i recently just purchased a 97 legacy twin turbo from japan and i was wondering if $4,625 dollars (that's including all the fee's) is worth it. it's mint in/out and has 145,000 miles on the body, 32,000 on the motor.

the positives i think:
-tommy kaira turbo back exhaust
-it's twin turbo
-it has jdm everything
-i have a legacy already for swapping

 

Pics???

 

That's not a bad price. Are you shipping it from Japan? If so, that price is awesome if it includes shipping.

Is that miles or Kilometers? (Should be km's)

 

good luck registering that engine. otherwise i'd say good buy!

 

Hmm, you guys have to register your engines??? Why do you have to that? The DMV won't know about that engine you swapped.
I think that is a very good price for what you are getting. But shipping is the killers, My friend who did a complete EVO 5 swap a couple years before the EVO 8's came out paid about $6k from Japan directly to Hawaii. Shipping from Japan to California is cheaper, he said he was quoted about $4-5k if it went to Cali first then to Hawaii. Also Matson charged an additional fee to offload the container onto the dock for another $600 and you have to be ready and capable of removing it from the premise. I know customs usually wants the car to be cut in half so it cannot be used to drive on the streets. You should see if they could put the car into a wooden crate box.
You also should have an customs agent or someone who knows about or has recieved these kinds of shipment from Japan to help you because of the paperwork. If there is something missingor iffy in the paperwork, they will not let it go and just hold it.

 

Your quote was with shipping included???? If it is, that is one hell of a deal, but I don't think shipping is that cheap.

 

well in california, the DMV might not do anything to you if you have a swapped motor, but when you go to get the car smogged, the state ref will check every inch of your motor and when they discover that your motor is a JDM one (and they will discover that, don't think you can run that by them), they'll start raising all kinds of flags. if you have all the proper emissions equipment installed (mainly the EGR valve, but there's some other stuff too), you shouldn't have much of a problem, as long as your motor has a direct USDM equivalent (as far as the engine designation goes anyway), and is from a car that is the same year as yours or later.

and just as an add-on, if your car does not pass the smog inspection in california, the DMV will not register it for use on public roads until it does. if that means that you need to swap back to a USDM motor, then that's what you'll have to do.

 

hmm...wow alot has changed since I was there from '88-'98 in the Bay Area. I remember the guy just sticking in the exhaust sensor into the exhaust pipe to get the readout. Yeah smog check sucks....here in Hawaii there is safety checks tosee that everything on your car runs proerly.
BUT then there is RECON which pretty much covers majority of any aftermarket modifications done to your car and needs to be inspected and passed.

 

wow ^^ do you or your friend who dod the swap still know the current requirements into bringing cars into hawaii?? i want to bring a car down, but don't quite know all the costs involved and even if it could be done. i know it would have to be trailered to my location, but i was wondering on all the costs on top of the price of the car.