Understanding Import Cruiser Prices

[fjbj40]

converting my fj62 to bj 62 cost me about $2000 Cdn. Paid 2500 Cdn. for the bj60 , sold 3fe for 1200 US ( exchanged to$1800 Cdn at the time) . Exhaust $630 Cdn. rebuilt and balanced dive shafts $250 Cdn. and misc expenses it came to about 2000 Cdn .
Granted it is not a 1hz or 12ht but it is a good running machine that gets 28 mpg vs. 14 mpg for the gasser , lots of low end torque and just brings a smile to my face evertime I drive it . It will receive a Turbo in the new year and that I am sure will bring a new smile !!! It has more luxeries than a bj 60 also , a/c, p/w,p/l,and the nicer dash .
SOOOO the swaps can be had a lot cheeper than some people here are saying .
Forgot to mention that I do all my own work .
this is my 2 cents worth , Daryl

 

[aamiggia]

This maybe a silly question, but...

Why do Japanese Landcruisers not have rust?

Is it mainly becuase there is no snow in Japan (and no salt). What are the normal weather conditions in Japan? My best guess is it is like California.

Is the metal and paint on a JDM Cruiser better than a USD? The only place a car will NEVER rust, without special engineering and/or special preperation (read - rustproofing) is in a desert environment (ie. Arizona, Nevada, parts of Aus, Africa, etc.).

I think a truck from one of these places mentioned above will have a better body (maybe not the faded paint or cracked seats) than from Japan. Unless I am totally wrong about my weather assumption in Japan.

 

[beanz2]

Japanese cruisers can have rust, that is why the selection of cruiser importer matters. Some have excellent buyers in Japan, some don't. Some repair and/or disclose the defects, some may not.

In Australia, the cruisers tend to have lived a hard life. Rust is somewhat more common too at least in the Oz East Coast. To the Aussies, four wheeling is a way of life :

Looking at Marv Specter's vehicles, the cleanest ones I've seen are coming out of the Middle East. These usually are in luxury trim, and LHD but they are usually gassers.

Dave

 

[Aseif007]

Stone,
Well, nothing in my post was untrue. You will be paying much much more for a non-north american LC right? And if I were to buy a 70 series I would be paying way more than it is worth right? Why, because they can fetch that much in this market. I have 3 rust free cruisers 2 of them I bought second hand and now have over 200K on them so it is not that hard to find a rust free cruiser. And I never said not to use a RI to import your Landcruiser if you so desire, in fact if I were to do that I would use a RI. I wouldn't be happy about it, but that is the safest was to import a non-USA TLC. I was just stating the obvious about their service, that you would be paying at least double what the car is worth. Can you dispute that? No becasue it is all true. Like I said before, if you are happy buying your imported cruiser from a RI then more power to ya. I have family in Canada and the last time they were here my cousin was asking about me bringing him a car from the states to Canada. I asked him if he knew of any BJ-70s for sale, or where to look for them. He had no clue what a 70 series was and when I showed him a pic he then typed in the name of a websight and showed me a couple for very cheap. Then he asked me " Why do you want one of those POS? ". I laughed and told him that many people including myself would buy that thing for twice what they were asking without even blinking. I don't remember the price but it was no where near $15,000 or $10,000 and it had all the goodies. The SMART money is in the Onan conversion. I can get the 5-speed from my local Toyota dealership for ~$1565+tax and the cable lockers will be replaced with FZJ-80 locking units (not sure of the price, but it is high). Now I have all the options. That will give you the best bang for your buck and probably the best performance here in the states. You need to remember that things break, and when it comes time to replace parts yu are better off with the combo stated above. Had the Toyota diesels and cable lockers been readily offered to us Americans I would be singing a different tune but availability of parts and availablilty of experience with that motor makes it the superior choice. For all practical purposes at least. I know people don;t like to hear the reality of situations, but that doesn;t mean I am attacking anyone when I state the blatently obvious. Stone, are you a RI? If so I can kind of understand your frustration. But the fact remains that you will pay much more importing a car (OBVIOUSLY), and I would convert my cruiser to diesel over buying a BJ-60 because the maybe $5000 I spend on the conversion (and that is a high estimate) will get me a sick diesel cruiser. Not as COOL as the LHD crusiers, but honestly both of them will get you where you want to go. And to anyone that was interested in importing a non-north american cruiser please do not hesitate, I am not made of money so I look for the more econmical way to get what I want. And if you want a non-NA cruiser, then you know how and where to safely get it from. JUST MY $0.02.

