Car Shopping Across the Pacific

Recently while browsing the "local rice" thread on my favorite forum, ClubRoadster.net, I stumbled across something of a treasure trove for the Japanese car enthusiast. Somebody posted a link to a used Miata listing ("Roadster" in Japan) with a particularly... striking body kit. And, while such a vehicle was certainly... interesting to look at, I quickly became distracted by the offerings on the rest of the website.

The Miata/Roadster in Question

To my surprise and absolute delight, the website, Goo-Net Exchange, turned out to be the Japanese equivalent of AutoTrader. And, just like AutoTrader, you can shop around for absolutely any Japanese car you can imagine, and yes, that includes the greats like the Skyline GT-R. But it's not just limited to that, not at all, Goo-Net has listings that range from sports cars like the aforementioned GT-R, to tiny "Kei" cars, Japanese microcars with engines in the 600cc range.

Mid-engine, RWD, 660cc Honda Beat

Naturally, it should be expected that Japan would have an online car shopping website, but what makes this site particularly distinctive, is that the prices on most vehicles are listed in US dollars. More amazingly, was that most vehicles were priced, and still are, quite reasonably; more so than I ever expected. For example, the Mazda Eunos Cosmo, a personal luxury coupe with an exclusive 2.0L 3 rotor engine, and a low, sleek body that has a presence all its own, only costs $10,400. Now it is worth noting that this particular example is 20 years old, but it only has 68,350 miles! And, because of Japan's rigorous vehicle inspections called "shakens", it should be in very good shape.

Mazda Eunos Cosmo; The only production 3 rotor car

However, there are catches that aren't immediately apparent. Surprisingly though, shipping isn't really one of them. The cost actually isn't too bad for such a long sea voyage to reach North America. To ship, say, the sporty Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R pictured below, to New West Minster, British Columbia, Canada, would only cost $984 on top of its already quite reasonable $5,970 price tag. So for around $7k, you can drive the FWD sports coupe Mitsubishi should've brought instead of, or maybe in addition to, the third generation Eclipse. Now yes, you would have to arrange another company to deliver the car then from New West Minster to where ever you reside. However, a better option would be a monster road trip with your best buddy to pick up your new-to-you JDM awesomeness. You might want to pay for his/her gas and food though.

Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R

Really, the biggest catch when it comes to imported cars, is that, for the most part, they're illegal. Much to the chagrin of import car enthusiasts nation wide, it is nearly impossible to get a foreign market car into the country, and, even if you do get that far, it's a really risky proposition. Google something like "skyline seizure" or "crushed skyline" or something else similar, and you will find numerous stories about people that brought over varying examples of the legendary GT-R, only to have the Feds snatch them up and destroy them. There have been many attempts at finding work-arounds, but really, the only safe way to import a car, is to wait 25 years. Yes, you can import a foreign market car, but only if it is 25 years old or older. The reasoning, I don't know for sure, but frankly, I think the government has far more important things than crushing innocent people's beloved automobiles. Sadly though, the laws are there, and they are enforced. So, you can wait that long, or move to Canada, where the wait is only 15 years. And before you try, no you can't import to Canada first, and then import across the border.

Mitsubishi Galant GTO; Old School JDM

That being said, the 25 year thing isn't all bad. Afterall, that Mitsubishi Galant up above is totally fair game, and who wouldn't want to rock an old school Japanese performance car? And, this is just Japanese imports I'm talking about. There's loads of European sports cars and hot hatchbacks that would be a blast to drive that have reached import age. Admittedly though, that doesn't help the wait for more recent models. Who knows, maybe you could get away with an Impreza or RX-7 here in Indiana (Yes, I'm a Hoosier). Afterall, you can get away with just about anything as long as it's not too loud or obviously dangerous, and there are no vehicle inspections. But, even in the most conducive environment, the risk is still high.

If the person at the DMV asks, yes, you did a right hand drive conversion

Anyway, if you've got a bit of time on your hands check out Goo-Net Exchange and browse the wonderful offerings Japan didn't ship here. In the meantime, I'll be counting down the years until I can import something, there are so many to choose from.