Importing An Old Dinosaur (ae86)

[Angus Smart]

Well i have a friend asking me about a car.

http://www.carontrack.com/

hes found these guys in japan and he wants a jap spec sprinter now caus we're talking about 1983 model there isnt much of a problem with bringing it in and regestering right? its a basic thing with engineer and blueslip correct?

can anyone help me with some more info for him? anything i need to know and all that so i can pass it on

and jeezus you can pretty much pick up a gtr for the price these sprinters are going for.

Edited February 23, 2007 by Angus Smart

[raz0r$harP.UK]

http://www.dotars.gov.au/transport/safety/...rting.aspx#5.02

Yep pretty much as you said for NSW. Allow around $1200 for the work (side instrusion bars, engineering cert etc).

In terms of importing, buy car, apply to DOTARS for import approval, when that comes through ship the car, standard procedures after that.

I can recommend SSPI in Kirrawee 02 9542 4280 or others have used Grey Imports in Annandale for the work. Give them a call they can give you a bit more details re:cost, etc.

[Angus Smart]

Thanks mate. it seems pretty straight forward to bringing one in!

[Blipman]

A bit of advice Angus, and let me start by saying I work for J-Spec Imports so assume I'm as biased as you like Finding a GOOD AE86 is REALLY hard, don't let the ridiculous prices fool you, most of them will be in quite poor condition, I would say 90% of AE86's in Japan have rust bad enough that cars will be unregisterable here in Australia.

For AE86 customers in the past for a good car I've recommended they have budgets of at least $15,000, and that they expect it to take a long time to find a good one. It often takes around 6 months and for the last AE86 customer we looked seriously at about 20 cars, and looked into at least 100 overall. We had 2 inspected before we found a good one. People can tell you what you want to hear in terms of prices and time frames but I'd urge a bit of caution, and there is NO way I'd recommend buying a car without someone looking at it in person and providing a lot of photos. The cars CarOnTrack has are not their own, they are just listing cars on Yahoo auctions and from dealers so they won't have first hand information on them. Relying on the seller is not at all wise as they will tell you the condition based on your average AE86 (which is a piece of junk) so when they say it has no or light rust, it may well be pretty severe by our standards. That's why I'd recommend getting someone indepedent to look at the car with their own eyes.

To give you an idea, here are 2 cars we had inspected, this first one we chose not to buy but it is still better than most of them, frankly:

http://www.j-spec.com.au/clients/White_AE86/

And here is an actual good condition one, this was not cheap and took forever to find!

http://www.j-spec.com.au/clients/Marcos_AE86/

I know the price for a good AE86 will seem pretty outrageous, you can get them cheaper but you will pay for it dearly and are not cars we would ever want to by buying for people. It's a sad reality with these cars, Japanese demand has made them really unique in the quite incredible prices they fetch for what they are.

Regards,

Ben Lippa

J-Spec Imports

www.j-spec.com.au

[Beer Baron]

agree 100%. I reckon you are better off buying an AE86 here. I've looked at a fair few in person in japan (at auctions, and just looking at peoples cars at drift events etc) and can tell you the number of shithouse ones is nuts. and they still want 50 man for them. plus the ones that have been drifted will be punished very hard. if you've ever seen someone in japan drifting an AE86 you will know most of them give their cars an absolute reaming. plus every young guy into drift in japan wants to live the takumi dream so they keep shelling out stupid amounts of dough. they are a cool car, but unless you are a massive AE86 fan and want to keep it stock in a collection they are not worth buying. if you are buying one for drift, I say look at an S13 instead.

[m3gtr]

Yeah, Richard i agree with you too, 100 %. Tsuchiya, as good as he is..take no credit from the great man, and Initial D have pumped the price of an 86 ' , together with japanese cult status and desirability, through the freakin roof...

my advice is to forget ALLLLLLL about it.

having said that, there will always be a buyer if hes willing to buy.

the white 86 i saw from Jspec, even as good as it was, had some noticable problems. It was obviously a front end repair judging by the white paint overspray on the arches. added to that it has had the rear repaired as well because the paint on the rear quaters and the paint under the guards and tail gate definitely dont match. Even a car that good ( although the few thousand K's on the clock is highly questionable ) is still asking around 9 grand!! And THAT, in Japan!!!

