Hi all, just moved to japan and was considering purchasing an old school skyline or rx-7. Is anyone familiar with any good English speaking mechanics I could take my car to or one that might come to the car site and perform a PPI? Any suggestions welcome. Thank you!
8 comments
location?
Make sure you bring LOTS of money. The days of cheap Skylines and RX-7’s are long gone…
I’m even debating importing my 240Z into Japan after seeing one similar to mine list for $140k USD in a shop by my place.
I’m on the hunt for a R32 or even an AZ-1, but sadly I don’t want to spend that kind of money even with the cheap yen.
I know a shop in Kanagawa where the owner speaks pretty good English, but they focus on cars with 1jz/2jz/SR20 engines mostly.
Many of the car shop owners have dealer’s licenses which allow them to buy cars from dealer only auctions. You’ve probably seen screenshots from these auctions online. These are probably the best place to find the car you want.
There’s also a dude on YouTube I came across who is located in Yokohama. He seems to speak fluent English and has a few skylines (R34 4door) for sale that probably aren’t over priced. I don’t know if he handles sales within Japan as I think he ships the cars to America. So if you bought from him, he might not be familiar with doing shaken and getting the car road legal.
DM me if interested and I’ll send you some info for either place.
I’d be super hesitant to pick up a 90’s/2000’s JDM dream car at the moment. The market is bonkers and while the cars are iconic, full nostalgia and quick, there are much better options when you’re considering driving + tuning fun vs $$.
You could always sign up for AnyCa and rent a few to see what you think. I’d also try out modern equivalents and euro alternatives to be sure you’re set on that JDM dream. As much as I’d love an R33 GTR in the garage, I’d rather a 911 Turbo for less money…
I had an affair with an English student that was married to a mechanic. I basically taught her automotive related English so that she could translate to her husband. Kidding aside, be careful with older vehicles since the area that you live in may restrict registration due to emissions. Also Shaken renewal is every year as well. I had issues with my classic vehicles over here.
I want to know to so I can hire them. If you think there’s a mechanic shortage in the USA, try hiring an English speaking mechanic in Japan that knows enough to run a shop. If you find one, let me know.
It ain’t worth it anymore . Was a car enthusiast in the US and when I moved to Japan the prices were just insane. I no longer care about cars now. At least at the moment.
OP do yourself a favor and don’t bother. If you are a car newbie like you said, don’t speak Japanese and can’t even check prices on [carsensor.net](https://carsensor.net) or [goo-net.com](https://goo-net.com) then you should probably stick to something more common.
Also don’t forget than just because a car that was originally $100.000 has now depreciated to $20k, doesn’t mean the maintenance costs have depreciated by the same amount. They haven’t. If any keeping older high performance cars running over time only gets more expensive.
You have to ask yourself if you want a car that is fun to drive or only want a specific car because if the name/image. If you want something that is fun to drive there are some options without having to spend ridiculous amounts of money.
On the lower end you have something like a Suzuki Swift Sport, bit higher up you have Roadsters and GT86’s/BRZ’s, 350/370z’s are probably not that expensive either. Porsche Boxters/Caymans are not that expensive either if you don’t mind an older model and a automatic or LHD car. Just beware you will be paying Porsche prices for maintenance though those cars are supposed to be fairly reliable. If you want to buy new the new GR86 and BRZ are attainable, maybe even the new Z (I think that will go for around 5 million?).