:13 PM
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Oh ... one more thing ... I spent a lot of time talking to the customs agents assigned to this case ... they told me that Customs is starting to devote more resources to auto imports because they have seen a big surge in illegal imports recently ... it is apparently particularly bad in Florida ... which is where my importer was located
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Feb 7, 2003, 07:19 PM
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Originally posted by Beldrueger
Oh ... one more thing ... I spent a lot of time talking to the customs agents assigned to this case ... they told me that Customs is starting to devote more resources to auto imports because they have seen a big surge in illegal imports recently ... it is apparently particularly bad in Florida ... which is where my importer was located
Oh ... one more thing ... I spent a lot of time talking to the customs agents assigned to this case ... they told me that Customs is starting to devote more resources to auto imports because they have seen a big surge in illegal imports recently ... it is apparently particularly bad in Florida ... which is where my importer was located
Feb 8, 2003, 11:30 AM
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Last year I saw 3 or 4 Lotus Elises at a massive Detroit area car show/cruise that is held every year. I asked the owner of Auto Europe (a small semi-exotic car retailer) how they were importing and reselling them and he just side-stepped me. I had a feeling they were illegal at the time. I guess this just proves it 
If you go to Auto-euro.com you can see they still have an Elise for sale for $59,900. Strangely enough I was able to pull the VIN up on carfax.com, but it didn't have any actualy information associated with it. Odd...
Beldrueger, I'm sorry to hear that you were taken for a ride by this importer. The Exige really is an impressive car. I hope that the EI customers don't share your fate, but given the facts I can't see how they'll get out of it
I really wish the government would reconsider their laws on grey market cars. A small quantity exemption for cars that have no US equivalent would be great. I can see Mercedes being pissed if people were importing and undercutting them on SL 600s, but cars like the Elise, GTR and Evo that were never sold here in the first place are not harming the big name makers at all.
Would anyone be interested in a petition to a senator or something to try to revise the legislation on this matter? With enough leg work and cordination it just might go somewhere. You never know until you try, right?
If you go to Auto-euro.com you can see they still have an Elise for sale for $59,900. Strangely enough I was able to pull the VIN up on carfax.com, but it didn't have any actualy information associated with it. Odd...
Beldrueger, I'm sorry to hear that you were taken for a ride by this importer. The Exige really is an impressive car. I hope that the EI customers don't share your fate, but given the facts I can't see how they'll get out of it
I really wish the government would reconsider their laws on grey market cars. A small quantity exemption for cars that have no US equivalent would be great. I can see Mercedes being pissed if people were importing and undercutting them on SL 600s, but cars like the Elise, GTR and Evo that were never sold here in the first place are not harming the big name makers at all.
Would anyone be interested in a petition to a senator or something to try to revise the legislation on this matter? With enough leg work and cordination it just might go somewhere. You never know until you try, right?
Feb 8, 2003, 11:40 AM
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The show and display law was passed to allow collectors to import unique vehicles ... this was legislation pushed by enthusiasts .... although these were enthusiasts wanting Bugatti EB110's, Mclaren F1's ... and Jag XJ220's .... odds are that if you can afford those cars ... you probably have the means to get your voice heard by Washington.
The show and display law is very specific in what it allows ... but I don't see why a more liberal law couldn't be approved ... it just takes time and effort ...
The show and display law is very specific in what it allows ... but I don't see why a more liberal law couldn't be approved ... it just takes time and effort ...
Feb 9, 2003, 12:58 AM
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https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...threadid=10091
Arguably, this whole bidness is the best that I've seen about importing. Guy seemed to have a loooot of time on his hands.
Arguably, this whole bidness is the best that I've seen about importing. Guy seemed to have a loooot of time on his hands.
Feb 9, 2003, 12:27 PM
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That is a good post. Very informative.
I had the car in Dallas, TX ... and yes it was registered, inspected, and insured.
You can get anything insured.
All cars sold in europe or japan will pass the sniffer test ... this is not even close to being the same thing as passing EPA requirements.