Like richard said, better off with a later model silvia that may or may not come with a more certifiable driving history..

having said all that,...its not going to stop me from owning one, in whatever condition it comes in. as richard knows too, i live in tokyo. great for a project car...if you live HERE, but absolutely prohibitable if you live there..

still..theres always going to be someone who wants one...just as HSV says..

just my 2 cents worth...

[andylaurel]

AE86s inspire AE86 enthusiasts to spend irrational amounts of money on what are effectively, 23 year old corolla's.

When driven at the limit however, they are incredibly rewarding cars, considerably moreso than any turbo nissan i've ever driven. If the chap wants to spend the cash on an 86, then best of luck to him. Perhaps he enjoys the driving moreso than the image.

[WTF-33R]

Try Al Palmers in Penrith. He usually has 1 or 2 in stock in good nick and he knows them back to front, so hes worth chatting to.

his website http://www.ifixum.com/

[m3gtr]

AE86s inspire AE86 enthusiasts to spend irrational amounts of money on what are effectively, 23 year old corolla's.

When driven at the limit however, they are incredibly rewarding cars, considerably moreso than any turbo nissan i've ever driven. If the chap wants to spend the cash on an 86, then best of luck to him. Perhaps he enjoys the driving moreso than the image.

youve made an extremely strange comment there mate...

on one hand you admit to the 86 being "extremely rewarding to drive on the limit" but then make reference to them being 23 year old corollas....

hmm.. since when has a "corolla" of any type and any spec EVER been rewarding to drive under ANY circumstances?

oh and the 86 has nothing to do with the corolla by the way..its based on what Oz would refer to as the sprinter platform and most corollas come in front wheel drive.

[andylaurel]

on one hand you admit to the 86 being "extremely rewarding to drive on the limit" but then make reference to them being 23 year old corollas....

i make reference to the the 86 being extremely rewarding to drive which consequently encourages enthusiasts to spend a lot of money on them. Contrasting the fact that they are effectually, a 23 year old corolla.

hmm.. since when has a "corolla" of any type and any spec EVER been rewarding to drive under ANY circumstances?

Corollas have been raced, rallied and drifted for decades now, competing in a one make series in Japan, in Improved Production Class in Australia and there are two AE86's competing in the Drift Australia series, a CAMS sanctioned national level drifting series held here in Australia.

oh and the 86 has nothing to do with the corolla by the way..its based on what Oz would refer to as the sprinter platform and most corollas come in front wheel drive.

Quite incorrect again im sorry. The AE86 was released in Australia as a Toyota Sprinter whereas in Japan, the 2 door "notchback" variants were badged as either Corolla Levin or Corolla Trueno. The 3 door "hatch" AE86 was badged a Sprinter Levin or Sprinter trueno based on the variations of front end. Furthermore in the US domestic market all AE86's were badged Corollas. Never sprinters.

Now your claim that "most corollas come in front wheel drive" is also incorrect. In 1966 the KE10 was released with a Rear Wheel Drive K motor. The RWD corollas continued through to 1986 with the final rwd model being the AE71 (and ae86). In fact the Corolla never actually came Front wheel drive until 1986 with the release of the AE82.

im sorry to sound rude but it doesnt appear as if you have actually driven any corollas and therefore you are biased. you are quite correct though, as your name suggests that you own a M3GTR and therefore any AE86, no matter how modified, would pale in comparison. you do own a M3 GTR dont you?

Edited February 26, 2007 by andylaurel

[m3gtr]

AE86s inspire AE86 enthusiasts to spend irrational amounts of money on what are effectively, 23 year old corolla's.

while you have made some points that i will agree with, your post gave across the impression that the 86 was a "corolla" to what many australians would think of as a normally aspirated FWD car not worth owning.

the 86 has been intentionally encouraged to not be associated with such a stigma, hence why you will see hardly anyone referring to them as corollas either in australia or in japan, except ofcourse yourself. Every car has at some point been raced or rallied. even a 120Y has been raced in the classic adelaide. thats not my point. I have driven "corollas" and i found them uninspiring, to say the least, especially in FWD configuration. I have also driven 86's. i live in japan, have friends in the drift scene here and have found them to be an inspiring drive, rewarding on the limit, extremely well balanced, tunable, with plenty of support yet why anyone would bother spending money on any other "corolla", as you put it, in competition now, is beyond me.

