How to pick a JDM engine seller

JDM importers in New Jersey That's the people you want to talk to at least it is in my area they've been around since the late '80s and I know they have divisions all over now or at least in strategic locations in the United States and if they know you they can deal over the phone prices aren't set in stone.

 

Yes, spend maybe $1000 more and get a remanufactured motor from hybrid pit.
I think they would stand behind there motor, and you get a "new" motor, more or less.

Why risk all that money for a used motor that may or may not work, or work for long.
Then you're spend more money, and TIME and LABOR to put another USED motor in?
And how much down time????

 

Or a new (gen 3) short block, and have a machine shop go over the head, reassemble all with the Toyota gasket kit, and new head bolts.

 

Maybe it's presumptuous, but New Jersey is a sketchy location to buy from online... If they say they're in New Jersey and I can find a similar price elsewhere then I don't buy from New Jersey.

 

Hey, Jersey can’t be all THAT bad. That’s the state that brought us The Sopranos and low budget strip joints..

 

Well you can do all of that you like. I know the place I buy from has been there a long time they've had a bunch of turnover and staff over those years and funny how that usually is all Asian people. I've been doing business with one or two of these places for quite a few engines quite a few engine swaps skyline engines going into whatever things like that things that were going on 15 17 years ago. So some of these places have been around for a minute they're usually close to the docks so a container comes in they can bring it right over to their warehouse literally slide everything out onto a floor and start putting it on the pallet strapping and setting them on shelves like home Depot has. The further away you get from the criminal activity prices can go up. Like I'm in North Carolina If I look on trade publications and even Facebook marketplace I can find people smaller little companies selling the same engines right here in my state but I'll pay more money for them especially if I'm not in the business and don't know what I'm doing so there's always those things. I've gotten to know a couple of the guys where I purchase my engines from in New Jersey. And I will ask them things like to when you go looking for what I'm looking for here can you make sure that it hasn't been drugged through the water It's not from a container that was not sealed well and got soaked so on and so forth the stuff does happen I was down at the warehouse for 5 years ago and saw a stack of engine sitting over in the corner that had been semi underwater for however long it takes to get from Asia to here so on and so forth those things just get thrown in the corner they don't get sold sometimes they'll break individual parts off of those assemblies and then send them to scrap cylinder heads specialty cylinder heads from engines that aren't available here things like that. But some of that observation could be construed as fairly reasonable. I'm not sure really what New Jersey per se would have to do with it that's just an area on the east coast where a lot of shipping containers are coming in a lot of shipping containers can be slid in under the radar without people noticing so they're not paying extra tax so on and so forth drug shipments come in mixed with oh well. Generally for us we're only paying between a thousand and $1,400 for an engine assembly so nothing breaking the bank If you buy it closer to you and there's no port and that sort of thing then you're going to have associated transport charges added on to that price to get it for sale in that market.

 

What route did you end up going? Did you buy from a JDM dealer?

 

I am not finding a supplier with a specific name, JDM importers, New Jersey. Is that the actual name? Do you happen to have the name of the supplier? You were my recommending here?

 

I'm looking at getting a JDM motor. Explain to me how a remanufactured motor is not considered used? Isn't it basically a bad motor that's been "fixed "? I'd appreciate you helping me differentiate. Thank you!

 

jhm motors are used, someone used it for about 50,000 miles, or more. HOW they took care
of it, no one knows. Some have a good experience with them, some don't. It's a 50/50 chance.
If it's bad, YOU get to pay to replace it, again. Unless the place you had it done gets the motor
for you, them they pay. And you don't know how long it's been sitting waiting to be sold, which
is not good because the cylinder wall can rust.

A truly remanufactured engine is tour down, all the parts are checked, bearings replaced, it's machined
as needed. The head is check to see if it's warped, the valves and seats are resurfaced.
So you are getting a new engine. But since it's a motor that has been used, it can't be considered new.

The chances it will fail, are slim.

It's best to get a remanufactured engine, or a real new one. But your budget could decide what engine
you get. If it's a true jdm motor, you have a good chance it's a usable engine.

 

thank you for explaining this! Can you get a new motor for Gen 3/ 2011? And are there any suppliers that you would recommend for remanufactured/rebuilt engines?

 

Have you called the Toyota dealer to ask them the question you're asking here In other words if you call the Toyota parts department and ask the Toyota man or woman that answers hey I have a 2ZZ FXE engine in a 2011 Toyota Prius I need a new engine how much will that cost to buy from Toyota I'll hold. I'm not sure that this is a thing it would seem to me it would make more sense to buy the reciprocating mass that's the middle of the engine it comes already built from Toyota It's about 1800 bucks or it was and then you assemble your center girdle your oil pan and a remanufacturer's head on top of that and that equals an engine I'm not sure that Toyota will sell you the reciprocating mass the new center girdle the oil pan and the new head all assembled together in one go but I'm not positive about that and if they did I would imagine it would be about 7,800 just a guess again I haven't personally talked to my Toyota dealer parts manager whom is a very good friend of mine about this exact issue because generally nobody would do it that way they would buy the reciprocating mass which is the part that you need already pre-built from Toyota and assemble like I said above that is basic work you can't really screw that up well I guess you could if you tried but tightening bolts and applying sealer and that sort of thing is pretty generic.

 

When you Google JDM importers in New Jersey what do you see on your screen there's about four places. If I have to I can go back and look through my business and find the number of the two or three that I talked to they're all interconnected You have to be careful about some of the ones that just opened up in the last seven months to 2 years The guys I'm dealing with have been in business at least 5 years doing this if not longer realize I was buying ATK engines back in the mid '80s yeah most people don't know who that is that was the original importers of Toyota engines into this country way back in the day when ottawan a tools was just coming out and things were really happening TRD was just a hole in the wall in California there were no tundra trucks etc long time ago

 

I've been on the phone with Toyota dealership. No one calls me back and they keep on trying to get me to come in and have the cylinders inspected. my mechanic doesn't have much experience with Prius, but he's willing to do it and I'm doing the research. The closest specialist is hours away, and I obviously can't get there

 

The mechanic, that I don't trust and not going back too, tells me he can get me a 2013 JDM engine with 35,000 miles. From everything I've read in this group, or researched online, this isn't possible.

this is the article they sent me. What's the truth here?

How To Buy a Used Auto Parts Online | Kaiho Industry

 

Okay look this is how I used to buy parts from the JDM market back in the '80s We would buy front clips of lake Nissan sky lines Toyota soarers things like that. So it looks like this company may be trying to bring that back I'll read over that stuff later tonight be that as it may wonderful 35,000 mi The problem to me is is that this problem still exists in all the two ZFXE especially. Not so much in the non-FXE trim non Prius duty trim but that's another whole discussion. So what's this $35,000 mi engine going to cost you Just out of curiosity that's the question to ask $3,500 $2,950 I'm talking about to your door to his shop for the regular JDM nonsense with the 65 to 75K in the midst of the pandemic or something like that to my door was 1380 something like that I know you won't match that now but anyway just an idea I certainly wouldn't pay in the near 3,000s just to get the engine to the mechanic shop and then have to pay the mechanic retail prices I pay $800 for an engine swap I'm getting to the point now in age where engine swaps and all of that just don't interest me anymore but I used to do them all the time. Not in Prius this is way before Prius but it looks like that company is trying to bring that whole thing to a retail setting It looks like.

 

Any Gen 3 engine will work. But you want the 2015 because it has the updated pistons and rings.
Toyota changed them sometime in 2014. So if you get a 2015, you KNOW you have them.

 

This is exactly what I'm trying to figure out how to get. Thanks so much!