Hello from the US - looking to buy ER34

[Charlie26]

Hello everyone,

I've been reading through this forum, lots of great content here. I'm looking to purchase an ER34 and import it to the US and am comparing companies. The Australian based Global Motor Traders are intriguing, but I am having trouble finding much information about them. I would greatly appreciate any information someone could provide on them, I am looking to see if they sell quality vehicles or lemons, are they trustworthy, deal in clean cars, etc. +/- $50k USD is a lot of money (for me) to wire across the pond on minimal reviews. Thank you in advance and Happy New Year!

[robbo_rb180]

https://www.ironchefimports.com/

Been importing since the early days and great reputation 

Or contact Michael at 

https://dorijunkie.com.au/

Mainly deals in Toyota stuff but can source anything 

[Duncan]

Are you looking to buying something that is already in Australia, or an agent to buy from Japan for you.

I've used and was very happy with both Iron Chef (for a US-Aus), Prestige Motorsport (Japan-Aus) and Just Jap (Japan-Aus).

I don't know and have not come across Global Motor Traders

[GTSBoy]

It does read like a spam run.

[Charlie26]

Thank you for the responses, to clarify, I am looking at importers from Australia to US and Japan to US. For exporters in Australia, such as GMT & Iron Chef, I am looking at in-stock inventory with the intent to export from Australia to the US.  I looked at the https://www.ironchefimports.com/ you guys mentioned, their "cars available" page is blank? I reached out to them on social media to clarify what they have in stock.

[Charlie26]

Stephen from Just Jap emailed me back within 10 min's of me emailing them, kudos for response time. Says they export 300 cars from Japan a month and "don’t have time to do any exports" (to the US?). 

[Duncan]

In that case it is worth checking for private sales too, something like carsales.com.au, 1998-2002, under 100k, there are about 30 for sale atm (all very pricey but I guess that is skylines in 2024). A specialist like the ones named above could then work out shipping/import for you

[Duncan]

2 minutes ago, Charlie26 said:

Stephen from Just Jap emailed me back within 10 min's of me emailing them, kudos for response time. Says they export 300 cars from Japan a month and "don’t have time to do any exports" (to the US?). 

*edit* re-read that....shame they aren't interested in US exports

Iron Chef might be better placed, they have a US subsidiary, I imported our Titan from US to Aus through them

Edited January 1 by Duncan
didn't read properly!

[Charlie26]

Good suggestion Duncan on the private carsales and export through a well known subsidiary, I will look into that. As far as Stephen, it's all right, I figure being busy is a great problem for a business to have.

[GTSBoy]

There is now a steady trade in old US iron and also Australian Fords and Holdens (particularly Ford XA-XC hardtops) being remotely bought by cashed up Americans and shipped back to the US. So there is definitely at least one established mechanism in place for sorting out the shipping and paperwork for Oz to US.

You might try googling and searching youtube for people showing off their aquisitions from Oz and inquire of them how they managed it.

Also, a number of people are shipping cars from Oz to the US to do the various drag and drive events (and putting it up on youtube). Now, these aren't selling and permanently exporting, but they are putting them in containers and sending them, so they will know at least half the story too.

[TurboTapin]

I presumed most Americans imported their skylines from Canada since we've had them around for decades. We have a plethora of JDM shops in Montreal that export to the US. Just food for thought. 

I'm constantly selling parts to Americans on FB groups as it seems you guys cannot buy OEM JDM parts direct from the dealer, which I still have a hard time believing. 

Edited January 2 by TurboTapin

[Kinkstaah]

Just hang around in SAU and ask to buy people's cars with USD. I am sure quite a few people will bite

[GoHashiriya]

From Japan, I would recommend Trust Kikaku, based out of Ibaraki. I believe they already have a US-incorporated office for the Japan-US sales, although prices are high - they're absolutely aware of what they have. I bought my car from them, albeit domestically in Japan, and their service was tremendously good. As far as the export agents in Japan go (auction access cos), it's really a mixed bag. I've met with several and half of them were full of sh*t - I would not be trusting them with 10's of thousands of dollars. Tweed Autogarage, although I have not used them personally, the owner, Jordan, is a pretty nice guy so would be happy going with him.  

[Kip]

Late to the party on this one, but responding anyway.

Fellow 'murican here. I bought mine through RHD Specialties in Washington state. They specialize in JDM importing. They find good cars, bring them in, federalize them, and register them. For me, it was a matter of just taking all the Washington state paperwork and sale bill to the local BMV and registering it. Well, I needed a VIN check by the police, but that was it. I highly recommend RHD Specialties. Easy to work with. Enthusiasts. Good guys.

[GoHashiriya]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:28 AM, Kip said:

Late to the party on this one, but responding anyway.

Fellow 'murican here. I bought mine through RHD Specialties in Washington state. They specialize in JDM importing. They find good cars, bring them in, federalize them, and register them. For me, it was a matter of just taking all the Washington state paperwork and sale bill to the local BMV and registering it. Well, I needed a VIN check by the police, but that was it. I highly recommend RHD Specialties. Easy to work with. Enthusiasts. Good guys.

Wasn’t there some bad publicity circulating about these guys at some point on social media? 

[funkymonkey]

On 02/01/2024 at 9:51 AM, Charlie26 said:

Thank you for the responses, to clarify, I am looking at importers from Australia to US and Japan to US. For exporters in Australia, such as GMT & Iron Chef, I am looking at in-stock inventory with the intent to export from Australia to the US.  I looked at the https://www.ironchefimports.com/ you guys mentioned, their "cars available" page is blank? I reached out to them on social media to clarify what they have in stock.

you won't find many Australian exporters holding stock, it's not the usual business model. They will often act as sourcing agents, so you tell them what you want, and then they actively go an look for the car that matches your criteria. Only used car dealers here hold stock, but you won't find many old imports at used car dealerships (only newer imports from 2015ish onwards.)

Japan is a different kettle of fish as there are exporters who make money by the tax refund of exporting cars out of japan, hence it makes financial sense to hold a few cars, let them appreciate in value and then export them. Top Rank etc. do this.

[Kip]

On 3/13/2024 at 2:18 PM, GoHashiriya said:

Wasn’t there some bad publicity circulating about these guys at some point on social media? 

News to me. I didn't run across any when I researched them.

[GoHashiriya]

17 hours ago, Kip said:

News to me. I didn't run across any when I researched them.

A quick google returned: “Stay away from japaneseclassics. They are well known now in the importing community that they take trash cars, slap a coat of paint and up mark a huge amount. You can check out team_free_spirt on insta. They do alot of the exposing right now”

I can’t validate this but it would be cause for concern for me, especially if I’m considering buying sight unseen.
 

What this guy is saying is a pretty common practice in the market these days. I can say that team free spirit provide a lot of exposure on these efforts.

[niZmO_Man]

assume they're dodgy unless proven otherwise. There used to be Japanese history/odometer check type services that would trace back the VIN of the car as far back as possible to get a more truer history, dunno if they're still around.

[GoHashiriya]

40 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

assume they're dodgy unless proven otherwise. There used to be Japanese history/odometer check type services that would trace back the VIN of the car as far back as possible to get a more truer history, dunno if they're still around.

I have a feeling team free spirit does this. A while ago, the guy (whoever manages that page) sent me previous auction records for my car which was nice of him. Fortunately in my case it all checked out