I paid less than 2000 USD for my FD eightish years ago lol

 

the winner also bid 45k on the 1995 and bid on this one also...https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-efini-rx7-fd/

 

Seems we may have bounced of a floor in the market here.

 

My car sold at auction in Japan in 2014 for C$3500 equivalent. A very similar car sold for C$28,000 equivalent last year on Yahoo Japan.

Mileage was high, about 170,000 KM, but with a rebuilt motor.

Low mileage examples are pulling C$45,000 equivalent.

Similar examples maybe A$65,000 in Australia.

Maybe today's red car is headed on the next flight to Australia?

 

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/...n_DirectSearch

 

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/...recommend_list

 

In 2011? I paid $1200 in current USD for a lowish mileage SW20 turbo that was in perfect condition except for having bad paint. The exchange rate was backwards at the time, though.

 

Spot the remaining value here:

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/...n_DirectSearch

 

For reference>>>>>

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/989950219275860/?mibextid=79PoIi&rdid=KZHc3jBgJyVJIYjm&share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2FoWQPn166xbx6wFBJ%2F%3Fmibextid%3D79PoIi

 

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/...n_DirectSearch

 

market looks to be dipping

 

Litertally dipping into the pool of derelict FD,

 

$23k for this doesn't seem awful. Needs some work probably though and the body isn't stock.
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp...on/q1148945431

 

Seems cheaper in US$ terms because the USD is so very strong vs the Yen atm.

I do not know how one would reduce risks when buying on an auction site.

Can you get compression tests, smoke tests, inspect the fluids, etc.?

 

On the one hand, if it has a recent Shaken inspection then it probably at least runs and has basic components working (brakes, lights, etc.)
Sellers on YAJ for cars are also more thoroughly vetted than ebay or Facebook IMO. I would rather buy from a private seller than a dealer here; the last used car I bought from a dealer was listed as "no accident history" but had clearly had some rear bumper damage re-painted (poorly).

A VIN inspection is going to cost you more than in the US (I think like $300-500) and I'm not aware of automated systems for it like carfax.
https://japaninspection.org/vehicle-history-record/

 

"no accident history" is basically just another way of saying clean title. You'll never know for certain if something has been damaged and repaired unless a thorough inspection is done in person.

https://carvx.jp/car-vx-report is pretty common for Japanese vehicles, a Carfax alternative you might say.

 

Also autocheck.jp. $35, Quick and detailed.

Of the many JDM imported to Western Canada, the failure rate of motors were quite high. But back in the day (2015) you could get a low mile used motor for about C$1500, so not such a big issue.

Much different today.

 

I wonder if going to check out cars on peoples' behalf and/or handling export procedures would be lucrative...

Would probably have to charge upwards $1000 depending on where the cars are, but that's still cheaper than flying to Japan.

 

That sounds really expensive. Customs brokers charge around $500 I think for paperwork fees (import), and the better auction sites that would go to each auction & inspect cars for you would only charge something like $20-100/car (can't remember, but it wasn't that much. You put down a deposit and they would do X number of inspections for you). They're going to be there anyway, so it's not a lot of added expense for them.

 

You are probably right. I wasn't even thinking about auction yard cars. More like cars people can find on Goo/Car Sensor or Yahoo! Auctions.
How much of an inspection can actually you get for $20? A cursory check for rust and oil leaks?
Ideally I would go do a compression test, test drive (usually not possible since most of the time used cars aren't registered), and a fairly in-depth check inside and under the car.
And I would take copious videos and photos. Or stream the inspection live. And arrange transportation to the docks.
It would give me the excuse to buy a car carrier. lol.

 

You are hired!

 

Yeah, the ones I got were basically the equivalent of a mechanic's pre-inspection before you'd buy a used car in the states plus a bunch of photos and maybe a video. ("Brakes are worn-out, tires are bad" etc. type stuff). They won't let you do compression tests at auction sites iirc, and definitely not a test drive. I think you can start the cars up though.

A car dealership would be a different story. I imagine once they knew you were a serious buyer and you'd built a relationship they might allow you to do compression tests (depending on the dealer; if they're trying to pass off junk they'd obviously reject you).

Probably would only make sense for high value cars.

 

I went through a lot of this stuff when I was looking for my car. It can be a struggle being in the states and not being able to properly inspect the car. I know there are some people that offer these services and I would probably hire one if I were to buy a big ticket item such as an R34 GTR or fly out there myself. I would never buy from an auction unless I expect a project car. As sman2600 mentioned, they will not let you do a compression test period. You can have a third party go do a quick once over and make sure it runs, but nothing very thorough. Some importers offer this service just to tell you of any major rust and holes in seats etc. I chose to stick to Japanese dealerships or private sales because I didn't want a project car. I only seriously considered vehicles where the sellers were willing to provide the requested pictures and videos as well as a compression test. It took me longer to find a car but I was not disappointed in what I got either. Auctions can be great for deals but the good cars are getting harder and harder to find because of the market, they are being scooped up prior to auction and sold privately like in my case. There was an extremely low mileage RZ I just about bought but it had crash history in the front. Without being able to properly inspect it, I couldn't take that chance of having to possibly repair frame damage or something after I received the car. It was inspected and registered again after the accident and from what I'm told, Japan is pretty strict on their repair inspections so it may have been fine, but I just wasn't comfortable spending that much cash and possibly needing another $10K for a repair after it landed.

 

I post up these YAJ auctions just to provide a baseline of where the market is going. There are certainly other sources of good info.

I used to look at the daily auctions through bpro.

And there are likely other sites that provide access to the daily auctions and provide long term trading history as well.

 

What's the most someone could charge before you just flew their yourself?