Happy Friday! On today’s Shitbox Showdown, I’m asking a serious question: Why JDM? What is the appeal of having virtually the same car you can buy in the US, with maybe a little more power and some different trim, for many times the price? I honestly want to know, so I’m putting it out there to all of you to debate and discuss over the weekend. So I’ve found what I think is a fairly desirable but still attainable Japanese import, and an equivalent US model that’s nice but not perfect.
But first, there is the matter of yesterday’s silly Jeeps to finish up. The idea of taking two hulks and making one working car out of them is intriguing, but it never really works out quite the way you planned. At best, you have a “parts car” to store somewhere or dispose of when you’re done with it; at worst, the car you thought was the “good” one ends up being worse than the first one and you end up junking them both. Ask me how I know.
The whole idea is so troubling, in fact, that it even drew a comment from our esteemed Master of Ceremonies, a man who until recently would have been all over a two-fer like this. Maybe he really is growing up. In any event, the “both” option proved popular with most of you, at least theoretically.
Now then: I don’t know how often this happens wherever you are, but here in Portland, at least once or twice a week, I see a Japanese car that almost looks familiar. I recognize the make, and can almost make out the model, and then I notice that the driver is sitting on the “wrong” side of the car. Japanese domestic market imports have become big business up here, and several large importers will either help you bring in the car of your dreams, or sell you one they have already imported.
But it’s not cheap, and I can’t help thinking of all the drawbacks. Say goodbye to drive-thru lines, and good luck at parking garage kiosks, for a start. You’ll probably just have to live with it if you get a minor ding or crack in one of the trim pieces that’s nothing like the US version of the same car. And I don’t even want to know what sorts of hoops the DMV makes you jump through. So why do it? Why not just be satisfied with a US-market version of almost the same car? Let’s look at one of each, and then you tell me.
1996 Acura Integra – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Sacramento, CA
Odometer reading: 115,000 miles
Runs/drives? Yes, but might have starter trouble…?
I do like the Acura Integra, despite my personal history with one bad buy. We spent too much on an automatic Integra that ended up having some weird electrical issues, and I listened to the wrong forum idiots about fixing it, going against my gut, and wasted a lot of time chasing gremlins, which soured us on the car. But it was a nice little car to drive for the most part, if a bit dull with the automatic. With a manual, I imagine it would have that wonderful lively Honda zippiness that everyone loves.
This one has a scant 115,000 miles on its odometer, though they haven’t been easy miles, from the sound of it. It has a salvage title for an undisclosed reason, which I know is an immediate red flag for some, but I’ve had two salvage-title cars, and they were both fine. I guess it depends on how it happened, assuming the seller even knows. As it sits, the car runs and drives just fine, but it sounds like it might have to be push-started. The ad is a bit unclear. I do know that one of the problems we had with our Integra was a bad starter; I spent a lot of time mucking about with the ignition switch and some big relay under the dash before just replacing the damn starter and fixing the problem.
Salvage title or not, it’s a sharp-looking little car. This looks like a basic RS model, with few options, but that means there are fewer things to break. And I like the fact that it’s stock, right down to the steel wheels and plastic wheel covers.
I’ve generally had good luck with Hondas, particularly manuals, so I think I’d be willing to at least look at this car, and find out how it ended up with a salvage title. The price still seems a little steep, but I know these are getting more desirable, and a rising tide lifts all boats, as they say.
1995 Honda Integra – $20,500
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Shoreline, WA
Odometer reading: 163,000 kilometers (102,000 miles)
Runs/drives? Yep
The Japanese-market Integra carried Honda badges; Acura is primarily a North American nameplate. From the looks of it, it also has a different nose, and a far less interesting one. It looks a lot like a contemporary Accord, actually. The fact that this one is a four-door sedan and not the sportier two-door hatch doesn’t help, nor do the exact same wheels as our Accord EX sedans.
But as has been said of other high-performance machines, “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.” Under the hood of this Integra is a VTEC-equipped twincam 1.8 liter four, sending 180 horsepower to the front wheels through a five-speed manual and a limited-slip differential. So there’s some fun to be had here, for sure.
Of course, you’ll have to learn to shift with your left hand. And from what I’ve heard, unlike British right-hand-drive cars I’ve driven, the turn signal and windshield wiper stalks are reversed, so you’ll have to signal with your right hand. Odds of you turning the wipers on accidentally when approaching an intersection are significantly greater than zero.
