Guys, since my usual FS posts get thread-whored up… I’ll take some time to answer some questions about importing JDM cars… Just random info based on our 3 years experience importing cars…
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A Skyline… is not a Skyline… is not a Skyline… What do I mean? You get what you pay for… Buy a cheapy car, be prepared to spend $$$ fixing it… It can get costly too… For example; most people cannot tell the difference between a good Skyline and a beat one… Yet they try to compare them solely on price… So what happens? Skylines become the next Civic (sorry) and no one can appreciate why one Skyline is worth 25K and another 15K…
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Why are your prices higher than others? I can get the same car for a lot less… See above… We don’t source our cars from Japan sites that sell junk status cars… We pay a premium for our cars; trying to get the ones in the best condition; best options, and uniqueness; that warrants the price… We rather have the piece of mind that the customer loves their car and not worry about selling a lemon…
We spend more to ship our cars right… 1.5 months to 2 months and your car is here safely in Toronto… No hassles, no worries… Period.
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Fall & Winter is the best time to buy a JDM car… Spring/Summer are the worst… Why? More cars are available during the colder months in Japan, most people are away or driving their car in Japan Spring/Summer… so less cars, and more demand jacks the purchase price of the car…
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I see this super cheap car on Yahoo or some other Japanese used car site… Why won’t you import it? A lot of these cars are in questionable state and may not be legal to export… There’s a reason they are being sold so cheap…
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Do not buy a JDM car from the North, rust is a problem for those areas… see a rusty JDM car; more than likely it’s a junker status car that was imported here for cheap… We only buy rust free southern cars… with accurate odometer readings…
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New models, as the time goes on; bigger and better JDM cars are eligible for import… the closer the car comes to eligible import date; the more the purchase/sell price increases… Cars can be imported to Canada if they are 15 years or older based on manufacture date…
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Is Transport Canada considering changing the import laws to 25 years? YES! They are under heavy pressure to stem the growing number of imports… Consumers are realising that they can get a better car for less in Japan… I traded my 2005 BMW 330i for a JDM 1992 Subaru WRX with 155,000 kms… my WRX is faster and more reliable than my BMW… And I am payment free…
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Is RHD hard to drive? NO! It takes about a day to get used to… We drive both RHD and LHD without thinking about it… Left turns get easy… just wait till traffic clears…
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Is RHD tough to insure? Generally no… get a 19a Insurance Policy (based on appraisal value) and you should be fine… the car is 15 years old so it shouldn’t be too bad… You just need to shop around…
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Where do I get parts? As JDM imports become more common; parts are becoming readily available from retail and private sources… There are some Nissan dealerships in Ontario that are willing to lookup and order JDM parts for you… Ajax Nissan is one of them… Ask for Bala…
Also for Nissan’s they are usually a mismash from the Nissan parts bin… For other vehicles; you may be able to find some similarities to North American vehicles… For example… Many Z32 and s14 parts are interchangeable with R32 parts… Do a search on google or get someone with Nissan Fast to do a parts X-reference…
Daryl at JDMSPEEDSHOP.com (Japan) is a good source to get parts from Japan.
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Who can repair my vehicle? This is tricky… some of the Nissan work is very straight forward; other jobs require a mechanic with experience working on the car; otherwise you will spend a lot of time and effort to do the job yourself…
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LHD & RHD vehicles are available in Japan… Many of the European cars in Japan are LHD. Sometimes you get LHD Japanese cars as well… I’ve seen Lexus and Acuras that are LHD…
I’ll post up more later…