I've bought 3 motors, a tranny, an EG6 (RHD civic SIR) and my '94 FD from them and all have been good for the price.

The civic is flawless. The motors have been running strong for 75,000km now, tranny shifts smooth. The FD has minor cosmetic damage, and had a burnt clutch. I put tires and an ACT in it the first month I bought it and everything else seems fine. It really comes down to knowing what you're getting into and expecting the worst.

I had the car on the hoist, at tiger, and I personally inspected EVERYTHING before I even showed any money. I paid 7K out the door and have been smiling ever since. for a car with 74000 km, BONE STOCK that needed a clutch and tires, I think I made out pretty good. Its the R1 model...

To each their own. No different than buying a car at the Toronto auto auction thats 15+ years old.

Too bad some guys got ripped...but you almost have to look at them as rolling chassis that might come with a decent motor. A civic is a civic...rust free is worth its weight, I looked at the FD as something to work on, and even I found one locally, and LHD, I would still likely end up doing the motor in 2-4 yrs time.

 

Tiger deals with SCRAP YARDS in Japan. Where do you think they get those engines from anyways? dealerships??

They buy the car's from the same place, enough said. You can find a good one if you look around, but they'd be the last place to look IMO.

 

I'm not here to argue, or to defend tiger...but in my case, I got the auction documentation with my car...I know the price it was bought for at auction, the date, and any existing cosmetic damage that had occurred prior to shipping. As for the motors etc, who knows where they get them...for $350 bucks I never really cared.

 

yeah

get that translated.

you bought a $1500 scrapyard FD with a rolled back odometer, I promise.

 

My friend wanted to buy a JDM MR2 and stuff, so went to check @ Tiger........ didn't found what he wants, and he told me that most of the JDM cars there were beat up badly......... i personally didn't go check them out before, but that's what I heard from my buddy....

 

183000 yen=2500CAD. Its pretty tough to roll back a digital odometer. Good lookin out for a fellow owner man. I guess you got burnt baaaddd...Don't take it out on me though. I'm just giving my experience. But who am I right?

 

You're right. Most...id say 90% are beat up pretty bad. Of the other 10% there are a few worth looking at. Tiger is CHEAP. Thats the only bonus. You get what you pay for...

 

Anyways,

Here's my "scrap"

 

Thats all I'm saying. Most of what they have isn't even worth the time to go check out, and thats because they deal in low end crap from scrap yards. Sure they'll get lucky and have the occaisional decent car - but most of its just junk.

Depending on how you look at it I guess you could consider everything being cheap a bonus. Most people would see everything being cheap as everything being sub par though

 

I'm just going to leave it at that. I don't know what you're trying to prove? Cheap is not always better but as a recent graduate with a mechanical background, and less disposable income than some, this made perfect sense to me. To each their own.

 

Not trying to prove anything. Stating the truth which is that they buy their engines from japanese scrap yards and the cars come from the same places.....but as I've already said you can find *sometimes* a good one there, but its certainly not the place to go if you're looking for a clean/properly documented ride.

I'm not knocking your car man don't get me wrong. Rather that I'd like to see more people buy good cars, so beware that most of its SCRAP and buy accordingly.

Trust me if you've been around a while you'll hear enough horror stories about **** that place has sold to make you sick to your stomach - thats why I'm posting.

 

Maybe you got lucky on finding a cheap and not beat up silver FD, perhaps? But like you agreed on as well, like 90% or more are all beat up crappy cars....... If you are an Rx-7 enthusiast, why buy a beat up and cheap FD? Get a mint condition, Left Hand Drive FD, that's what I think!

 

What is wrong with mint, RHD FD? Isn't it considered anFD?

 

First of all welcome to the forum. Second, good for you for showing interest in the FD. Last, if you do your homework it will all work out for you. Whatever you choose to get make sure you set aside some funds for a rebuild.

There is more to FD maintenance than just the motors. The suspension components are pricey. At this age many of them need to be replaced.

I wouldn't trust the speedometer. The gauge can easily be swapped out. Best way to check "mileage" is to look at the wear and tear on the seats, floor mats/carpet, gas/brake pedal, gear shift ****. These areas are good indication of how much the car has been used (and they're not likely swapped out). My 94FD has 95K but the interior is in far better condition than most JDM's with less than a claimed 50K.

 

I too picked up my FD from Tiger. I went to Tiger because of the price. I knew that the car was not reliable but didn't care. I truly only wanted a decent body as I had planned on swapping the engine for an LS1.
While I would agree that many of the cars there do have scratches and dents on them I would also say not all of them do. The one I purchased was completely stock and has minor paint damage(hell my daily driver looks worse). It past saftey no issues and I love the car. I have taken countless work associates for drives, neighbors and random ppl passing by stop to talk a bout the car. My total was 7,000.

Have people had bad experiences there? Sure but some also have had good ones too. I would not tell anyone to avoid the place. Even while I was running around getting the MOT stuff done the salesman drove me around in his RHD skyline.
I guess you take a chance and some have won and others lost. As another poster mentioned it's like going to the auction.