(car engine roaring)
- It's hard to say something new
about the Nissan Skyline GT-R.
This all-wheel drive, turbocharged beast is a dream car
for people all over the world, but the reality is
buying one of these can turn that dream into a nightmare.
Hidden rust, blown engines, swapped odometers,
the US marketplace for imported JDM cars
is in serious trouble.
Buyers are being taken advantage of by two face sellers
looking to make a quick buck.
And the worst part is once you lose your money
there's often nothing you can do about it.
In this video, I wanna set you up for success
and explain the dangers while I do it.
The American urge to import cars
that were never sold here is thing new.
In the year's following World War II,
GIs who had fought in Europe had a real hankering
for the nimble sports cars they saw in country.
Austins, Jags, MGs, no American manufacturer
made anything like these.
So buyers found cars in Europe,
bought them for cheap, and had them shipped over.
This trend was so strong,
it actually inspired Chevy to develop the Corvette,
but that's a story for a different video.
Let's fast forward a bit.
Japanese automakers had a hard time
attracting American buyers.
Prior to the gas crisis, the big three US auto producers,
GM, Ford and Chrysler, had a secure hold in the US market.
That started to change when gas prices skyrocketed.
When Americans saw that Japanese automakers
had more fuel efficient technology available in their cars,
that's what they wanted, not the gas guzzling full size
offerings Detroit was currently cranking out.
Japanese auto manufacturers were already utilizing
robotic manufacturing elements,
producing and installing integrated circuits,
microprocessors and micro controllers
for electronic features in the '70s.
They were clearly far ahead of the big three
in terms of tech.
Japanese passenger car exports were nearing 20%
of Japan's total automobile production in the 1960s.
The gas crisis was boosting that even further,
encouraging even more expansion of brands, models
and manufacturing capacity.
Pair that with the exchange rate of the Japanese Yen
to the US Dollar at the time, and it's no surprise
that passenger car exports in 1975 rose over 18 times,
the 100,000 that went out in 1965.
This stratosphere growth plus a second gas crisis
that included gas rationing throughout the country
at the end of the '70s,
solidified Japan's successful takeover
of the import market in the US.
And as a result, Japanese automakers had an an entirely
new audience who are now interested in their cars.
In the '80s and '90s, cultural forces like video games,
anime and magazines would introduce car nerds
to tons of Japanese cars they had never seen on their roads.
And like the GIs of yester year,
these fans would soon want to have these cars
that were never sold in the US.
Let's start by clearing up a common misconception
about the term JDM.
There's a commonly held belief
that JDM equates to a Japanese produced vehicle
which is not necessarily true.
JDM just means Japanese Domestic Market,
meaning the car was sold there.
A JDM car could have been built in Africa, Australia,
even Italy, then sold in Japan.
Heck, many USDM cars are built down in Mexico
these days for example.
The popular interest in JDM cars is driven in some part
due to the exclusivity of certain models
only produced for sale in the Japanese market.
A bit of supply and demand tug of war, waring collectors
want the they can't easily get their hands on
and it is truly not easy to get a true JDM vehicle.
Yes, you can very easily type, "Buy JDM import car,"
into a search box and find
thousands of cars to buy right now, ask me how I know.
And yes, you can easily buy them.
It's importing them, making sure they're healthy cars
and then making them street legal in the US,
that's what the tricky park.
But let's say you wanna pick up this 1996 Toyota Mark II
on the cheap for $2,191, sounds like a good deal.
Sure, it's got some mileage on it,
but where else can you get the one and 2JZ engine
tucked into a comfortable ride with all wheel drive?
That sounds awesome.
So you have your sight set on a car and you're ready to buy,
but you could be setting your up
for a much more expensive deal than you originally thought.
As was the case with Kalvin Malli's import disaster.
Kalvin is the owner of Malli Motorworks in Seguin, Texas.
In his shop he works on all types of JDM rides
for his customers, it makes him go fast.
Last year, he took delivery of his dream car,
an R32 Skyline GT-R.
From the listing online, the car looked pretty good.
The paint had been re sprayed.
The seller sent Kalvin a video
demonstrating that the car ran
and the car had some cool Nismo bits
that were hard to come by like a gauge cluster,
a shift knob, and some body work.
For a JDM fanatic on a budget like Kalvin,
this car was perfect, but once the car landed in the US,
it became clear, it was too good to be true.
The turbos were destroyed,
the new paint was covered up tons of Bondo and rust,
and that Nismo shift knob, it was stolen.
This was every import customer's nightmare.
So how did it happen?
Whether you buy a JDM car through a dealer in Japan
or in the States, most cars that make it here
were sold through a company called USS Auto Auctions.
There are large auction company with lots all over Japan.
They're one of the main hubs dealers will shop at
to find cars, instead of hunting down private sellers
with the cars they want.
The problems begin with the auction's rating system.
Before USS or any other auction house buys a car,
it is evaluated and then given a rating between five and R.
Five is the highest rating a car can get.
This is like a concourse level car,
absolutely no flaws whatsoever.
So, a car with four rating is good and we'll probably have
less than 100,000 kilometers on the odometer,
that's probably safe.
