Crymson

Ok -- so if i a vehicle's manufacture date is greated then 15 years from today, you have a carte blanche to import.

However, if it's less than 15 -- it has to have med with either US or Canadian safey requirements.

So, i'm just asking, becaue the FD's were sold in NA from '93 to '95, would that necessarily imply that the JDM FD's from '93 to '95 comply with our safely regulations?

I know, probably not, but i'm looking for someone who may have called the R.I.V or Transport Canada to find out.

Reason i'm asking is that i've been looking for a white FD for some time, and ther is one for sale near me that looks good, but my wife's brother in law works for a Toyota dealer and he was showing me the FD auctions in Japan, they had FD's rated at 3.5 BB starting bids at aboue 2,000 USD and selling at auction for about 5,000. He's getting a land cruiser and i was looking for an FD. There are lots of white fd's in japan.

sjd

A 1993 FD will not be legal for importation until 2008. I've been following the cost in Japan as well and you can get a low KM one for about $9,000 landed.

Crymson

The first available FDs' under the 15 year law, are november of 2006. Didn't he FD's go on sale in 92, meaning production would have started in late 91.

So they're not importable, at ALL if they're less that 15 years? There is no possible way to obtain the letter from mazda saying they meet canadian saftey requirments?

Alak

iTrader: (9)

A) You could get a 91 build FD in December. Thats when they First came out.

B) I wouldn't want a 91, you thought the 93's were bad.

C) If its Right Hand Drive, there is NO way to get it in the country, unless its 15 years or older. If you wanted to get a JDM FD in, convert it to Left Hand Drive.

wilddog

^^RHD is PERFECTLY legal in Canada regardless of the 15yr rule

Crymson

Yah, there is nothing illegal at all about RHD's .

I know the parking authorit-ah in Saskatoon has all late model Subaru Legacies, RHD's for their metre maids so they can give tickets without getting out of their cars.

I'm simply stunned at how cheap the cars from the auctions are in Japan and what they sell for in canada, a could be making 5-8k each on Diesel Landcruisers and 4runners if he knew how to do the paperwork.

Are the first production run FD's that terrible?

wilddog

I would think that importing an fd from japan would warrant a rebuild regardless because of its unknown history. I doubt they would give compression numbers.

EonBlue

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/importation/menu.htm

"The Motor Vehicle Safety Act and Regulations require that all vehicles imported into Canada comply, at the time of importation, with the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect on the date the vehicle was manufactured. Vehicles manufactured for sale in countries other than Canada and the United States do not comply with the requirements of the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Act, CANNOT be altered to comply and CANNOT be imported into Canada. The only exceptions to this rule are vehicles fifteen (15) years old or older as determined by the month and year in which the vehicle was manufactured and buses manufactured before January 1, 1971."

http://www.importconcern.ca/carindex/1991/rx7_fd.htm

There are import companies that handle most of the work involved but for a price, of course. I plan on importing a FD eventually (a white one as well, lol) so I'm keeping an eye on things.

wilddog

^^Thats strange. I worked with a guy during one of my interniships. His extremely rich friend recently moved to Canada from Dubai, and was allowed to bring his R34 up with him. I think every 5 years or something like that, he has to "reimport" the car to keep it in Canada. If this is true, then I guess the moral of the story is, money gets you anything

Crymson

Yah, this is the part i'm looking for, for and FD. If you look at that import forn, there is a box for canadian safetly compliance. Of the two boxes, i'm not quoting, i'm just putting down the gist of it, one box says, "there is a sticker on the car saying it meats the standards" and the other box says "you have a letter from the manufacturer, stating it meets compliance" .

Its not that you cannot get a car thats less than 15 years old, it's just that if you do, you get the check the handy box at the bottom which reads, gist again, "forget all the info on this page, it's over 15 years old"

I'm looking for some info on wheter or not the third gens made in japan at the same times as the north american market ones, meet our requirements. And i don't think that LHD is a requirement, they're looking for crash tests, and air bag or two, seatbelts and bumpers, i'm thinking.

Crymson

And, the reason i'm doing this, is i'm infuriated at canadian FD's being over 20,000. When the same fd sells for 4000-6000 in japan with half the km's.

http://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auct.../list_RX7.aspx

And yes, that link shows a 2003 bathurst type R selling for about 29,000 candian. You scroll through the pages and you'll find a pile of 91-95' which sold for less than 8.

