When Jennifer Brinkley saw a line of law enforcement vehicles coming up her driveway last Tuesday she didn't know what to think. "I haven't done anything wrong."
The Homeland Security agents were not there to take her away, they were looking for illegally imported Land Rover Defenders. Brinkley had bought one via the internet last year and had invested more than $60,000 into the rare vehicle.
She thought she had checked it all out and she legally owned it. "They popped up the hood and looked at the Vehicle Identification Number and compared it with a piece of paper and then took the car with them," she said.
It turns out that in recent years some importers have changed the VIN number to comply with import regulations. All vehicles coming into the United States must meet strict safety and emissions standards. Land Rover Defenders, for the most part, do not meet the standards.
But a quirk in the law does allow the importing of vehicles 25-years-old and older regardless of whether the standards are met. There have been cases in recent years where importers have changed the VIN to make the vehicle appear older and thereby allowing it to come into the United States.
Defenders, even ones 25-years-old, will sell at a premium in America. Brinkley says she bought the vehicle online and has been trying to reach the seller but unsuccessfully.
The lawsuit, that has dozens of vehicles listed for seizure, shows the VIN number for her car but a different owner than her. Brinkley has hired an attorney to look into the claims but says the agents who took the vehicle still have not told her where it is being kept so she can check the VIN numbers herself.
A vehicle typically has the VIN number on several locations and all the numbers are supposed to match. If they do in this case, Brinkley says the agents need to relent.
"I want my car back," she said.
She has been given 35 days to appeal the seizure.
So it took six cars of DHS agents to seize the vehicle, and now it's on the owners to appeal the seizure within 35 days. If it's turns out stolen or a fraudulent VIN, that's understandable, but the methods seem a bit extreme. DHS raid to seize a vehicle? Really?
I have heard of the same thing happening up here. RCMP will show up to inspect cars imported from the USA and if everything hasnt been converted to comply with Canadian standards bye-bye car.
This is actually no surprise to me. While I was stationed in the U.K. I looked into the Defender scene and thought about buying one to drive and bring back. Both the U.S. and the U.K. are cracking down on these vehicles. Turns out there have been in the very recent past some unscrupulous sellers. I have seen examples of very old Defenders turned into latest generations with parts from scrappers yards and sold as the newer models with the swapped vins, engines and other desirable features. It has become near impossible to get them through in the last year or so. Many a service member has had to leave them behind or sell them at the last min. It's the same thing with older Mini Coopers.
This is actually no surprise to me. While I was stationed in the U.K. I looked into the Defender scene and thought about buying one to drive and bring back. Both the U.S. and the U.K. are cracking down on these vehicles. Turns out there have been in the very recent past some unscrupulous sellers. I have seen examples of very old Defenders turned into latest generations with parts from scrappers yards and sold as the newer models with the swapped vins, engines and other desirable features. It has become near impossible to get them through in the last year or so. Many a service member has had to leave them behind or sell them at the last min. It's the same thing with older Mini Coopers.
Shelby
Or they would break down on the way to the transport.
In all seriousness.
The Land Rovers that have been Seized lately, (There was a story recently about a rash of them) were supposed to be 25-30 year old Land Rovers that were actually fairly new vehicles. I can understand someone who doesn't know cars not seeing the differences, since the vehicle hadn't really changed in many years. But I assume it would be like someone trying to sell us an 84 Fiero and passing it off as an 86. The general public would have no clue, PFF guys would lose their minds.
Why is it illegal to own it? It should only be illegal to operate it on the roadways. More over reach!
I think it is because they were illegally imported, which means they shouldn't have gotten into the country to begin with. Seems silly, but I am guessing it has to do with stolen vehicles, originally and the law was to help prevent it.
As I understand it, the VIN was likely changed to make it appear older to allow it to be imported. That's fraud at least, even if it's not stolen. I understand those laws and even the owners said if that's what happened they understand. I considered it newsworthy not because of the EPA or import violation, but because of the heavy handed methods used by DHS.
Six vehicles of DHS agents deployed to seize 1 vehicle. It's not like this was a meth lab. If their belief that it's stolen and illegally imported is correct, they're dealing with a ripped off consumer, not some stolen vehicle crime ring.
Brinkley has hired an attorney to look into the claims but says the agents who took the vehicle still have not told her where it is being kept so she can check the VIN numbers herself.
As I understand it, the VIN was likely changed to make it appear older to allow it to be imported. That's fraud at least, even if it's not stolen. I understand those laws and even the owners said if that's what happened they understand. I considered it newsworthy not because of the EPA or import violation, but because of the heavy handed methods used by DHS.
Six vehicles of DHS agents deployed to seize 1 vehicle. It's not like this was a meth lab. If their belief that it's stolen and illegally imported is correct, they're dealing with a ripped off consumer, not some stolen vehicle crime ring.
This speaks more to the beauracracy than it does a new world order or a military state. What this is, is basically nothing more than at least 2/3rds of these people going on this operation because they want to improve their "accomplishments" going into their annual or semi-annual review process. They could have shown up with a tow-truck and a single vehicle with two federal agents. But, instead, the rest of those people wanted to be part of it either to help learn the ropes / get more experience, or to pad their internal accomplishments for review time.
But it speaks volumes as to absurdity of these organizations sometimes.
According to whoever is doing the inspecting. They have a person from Land Rover come over, and inspect the vehicle for things that were only available on that year model. A certain bend in the frame for instance.
The Land Rover (according to the article I googled) only had two locations for a VIN. On the brake booster, and on the frame.
Heheh.. I just watched Elysium a few minutes ago... and they kept referring to Department of Homeland Security as the organization that was doing all the martial law stuff.
