Commenters Just Shut Down An Entire Cars & Bids Auction With Their Questions

Cars & Bids pulled an auction, underscoring the risks of buying gray-market cars in America

Cars & Bids recently shut down an auction for a 2001 Toyota Altezza. That might sound odd, considering the Japanese sports sedan is a well-loved JDM hero car. The issue wasn’t the car’s desirability, though; it all had to do with its legality, which remains in question.

The US has strict federal laws governing imported vehicles – and we’re not talking about tariffs but the rule that stipulates cars made for foreign markets aren’t legally allowed on American roads unless they’re at least 25 years old. Trying to import, much less register, a vehicle younger than that from a foreign market is usually a recipe for disaster.

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If they don’t meet other strict criteria, they have to be ‘federalized,’ which means adding USDM safety and emissions equipment. The challenges associated with such an import usually present such a high entry barrier that people don’t even bother.

What Happens Without Compliance

When some choose to import such cars, there’s a good chance that a local DMV won’t even allow the registration to go through if the car doesn’t meet the requirements outlined above. In some cases, federal authorities have seized and even crushed illegal imports, leaving owners with nothing to show for their investment. These are the reasons that commenters over at Cars&Bids took issue with the Altezza in question: it’s about eight months away from hitting the 25-year mark.

The seller reported that he had a valid title from the DMV and said the following about the situation: “The 25-year rule does apply, but that is only one pathway. Vehicles newer than 25 years can still be legally imported if brought into compliance through the proper process. That’s exactly what was done here. If the car were not in compliance, CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] would not have cleared it, and the DMV would not have issued a valid U.S. title.

“I don’t release my importer’s information – that’s proprietary – but I can provide proof of the U.S. title in my name. That is the only document you need in order to register and drive this vehicle in any state. RoRo was just the shipping method, not a loophole. The fact that the car cleared Customs and was titled in the U.S. is the proof of its legality.”

Grey Market Concerns

The thing is that plenty of grey market cars get titles when technically they shouldn’t. When we covered a similarly odd listing, this time for a slew of Holdens that can’t legally be on US roads, a person close to that operation confirmed to Carscoops that many of the cars get “valid” titles through legal loopholes and, despite that, the cars are still technically illegal until they turn 25.

Stack on top of all of these concerns that the seller became hostile in the comment section, wouldn’t provide any additional documentation to prove the legality of this car, and just so happens to be selling the car out of Florida with a Virginia title and license plate, and you have the whole picture. The red flags were all over the place, so Cars&Bids ultimately shut the auction down.

Community Watchdogs

Doug DeMuro told The Autopian: “The Cars & Bids community rocks! We love our people, and they identified some possible issues here – which is a huge benefit of having an auction comment section. Although we were working with the seller to try and determine the car’s legal status, that became irrelevant as the seller’s attitude progressed. Whether the car is legal or not, bad behavior has no place on Cars & Bids!”

Ultimately, the takeaway is clear: never buy a car unless you’re absolutely sure that it’s legal to use in the manner you intend. It would’ve been a tough path had someone bought this Altezza only to have their local state tell them it’s not getting a title until it turns 25. Unless, of course, they were willing to wait eight months…