Seems a '93 touring with 150 K shouldn't be over 20,000 but hey, a car is worth what someone will pay for it.

Alak

iTrader: (9)

I stand corrected on RHD. I had some clarification. Basically the car has to be manufactured for this country to conform to its laws. In otherwords, a RHD FD was not designed to be operated in Canada. Therefore you have to wait 15 years.



In some US states, RHD vehicles have to be converted to LHD.

HOWEVER:

My best friend, owns and operates a 1998 RHD Toyota Supra. How he did this, was in California, the car was registered and insured as a RHD Supra. Not sure how the guy who imported it did it.

My friend, who is a US citizen out of Montana, insured and registered it there. He lives up here and the car is allowed into the country, so long as it is registered/insured in montana. He has to goto the border every 6 months to get paperwork for the car. He uses his parents address in Montana AND lives here. According to the paper work, he is vacationing/working here.

Jaymez

As a student studying in Canada , you can bring ANY car you want. You just can not sell it , and once you are done school , or I think 1 year , you MUST remove the car from the country.

Crymson

I emailed Mazda North America and got a response rather quickly.

They sent me an email and a form to fill out.

And they sent along a .doc form to fill out.

However, i think the form is only to have the car checked to make sure that every factory recall has been done to the vehicle, and not a form to check wheter or not a JDM model conforms with canadian safetly regulations.

If anyone would like to have a look at the form, pm me your email and I'll forward it to you.

sjd

I agree, that's why I plan to import one as well. Hopefully as more FD's get imported the price of domestic ones will go down. Check this one out.

http://www.batfa.com/usedcar-mazdarx7-93black.htm

Crymson

There is an importer in BC who already has a listing for a 92 rx-7 FDS3 RHD from japan, who's asking 16,600 for it once it gets to canada late this year.

I bet it cost him well under 10k to get that here, probably wont the aution for 5-7 and shipped it Roll on roll off to vancouver for less than 2k.

Crymson

http://www.japaneseusedcars.com/auct...nNo=8108558197

here is one, FOB price of 3,200$ USD, you could have that can in Canada for 5K i'm guessing, Grade A which is exception for it's age, and 86K, sure it's an automatic, but imagine what you could do with that 10-15k you just saved.

Crymson

BAH!

Talked to mazda canada again today, they said "phone japan"

Thanks mazda.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

yeah, they look like they'll be a deal

of course, just like with skyline GTR's, once they become legal the price will skyrocket.

5 years ago you could get an '89 skyline GTR for like, 5k tops.
now, good luck finding one under $10k, and a decent one under $15k.

sjd

The difference is that the Skyline was never sold here.

olyrx7

iTrader: (3)

So with the new prices:
Mint FD= $5000-8000
Mint/Highly Modified FC= $2000
Mint/highly modified FB= $500


So just because some people feel that they deserve an FD, everyone else should lower their prices? If someone thinks my FD is only worth $5000 then I guess the FC and FB are going to be cheap as dirt, right? I DON'T THINK SO!

Crymson

I've swapped some emails with an importer about buying one between now and spring and storing it until they're legal. The japanese auction prices are bound to go up as soon as they're legal, and likely a few months before as australian and canadian importers build up their stocks.

Would anyone be interested in doing a "group buy and store" on these?

We could probably get a good deal on the storage and what they charge for broker fees if we did this between now and spring, for vehicles which will be legal late 2006 early 2007.

Crymson

I think that people must have eased off the bidding as the japanese auction prices show the 1990 BNR32 (gtr's) going from 8-10K for a decent one, and 6-8k for a repaired one, and HCR32' (gts's) for 2-8K for a decent one.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

I just looked at a nice gtr from a premium importer for $20k...

if I could get a repaired one for $6k I'd jump on it!

send me links

Alak

iTrader: (9)

I dont think I've ever seen a GTR hit these shores for less than $15,000 - and that one moved 10 feet before the fuel pump failed.

My buddy in edmonton imported a 91' FD last year for about $6000. It was in mint condition, BUT it was illegal and he uses it for track use only.


I dont forsee there being anything such as a 'Cheap' FD unless you swing on the grape vine and import it yourself, which is not really recommended for the faint of heart.

Mind you, I once seen a White RX-4 with 10,000 original KMS. Still had the factory door and seat covers inside. Went for like $4000.