A car with a two is probably gonna be rough.
This is a low grade.
R is the worst rating.
We're talking about totally rusted out, non-running cars
that you should definitely avoid.
This system seems easy enough but unfortunately,
it can be gamed pretty easily as Kalvin found out.
In a lengthy video he posted last year,
Kalvin explained a situation
in all the problems with the car.
I recommend you check it out if you have the time.
And if you're planning on buying an imported car,
it's pretty much mandatory.
Kalvin explains that in the listing he saw,
his car was rated as a three, but in a previous listing,
the car was in much worse shape and given a two.
He probably wouldn't have bought it if he saw that listing.
Whoever bought the car the first time covered up the issues
with a fresh coat of paint,
got the car reevaluated by the auction house
and then used that ratings increase
to trick Kalvin into thinking
he was getting a better car than he was.
The rating system gets even more confusing
when you learn that car is involved in very minor accidents
or just how body modifications
are automatically given an R rating.
There could be a brand new car with an aftermarket wing
getting a lower rating than Kalvin's R32.
There are also some JDM buyer groups out there
that suspect foul play saying that shady dealers
are greasing the palms to get higher ratings for cars.
Granted, I don't have any proof of that,
so take that with a big grain of salt.
It's so nebulous how can you be sure of an R-rated car
if you're not exactly sure
why got that ratings in the first place?
So how can you protect yourself from getting ripped off?
Luckily, there are some resources out there
for perspective buyers.
Since most VIN checking websites in Japan
are inaccessible to American buyers,
outfits like Team Free Spirit
have stepped in to fill the gap.
They'll look into a car's history, including auctions,
and might even see a car in person to make sure it's legit.
Their service is how Kalvin found out
his car earned that two rating.
If you're not planning on going to Japan yourself
to check out a car, I highly highly recommend
you hire someone like Team Free Spirit.
The problem of dealer selling crap cars
has become so widespread that entire forms
have become dedicated to fighting them off.
There's a group on Facebook called,
"I got screwed by shady JDM dealers,"
which feature a plenty of horror stories,
similar to what Kalvin went through.
There's also a bunch of positive stories as well.
The group has plenty of owners who can give honest insights
into dealers they've done in business with
and the moderation team is super solid.
I'm not gonna call anybody out on this video
but that page has no problem letting people know
which dealers are legit and which are (beep).
I wouldn't buy a JDM import
without first consulting this group.
So if you're considering buying from a dealer
in the near future,
do yourself a service and join this page.
I apologize to the mods in advance
for blowing up your group, I'm sorry.
Okay, so once you've vetted the car, you now have to buy it.
And that's probably the easiest this process gets,
but there are sometimes conversion rates to deal with.
The importer we spoke to about this said
that this is where a lot of people stop and rethink, why?
Because suddenly there's lists of importers,
customs documents, delivery, inspection,
and registration fees.
You don't just drive it off a lot.
And he has even seen some fake custom papers in the past
that people try to hand off,
but, I'm not gonna be all doom and gloom.
Once you bought the car, found a reputable import service
and had it imported and delivered
for about twice the cost of the vehicle itself,
then you can get it on the road.
And that means dealing with your local DMV
or shortcut like AAA, that can sometimes handle it.
If you get a no at your registration office,
it's probably because they haven't seen
these documents before, you can try a different one.
It will also depend on which state you're in
as to how difficult it is to get the place,
also how expensive.
Sometimes it's really worth the call around first here,
find an office in your state that's aware of how to do it.
But after you do though, you can get those plates
on your brand new ride, it'll all be worth it.
What it all comes down to just like any other car,
is doing your homework.
After talking with the importer,
it feels like a lot of hassle
and it can take weeks or months to get through the process.
And that's where your midnight impulse purchase of an import
might start to feel a little less exciting.
But that's how you keep yourself safe.
There are shady people out there who have no problem
exploiting your nostalgia and enthusiasm
for these cars in pursuit of profit.
They game the auction grading system,
making bad cars look appealing.
Red tape and corruption exists on both sides of the pond.
And big changes are needed to achieve a system
that buyers can truly trust.
But in the meantime, do your research
and be willing to walk away.
There are good people and good cars out there,
you just have to ask around to find them.
- Are you tired of seeing so many junk cars,
then buy this shirt and wear it every day
so junk car owners know we buy junk cars.
Hi, I'm junk car Jimmy, I want you to gimme a call.
Look at this car junk, huh.
Now that's junk, yeah, best I can do is 50 bucks.
So get it at donutmedia.com today.
I'm junk car Jimmy,
and we'll pay you a lot of money for that junk car,
depending on the year, though.
Nothing too new, nothing too old, it's gotta be just right.
- Thanks for watching WheelHouse this week,
this was a fun one.
Big thanks to Kalvin Malli for chatting with me
before this video, I'm gonna leave a link to his video
and channel down in the description.
He seems like a really cool dude.
He's a small business owner
just trying to get his dream card going.
So, go support his channel,
follow Donut on all social media @donutmedia.
Follow me @nolanjsykes, be kind see you next time.