importers and exporters

Yeah unfortunately the auctions are worse than just 20 photos, it's only 3-5 photos, a grade, and even the inspection you can pay for is laughably lacking in details. Circa 2017/18 it was no big deal because prices were good so some fixing wouldn't be a big deal, but with the 2020/2021 explosion in popularity you're now paying "full" price in Japan and then exporting.

That said I have 5 Kei trucks to move and I'll probably be back at it this fall sometime.

The only way I would do it is if I were in Japan, and was able to put it through a fine toothed comb.

If you care you can see the work I’ve had to put into my JDM GT-Four. And that was even with a couple of in person inspections and a pre-purchase inspection, which while it might have saved me from purchasing an utter disaster did not save me from tying into a considerable project.

The best GT-Fours I've seen for sale are in the UK. You'll pay more but your communication will go more smoothly. Wish the pound would drop like the Euro did

819_ay - I've been avoiding FB like the plague since I never saw the merits of having to keep up with the joneses and waste tremendous amounts of time having to show everyone what I am doing and humblebragging, etc. But I digress and that's likely my unpopular opinion. My wife has FB, so maybe I will try to message him with her account.

earthmanjupiter - I think if I were a skilled mechanic and very versed in the vehicles I was interested in, I would feel a little less apprehensive about buying something without being able to inspect, see, or at least have more detail. If I saw one I liked stateside, I would consider driving or flying to see it firsthand and calling a mechanic friend to help or come along.

Roreri - I've lurked on here awhile and did read through your thread and enjoyed it. I don't think I ever posted, but I certainly feel like you have provided a lot of good insight of what it has been like to own a 30+ year old Japanese sports car that I have always loved (some friends would say irrationally).

simple - It certainly would be easier to deal with someone from England. I did buy JDM STi Version 7 wheels years ago for my 2002 bugeye WRX. They never imported those wheels on this side of the pond, and once I saw them in photos, I just had to have them. Subaru stud bolts leave something to be desired though. I spent most of tonight replacing a broken bolt that sheared off of my current WRX, when all I intended to do was take the wheel off to fix a tire leak that was getting progressively worse. The highlight of that whole experience was my 8-year old son telling me, "Dad, I think it's really cool that you can do all this, and that you let me help you."

I think I may just need to wait until I find something that I can look at and am comfortable with pulling the trigger on. It may take awhile since it seems the ST185s are so far and few between.

Paulytunes thanks--it's been a real journey! I'll be blunt: You need to have a $5K to $10K war chest--I screwed up a bit and got some unnecessary things done that I could have done myself (fluids, especially). And I've laid in some duplicate expenses. I got some steel BBS lug nuts for $50 then three weeks later some ultralight N75 Racing lug nuts for $110 as one example. A couple of different air filters as another because I couldn't make up my mind. A couple of sets of spark plugs because I couldn't make up my mind platinum or iridium.

But even if I were to eliminate any dupes or bad choices, there still would have been big expenses to stabilize it--my not setting the parking brake and wrecking the front end didn't help. And I assume that any JDM import will entail figuring out what's busted or dealing with what comes loose after you've had it a while, because of the length of time these are almost certain to have been sitting unused.

I'm jealous of your son liking to help you. Mine comes out in the garage and peeks in and slips away. He at least recognizes hard work when he sees it but (not to his credit) he wants nothing to do with the smell of gear oil penetrating oil and gasoline.

ST185s come around now and again--hell, one just sold last week! I think the ship has sailed on JDM ST185 imports for the most part, because the 1993s were able to be imported (to the US) in 2018 and, well, unless there's a unicorn someone's been saving, they're imported.

Roreri - Understood. Given the age and nature of these cars, it's not likely that I am going to find any car that is completely sorted to my liking or that is immaculate immediately at purchase. Of course, that wouldn't be very much fun either.

I'm trying to foster my son's interest in cars and so far we do share a common interest/hobby. I just hope it stays that way. For now, I can at least (hopefully) justify the expenses of having a classic car with father/son bonding time and activities. Or that's at least what I'll tell my wife when I spend lots of money on a part, heh heh.

Paulytunes":3l19kkla said:

819_ay - I've been avoiding FB like the plague since I never saw the merits of having to keep up with the joneses and waste tremendous amounts of time having to show everyone what I am doing and humblebragging, etc. But I digress and that's likely my unpopular opinion. My wife has FB, so maybe I will try to message him with her account.

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Don't need Facebook, here his site: https://rb-auto.ca/