Aloha Gentlemen, To anyone's knowledge, are there any Hawaiian state laws that prevent one from licensing a 25 year-old, DOT exempt, gray market car? I'm thinking of another Lancia Stratos or a 512BB and the car would be going to the Big Island. Even though these cars are Federally DOT exempt, states like California make it difficult, if not impossible to get these past emissions tests. Big Island doesn't do emissions, but I wonder if there is some fine-print prohibiting gray market cars anyway. I looked at this Autoweek article: http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/use-step-step-guide-import-your-gray-market-dream-car So it looks like a Stratos from Europe would be difficult, but if the Boxer is already registered on the mainland, it will have a VIN assigned to it. Mahalo!
I am interested in this as well, as I have an Arizona-registered Euro Dry Sump 308 GTB I would like to bring to my home on O'ahu.
No laws that I know of. I had a grey market 635csi, an 85 Carrera and a friend has a grey market 89 930. There was also a 512bbi here that I believe is now on the mainland, and there were a couple others here throughout the years. There was a Stratos on Maui about 10 years ago, too.
Assuming you already have a title from another state, it usually is not an issue. However, I would not suggest importing directly into the state as that is another story. On the Big Island, it is very easy especially if the car is virtually stock. You must obtain a safety inspection and then simply present your ownership title from another state. On Oahu, you will also need to get a safety inspection. However, when you go to title the car, the DMV will send your car to Motor Vehicle Services for another inspection. This is because of your non-compliant or vintage VIN number, which cannot be automatically read on their computer systems. Generally if it is stock, MVS will inspect and pass. However sometimes they randomly pick on items, such as not having non DOT compliant headlights, and force you to make changes to pass their inspection. If you are patient and respectful, you can work your way through it.
There have been a lot of gray market cars here. There is no emission check done here so that has never come up as an issue. There might be some question about out of state paperwork. This being Hawaii, a lot depends on the person (and the mood) of the DMV clerk. I would suggest mailing copies of your mainland title and registration to the DMV politely asking if the paperwork was sufficient to obtain Hawaii title and registration. I did this with a New York registered Austin Cooper S. When the car arrived and I went to the DMV, I was told the title did not meet Hawaii requirements. I pulled out my letter and suddenly things changed and it all worked. I think a car with a "normal" VIN and a mainland title would have no problem. At one time, some mainland states were "non-title" states and the DMV was on the lookout for possible stolen cars. If I remember correctly, cars in Massachusetts were sold with just a hand written bill of sale at one time.
Here is another 'wrinkle" that occured to me. It must be something recent as I never had to jump through this hoop. A friend recently brought in a normal, mass produced GM product. He was told that it had to go to "re-con" because it was over a certain age. I think it was either 20 or 25 years. "Re-con" is that place under the freeway at Waialae Ave. where someone physically inspects the car. I am not sure what they are looking for. I wonder if the car had the 17 digit VIN that identified it as European would cause any trouble. I wouldn't imagine that a pre-17 digit car would be any problem. This might be another area to look into for someone bringing in a car. The sense I get from people that have gone through the "re-con" inspection is that they are helpful and are not looking to make trouble. It is easy to do, but be aware that if the car is not in the DMV's list they will require it to be weighed. The road tax is calculated on vehicle weight. For the last car that I did, the weigh station was on Hau St. That is close to the Dillingham St. prison, right across the street from Maguire Bearing.
The re-con sticker they used to put on the windshield I would assume would take a hit to the value. Do they still put on that sticker?
Hmmm. I don't know the answer to that question. I have not seen one of those stickers in years. The sticker was for cars that had been substantially "re-constructed" : raised up, very large wheels and tires, big fender flares. The fellow that went with the GM car had a completely stock and original vehicle. I am guessing that the DMV just wanted a verification of the VIN. I have never seen such a sticker on any gray market car.
Cool. Had a buddy at K-bay with a '68 Firebird with the sticker due to a rebuild after a wreck. Early '90s in the days before CarFax, or even the WWW...
