skylines - import versus already here

maybe kanaric will step up here with some real world experience.

i made myself a promise a couple years ago that every automotive related decision at that point on that was not related to a daily driver or challenge cars would be leading to me getting a skyline. mostly i've been able to stick to that. i have not purchased any toys that were not planned to be challenge cars, and i've made a few dollars on some bought, intentionally or not, to flip. i've broken even on a couple and am going to lose my behind on one, but generally i do OK on car or part transactions even if the intent at the time is to use the vehicle and it ends up being not so good. at this point i've got a massive parts inventory and it's time to start liquidating. i am pretty good at scouring the clearance racks at summit racing and grabbing things that are 70+% off and selling them online for about 75-90% of retail, and have built up enough car fund that it's time to start getting serious about the last few grand and maybe to some swap meets for the heavier bits and ebay the crap out of the rare stuff.

so now that it's time to get serious, there are 3 apparent options.

1: buy through someone like pacific coast JDM, who shops on your behalf for a rather hefty fee, saving you the legwork and retail markup.

2: buy through a dealer like japanese classics in VA who imports them, does all the work, and marks them up to retail

3: do it all myself. this seems daunting but i have a couple things going for me.

my cousin Joe will be in japan with an internship at a theme park somewhere near kyoto and the university where he did his junior year of college in an exchange program. he has a buddy Kazu there who was here 2 years ago, that i got to meet at christmas. Kazu's brother has an r32 GTR and from what i understand is quite a gearhead, and is willing to help me source/inspect/purchase a vehicle and between Joe being a japanese major and Kazu being an english major, we have bridged the communication barrier quite well. None of us, however, have ever dealt with the customs/shipping end. that seems where the monkey wrench gets tossed in no matter which of option 1 or 3 you go for.

so I'm at a bit of a fork in the road here. i pretty much want the car kanaric imported(if you want to sell it let me know). gts-t coupe, 5 speed rwd and clean. i don't want to pay the godzilla tax for a gtr, nor do i want the additional moving parts of the all wheel drive system for a summer only driver.

any thoughts? i don't want a headache, but i don't want to overpay by 5 grand. maybe it's because the taillights of the r32 are burned into my existence from playing GT2 on my ps2 when i was in my late teens, but i feel like this is something i need to do for myself. my dad always had the goal of harley by age 50 and he's 58 with no bike and keeps talking about wanting to be able to get there someday. i don't want my someday to never come. i've had my corvette already, i finally bought myself a new truck, i'm selling or parting 6 vehicles right now to get down to just quality instead of quantity, and i do not want any more projects. i want a turn key and go fun car that will give me many smiles and turn some heads that i can take my kids along for the ride in and leave stock. the datsun is an insane blast on the street, but it has one seat and is a straight up racecar that just happens to be plated and insured.

Have you driven one yet Pat? My only thoughts would be that we're often at least a bit disappointed once we finally drive our dream-cars, or have to live with one for an extended period. It would probably be worth your time/money to find someone who would let you take theirs for a spin vs. going through the time/effort/expense to get one, then realize a short time later it wasn't what you'd hoped. Unless you can get it cheap enough to get out of it without losing your ass - which if anyone can find the deals, it's definitely you!

When you get it and if you don't like call me, I want it. 4 door would be better. I have a clone in the barn I have been working on for years. It is next after current build. I have eliminated all other personal projects inorder to build these 2 cars. If I bought one then I wouldn't have to finish building mune. If I can get a drive train for 1100 or less it will be challenge legal. I want a rb25neo set though.

Define "overpay".

You're paying someone for a service, that's different. Despite what some people seem to think, the cheapest way of doing things isn't necessarily the best (and your time is probably worth more than $0, too).

The registration end is actually relatively easy if you have all the paperwork together. I'm about to embark on it again for a couple of motorcycles and the only complication is that I now need a form that I didn't need 6 years ago (yeah, they've been sitting a bit) so I need to lug them back to a port for someone from CBP to inspect. But even with that wrinkle, if you have the foreign ownership documents and the handful of import docs, it's surprisingly straightforward.

The big advantage for using someone like Pacific Coast JDM is that they already know how to handle the shipping and most likely have a customs agent available or recommended at this end. Getting someone who's job it is to clear stuff through customs costs a few hundred bucks but makes the process so much easier it's not funny. Plus keep in mind you'll have to pay for every day the car is at port waiting to clear customs and that's not cheap, so having someone expedite it actually saves money. Oh, and they'll make sure you have all the correct paperwork, too.

