So I've talked to International Vehicle Importers and Phase9, both seem like cool shops but was curious who you prefer. For those of you who've bought a R32 already who did you use and how good was your experience? Are there any things or shops I should be weary of? Also is there any other importers I should take a look at?

I got my from http://www.valleyhillneovintage.com/
They are very close to my office and Ken the guy who runs the US side is super nice.
They gave me tons of paperwork for my car, they call the shop that did all the N1 motor work to my car in Japan to make sure it was all good. ( I also call just to be sure and they told me the same and told me same )B4 I pick up the car Ken saw a very small PS leek so he order me all the parts to fix it bescuse he did not want me to have the guy's with something wrong with it.
I know someone on here got a R31 from him and was happy with it too.

I got my Nismo from IVI so I can attest to their being legit. When me and my friends came to inspect my car before purchase they pretty much let us have the run of the place until we were satisfied with what we saw. Sean, the owner, has also been super helpful with any questions I've had after purchase.

I bought the R31 from Valleyhill and Ken made sure the car was in tip top shape before he sent it to me in Texas. He took the time to buy an extra transistor pack when he was in Japan. He just sold all his cars so I don't think he has anything in stock in the US right now. The guys at IVI are also top notch.

The things that's making me a little nervous is that all these cars are 25 years old, they are cheap in japan and a lot of kids get them because they are cheap and fast. How is it that the highest millage one I've seen for sale is only 117k km which is 72,715 miles. Now I've seen at least 20 of these things on line, so there is no way these mileages can be right. For the price these are not cars you save and put in a garage for a nice day only.

You have to understand the Japanese way of life. Very few drive back and forth to work or to the store for that matter. Their cars only get driven on the weekends for the most part. It is not at all uncommon to find 25 year old low mileage cars. It has been a few years now, but a friend of mine bought a R31 out of a Japanese junk yard with only 2k miles on it. At the time, the car was 15 years old and had been sitting in the garage of this old man. When he passed away, the family just junked the car to get rid of it so they could sale the house.

Ah, I guess that makes sense, I know there are guys that are paid to push people into subways because they're over loaded

fergyr31 wrote: When he passed away, the family just junked the car to get rid of it so they could sale the house.

whitetiger777 wrote:The things that's making me a little nervous is that all these cars are 25 years old, they are cheap in japan and a lot of kids get them because they are cheap and fast. How is it that the highest millage one I've seen for sale is only 117k km which is 72,715 miles. Now I've seen at least 20 of these things on line, so there is no way these mileages can be right. For the price these are not cars you save and put in a garage for a nice day only.

Japan has a lot better public transit network than the US so most people take the bus or train for regular commuting. For long trips you've got the awesome bullet train network so most Japanese don't drive on long road trips like Americans. Parking is also fairly expensive in major cities so that's an additional expense if you take the car.

Take all of that together plus the fact that Japan is a lot smaller than the US (Japan in total is about the size of Montana alone but it's divided into three major islands) and relatively low mileage is no surprise really.

fergyr31 wrote:You have to understand the Japanese way of life. Very few drive back and forth to work or to the store for that matter. Their cars only get driven on the weekends for the most part. It is not at all uncommon to find 25 year old low mileage cars. It has been a few years now, but a friend of mine bought a R31 out of a Japanese junk yard with only 2k miles on it. At the time, the car was 15 years old and had been sitting in the garage of this old man. When he passed away, the family just junked the car to get rid of it so they could sale the house.

+1 Some who is part Japanese and has live in Japan.