Question for all you Supra RZ Experts

[guitarguy]

I'm thinking of importing a 93-94 supra RZ this summer, Now all i've hear about these cars is that they are very reliable and well made vehicles. But last week i talked to a guy who brought one over and he said because of the climate change the car was running terrible and he was always having to get this turbos re tuned. He ended up just selling it cause it was so finicky, and it was costing him a fortune.

Any advise from owners out there

Thanks

[ercchry]

that does not sound right....

i think the trick is (same with any car from japan) is to make sure the car you get still has (or just went out of) current registration (shogun or something, cant remember the actual name), this will make sure that the car is still in good shape since the inspections are pretty rigorous.

[JAYMEZ]

He bought a POS and didn't have money to fix it.. Dont cheap out on a car like that. 2JZs are very reliable . Climate change? What??

[toastgremlin]

Is it possible that he was running lower octane fuel or something on it? Climate change doesn't really make sense since there are parts of Japan that have similar elevation to Calgary.

[SRT10Killer]

That sounds very strange........
but make sure to get a 6 speed, not a 5 speed.

according to a the forum and a person I know who had 2 USDM RZ's 5 speeds are unreliable.

also try to get one WITHOUT an aftermarket steering wheel because to pass the Alberta OOP you must have a airbag

also have a lot of money stored because the price in Japan is A LOT different from the final price(based on the rz 6 speed high value you will pay a lot for exchange rate and customs)

[guitarguy]

Has anyone had experience owning one? Are they pretty finicky i just dont want to have a car that i have to pour all my money into for little tune ups all the time

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ
He bought a POS and didn't have money to fix it.. Dont cheap out on a car like that. 2JZs are very reliable . Climate change? What??

[JAYMEZ]

Originally posted by guitarguy
Has anyone had experience owning one? Are they pretty finicky i just dont want to have a car that i have to pour all my money into for little tune ups all the time

Ive owned a Supra for years . If shit goes wrong , have fun paying the bills. And with a JDM car , you have no idea how long its been sitting , or if its been well maintained.

[badatusrnames]

I don't know anything about Supras specifically, but all I can say is try and find one that is already landed and ideally has already passed the out of province. That way you can actually have a look at it yourself and have a mechanic look it over before you buy it instead of buying a car sight unseen.

Let the importer assume the risk, even if it means you have to pay a little more for a landed car, it's worth avoiding any potential major headaches.

Although, since they are only recently import eligible, you might have a tough time finding a landed one for sale. They aren't yet common enough like the Fairlady's, Skyrines, etc.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ


Ive owned a Supra for years . If shit goes wrong , have fun paying the bills. And with a JDM car , you have no idea how long its been sitting , or if its been well maintained.

you can have a pretty good idea how long they were sitting if they still have the registration sticker on them, if it just expired or is still current chances are it has not been sitting, if it is expired by a few years you can venture a guess that it has either been sitting for that long or driven really hard (and illegally) and not maintained

and for buying one locally.... do you have any idea the mark up on these?

[DonJuan]

Originally posted by ercchry

and for buying one locally.... do you have any idea the mark up on these?

If you don't got the balls or buy one sight unseen then you gotta pay. Its that simple.

As with all JDM cars watch out for ones with ECU tunes (or modifications in general), cuz they ar eporbably tuned for 100 octane.

[JAYMEZ]

Originally posted by ercchry


you can have a pretty good idea how long they were sitting if they still have the registration sticker on them, if it just expired or is still current chances are it has not been sitting, if it is expired by a few years you can venture a guess that it has either been sitting for that long or driven really hard (and illegally) and not maintained

and for buying one locally.... do you have any idea the mark up on these?

True. But why not just buy a USDM one where you can check all the records and see what has been done to it ?

[T78Supra1]

I've also owned one for years and nothing 15years old is reliable. The engine may be invincible but everything else will fall apart.

I loved my Supra but anybody that has owned one has their mechanic on Speed Dial.

If you want something reliable don't by anything right hand drive

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by ercchry
i think the trick is (same with any car from japan) is to make sure the car you get still has (or just went out of) current registration (shogun or something, cant remember the actual name), this will make sure that the car is still in good shape since the inspections are pretty rigorous.

2 year sha'ken, like he said^ read the registration sticker, the number is according to when the current emperor had accepted the throne presently 1989 for Akihito, Heisei era. if the sticker says 14 and whatever 12 month number stamped for example, add that 14 to 1989, your car was last registered in 2003 and probably sat in a lot or under a bridge or whatever for 6 years potentially causing dried seals and beaten by the sun.

like someone said, try and do as much research in the car you're buying as possible, some simple things like the registration sticker can be helpful, i'll bet as said above ^ the guy got a shitty/abused example and couldn't pay for his mistakes. i can attest to this with my brothers levin, had a 15 registration sticker on the window, explains the cracked dash vinyl, paint fade and all the little bs stuff i've had to fix on it that is just on its way out.

or...

save up and buy a nice LHD

[ercchry]

EDIT: ^^ there we go, exactly. if that sticker is a 2 year one that means that car has to pass a inspection and to do so it is pretty close to being damn perfect, those are expensive and if a car is not up to par chances are the owner is just going to want it gone... then those are the cars you see for the majority of the part here... the shit, because it is cheap

Originally posted by T78Supra1

If you want something reliable don't by anything right hand drive

pure ignorance right there.... like i have said a million times already it all depends

the issue is that importers get the cheapest cars they can find to maximize profit thus giving rhd a bad reputation over here, they is plenty of people that do not get these free junkyard cars from japan and actually get good working order cars that legitimately pass a oop

[em2ab]

If the oxygen levels vary in the altitudes the car operates in, you might have to change the timing. I've heard that before from someone and it seems to make sense to me.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by em2ab
If the oxygen levels vary in the altitudes the car operates in, you might have to change the timing. I've heard that before from someone and it seems to make sense to me.

chances are this would only come into play with a map based car, dunno if the 2jz in these is map or maf though

[SRT10Killer]

If you want something reliable don't by anything right hand

I rofl'd at that

I will only buy rhd cars because they are that reliable

If you prefer LHD thats fine, but the price difference is about 15-25k if you import it yourself.

And yes there are nice 6 speed RHD rz's that are 15-25k cheaper than stock LHD 6 speed rz's

[badatusrnames]

Originally posted by T78Supra1
If you want something reliable don't by anything right hand drive

More like if you want something reliable, don't buy a 15+ year old turbo sports car...

[guitarguy]

How i would love to buy a LHD Supra but the price difference is just rediculous. I can't find a manual twin turbo supra for under 30,000. i'm looking to spend about 18,000 and i'm maxed out which is why i'm asking about the reliability of these cars. cause if i get one and everytime i turn around there another bill for it i'll have to sell it.

People can ask whatever they want for there cars i've seen tons of supra that people are asking 20-25 grand them and i bet they paid about 14 or 15. I think the way the economy is right now that wont fly. I've been researching for while and a lot of these cars arent selling, and when they are i bet its for a lot sell then they were asking.

How can you tell if a car has had its ecu changed at all. I know you can reset everything by taking a fuse out for a couple seconds, Would the reset a tuned ecu?