[crazyjncsu]

I’m Jake from the article.

The trucks have all just gone through auction and have inspection reports. Mine I bought for $2k was grade 3.5 and what I’d consider pristine for a 25 year old truck. The Japanese are pretty trustworthy people to do business with, and they build great vehicles.

One thing the author left out was the fascination I had with the whole process. Watching auctions, assignment to a ship, tracking it through the ocean and storms and watching on video as it passed through the Panama Canal. Then the customs and importation paperwork with CBP, going to the port, the driving 200 miles home in my new “truck” that had road manners more akin to my golf cart than anything actually on the road around me. I-95 was terrifying— I barely got off the on-ramp before looking for the next off-ramp to find backroads for the rest of the journey.

[markdown]

From a quick Google, these all seem to be cars from the 90s. Did you see any fpr sale that are less than a decade old?

[kalleboo]

These are still made and sold brand new starting at around $6000. The interest in 90's ones is due to the 25-year rule on hassle-free importing into the US.

* https://www.daihatsu.co.jp/lineup/truck/

* https://www.suzuki.co.jp/car/carry/

[markdown]

Interesting. In my country it's illegal to import vehicles over 5yrs old, not to mention having to meet emissions standards.

[crazyjncsu]

I did not, but I was only looking for 25 year old trucks as that is the age requirement for import.