Hey everyone I was just wanting to find out what you all thought of this idea, Of buying cars directly from japan/ Europe online, used and new. I can already tell some used ones are much cheaper. but what do you guys think of the idea?
Hey everyone I was just wanting to find out what you all thought of this idea, Of buying cars directly from japan/ Europe online, used and new. I can already tell some used ones are much cheaper. but what do you guys think of the idea?
I hear that ones that aren't 25 years old tend to be nice and compact if NTHSA and EPA get wind of it...
even the ones that meet their standards ?
Make sure they are 25 years old...
Mazdax605 wrote: Make sure they are 25 years old...
I have one of those weird piles like your avatar sitting at my shop right now, because I wasn't at the front counter to shoot the guy as he came through the door.
To the OP:
Buy one if you can source parts yourself, and repair it yourself. Bring it to just about any shop, and you will either get thrown out or have the financial bat jammed so far up your butt you'll be walking on tiptoe for the rest of your life.
They are a glorious pain in the ass for me.
Streetwiseguy wrote:Mazdax605 wrote: Make sure they are 25 years old...I have one of those weird piles like your avatar sitting at my shop right now, because I wasn't at the front counter to shoot the guy as he came through the door.
Why the hate on the Delica? I love mine.
That's a very short list (and can be viewed on the NTHSA website IIRC). Most cars don't meet the standards even if they're supposedly the same model.
Also don't forget to include shipping cost (not cheap), damage to the car while shipping, customs and landing fees etc etc etc. In most cases importing a "normal" car isn't worth the hassle even before you try to buy parts for it.
I love obscure cars, but would never want a wrong hand drive car (ie opposite of the normal for whatever country) . Whats the import scene like from left hand countries? Germany?
Mazdax605 wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote:Why the hate on the Delica? I love mine.Mazdax605 wrote: Make sure they are 25 years old...I have one of those weird piles like your avatar sitting at my shop right now, because I wasn't at the front counter to shoot the guy as he came through the door.
I'm sure its a wonderful vehicle with absolutely no parts or service information available in this country, unless you want to cultivate an online life where you can spend half your life figuring out what to buy for it, and from whom.
I can't afford to do that for Delica owners, and you can't afford to pay me to do it.
I was just pointing out to the op that life can get complicated with an orphan. E36 M3, you may recall my anti Saab rants, and I like Saabs.
Streetwiseguy wrote:Mazdax605 wrote:I'm sure its a wonderful vehicle with absolutely no parts or service information available in this country, unless you want to cultivate an online life where you can spend half your life figuring out what to buy for it, and from whom. I can't afford to do that for Delica owners, and you can't afford to pay me to do it. I was just pointing out to the op that life can get complicated with an orphan. E36 M3, you may recall my anti Saab rants, and I like Saabs.Streetwiseguy wrote:Why the hate on the Delica? I love mine.Mazdax605 wrote: Make sure they are 25 years old...I have one of those weird piles like your avatar sitting at my shop right now, because I wasn't at the front counter to shoot the guy as he came through the door.
the basic problem is that the fed regulations require a cert of some kind, most of the time this is satisfied at the time of manufacture by the car company for the market the car will be sold in.
if you bring in a car from a non US market, you can't get a fed cert without a company performing the a commitment to a cert (like a shop or a manufacturer). afaik virtually no companies will do this, so the car will never be street legal.
at least, this is what i learned from the debacle around trying to bring JDM nissan Skylines over.... grain of salt and all that.
In reply to madmallard:
That's when you try to bring in a vehicle that's not to Fed specs and less than 25 years old (and not for display purposes or a race car). You have to go via a registered importer. That's mucho dineros.
What the OP alludes to is that there is a very short list of vehicles and model years that are essentially considered conformant without going through a registered importer. There aren't that many, IIRC you still have to make changes and the last time I looked, most of them were about as desirable as a beige Honda Accord.
There's also the other problem with buying vehicles online for importation, aka you can't see how big a shed they are. I wouldn't do it without boots on the ground in the source country, either my own or some trustworthy individual's.
The trick would be to get something that either shares an engine with something already in the states, or is pretty much the same thing as something sold in the states, just with a different body.
For me that'd be an Isuzu NHR Flexitruck passenger/microbus body. Apparently they get pretty good MPG and are incredibly easy to fix.
gamby wrote:Streetwiseguy wrote:Mazdax605 wrote:I'm sure its a wonderful vehicle with absolutely no parts or service information available in this country, unless you want to cultivate an online life where you can spend half your life figuring out what to buy for it, and from whom. I can't afford to do that for Delica owners, and you can't afford to pay me to do it. I was just pointing out to the op that life can get complicated with an orphan. E36 M3, you may recall my anti Saab rants, and I like Saabs.Streetwiseguy wrote:Why the hate on the Delica? I love mine.Mazdax605 wrote: Make sure they are 25 years old...I have one of those weird piles like your avatar sitting at my shop right now, because I wasn't at the front counter to shoot the guy as he came through the door.
