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Finally decided on what JDM daily driver I wanted to snag, after a few months of searching. I'm in the US so I'm stuck with 93 and older (94 if I wanted to wait a few months), and I was between a few different cars. I originally wanted an EVO II, but decided against it due to the crank walk issues of those 4G63T's (I'll be importing an EVO 5 once they are legal though). I also looked at 93 WRX's, legacy's, chaser's, mark II's, all of the hatchbacks (starlet, pulsar, etc etc) and finally decided that I wanted a soarer (even though I was really trying to get something AWD). From that point I had to decide if I wanted to go 2JZGE (in a 94), or 1JZGTE manual or auto. The manual's, regardless of condition, were all very pricey for me, so I was going between an auto 1JZ or an auto 1UZ. After debating, and planning on a manual swap in the future, I decided that I'd rather have the V8 for the daily, plus the parts are widely available in the US, unlike the 1JZ. I also have a few other manual cars (93 RX-7 and a 94 Celica GT-FOUR) so I don't mind an auto for now for the daily driver (plus the wife can drive it too).
So here is the car, I was able to get the 1991 UZZ31 at a VERY good price point, condition 4, 88k kilometers, appears to be owned by a Japanese business man type. Very well maintained, interior is essentially mint, exterior is also very nice with a few common issues like a small ding here and there and some slight scratches. Don't mind the red carpet, that's just a temp for the auction house. Looks like it has most of the features, can't tell if the heated seats are installed, and it doesn't have the backup camera (although toyota prewired that so all I need is to find someone willing to sell me theirs). Looking forward to learning about this and keeping it on the road. First thing is going to be a new set of wheels, looking at the Supra TT 17's, found a local set that I might pickup before she gets in. Won't be until ~Feb.
Out of curiosity, why would you want to import a v8 version of the car when it is available in US trim, and came later with the vvt-i?
Because 1) I paid less than what junkers are going for here and it has 50k miles in mint shape 2) I liked the uzz31 series trim which we don't have here in terms of the air suspension, digital dash, and the touchscreen unit etc etc, and 3) I want a RHD daily for my own business interests (shop car kind of thing). I also could be wrong, but from what I read, the later vvt motors have weaker internals, like the connecting rods, and are less desirable when doing power adders.
I got this thing for seriously good money, less than 3.5k delivered with shipping and all the fees. And remember my point of this buy is a reliable daily driver that's fun and I can tinker with but leave mostly stock (minus my S/C and exhaust desires LOL).
That is an incredible price and it looks extremely clean! How difficult was the process to get the car imported? I really want an NA MKIV Supra and a lower mileage RHD model may be the best deal. You got your Soarer for less than the average beat up SC.
That is an incredible price and it looks extremely clean! How difficult was the process to get the car imported? I really want an NA MKIV Supra and a lower mileage RHD model may be the best deal. You got your Soarer for less than the average beat up SC.
Thanks! The UZZ's are REALLY cheap, I'm talking under 100k yen for a UZZ30 and less than 200k yen for a UZZ31 like I have. I've even seen a few UZZ30s with 50k km in 4 condition go for 80k yen (but I wanted the fancier 31!) If you want to get into the 1JZ, prices go up to 500k very quickly, and nearly 800k for a 5 speed one, so roughly 10k delivered to the US after all said and done. My purpose of this car is a budget daily driver build, NOT another RX-7 money pit build so I went with the V8.
So far I've used a company to purchase my car, they will be doing all of the Japanese side stuff for me and get it onto the boat with the paperwork. I still have a few expenses stateside, so my overall final price to get it to my driveway will be right around 4k USD. I also have to register it, so figure another 150 USD there with taxes and fees (which I would have to do regardless of which car I was to buy). I'm using a customs broker here to do all the legwork on the US side, but I don't have the car yet so I still have a ways to go. I'll keep everyone updated on what I did, and I've seen a few other forum members do the same with their Soarers recently.
I've seen NA RHD Supra's sell for reasonable prices, I think you could get one for 15k delivered pretty reasonably, but it might be more like 20k for and exceptional model. These won't be aeroroof's (targa), just the normal hard top SZ's. I have a guy you can contact if you're interested in this option!
The shipping to Florida is brutal. More than the car costs... you West Coast guys get all the cool stuff.
Just looked up shipping in the FL area, if you ship to JAX you will pay the same price I paid, which is usually around 1k-1,200. Has to be a RO-RO port or else the container shipping fees are nuts. 4 hour ride from JAX to your spot, even if you ship it, only a few hundred bucks.
12-15-18, 10:08 PM
New daily driver coming over from Japan
