How happy are people with the JDM engine replacements?

Look at it logically If you buy used takeouts from Japan when they're pulled in Japan they are salvaged so that stuff is shipped like salvage It's allowed to get wet containers don't have to be sealed like they do for televisions and new products and all of that so things are treated quite poorly so there's always that so when you get one of these JDM things it would make a lot of sense to do a whole lot of look at maybe even pull the oil pan off that sort of thing I don't think I would stretch it to pulling the head off so for that $2,500 or so dollars that you're talking about you could buy the reciprocating mass brand new from Toyota and put sandwich it between a remanufactured head done locally or bought from AutoZone for they're like $340 or something look them up they're not that bad the remanufactured head so then you would have some labor in your garage or driveway bolting in the new reciprocating mass to your unmolested rest of your metal pieces that sandwich at all together but if yours is broken then you would need the center girdle and other things which could be rounded up in the States pretty easily then you would have essentially a new engine new reciprocating mass guaranteed no problems with the rods piston deck height etc and you could almost have the same money or close to it as ordering a JDM engine from these overpriced sellers years ago this stuff was reasonable I could get a engine for 8 to 1000 from these guys. Then everybody wanted to get into the game and turned it into a real crap show that's where we are now so you've got to be very careful and all of that then once you have that engine from the JDM suppliers in your position they will do everything they can to not make you whole every excuse in the book every bit of nonsense you're dealing with foreigners all of it It's really ugly so it can turn into a real pile of poop quickly given the fact that these engines apparently have some kind of problem or the pieces that are fixed to the engine create problems doesn't really matter and then I have to think to myself is the car that I'm doing this to worthy of this hell some of my nicer Corollas that I've owned in my life I didn't think we're worthy TE37 beautiful little Corollas that look like IS 300 back in 1975 yeah those stuff like that I wish I had them now. To do this to a generation 3 Prius for the years that that was made boy that car would have to be in some real stellar condition My Prius Persona was in that kind of condition and I didn't think it was worth doing still don't.

 

Just to be clear I put a JDM engine swap in a 2013 and 4 months later that swapped engine was back to making a very similar racket that the 240,000 mi engine that was pulled out had made and then snapped a rod I'm back to almost that same noise and I don't even know man less than 9 months so there is something else up with a lot of this stuff and it's just not sustainable maybe it is for some kids that have people that are looking out for them or something or whatever but for me not so much I would advise against it even though some has made it work I have lost interest for sure

 

Did you get your JDM engine swap completed? If so, how many miles have you put on it and are there any symptoms with the engine yet?

Asking because I'm at the same crossroads.

 

I put a JDM engine in a 13 Persona from a JDM supplier that I have been using since the late '80s and early '90s in New Jersey The engine ran great about 18,000 miles and then started rattling and acting up again just like the federal spec engine I replaced of course I know better than this nonsense of the car is just been parked to be parted out and like I stated above in another post these aren't your father's Toyotas anything after 2010 is planned obsolescence so probably not a good idea to get wrapped up in too much repairing and cost because you're not going to have anything you'll have $7,000 and something that's worth less than $4,500 so be aware of that and be very cautious It would be a lot of people coming along telling you different that may be their experience at the present time or what have you but it is a real crap shoot this day and age especially with engines built like the ZZ series which is everything going forward of 2010 so there's always that we don't partake in this We just continue with our generation twos which we have two to four of on the property at all times and that ends almost all of our discussion with working on cars to be honest about it once you're in the generation too you're just driving like hell and doing very minimal maintenance and work once you get the basic sorted to break actuator when it's time You're all going to have to get batteries in any Prius you own unless you just have them for a week The dashboard display seems to be common to the generation too but yet I see people in the generation 3 having almost as much trouble with their displays and their stereos failing in my generation twos none of those things have failed except the display it's $175 fix it lasts forever certainly all of this is much cheaper on a generation too but many folks can't deal with that because they live in neighborhoods enough to keep up with their neighbors that are all driving new 45,000 cars so lot at play.