Sc400on20s

I've been getting pulled over left and right for my modified LEXUS SC400 and I don't even have a extreme drop kit or loud and big mufflers or illegal tints.

My question is:

Here in Honolulu, Hawaii, we have a law that states:

If you modify your car in any way (even just changing your steering wheel) you need to get a RECONSTRUCTION INSPECTION STICKER. What kind of ***** is that. Does any state have this??

And it's really hard to pass the inspection.

1)Can only get 2 plus sizing from your stock size wheels(unless you have a waiver from a reputable shop).
2)No coilovers.
3)No Body Kits allowed without the foam and reinforced brackets.
4)License plate no lower than 24"(or something like that)
5)No fog lights lower than 12"(even OEM)
6)They even inspect your engine mods!
7)Must have your car aligned within the past 3 months of inspection.

No recon sticker ticket is $85.00/each time.

And the list goes on and on..........
The worst part is that it's not for the state of Hawaii because the other islands(ie. Maui, Kauai, etc...) don't have this law.

The price to live in paradise, I guess.

Aznteazer

I live in Los Angeles, and our law here aren't as extreme as yours.

It just depends which area you drive to.

Some areas, cops will be a d!(k and give u a full light inspection, etc.

Some ares, cops dont really enforce it.

lex400sc

I forget the exact wording and logistics, but in California some very obscure law states that you have to report to the DMV for every mod you put on your car over a certain dollar amount or that alters it's appearance/functionality significantly. It is almost never enforced though, which is why almost no one knows about it.

supercoupes

Sc400on20s,

Are you sure you don't live in Switzerland? What you describe is almost exactly how it works here, although the fines are A LOT higher. Depending on the mods, they won't even let you drive home anymore. They have your car towed immediately and have you or a mechanic reverse whatever modifications you may have at the police station. :eek:

Also very popular here: If you have an accident with an 'illegaly' modded car, your insurance will try everything to make your mods look like the cause for the accident so they don't have to pay.
This gets as ridiculous as them saying you lost control over your car because of an aftermarket rear spoiler :eek:

lex400sc

Wow, that sounds like hell.......

supercoupes

Well, I guess everything has its benefits. Nothing beats the sight of one of those typical wannabe racecars like Puntos, Golfs or Civics getting pulled over for their B747 tailwing sized spoilers and their exhausts closely resembling a nuclear powerplant's cooling tower.

BLK13X

I second that, here in Australia as well (well, in Sydney anyway). Here's a load of bull***** that we have to put up with from the cops...

- Undue noise. I got pulled over by a cop last night asking me to turn down the volume (it was only quarter way up)... in CHINATOWN. Now, Chinatown has to be one of the most loudest streets in the city at night, and there were other people with big-*** systems pumping on the other side of the road. Undue noise? Yeah right... Also, if they were to fine me it would've been a $150 on the spot fine. **** that! This goes for exhausts as well. If the cops measure the sound level of the exhaust and it's on/over 90dB @ 4000rpm you get rooted as well and get a defect notice otherwise they impound your car. :eek:

- Wheel size. The legality is +2 dia/width. Anything more you need an engineer's certificate to certify that the car can still handle these size wheels... of course they can handle them...

- Tinted windows. Mirror tinting is basically illegal, anything that's over around 40/45% tinted is the max.

- Lowering. The law here in NSW is that there has to be at least 120mm ground clearance from the body to the ground... There goes fitting bodykit...

- Auxiliary lighting. Now this is really stupid. It's illegal in NSW to have auxiliary lighting on your car. So say you bought a nice pair of PIAA HID lighting systems, and you turn them on. If you get caught with them ON you get fined $70!!! Those little rice washer jet lights?? They're included as well.


And the list goes on... So what's next?? Lexus/JDM badging? Going by this list I wouldn't be surprised...

awj

They are just jealous. Damn, I guess Kentucky is good for one thing. You can do anything to your car and as long as you are not speeding or driving drunk, it doesn't matter.

hellasboy

I guess I should look into my local laws (colorado)... so far I know that it is illegal to...
•modifying the exhaust in any fashion from stock (if it is 1db higher than oem, it can be considered illegal. if oem is an H pipe and you go to an X pipe, boom, illegal)
•modifying the suspension in anyway is illegal (for some reason you can get by with a coilover suspension but non-oem shocks and springs are a no no)

I know that the 2 above are definite laws, i'll check to see for more.

jimmit

Wow here in florida no cops car about what you got done to your car. I've seen so many illegal things done to cars its so obvious but no cops pull anyone over for mods. The law here says something like the front bumper cants be higher than 24inches or lower than I think like 12 inches. You'd be amazed at how many cars bumpers practically touch the ground and how many trucks are like skyscrappers. No cop here pulls you over for mods. Only speedy and drunk driving. I guess we got it pretty easy. My cousin in jersey paid over a total of $1100 in tickets for mods on his car. Oh well thats life for ya

Sc400on20s

Holly molly!

I thought that Hawaii was tough on laws

I guess that every state/country has their own laws.
I can understand why it's there but(not to be bias) we own a LEXUS, not a honda with APC parts. No aftermarket company makes cheap and unsafe parts for our car......TEIN, BLITZ, BORLA, EIBACH, HKS, ETC.....the list goes on!

I understand that most parts are not approved for street use but come on, your telling me that a set of OEM suspension is better than a set of TEIN's? or our 16x6.5 with tires that last 50,000 miles will out perform my 19x10.5 w/ 275's? I don't think so.


On a side note:

Last night I was riding my Honda RC51 and I got pulled over becuase of my exhaust(Moriwaki's) being to loud(he let me off).
As I was being pulled over, a Harley passed us and that thing, I swear had no mufflers. It was so loud and he didn't even notice it.

I have nothing against Harleys(I want one in the future) but Police around here stereo type cars, motorcycles, even people....

Just because my cars looks fast, which it's not(totally stock engine) or because Sprots bikes are killer fast, does that mean all sport bike ridders ride like that? NO!!!!!!!!!!!

AussieLs400

Just thought I'd let you know about some of the laws on the west half of Australia, they are basically as Soarer_25Gtt stated, but it is illegal to fit a supercharger to any V8 above 4L, All modifications to the mechanical/braking/body setup have to be approved by a main roads (transport department) engineer BEFORE you start, all engine swaps must be engineer and emission approved. Basically anything you want to modify besides just hanging panels requires some sort of approval from the transport dept and even then they have all sorts of restrictions. Great place to live, not so great place to drive modified cars.

TNH

Sc400on20s,

I live in Honolulu, and I didn't know about any of those laws!

I see tons of cars that are completely modded out over here. I thought it was pretty kick back compared to other places that I have lived. (you are right about the other islands in the state though, on the big island, you can do ANYTHING ).

Maybe they are really strict here, because tons of people have huge trucks with big tires on the other islands, but I don't see anything very big over here.

bizzy928

Sc400on20s

As for the Harley that passed you... Bikes are supposed to have loud exhaust. Call it a "safety feature" if you want. Its basically to let other cars know that the bike is nearing and for the drivers to be more cautious.