And he called my precious Delica a pile. He really mad.
Not mad, just telling the other side of the story. I have no problem with you dealing with whatever you want to deal with. I have people come in here and bitch me out because I can't fix their weird AWD minivan in an afternoon. That, I don't want to deal with. Last summer, I had an old couple from BC show up with some sort of 3 cylinder 800cc turbo AWD microvan, and they were really upset I couldn't get them back on the road instantly. They shouldn't have bought it, and certainly shouldn't be a thousand miles from home with it.
Heres some information if you still want to pursue it. This is the declaration form that will tell you the ways you might be able to import a car http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/HS7_r.v.7.pdf
and do some general reading on these two pages: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/import/FAQ%20Site/pages/page2.html
Just a quick update- the Delica is sitting on my hoist, while the rebuilder is trying to source a regulator, but its too expensive for the owner,, so there is an alternator coming from some guy in Winnipeg, which will be wrong or broken. Meanwhile, I'm now into two days with a hoist tied up with Delica that smells of mouse urine and catpoo, which is in the litter box in the back.
Weird people are weird. I'll post again if it ever gets fixed, and I'll regale you with tales of the moaning and bitching that goes along with the bill.
To reiterate- If you want to own a JDM weirdomobile, don't expect me to sacrifice. Its on you.
And I'm not too mad yet, but by about Wednesday, I probably will be.
I'll have you know I work on my weirdomobile all by myself. Well all of my weirdomobiles that is. I have several.
Streetwiseguy wrote: Not mad, just telling the other side of the story. I have no problem with you dealing with whatever you want to deal with. I have people come in here and bitch me out because I can't fix their weird AWD minivan in an afternoon. That, I don't want to deal with. Last summer, I had an old couple from BC show up with some sort of 3 cylinder 800cc turbo AWD microvan, and they were really upset I couldn't get them back on the road instantly. They shouldn't have bought it, and certainly shouldn't be a thousand miles from home with it.
I want an 800cc 3-cylinder turbo AWD micro-van!
Mazdax605 wrote: I'll have you know I work on my weirdomobile all by myself. Well all of my weirdomobiles that is. I have several.
And that is completely fine. I own weird E36 M3 myself, but you and I both understand the difficulties of such things.
Sounds like you hate the owners of said jdm vehicles more than the vehicle. I'm okay with that.
JamesMcD wrote: I want an 800cc 3-cylinder turbo AWD micro-van!
Who doesn't? But you either fix it yourself, or accept that if/when it does go in the shop it's likely to be there a while and cost you dearly. If you can't afford to be without it, you can't afford to own it.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
Just how much does a JDM regulator cost? Curious because I was contemplating importing a Delica myself.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
You should let the GRM community help you source a VR. I find it hard to believe that there is no source for that VR in North America.
Is it 12 or 24v. Are there any part numbers on the alternator or VR? Can you post a picture?
I'm thinking that the part you need could be just a few miles away at a Mitsubishi Fuso truck shop, or a Mitsu or Caterpillar equipment or Forklift dealer. The local Generator/Alternator/Motor repair shop (if you have one) would be a good place to look too.
Edit: If turns out to be an easy find, you don't have to let the customer know. BTDT.
HappyAndy wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: You should let the GRM community help you source a VR. I find it hard to believe that there is no source for that VR in North America. Is it 12 or 24v. Are there any part numbers on the alternator or VR? Can you post a picture? I'm thinking that the part you need could be just a few miles away at a Mitsubishi Fuso truck shop, or a Mitsu or Caterpillar equipment or Forklift dealer. The local Generator/Alternator/Motor repair shop (if you have one) would be a good place to look too. Edit: If turns out to be an easy find, you don't have to let the customer know. BTDT.
And there you go. Of course I can fix it. Of course I can source the parts. Of course I can go online and find a wiring diagram. I can also eventually find Saab parts, I can make British cars stop leaking for a little while, I can tune the carbs and grind the valves on your 51 Merc...but its a pain in the ass, and there are too many people who don't understand that I can happily be making money at something more straightforward.
This attitude actually came from British cars. There has been a series of attitude shifts from lbc owners during my 35 years in the trade- when I first started, they all hated their mechanics, because they had been sold their Marina with the idea that it could be driven every day, as if it were a real car from Japan or the U.S. Time goes by, all the Marinas die, the hardcore hobbyists know the shortcomings of their junk, and appreciate that you can make it leak less and start most of the time for the summer. Another couple of decades goes by, and people who wanted an MGB when they were 10 years old buy one, and think that if they just spend enough money, they can create a Miata from it. They were wrong, and they pissed me off to the point that I gave the last one back to a guy and told him to drift, even though he owed me $4500. I let a good friends big Healey in the shop now. Nothing else with a Union Jack gets through the door.
Its not worth the heartache right now. Maybe when I retire, I might putz in the garage with weird E36 M3 belonging to others, but I have a pretty long list of my own weird stuff to work on first.
Weird dirty little secret: I work on several Fiats...
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