This 02 Eurovan can't be registered in the U.S. - correct?

[Xtremjeepn]

[dixoncj]

[Xtremjeepn]

The key is to own a bunch of oddbal cars ......and motorcycles


Then you always have one to drive while waiting for parts
_________________
http://www.cavevan.com

[dixoncj]

[Xtremjeepn]

[dixoncj]

Here's another one for sale in Washington State. 1999 T4 TDI Syncro, Full Camper. Nearly impossible to register legally in the US, but it seems they've done it somehow. It appears to have Washington plates. I'd be interested to hear if it could be reg'd in, say, California.
"We are selling because we are leaving the country soon."
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1930663

Spare parts would probably be a sonofabitch to find. Neat van tho...

[Xtremjeepn]

[dixoncj]

[Xtremjeepn]

[dixoncj]

[jjvincent]

That's the worst example to use to try to prove a point. It has so many holes in that story it reminds me of someone trying to sell stolen goods. Everything is too vague and convenient. Plus it pulls at your heartstrings because it's a vehicle everyone would want yet it can't be had. So sad.

Think about it:

1. How do we know it's not stolen from some other country and smuggled into the US? No title. No info on the previous owner. Sort of like the story of the street sportbike that became a track bike, the VIN is not in any US database, the owner has no title for it and the previous owner evaporated into thin air. Nothing fishy there at all.

2. Wouldn't the DMV just send the guy a letter telling him as to what was going on with it? He had to call to see what was going on? Last time I checked, the DMV is paperwork happy. Why did it not send up any red flags when he was at the DMV? This is not 1970 and they are ysing a typewriter. They literally put in all of the info on the vehicle while you are there. It should have rejected it faster than Morgan Fairchild rejecting claims that I'm her boyfriend.

3. Good Title? How do we know that? Forging a title is not that hard. If you want, you can buy my EV but I'll change the name of the seller to George Clooney and sign his name on the dash with a black sharpie. That way when you go camping in it, all the women in the campground will want to try it out too. You'll be fighting them off with a stick.

4. Why not contact an attorney? With the info from the vehicle you bought it from, the old license plate numbers and the old sellers info on the old title should get you in the right direction. An attorney with a PI and just the VIN on the van should be able to provide a good paper trail and the whereabouts of this previous owner. When that happens, you just make him pay you the money back (plus fees) and give him the van back. The guy may provide a reward to someone for solving his problem? You've got to be kidding me.

This story and ad, has scam written all over it. The reason why it was trying to be sold here is because the sympathy and desire might just get one of you to pony up the cash and then it's your problem.

As for the OP and that 2002 EV, I noticed it's been edited. Probably for spelling......

[TDCTDI]

Actually, it's the perfect example of the possible shit storm that can be encountered. First person (party A) gets lucky & gets it registered in Alaska, they move to another state & find out it can't be registered there, they sell it to another person (party B) from yet another state, they try to register in NC & NC flags it as not legal & confiscate the title. Now party B has no title & a van he can't register, he tries to get party A to get a copy of the original title from a state he no longer lives in & eventually quits communicating with a frustrated party B.

The 2002 has OBD 2 which communicates with the DMV computer, when the ECM tells the DMV computer that it's engine code is something that is not in the federal database, then it's flagged. The examples you gave were mechanical injection systems & less likely to be caught by the officials.

You have been lucky due to many factors, whether the vehicle was originally US spec, the driveline was US spec or non-computerized, or just that DMV personnel were ignorant. The last conversion I did, the DMV officer looked at the engine & wanted me to prove that it was a diesel, I was just dumbfounded that the person that is inspecting the cars couldn't tell the difference between a diesel & gas engine.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[jjvincent]

I still don't understand why person B wouldn't have just contacted an attorney and then went that route. It's not the first time this has been done.

When I did gas to diesel conversions, there was paperwork that needed to be filed and the highway patrol had to look at the cars. Then they got a new title and registration. After that one went to GA, the other to CO and then onto OR. Never heard of a problem with them getting a new title or license. One was a 2003 and the other a 2001. Both had OBD-2 ports and were not some basic diesel like a 1982 Rabbit.

The interesting part is this. You just can't drive or ship any complete car to the US without it getting flagged. So, when a vehicle shows up in the US that's not supposed to be here, it's either here for a limited period of time, they spent a pile of cash to make it legal or someone did it illegally. They didn't all of a sudden get lucky.

Of those lucky people, they seem to never tell anyone how they got it in the US. The reason is, they got it in the US illegally because it's not like this EV is some high dollar vehicle that people are lining up to throw cash at it. So, it's better to just not say anything and let everyone else salivate as to what they could get.

Trust me, its hard enough to import a racecar into the US. Especially if it looks sort of like a street car (i.e. Porsche GT3 Cup car). You got to sign your life away that it will never be used for the street. They even have a normal looking VIN on them. If I winged it, got a title and license for it, that would be illegal. If I sold it and the buyer assumed that I got it licensed legally but I didn't, that would be really illegal. So importing a 2002 EV is no different than importing a 2002 GT3 Cup car or importing a 1994 993 Supercup or 1994 EV from Germany. Makes no difference.

[TDCTDI]

But you're not doing it correctly by importing "parts" that are not certified by the EPA & installing it in a US registered vehicle. By that logic, you can import your GT3 cup car, swap everything into a shell & call it legal. Just because you get it past a DMV official doesn't mean that a more knowledgable official won't catch it. But it will undergo more scrutiny if it's a non US compliant VIN than a reshelled driveline.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[jjvincent]

That's why I got a fuel change for the title. It had nothing with getting something past a DMV official. Just what the state provided me for paperwork that needed to be done correctly. I'd never do it again because it took way too much time and phone calls/emails to get it done right. I could have easily circumvented the whole process and saved myself time and money but that would be illegal.

As for that 1994 EV, it was imported illegally. If it wasn't, then the owner would have the paperwork. Since the owner did not, they got it into the country and forged documents to get a license for it. Illegal importation, forging documents for registration and selling illegal imported goods is something that will get you in a heap of trouble. Reselling illegal imported goods will get you into trouble too.

The original owner knew what they did was wrong and scammed someone else (we assume there was an original owner but there's no proof there was). Even buying it as parts, is just as illegal because customs is going to want to know where these parts came from, when they were imported and what the value is. If that can't be proved, then it's up to them to figure out the fee+fine+interest.

Honestly, I could bring back 10 Canadian oddball imported EV's from Canada if I wanted to. Race teams go across the border all of the time with trailers full of cars and equipment. Sometimes when I go across, they want to look in the trailer and other times, they just send me right through. They have no idea if I got a racecar and a EV in there. I could buy that 2002 EV and pick it up when I'm back up in Canada for the race at Mosport. I bet I could sneak it through the border. I could just then take the plates and VIN on the dash off of my 2003 EV and put it on the 2002. Then set up a residence in the next county north of me and no emissions. As for safety, that's easy. It's just that I'll be in a heap of trouble if I sold it.