JDM cars and super low miles?

A lot of it is down to the Japanese equivalent of the MOT ( Shaken) IIRC after 2 years from new they need inspected, its strict and very expensive to the extent that its cheaper for them to trade them in against new cars, rather than pay the inspection costs hence low milage. There's a good article here about it here Clicky

It is.

However, bear in this mind.

The bodies may see nicer miles, but being town driven, the engines may not see as nice a mileage as say something which has been kept warmer for longer and seen less heat cycles (i.e motorway cars).

The Japanese also don't really care for old cars like we do. They only really do new. Sure, there are elements of tuners etc. out there and classic restorers but not to the same degree as here or the US. Diagnosis is not really a thing. As a result, when the cars required in their eyes too much work, they'll simply park them up and leave them.

That Shaken that people foam at the mouth over? Just like you get get a dodgy MOT, you can get a dodgy Shaken. Some elements are looser than the UK MOT too. Emissions are easier to pass over there for example.

As an example or 3
-Carina had poor paintwork. I'm told this is the norm. Sure, it looked nice, but it was a little on the orange peely side, with evidence of poor panel prep in places. It also had a completely shot steering system and very little evidence of it having oil changes etc. over time.
-Rich's R30 Skyline arrived with a decent rating in the auctions. So far, he's rebuilt his 'indestructable FJ20 engine, as the J scene will tell you (valves were burned out and it needed a rebore with 'low mileage'. Sure, it was on Twin Mikuni Webber/Dellorto DCOE copies, but they were not working well.

Another thing. Clocking is definitely a thing.

I was told that when grey imports were more of a thing, and they were about to be sent to the UK from a holding port somewhere in the United Kingdom, you'd get the workers going around the cars, grabbing the Japanese history and throwing them into a wheelbarrow.

Where would they go? They'd be burned and the clocks turned back. I've also been told one very popular car in the scene probably has 90% of the imported examples clocked ; the chap was involved in importing alot of them. I'm not going to say which etc. as obviously, I was told this, most likely in confidence. I could not have shared this, but I also think people should go in with their eyes open too.


The cars which were genuine and decent were few and far between, and so they were generally snapped up by folks working there, and sold on for good money. This is one reason why some J cars can look like a bargain.

Just in case I've ruffled a few feathers, here's a shot of the aforementioned Carina Coupe .

Thanks guys, I like learning new things, jimi really enjoyed the clicky, thank you