The Introduction Thread

[jdmvip]

Welcome Stefan, it seems a lot of us IT pros are interested in the JDMs! Which Kei truck are you looking at for your son? Please keep us updated and make a thread about your experience.

[sviveen]

Thanks!

It's a 2008 Subaru Sambar. He was very lucky to find a 4-cylinder supercharged one that's "fully loaded"... well, as far as that goes for mini-trucks. But it has ABS, airbag, power windows, central locking, automatic, fog lights, Bilstein suspension with 1cm lift (haha... but hey, that's a lot for such a small truck!) and the cute 12" wheels are alloy.

And once my 18 yr old son and his friends have had their hands on it, it will have a large Android stereo system, underglow, LED headlights maybe, we're even looking at adding remote door unlock, remote start and even a start-stop button. But first things first, which means waiting for it to arrive and then getting all the paperwork done.

[jdmvip]

Very nice, the Sambar's are excellent and exciting with the superchargers! Yes, we have lots of info here, the first task would be clearing and paying customs, assuming you don't use a broker. Then you'll need to check the vehicle out and get it complianced so you can insure it.

Please get us some pics once you can!

[JDMAZ]

Name: JJ

Age: 41

Location: Arizona

Current Vehicle: 1994 Toyota Celsior w/ F Package

Other info: I love cars in general mostly Toyota/Lexus products, I have a 2005 LS430 UL as well. I wanted to join this forum since I have imported two other cars prior 1991 Aristo & 1992 Supra Type R. The last importer I used to the United States was not the best. It has also been about 7 years since I last imported a vehicle stateside. So I wanted to join the forum and see what's new in the importing world and look for a different importer I can trust that is in Japan.

[jdmvip]

Welcome JJ, I had an Aristo 3.0V, and the V300 it was definitely one of the best cars I've owned until it was rear-ended. Yes, unfortunately things are still about the same, most Exporters cannot be trusted and even worse a lot of the worst ones have only great reviews because of friends/paid spam who post on forums, Reddit etc...

[JDMAZ]

Welcome JJ, I had an Aristo 3.0V, and the V300 it was definitely one of the best cars I've owned until it was rear-ended. Yes, unfortunately things are still about the same, most Exporters cannot be trusted and even worse a lot of the worst ones have only great reviews because of friends/paid spam who post on forums, Reddit etc...

In my excitement I bought a creampuff non turbo Aristo with some really neat wheels with only 15k kms on the car. Even though it was not the turbo edition it was a super fun car. Sadly, it was for sale on FB marketplace about 6 months ago and wow it was rough. The Celsior I have has about 45k kms on the clock. The good news is the next gen body style is available for sale with the vertexed edition. I was just in Japan and stayed at a Ryokan and the owner had a 2001 Aristo that he bought new and it was the Vertexed edition. I asked him if I could see his car and it was super cool. I told him that they do not make them like they used to. He pointed to some new fancy Toyota van he owned and essentially indicated to me as much (he did not really like it). Bummer to hear that things are not much better than before. I am sure that I will be able to find a reputable importer just need one.