# Would there be any legal issues?



## JstCruzn (Mar 19, 2013)

Hey guys. One thing I am curious about - I plan on turning my Cruze into a Mercedes look alike but will not have any Mercedes-Benz logos anywhere on my car (the Cruze and Chevy logos will be de-badged). Now, with that being said - would there be any legal issues if I do that? I'm just curious because I do not want to run into legal and/or any other issues. 

The project: Mercedes LEDs tail lights, LED DRLs, Mercedes-like Grill, and a Rear Diffuser that looks very similar.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I am not a lawyer, and don't know Arizona law. That being said, I don't envision any legal issues with doing a Mercedes look-alike, especially if the badges are left off.


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## iKermit (Dec 13, 2010)

As long as no badges are put onto the car, there should be no issues. If anything you will get a call from Mercedes telling you "Why not just buy a benz"


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## Sunline Fan (Jul 29, 2012)

I don't know AZ law either, but I don't suspect any issues. If you were in an accident or the car was suspected in some other police activity, I would think they would go strictly by the VIN and match it up to what's on your registration

However, if it was stolen, you might want to let the police know and give them a pic, so they know they aren't looking for an ordinary Cruze...


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## RoadRage (May 19, 2012)

The grill wont fit unless you get it made to fit from a body shop. Even if you did slap on the Mercedes star, nobody, not even execs, salesman or any affiliate from Mercedes will care or possibly try to prosecute you for it. Its actually paying homage ala throwback NYC inner-city style car customization. (For those that didnt know, I am enclosing a picture from Master Ace's Born to Roll video where an Isuzu Amigo turned into the first M320)...
View attachment 13929


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## JstCruzn (Mar 19, 2013)

iKermit said:


> As long as no badges are put onto the car, there should be no issues. If anything you will get a call from Mercedes telling you "Why not just buy a benz"


Haha of course, there's a good chance that'll happen.



Sunline Fan said:


> I don't know AZ law either, but I don't suspect any issues. If you were in an accident or the car was suspected in some other police activity, I would think they would go strictly by the VIN and match it up to what's on your registration
> 
> However, if it was stolen, you might want to let the police know and give them a pic, so they know they aren't looking for an ordinary Cruze...


That's a great point - I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know.



RoadRage said:


> The grill wont fit unless you get it made to fit from a body shop. Even if you did slap on the Mercedes star, nobody, not even execs, salesman or any affiliate from Mercedes will care or possibly try to prosecute you for it. Its actually paying homage ala throwback NYC inner-city style car customization. (For those that didnt know, I am enclosing a picture from Master Ace's Born to Roll video where an Isuzu Amigo turned into the first M320)...
> View attachment 13929


I know the grill is not a direct replacement, but I just got a job at a pro custom auto shop so that is not a problem :th_dblthumb2: I have not seen that video before but I'll check it out.


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## goinovr (May 6, 2013)

People have been doing this kind of mod for decades. Some of you are too young to remember the Toyota Tercel to BMW 3 series conversions. I have never heard of anyone getting into legal trouble even with the badges on their car.


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## RoadRage (May 19, 2012)

goinovr said:


> People have been doing this kind of mod for decades. Some of you are too young to remember the Toyota Tercel to BMW 3 series conversions. I have never heard of anyone getting into legal trouble even with the badges on their car.


LOL..I remember that...I even remember 325i's with Rotary engines ( I lived in a west-indian neighborhood).


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## Smurfenstein (Nov 16, 2011)

My question to you is, with all the custom shop potential, why not make a nice Cruze, instead of a fake/poser Benz?

You can make it look like a Benz all you want, but unless you buy a real one you will still be driving a Chevy. Besides, I personally don't know which is the greater insult, to Benz for trying to pass a domestic as their own, or as a Chevy trying to make it look "better" like a Benz. I would go with the latter.

I don't know, its your Cruze do what you want, but I just don't see the reasoning behind it.


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## silverls (Nov 12, 2011)

Of course every state tends to be a little different.

However I would not, if i were you, put the badges on the car car. which you said you were not going to so no problem there.


Some states have adopted laws against rebadging a vehicle citing it as suspicious behavior. The thought is that most people out there cant tell one car from the next. they simply read he badges. so you go buy a ford van and chevy badges on it and rob a bank. the innocent bystander reports seeing a chevyvan leaving the scene and so the police (who are pretty good at recognizing vehicles) aren't looking for a ford.

obviously this would be quite a stretch for you knowing your plans, however i thought i would sharre. changing the way your vehicle looks is perfectly fine. but badging it as something other than it is may end up being a bad idea.


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## MINI 3NI (Sep 11, 2011)

...and i thought to myself.....isn't our cars technically an import but re-badged with domestic emblems........


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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

MINI 3NI said:


> ...and i thought to myself.....isn't our cars _technically_ an *import* but re-badged with domestic emblems........


Uh, no. Although the Cruze was born a Daewoo Lacetti, what we buy here in USA and Canada is actually manufactured here in North America: bodies in Lordstown, Ohio, engines in Flint, Michigan, and _some_ transmissions in Mexico.

So-o-o-o, you might say the Cruze has Korean parents, but the birth certificate is written in English and stamped "...made in USA..." even hough about 80%+ of all the components come from somewhere other than USA (global GM!).


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

70AARCUDA said:


> Uh, no. Although the Cruze was born a Daewoo Lacetti, what we buy here in USA and Canada is actually manufactured here in North America: bodies in Lordstown, Ohio, engines in Flint, Michigan, and _some_ transmissions in Mexico.
> 
> So-o-o-o, you might say the Cruze has Korean parents, but the birth certificate is written in English and stamped "...made in USA..." even hough about 80%+ of all the components come from somewhere other than USA (global GM!).


More like a Korean/German love child got started overseas, but wound up being born in the USA after the parents re-located to Detroit.


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## MjC (Dec 23, 2012)

I would be interested in seeing the results and im pretty sure no one will give you any trouble about the car.
It could be much worse like the people installing ferrari body kits to cover up a different car.
Where I live, there are quite a few acuras with honda badges.


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## JstCruzn (Mar 19, 2013)

goinovr said:


> People have been doing this kind of mod for decades. Some of you are too young to remember the Toyota Tercel to BMW 3 series conversions. I have never heard of anyone getting into legal trouble even with the badges on their car.


I didn't know anything about that conversion, that's pretty cool.



Smurfenstein said:


> My question to you is, with all the custom shop potential, why not make a nice Cruze, instead of a fake/poser Benz?
> 
> You can make it look like a Benz all you want, but unless you buy a real one you will still be driving a Chevy. Besides, I personally don't know which is the greater insult, to Benz for trying to pass a domestic as their own, or as a Chevy trying to make it look "better" like a Benz. I would go with the latter.
> 
> I don't know, its your Cruze do what you want, but I just don't see the reasoning behind it.


I personally don't like the tail lights and the way the rear bumper was designed on our Cruzes so I wanted to do something about it. I love the LEDs on the Mercedes Benz and their cars, but it is not economical enough for me. Which is why I bought the Cruze. So it's a win-win situation for me.



silverls said:


> Of course every state tends to be a little different.
> 
> However I would not, if i were you, put the badges on the car car. which you said you were not going to so no problem there.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I won't be badging the car - I can see why that would cause some legal issues and is against the law in certain states.



MjC said:


> I would be interested in seeing the results and im pretty sure no one will give you any trouble about the car.
> It could be much worse like the people installing ferrari body kits to cover up a different car.
> Where I live, there are quite a few acuras with honda badges.


I will start a build thread with pictures on here when I'm ready to take on the project.


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