Caught this late. The rip off factor is one of the first good points. You need to use a broker no matter what. I had a shop and had the bank roll to do a full 40 ft. container and set down to work with a month of phone calls to Japan. What I discovered in the end is this:
The motors are dirt cheap but the fun stops there. By the time you factor in the container, the broker, ground shipping for 40 motors, taxes, the average gain was about 200.00 off per swap-this was without a plane ticket to Japan because of the broker. Even, less for a 20'. You have to factor wharehousing everything even if for just a week and paying to have it all forklifted in and out again. Also, there are no more B series and as you can see from the responses most want type-r parts which are not all that common anymore. No one will part out anything to you because they know it's a bad idea. Prices have gone up ALOT with demand and they know we will keep buying them. Us East Coasters have it the worst, you can pull this stuff off in Cali and hit your customers up for shipping. East coast you have to get your supply sent to you and then back out. You really have to go through the West Coast more than anything because the customs agents are used to the deal and things go smoother. Anywhere else, look forward to having your shipment detained until they feel ready and alot of headache. Most of the Japanese yards were pretty clear on this, though the choice was left up to me. Prices go down a little after a few shipments from most Japanese yards but this doesn't help a one timer. For example, I can get full hydro B16 swaps with every useable part off of the car thrown in for about 600.00, have a corperate account and get 60% off shipping, and the profit margin/savings still sucks for all of the work. Definately not wanting to rain on anyone's parade, if you stumble across a goldmine hit me up asap and I'll be in with you. But my experience so far has been grim. You can do better outside of Japan but wouldn't trust it at all. Malaysia and Thailand, etc. Good luck.
The motors are dirt cheap but the fun stops there. By the time you factor in the container, the broker, ground shipping for 40 motors, taxes, the average gain was about 200.00 off per swap-this was without a plane ticket to Japan because of the broker. Even, less for a 20'. You have to factor wharehousing everything even if for just a week and paying to have it all forklifted in and out again. Also, there are no more B series and as you can see from the responses most want type-r parts which are not all that common anymore. No one will part out anything to you because they know it's a bad idea. Prices have gone up ALOT with demand and they know we will keep buying them. Us East Coasters have it the worst, you can pull this stuff off in Cali and hit your customers up for shipping. East coast you have to get your supply sent to you and then back out. You really have to go through the West Coast more than anything because the customs agents are used to the deal and things go smoother. Anywhere else, look forward to having your shipment detained until they feel ready and alot of headache. Most of the Japanese yards were pretty clear on this, though the choice was left up to me. Prices go down a little after a few shipments from most Japanese yards but this doesn't help a one timer. For example, I can get full hydro B16 swaps with every useable part off of the car thrown in for about 600.00, have a corperate account and get 60% off shipping, and the profit margin/savings still sucks for all of the work. Definately not wanting to rain on anyone's parade, if you stumble across a goldmine hit me up asap and I'll be in with you. But my experience so far has been grim. You can do better outside of Japan but wouldn't trust it at all. Malaysia and Thailand, etc. Good luck.