It’s a cool little car, no doubt, and it’s probably close enough in spec to the US models that a lot of basic maintenance and replacement parts available here will work. But it’s also probably close enough in spec that it wouldn’t feel much different to drive, except that you’re sitting on the other side.
I get the desire for “something different,” but is that something different worth all the hassle of registering an imported car, and all the day-to-day headaches of right hand drive? There’s a $16,700 price difference between these two cars that are 90-95% the same, and close to the same age and mileage. Yes, there is a performance difference as well, but not that great. So what is it? Bragging rights? Cool factor? I know both of these cars will sell for the asking price. Which one is worth it to you, and why?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I think part of the JDM thing is, that while there is a chunk of my generation are Anglophiles,a chunk of my son’s generation are Japanophiles, or whatever the word is. The grew up on Anime and Dragonball Z, and all things Japanese are cool.
As far as these cars, I like the idea of the performance, manual 4 door better than the coupe, but not near enough to justify the big price difference.
I’m not really sure you are making your point by having so much dissimilar cars. I don’t want either of them. One is a salvage title, overdoing the price difference.
I don’t really get the appeal of going JDM on this specific example. And certainly not at 20.5K. Integras were nice little cars in their day and certainly sporty enough with the higher zoot engine and manual. However this car is not the proverbial “forbidden fruit” that import enthusiasts tend to lust over, it’s just a RHD version of a car that we got plenty of in the 90s. This one puzzles me beyond the “I want to be (slightly) different” buyer. It’s not different enough for the ask.
If you spend the suggested $3,800 on the black three-door, fix the starter, do your basic fluid and pad changes, and put a set of grippy tires on period factory Honda/Acura alloys – say you’re five or even six grand all in, hell, say at least six to factor in, I dunno, a possible clutch job or something else major coming up that we don’t know about, or maybe you’d just want the driver’s seat reupholstered properly – and then the head gasket gives out or rust starts to creep through the rockers and you sell the car for a grand or so, well, that’s about $5k for what’s likely to be at least a few years of slow-but-nimble two-lane enjoyment.
And they want how much for that sedan?
Edit: Goo-net suggests that the crazy Integra pricing starts at home, so it’s not just the dealer being optimistic. Still, I’d take my chances with that salvage title!
They both will spend their lives staringing at a 90’s LT2 Camaro’s taillights on Fridays, so I vote for buying the crack pipe. A lowly 90’s 3.8L Camaro would smoke these things. The only reason they’re becoming popular again is video games and the shaved ape’s Fast and Ridiculous movies. They weren’t very good performance cars unless heavily modified. Oh no! I told the truth about Japanese shitboxes. I must not be a “real” (string back driving glove, gold chain wearing, shirt unbuttoned to the navel, pretentious, Speed Racer wannabe) car guy.
Fuckin eh! (Cheers emoji)
With curly white chest hair and sockless boating shoes?
Why do I sense you wrote this wearing an oversized Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts?
Real men don’t wear short pants like 3 year old little boys. That was a whiff of epic proportions. Wrong white guy stereotype, esé.
As the former passenger of a four-door 2nd gen GS from my childhood, I disagree with the previous poster, and a four- or five-door Integra is just as valid as the three-door models
I rent a lot of cars in Japan, and got pretty used to right-hand signaling after half an hour of driving. After returning to the States, I spent about three weeks constantly hitting wipers instead of turn signals. So it’s okay! I still wouldn’t spend that much on a 3rd gen sedan, though, unless it’s a DB8 Type R.
A four-door Integra is no Integra at all, I don’t care where it comes from or what badge is on it.
What if i told you the o.g. integra was born as a 4 door in 86
I appreciate it, but I don’t acknowledge it. *crosses arms*
Hey, i dont blame ya, im none to fond of then either, lol
They’re both overpriced but the JDM price is laughable.
“A plague on both your houses!” I can get a Toyota Century V12 for $10k including shipping.
Thank you for getting the quote right. Drives me nuts when people say “pox” instead of “plague.”
By 3:00 o’clock, with polish?