Andrew
75' FJ-55
88' FJ-62
97' FZJ-80
01' Tacoma

 

[Stone]

Andrew: No, I am not an RI...so this debate is strictly academic for me.

I guess part of the problem of this discussion is that I am debating as a Canadian, and you are debating as an American. What I mean by that is that we have a huge difference in what choices are readily available to us, because of our different importation laws.

FWIW, you can get a BJ74 here with relatively low mileage, good condition, and a LSD rear for $12,500 CDN. Considering the prices listed in the local Buy & Sell for gassers and local BJs and HJs these days, I think it makes for a tempting buy. Here's the listing of Land Cruisers in the local Buy & Sell. (Note the ridiculous prices of some of them, and how every Tom Dick and Harry, "aka questionable used car lots" are getting on the JDM bandwagon. Prices DEFINITELY negotiable )

Even if the 1985 BJ70 is in great shape for $6900, you still need to add a turbo to bring it up to fair comparison with a BJ74. I would be willing to pay the extra $3k or so (assuming the DIY turbo costs $3k+) for a lower mileage vehicle, the extra room, and AC. The RHD is really a non-issue, so in the end, I would still buy another JDM because all the features that I want are already there set up by the factory.

Yes, there are great buys to be had, and swaps can be done economically such as the one by fjbj40, but they are not the norm. Not everyone has the mechanical knowledge, tools and facilities to do an engine swap. And the red block 13BT (which is what mine is) shares something like 90% of its components with the 3B, and the CT26 is one of the most common turbos used in the world. So, since the 3B was imported to Canada and not in the US, I think that's where some of our differences come from...and I understand about your concern with local support.

 

[crushers]

thanks for the link Stony, i can see from those ads, i am not charging enough for my trucks...
;^)
and you boys pay GST and PST on used vehicles?

yeeouch,
cheers

 

[Stone]

thanks for the link Stony, i can see from those ads, i am not charging enough for my trucks...
;^)
and you boys pay GST and PST on used vehicles?

yeeouch,
cheers

We pay both taxes if we buy through a dealership. If it's a private sale, it's one tax, payable when you go to register the vehicle.

Yeah, I thought a few of those ads were good for a laugh or two. Hey, it's a good thing if you ever total your old Cruiser though, as ICBC asks that you bring in some ads of "comparable" trucks in order to determine value.

By the way, Wayne...how do you like the "rollover indicator" advertised as a feature in the first 60 on that list? I figure if you're rolled over or are in the process of doing so, you don't need a frigging indicator.

 

[crushers]

i always thought was for the conversation afterwards,
"yep, sidehilling was fine till 53 degrees then for some reason over it went. i thought there was a buzzer that warned me of impending doom."
cheers

 

[Aseif007]

Stone,
You are right, the demand here makes the grey market Landcruisers very profitable to import. I am curious to see what the Canadian "Red Book" I think it was (the Canadian Kelly Blue book equivalent) states as the vehicle's value is for a 85' BJ-70 with average miles. The you look at how much more the vehicle would cost if imported into the states. I don;t know for sure but it would guess it would be doulble what the car should cost even before the taxes and what not. Crushers sounds like a RI that I would use and could trust. I am glad people like you are around because I have heard of many many horror stories about importation. I would like to import but I don't have that kinda money to risk in that venture. And the parts and other headaches a non-USA motor causes. But I will import one day so I do believe in that. I have the means to implant non OEM motors into cruisers, and the means to implant the later FZJ-80 locking high pinion diffs into my 60 or 55 so I guess in my situation importaion mainly for diesel and options would be a luxury I can't afford right now. That is probably why I think the conversion would be way less expensive than the importation. Too bad I don;t live in Canada, I would have a BJ-70. Hopefully there will be some left in 2009.

Andrew

 

[crushers]

Crushers sounds like a RI that I would use and could trust. Andrew

thank you for the compliment.
cheers