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Good Morning Rosie
Yes it is true.
There are many cars, some made by major manufacturers right here in the U.S., that cant be sold here due to the cars not meeting our emissions and safety standards.
There is a car made by Volkswagen that gets 70-80 mpg. I think it is a Passat. It cant be sold here because it puts out like 10% more pollutants than does the regular Passat, but it gets over twice the mileage, so in reality it would put out less pollutants over say a 100 mile trip because it uses half the gas.
When you hear people talk about the problems of over regulation, this is a good example. Here we have a self defeating regulation.
There are also safety measures that effect importability, resistant bumpers and the like.
There are also tariffs and taxes on certain vehicles that make it too expensive to import here,the "chicken tax" on light trucks is one example..
One likes to think that the government would want to encourage the use of some of these high mileage cars, but remember, we get most of our funding for highway work from the Gas Tax. Less gas sold means less funding....
These are just some reasons...
Have a great dsy
No, that's not true at all.
Some vehicles can't be registered to drive on US highways because of safety issues, emissions issues or their potential to damage the roadways (do you REALLY want to drive a Sherman tank back and forth to work every day?). But banned to own? No.
And some, like cars built for the European market, can be modified to meet the requirements. [Bet you didn't realize that you can't order a Mercedes Benz in Germany (no buying a new car off the showroom floor there, they're ALL special order), built for the German market, and then NOT be able to get tags for it here until it has all the safety mods done.]
As to state and local use on roads . . . as goes the Fed so goes the State and local laws because no one wants to give up getting back that small portion of money (relative to the amount collected by the Fed) that would be withheld if those governances' don't follow the Great White Father in Washington, DC.
Really?
Got any independent references to back that up? "Smells" like a load of organic fertilizer to me.
Hello Salt and red Pepper...
Back up what??
I will concede that the questions referred to "owning a car", to which you are correct. You can certainly fly to Europe, buy one of these Passat's, have it shipped here, towed to your house where it will remain parked.
I took the question to mean purchase and use. My mistake.
The question was "allowed to own", not "able to be registered for use on public highways".
And you haven't shown any evidence that this mythical VW car that gets that kind of fuel efficiency exists. Perhaps it's parked between the car that runs on a Thorium reactor and the car that gets 100-mpg running on - water.
If VW has such a miracle and chooses not to sell it here in the States that's on them. The fact that their diesel engines (which are, generally speaking, far more fuel efficient than gasoline engines) don't appear to meet US standards didn't seem to slow them down with selling their diesel offerings here in the USA, and we're not big on diesel passenger cars Stateside. And here's a rule of thumb for you . . . the higher the fuel economy the higher the ratio of potential energy being converted to kinetic energy per unit, and the LOWER the unwanted by-products; it's going into turning the crankshaft, not going out the tailpipe.
As to emissions . . that's not a big deal for a private individual. Just pay the surcharge (most high-end sports cars won't pass and they have that surcharge included in the sticker price). Or just spend $150 every other year that shows that you had a mechanic "try" to make it compliant.
But if your unicorn does actually exist it's more likely that it has no body to protect passengers and won't pass the NHTSA's requirements to make it "roadworthy". Or it may used exotic materials in the engine that allow for even higher head and jacket temperatures (it's all thermodynamics, the higher the differential temperatures the more work extracted).
You can still own it though and drive it on privately-owned roads or on private property if you don't want to beef up the body to US standards and deal with the emission issue. It's no different that a racing car, a farm tractor or a farm-use truck.
Hello again Salt and red pepper...
It is called the Passat Bluemotion TDI 1.6
Here is a link...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlueMotion
Notice the 1st Paragraph says this model is Not available in N.America....
Well, yes. For instance the Volkswagen Beetle is still being produced but it's a crime to import one. The Nash Rambler is being produced in Brazil, but nobody wants the hassle of trying to import them, no matter how fond Americans were of the design.
How about eggs? In Europe it's a crime to sell washed eggs. In America it's a crime to sell UNWASHED eggs!
The National Transportation Safety Board determines which cars are safe or unsafe. There are at least 10, some of them high-performance 1990s models, which are ineligible for import.
There are indeed vehicles that cannot legally be imported.
I don't know, Rosie, but I wish there was a law in Britain that forbids people to own cars with those repulsive registration plates that have blighted our country's roads in the last 15 years. Happy Monday, Rosie!:)
There are many cars here in the UK that I wish could not be sold here because of those horrible registration plates. The only emissions I want those to meet would be emissions from my bottom. Lol:)
I've been wondering that myself lately. I just turned in a Vauxhall. Seems like a good car but I'd never heard of them until I came to the UK.
Just what I thought, a semi-bogus story filled with half-truths..
While this particular car is "badged" as a Passat, and is actually built in the USA for other markets, it's nothing like the Passat VW currently sells in the USA. It's a much smaller car.
The mileage number is bogus too, at least from a USA point of view. The MPG is based on Imperial gallons, not US gallons. That means that the fuel amount base is 25% greater that it would be if calculated based on the US unit of measurement for motor fuel, the US gallon. (Which is curious because fuel is sold by the liter in Europe these days, even Great Britain.) Still pretty respectable mileage but not much better than the diesel Rabbit did over a couple of decades ago.