There's a good chance that trying to DIY the shipping and customs is going to make it more expensive than having the pro do it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the (relative) bargains in Japan are at auctions, and those are dealer only. IIRC private sales pretty much don't happen in Japan so while having someone on the ground is really good, you still need someone with a dealer license unless you want to buy retail.

I've owned an R32 GTS-T and TBH if I would buy another R32 I'd pay the extra GT-R. The GTS-t isn't a bad car and still performs pretty well, but there's a reason that Godzilla is a legend and the lower echelons aren't.

What would I do?

I'd probably make the trip to VA to check one out in person to see if it doesn't disappoint. If it doesn't but you don't like the price, I'd hit up Pacific Coast Auto or similar. If it does, drive a GT-R .

I can tell you "never meet your heroes". I got to drive the r35 (my dream car) on a track. Needless to say I wouldn't own one. It was slow. Yes, I know, what I'm saying doesn't sound logical, but believe, I met my hero car and was let down.

Do as Tim says; prior to working in the public sector as a buyer I worked in manufacturing and once upon a time had to deal with customs. I'd shy away from doing this yourself, if all goes fine it's not an issue but you'd be surprised at how a minor thing can turn into a major headache.

This is a dream you've worked on for some time. I get where you're coming from as you've been scratching and clawing at it and it's hard to let go of that. I've done the same thing with most of my cars. I drive older cars, my race cars aren't the prettiest etc.

5 years ago I bought myself a brand new fancy Italian dual sport bike (Beta) and despite thinking I must of lost my mind for the money I was spending but it was worth every penny to treat myself. It's a matter of being treated like some guy whose picking up a package or being treated like a customer.

Go test drive the one you want, that's already here and has all the hassles taken care of. I know a couple of people who've gone this route and the companies knew that the purchase was a result of the customer saving their pennies and they really made the experience special. That's so hard to put a value on.

Tom

Import it disassembled?

petegossett wrote: Have you driven one yet Pat? My only thoughts would be that we're often at least a bit disappointed once we finally drive our dream-cars, or have to live with one for an extended period. It would probably be worth your time/money to find someone who would let you take theirs for a spin vs. going through the time/effort/expense to get one, then realize a short time later it wasn't what you'd hoped. Unless you can get it cheap enough to get out of it without losing your ass - which if anyone can find the deals, it's definitely you!

This. definitely drive one first to see if it's actually worth the hassle/cost. One of the guys I work with imported one last year when he moved back from Japan and let me drive it to lunch one day with him. Honestly, I thought it was decent, but compared lightly-modded 09 WRX I thought it (the GT-R) was inferior in in pretty much every single respect, from driving to seats, etc. Sure it has a unique look and all the fanbois will certainly stare, but from a driving point of view....it's not as impressive as it was 25 years ago and you may not enjoy it as much as you think (especially it being RHD).

Not saying you won't love it, just saying to drive one locally before you go through the major effort and cost to get one.

bentwrench wrote: Import it disassembled?

Why? It's not going to make a difference if you want to road register it, other than it being even more hassle.

I know it's a months old ad on the book of faces but, I believe the seller is a guy who used to run NASA events with us before moving to OH, He had some nice Japanese market cars at the time and it's closer than VA if he still has it.

Can't get stuff on facetubes, it wants me to login.

Got outbid on one today, I planned to check in and raise max at end of auction but kids took over and i logged in 3 minutes late to see i got outbid by $300.

We'll see what the future holds.

In reply to patgizz: Well crap on the book of faces access. I don't think he had this listed else where but he might will keep an eye out.

Lately I've seen a ton of Skylines and Silvias on the D.C. craigslist listed for a dollar obviously.:what the: Whilst eye candy I scroll down until I get to the real $300+ Nissans.

I think a skyline drives well, especially if it's the sports versions. It can't be compared to a 2009 wrx though. Compare it to an Impreza of the same vintage and then come talk. Also, that RB motor will walk circles around that silly little flat four, out last it, sound better than it, and handling on a GT-s type S or GT-R is only a matter of coilovers. He rest is race quality from the factory.

Can you combine option #1 and #3? Do the shopping and Japanese legwork yourself, find the car you want, then get the pros to do the shipping and import paperwork for you.