My son “knows a guy” and has been trolling Japanese auction sites, he showed me a 97 Century with 100,000 miles for $3500, shipping etc. runs about $2500 to get a car to Portland or Seattle. It will be slight departure since his friend mostly imports and flips Nissan Cedrics. Time frame is about 6-8 weeks to get it to Oregon.
The black one looks horrible on the passenger quarter panel. I wonder how much bondo exists on that car.
The problem with this Shitbox Showdown is that hte black one is probably smashed/repaired poorly, and by that nature, it will NEVER be a nice car. It will forever be sort of a beater, and not worth much.
The white one, while cool, is overpriced. Realistically that is probably more like a $10-12k Integra. If that is factory paint, maybe even more. The JDM front end is worth a lot to people converting them, and being RHD gets cool points, even if I don’t really like RHD at all.
I guess what I’m getting at is that hte white one will hold some actual value, which helps justify keeping it nice. The black one is a black hole you will toss money into, not a lot, but it just won’t ever be worth much.
Only reason I’d go jdm is because I work at the post office and it would be sweet to roll up to the mail boxes in an Integra. Of course there is the lack of space for parcels, but fuck Amazon!
HiAce vans are common in the PNW, RHD and space, and diesel
Hell ya I’d try to import one of those for rural delivery! Unfortunately, I ended up on the city side solely because there are too many cars at home in the garage, driveway and street; and adding more to the collection for a job I might not stay at didn’t pan out in the budget.
One of my local mail carriers has a Honda Concerto formerly owned by a little old English lady: https://i.imgur.com/mQe113h.jpg
That car is awesome!
I had a ’92 Integra GS coupe, just like the red one in the brochures. Totally loved it. Totally miss it.
The 3-door, a JDM front end swap, maybe even a GSR engine swap, and a full respray in any color you want is the price competitor for the JDM sedan??? Insane. Easiest decision I’ve ever made in the NPOND/ShSh series.
That JDM Integra is GROSSLY OVERPRICED. The stealership selling it is crazy. The ONLY way it would be worth the asking price is if it was a rare JDM-only performance version of the Type R. But this example is not a Type R. It’s a plain vanilla sedan version. I don’t even think it’s an Si-R as claimed by the seller… unless it’s a custom job. I would think that if it was a real Si-R, then we’d see some OEM badging to back that up.
The sanely priced 1996 Integra got my vote.
I voted the honda, its in better condition and was surprised how cheap it was. Then I saw it was losing the vote so badly, it didnt make sense. I came down to the comments and everyone is complaining how expensive it is… what, why are people complaining about a $2500?!?!!?
Oh… there is a 0 in there $20,500, yeah no way its worth that.
Is there a third option for a crack pipe?
Why do 36 members have access to better drugs than the rest of us?
I’ve had a couple JDM cars, but they were always stuff that wasn’t sold here, and both were far cheaper than this. The issues on the US car make me not want it, but the JDM is certainly not worth 5x the price for a sedan. I love imports for the weird factor, but not that much.
I kind of dig the black one. Who cares about the salvage title, this car is at the bottom of depreciation, and even if it goes to zero it’ still worth it if it lasts a few years as a beater. I never cared for these cars when new, at that time I was lusting over LT1 WS6’s and Chevy Z71’s, but now I kind of miss the simplicity of 90’s Hondas and Toyotas. In a way I think the 90’s were a high-water mark for cars in some ways.
“In a way I think the 90’s were a high-water mark for cars in some ways.” Yes, especially Japanese, very bulletproof, and enough power to be fun.
Who wants to bet that the salvage title is due to theft? Weren’t all of these stolen at least once?
I was going to comment that after reading that article from the ins. adjuster yesterday, it was probably a door ding.
All the hondas I’ve had (4) have been stolen at some point.
Where’s the “95 Park Avenue” button when ya need it
Like “neither, I’ll take the 95 Park Avenue”? I like that, maybe that way people won’t whine about how “both are garbage and over priced”..
“JDM I love you, but give me Park Avenue”
Big and Square!
Space-Saver Spare!!
Lots of Chrome!
It’ll get you home!
I am buying the JDM damnit. I don’t buy cars to sell later, so I don’t care about appreciation, or depreciation. I drive my cars into the ground.
“How is that ’96 only $3800???” “OOOHHHHHHHH, salvage title.”
Said every single one of us.