And this car is also a turbo diesel with direct fuel injection (direct injection is the only way a diesel can work). And we all know how VW deals with "passing" those emission tests for the US EPA . . .
Back to that Passat model . . .VW tried selling a similar chassis stateside way back when but it turned out to be too small and too expensive. It just didn't sell. That, on top of the fact that the Federal government doesn't dictate which cars a company is permitted to sell in the States, points directly to a VW marketing decision not to sell that particular buggy hear and not as the result of a government edict.
Here, read the real story for yourself . . .
And that story is pure BS, a scare tactic by Customs. Didn't see a single US law refernced there that gives CUstoms the right to stop any such shipments. Those vehicles can, indeed, be imported.
They just can't be re-sold under false pretense, like the false pretense that the vehicles are usable on US highways before being modified to meet NHTSA standards, which has been happening in the cases of those Land Rovers that the story is talking about. Some crooks have been smuggling in "gray market" vehicles without the proper Customs paperwork, creating fake manufacturer's certificates of origin and then selling them to unsuspecting buyers. THAT'S where the problem comes in, not the actual importation.
The Beetle is still alive and well and available for purchase at your neighborhood VW dealership here in the US.
http://www.vw.com/models/beetle/?&cid=ssem_qyMt4uJ6_120404194266_c
The "Rumbler" was one of the cars that took American Motors (the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson) down the bankruptcy path. (Although a high school friend of mine swore by those fully reclining front seats during his courting days; his first kid may have even been conceived in one.) But AMC is looong gone (except for the Jeep division that's now owned by Fiat). So who's building them in Brazil?
It may be a crime to sell washed eggs in Europe but I buy unwashed eggs all the time Stateside, won't buy them any other way if I can help it (which means no eggs from the grocery store). Perhaps you have a CFR reference to the claim that it's illegal to sell unwashed eggs in the US?
Hello again S&RP
Man, you are just determined, aren't ya...O.K.
So you end your last comment with an explanation of how the government doesn't dictate, or have any edicts as to what cars can be sold here in the U.S., BUT you start your answer, as given below listing those "edicts"; safety, emissions that the government does impose, which coincidentally are the same as I gave in my answer an hour or so before you gave yours..
You then complain about my link. First I never add links because I do not, in answering a question jump online and search for an answer. I answer with what I think I know. If I am wrong....fine, I am not so self important that I cannot accept new information.
I remember reading a story some time ago about the Passat. so when you asked for a link, I googled it and gave the simplest one, which by the way You have always been welcome to do, it was quite easy.
The link gave no opinion as to why the car is not here, it simply explained what the vehicle is and that it is not available here, as is neither the ,...what did you say... the "thorium reactor" or 100 mpg water car.
In your effort, or frustration, I at this point am not sure which, to prove me wrong, you provide a link of your own. And you call MY link semi bogus and full of half truths.
In your link the first listed reason in the "debunking" is that the car used to be sold here but was pulled from the market by the manufacturer. That is such a BIG fail that there was really no reason to read any further, but I did. Although yes, the Passat has been offered here in a variety of models this particular car has never, not ever been offered in the U.S. market. Go ahead, show me where it has mr Link guy.
This was an opinion piece. There were no references of any kind listed. There was no data of any kind given. Add to it that this link seemed to be an open letter forum where the other letter on the page seemed to disagree with the author of the debunking. That is the True story??
Lastly the page gives an account of this car breaking the world record for mileage driven on a single tank in US miles...
Got any other links? Im sure they are out there...get to it my good man, Or you could just :let it go" (said in my best Rambo voice)
Oh, I'm going to let it go. No point in trying to make sense to an insane mind and yours is obviously hung up on this and government conspiracy theories. So put your tin foil hat back on and be on your merry way. Just don't go "postal" and hurt anyone in your travels . . .
Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply des. What you wrote above makes no sense. I don't mean you don't make sense. I mean the rules/regs make no sense. Talk about dumbheaded/shortsighed/dinglebatty! Who is in charge that
allows such nuttiness to prevail? AARRGGHH! Think that will ever change? I thought the Government's job was to protect the people. How can you protect people against the government's idea of "protecting" the people? I don't get! :( Happy Tuesday m'dear! :)
Thank you for your reply AndyB and Happy Tuesday to thee! :)
I guess I am unaware of what those plates look like Andy. What puts you off about them? :)
Hi CMI! That name sounds vaguely familiar but I don't know in what context. I'm going to Google it and see if that rings a bell. Thank you for your reply and Happy Tuesday! :)
That's was the correct assumption des. Of what use is a car you cannot drive? Oh. Well I suppose if you have a large collection of vintage cars as an investment you can charge a fee for looking at them. I wonder how many of the cars in Jay Leno's collection are street-worthy and legally drivable? My two cents' worth! :) You are not the one who is in error here.
Thank you for your reply and the link B and Happy Tuesday to thee! :)
Yeah, the DHS, which CBP operates under, says you cannot import these vehicles, and they are being confiscated and destroyed...but hey, some guy on the internet says that's BS...so just ignore what it says on the DHS website. Smh
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/
http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a24506/us-govt-still-crushing-imported-cars/
