so you're telling me that this car importing is a front for drug running?

interesting

 

well the car's aren't bargain dealers. prices for some of these cars is relativly low in japan. and i think it only costs 3-4k to ship over. being in cali from japan the cost might be more reasonable, then you got customs and tariffs, etc. i bet the guy is barely making 1000 for each car sold. looks like his main business is importing diesel engines. shipping isn't as bad as you think, it's time consuming though. cause they might ship your car in a container and wait for another car or 2 to fill it up before it goes out.

2 seconds, google is a wonderful tool.

 

All the shit I tried on google didnt pull up anything useful. guess I didnt look hard enough. I dont see why also that once your car or whatever arrives stateside that it can be held for weeks to a month before its released to you. my uncle went through a hell of a time getting his jeep back from Okinowa, Japan.

 

No you just said that importing cars at a loss doesn't make sense, I just provided a scenario where it made perfect sense. Not saying they import drugs in these vehicles at all, but if I were going to import drugs cars make a nice way to store them with an added bonus once you are done with the vehicle.

 

oh

yea i was merely pointing out that to have a business that legitimately operates at or near a loss doesnt make sense. you're completely right that certain scenarios mean it makes sense. there obviously has to be some reason he would be so willing to make next to nothing on these

 

That does sound pretty reasonable. The only other reason I could think of is that if they are selling a shitload of deisel engines and cars or whatnot, and getting a couple thousand per, I guess it could add up to be pretty profitable over time. But drug cars sounds like a much cooler reason.

 

You can stack a lot in an average container really. I have a buddy who got over 300 motors into one and had enough room if he had stacked them to put a couple front clips and other parts in with no problem at all.

I could see a bunch of diesel motors in a container and a car to finish off the load to make it worthwhile. A single container of average size is only a couple grand in shipping, so it's actually pretty easy to make your money back and be able to offer smoking deals, especially if you are buying a large quantity at a time. Yeah they cost the consumer 1k each but you can bet the wholesaler was picking them up at 250-300 a pop then when the shipping breaks down he is only in it may 350-450 per motor at the most. which gives a pretty wide margin to make deals.

 

Why would the guy be bringing over so many cars that couldnt be used as daily drivers? I understand the show and track aspect, but it would seem more lucritave to bring cars that the everyday person would be able to buy.

 

Which sparked another question in my mind. What is the main reason those cars arent allowed stateside? Ive heard emmissions/smog standards, ive heard because the integrity of the machine isnt up to US safety standards, being too fast... the list goes on. Lambos, ferraris, etc are fast as hell, and although rare, you do see them from time to time tags and all.

 

Emissions are different but also the crash specs are lower than US spec and they use sugar glass instead of safety glass. So there is a bit to change over to equal US DOT legality.