again for the record, i dont consider the 86 to be a "corolla". badge or no.

as an aside, in reference to your comment about my name, i happen to very much like the m3 gtr. its one of BMW's finest cars to date. plus its a psuedonym for an M3 and a GTR which are two of my favourite cars.

instead of trying to invoke a flame war and putting my name into your sights, lets stick to the discussion without the petty cheap shots, shall we?

[Angus Smart]

Thanks alot guys, i will link him to this thread, tho i beleive we've found a few that have been imported here recently we're going to look at them soon.

i was a bit scared about getting a car from japan that no body has looked at. and they are all rust buckets here! so i gathered its the same there also!

hes hooked on getting an 86. nothing is going to stop him from doing this.

[WTF-33R]

Just Jap have a few in their yard too I noticed last visit

[dangerous_daveo]

Really tho, compair them to say a GT falcon, and look how much they are selling for! Even $20k for a fancy pants corolla is fairly cheap compaired to some of the GT and torry prices. As thats all they are, a japanese GT falcon. (not in the sense of the car, but what they mean to people)

[DECIM8]

I dont think ive ever seen any car go around faster than a ae86 .. One minute I saw it grinding my teeth at the corner it was taking and the speed it was doing .. then in the blink of an eye without even a touch on the brake it was gone around the corner with a STI struggling to keep up..

Since then ive loved the car.. but yeah abit old but nice very nice

Just wanted to post my thoughts on them

[m3gtr]

I dont think ive ever seen any car go around faster than a ae86 .. One minute I saw it grinding my teeth at the corner it was taking and the speed it was doing .. then in the blink of an eye without even a touch on the brake it was gone around the corner with a STI struggling to keep up..

Since then ive loved the car.. but yeah abit old but nice very nice

Just wanted to post my thoughts on them

im not sure if i should be shocked or supportive..

an 86 outdrove an Sti??

were you on it or just coasting?

[Guest]

Here is one in WA at c-red and it is a tidy car.

1987 Toyota Trueno Notchback

This little beauty was purchased direct from Tets at Prime Garage on our recent visit there, Last of the Hachi Roku Line - First Registered 11/87, Resplendant in Panda Colours, Carbon Fibre Bootlid, 14" Deep Dish RS Watanabes, AE92 Engine, Tanabe Extractors and Exhaust, Tanabe Coilovers, OS Giken LSD, Bride Bucket Seats, Half Cage. This is the best AE86 I've ever seen - not a spec of rust and carefully built by one of the most respected garages in Japan.

[m3gtr]

Here is one in WA at c-red and it is a tidy car.

1987 Toyota Trueno Notchback

This little beauty was purchased direct from Tets at Prime Garage on our recent visit there, Last of the Hachi Roku Line - First Registered 11/87, Resplendant in Panda Colours, Carbon Fibre Bootlid, 14" Deep Dish RS Watanabes, AE92 Engine, Tanabe Extractors and Exhaust, Tanabe Coilovers, OS Giken LSD, Bride Bucket Seats, Half Cage. This is the best AE86 I've ever seen - not a spec of rust and carefully built by one of the most respected garages in Japan.

Id love to see what it retails for in Oz..

[DaveB]

Here is one in WA at c-red and it is a tidy car.

1987 Toyota Trueno Notchback

This little beauty was purchased direct from Tets at Prime Garage on our recent visit there, Last of the Hachi Roku Line - First Registered 11/87, Resplendant in Panda Colours, Carbon Fibre Bootlid, 14" Deep Dish RS Watanabes, AE92 Engine, Tanabe Extractors and Exhaust, Tanabe Coilovers, OS Giken LSD, Bride Bucket Seats, Half Cage. This is the best AE86 I've ever seen - not a spec of rust and carefully built by one of the most respected garages in Japan.

Looks like a model that's been composited

[C-Red]

Looks like a model that's been composited

No I can assure you its real. Looking for about 16k for it.

Jash