.. and yes it was registered. My title said Lotus Exige 2001 ... with the full VIN on it.
The hard part is getting the car through the door. All EI appears to be doing is this .. using a loophole and not the complete process as described in the above link.
I had the car in Dallas, TX ... and yes it was registered, inspected, and insured.
You can get anything insured.
All cars sold in europe or japan will pass the sniffer test ... this is not even close to being the same thing as passing EPA requirements.
.. and yes it was registered. My title said Lotus Exige 2001 ... with the full VIN on it.
The hard part is getting the car through the door. All EI appears to be doing is this .. using a loophole and not the complete process as described in the above link.
Feb 14, 2003, 07:09 AM
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I for one am very grateful for all of this info as I have been seriously considering EI as an option over the past year. I am sorry to those who have bought that your cars are not street legal. It is a shame that you were given all kinds of reassurances and led to believe that the cars would be fully US street legal. I know that EI does not operate on large capital (otherwise they wouldn't be asking for money up-front) and I also agree with all that Adam is a very likeable guy who is passionate about the cars.
It is clear now that these cars are not, and will not likely ever be, US street legal. If I owned one of the EI cars at this time, I would use it to drive over to a meeting with a lawyer. EI will close and file bankruptcy when the SHTF, and I would want to be the first in the door getting a cash-back-or-report-to-court document in their hands (served). To those willing to talk about what is going on with your EI cars here, I have to thank you and agree...we are NOT hating here. I am jealous of anyone driving one...but a bit relieved that I am not. I really encourage you to talk to a lawyer who is FAMILIAR with the auto importation and customs laws.
The only argument left is: Will customs actually enforce these laws in the case of the EVO VII's ? I'm betting that without a serious wreck, there won't be a problem with as few as are around. On the other hand, I know Texas is getting very strict in enforcing street-legality and even have cars towed to their inspection sites where trained mechanics go over them for illegal mods, etc. My friend just returned with his Acura...from Texas. He had dropped a J-spec type R into it for SCCA racing, but replaced his original engine. When I asked why he would do that, he said "Are you kidding...that's totally illegal to drive on the street and they'd just seize my car"
I don't know what will happen, but I'm sure glad I don't have 30-grand (or more) tied up in a not street legal, could be taken away car.
Sorry guys, but thanks for being here for us to talk with you about what's up with your EVO's.
It is clear now that these cars are not, and will not likely ever be, US street legal. If I owned one of the EI cars at this time, I would use it to drive over to a meeting with a lawyer. EI will close and file bankruptcy when the SHTF, and I would want to be the first in the door getting a cash-back-or-report-to-court document in their hands (served). To those willing to talk about what is going on with your EI cars here, I have to thank you and agree...we are NOT hating here. I am jealous of anyone driving one...but a bit relieved that I am not. I really encourage you to talk to a lawyer who is FAMILIAR with the auto importation and customs laws.
The only argument left is: Will customs actually enforce these laws in the case of the EVO VII's ? I'm betting that without a serious wreck, there won't be a problem with as few as are around. On the other hand, I know Texas is getting very strict in enforcing street-legality and even have cars towed to their inspection sites where trained mechanics go over them for illegal mods, etc. My friend just returned with his Acura...from Texas. He had dropped a J-spec type R into it for SCCA racing, but replaced his original engine. When I asked why he would do that, he said "Are you kidding...that's totally illegal to drive on the street and they'd just seize my car"
I don't know what will happen, but I'm sure glad I don't have 30-grand (or more) tied up in a not street legal, could be taken away car.
Sorry guys, but thanks for being here for us to talk with you about what's up with your EVO's.
Feb 14, 2003, 01:55 PM
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I was strongly aiming towards EI, because it is always fun owning an import, because it is a very very limited car. Otherwise i based my facts on some sort of warrenty and the possibility of an easier loan against me, which in turn put me in par for a US evo. I do hope that EI clears up any possible bad actions they might have and keep thier buisness strong and get some LEGAL .. evos over here because iwould love to see a couple... I think its a shame how our government treats some things.. but oh well....