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USA Legalities?

Discussion in 'Introductions' started by matt167, Jun 14, 2017.

  1. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    I'm a noob in NY. A local garage has started selling these trucks, and I saw one not too long ago with commercial plates, not Ag plates. Then it dawned on me, that, 25 years or older is federally exempt. I want one, but only if I can legally drive it on the road here in NY. I'm looking at early 1990's with the 660cc engines 5spd if I can get it reasonable.. I want it to be able to commute a couple days to work which is 40 miles one way and 50-55 MPH would be acceptable..

    I looked up the regs for NY and it's confusing. It says the vehicles still have to meet " minimum safety and emissions standards even if federally exempt ".. I think as long as these have hazard switches, they meet pre 1996 inspection requirements for NY.... Are these things 49 state legal if they are 25 or older? The importers/ dealers seem to make you think so, but there is no info it seems on this site... What modifications are required, if any?

    I do a lot with "JDM" stuff, but normally what I deal with is cut into pieces.
     
  2. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    I have a pdf I use that has a lot of rules and stuff for kei trucks (although it was last updated on 2011). Says no laws for NY. Not sure who else is from there here that might know the details, but you can ask the garage selling them about them. If they are an importer of them, they should walk you through all you'd need or their limits being they are considered grey area imports.

    You'd think that 25 years or older they would be legal everywhere, but like previous truck owners I have seen trying to plate them, it is not always the case. If something is missing, they would turn you away... and normally paperwork varies from state to state. Ashnkooshe has a good write up in the Tips and Tricks section regarding required paperwork in Nevada. Might look into that and see what that garage selling them says what is required in New York and what not. Highly recommending they go with you if you go to DMV to get one registered.

    If it is saying "minimum safety and emissions standards even if federally exempt", isn't it saying to mess with the exhaust if it doesn't pass? I think other people have ran them through tests to see how much they did. I forget how that went. And yes, they do have hazard lights. My Hijet has a tab that swaps from using the turn signals to activating all three turn signals to become hazards. Then got to fiddle with the tab to get just the turn signals to work.
     
  3. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    I'm pretty sure he gets his trucks from Amir in Oceanside, NY. Gets 7 trucks at a time so 1 container load. But this is farm country and he gets them as offroad vehicles. His BOS will say " Offroad " on it. He does have the export paperwork, import paperwork and other declarations. The paperwork does not say "ATV".. Most of the trucks he has sold are on the road but they title them in VT because it's easier. That was his suggestion. They really don't care there as long as the vehicle is 15+. Then I could use their registration to obtain a NY registration, or just use the VT plates

    To me "minimum safety and emissions standards even if federally exempt" is kind of like saying " who's on first "... The minimum safety and emissions regulations would be set at the federal level, and a 25yr old Imported vehicle is federally exempt.. Could go round and round at a DMV arguing...

    In any case, I'm going to get a 1992 Autozam Scrum. approx 7,500 miles and it looks pretty much like a brand new vehicle. Has the big round headlights which I like better than the others, but CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN... Of course, he's getting about $1k more than his other trucks for it. But if I'm going to drive it a distance with only mail order as a parts option I'm not going to buy a beater
     
  4. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    Good luck then if you are able to title them on road!

    Most likely if you are talking to someone at DMV, they won't know what they are talking about. So if you got your facts, rules, and papers straight, I'd see no issues.

    Circle lights are very clean and cool looking trucks! I went the box front route lol.
     
  5. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    Something with the 'Zam seemed too good to be true. So I ran it's vin through the database and, it came back as a 1996.. Somethings fishy with it, and no way that can be legal... I'm going to have to find another truck and it might as well be a 5spd
     
  6. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    Odd... what was the vin? Or at least what model of Autozam Scrum was it? Seems a big jump between what you found and what you see.
     
  7. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    DK51T-394141 it's got the big round headlights which after looked, I can't find an example of until about 1993-1994. I also decoded vins of a 1995 and a 1998 autozam which both came back as what they were. The serial ranges were right within where this "92" would fall between... When I get a chance, I'm going to the dealers again and I'll look at the seat belt but I expect it will say 1995-1996
     
  8. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    Bought a truck.. 1992 Carry 5spd. 16k miles. Clean as the other and a bit cheaper to boot.. Have not seen it yet. Sight unseen but I did run the Vin and production is April, 1992 so totally legal no question.. Pretty much the same truck minus it's a 5spd with high range only. Interior has the seat back going the entire distance across, vs the other truck that it seperated
     
  9. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    Nice! Never just ordered a truck, I usually like seeing them. But I don't think I have heard of anything bad from people buying trucks this way. Where are you running the vin on out of curiosity?

    Yea, I have never really used my low range speed. Wish I had a bench seat, sleeping ontop of a parking brake on road trips isn't fun haha.
     
  10. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    https://auc.ts-export.com/month

    I got it from Nipponway in Oceanside Ny. It's not too far away that if something is majorly wrong with it I can pay him a visit but after talking with him about it, I doubt I'll have that problem. He seems to be a stand up guy.. I figured without spending $1k to pay a decent exporter, buying in Japan is the same risk and it would cost more.
     
  11. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    Good to hear! Yea, I'd trust exporters more then worrying about everything myself.

    And thank you for the link!
     
  12. matt167

    matt167 Active Member

    It's on the road. One DMV said I needed more, other DMV I went to ran with what I had. Took about an hr with the lady but all is well
     
    Tuskano likes this.
  13. Tuskano

    Tuskano Member

    Sweet, congrats! That's good news! It's funny how many dmvs say different stuff being not a lot know the process. If you fail with one, take it to another sort of deal...
     

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