Skyline Horror Story: An Exporter To Avoid
I've previously posted about reliable importers if you're purchasing a JDM car; this time however I'm going
to talk about a shop with a bad track record. I've heard talk on the
forums about at least a couple of cars this shop has sold that have
ended up having mechanical issues and weren't in the condition
promised. One case in particular was pretty shocking to me about the
extent the car was faulty and prompted me to make this post.
The exporter in question is called JSP
Trading and the story is all detailed in this thread on the NicoClub
GT-R/Skyline subforum:
To make a long story shorter for those
of you who are subject to TL:DR, the buyer, Kevin, paid for the car
in August of 2014. This was an October 1989 car so it was eligible
for import in less than two months. They sent him a video and
pictures claiming the car was in good condition. JSP Trading said
they would store the car but after the payment was made they informed
Kevin that it was making a weird noise that they thought was coming
from the head. They told him they would inspect the cams but in the
end claimed they tore apart the whole motor and basically rebuilt it.
They did this without asking for more money so it all seemed like they were giving outstanding service. During all this however communication was pretty poor with the company
and they wouldn't respond without repeated emails.
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| The pictures of the car JSP Trading sent looked great |
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| Image credit: Kevin |
The car didn't ship from Japan until
June of 2015 (that's a whole eight months after
it was supposed to be eligible for import and
ten months since it was paid for by the buyer). When it arrived
however the car drove poorly and didn't seem to be making any boost.
Once the car was at its new home and Kevin had a chance to inspect it
he started to find all sorts of things that were wrong with the car
that should have been picked up by the exporter. For starters, the intercooler had a
big tear in it that should have been blatantly obvious. Next he found
that one of his turbos was missing its exhaust wheel. Then he found a
multitude of electrical issues including a bad coil harness.
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| How the heck do you miss a hole like that in the intercooler? |
If you read the thread you'll see another buyer from JSP mention how
his car needed a new clutch upon delivery. Other cars are mentioned
as having needed engine work even after JSP supposedly fixed them.
In
short you see a pattern here of an exporter that's selling
mechanically unsound cars. I feel particularly bad for Kevin because
he's understandably pissed but he's obviously making the best of a
bad situation and has been very open about talking of his problems.
What makes it worse is that my first contact with Kevin was when he
volunteered for my “Pay It Forward” idea. I've been in touch with
him since then about his ordeal with JSP but he contacted me about
joining well before I told him I would post his story here on my
blog. In short, in spite of the troubles he was having with his car,
this guy was willing
to help other people out without asking for something in return.
I think that shows he's a pretty stand-up person.
So, let this serve as a warning. There are plenty of importers and
exporters popping up every day wanting to sell you the JDM car of
your dreams but not all of them will do right by you. Be sure to
check them out well before putting down your hard-earned cash. Good
luck and be careful out there!
If you have an interesting story to share of another JDM car shop, whether
positive or negative, please feel free to post a comment.
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