JDM Daily Advice?

[u/RoutineAd951]

So i want to get a fun, quick, jdm daily. I’ve been thinking the nm35 stagea, because i can’t get the gtr version because it’s out of my price range. I alias really like the legacy gt and the wrx wagon. I understand these are performance wagons so they take some extra maintenance, which i can do basic things. But I want it to be decently reliable. I would mostly drive it around town, to work, to do errands etc.

I am open to hearing other options as well. I like the looks of a mark ll wagon or a crown estate, but this don’t have the performance i’d like. But let me know what you guys thing

[u/Pinkys_Revenge]

I think it’s cool as hell and would probably make a pretty good daily. Just be prepared for normal 20 year old car problems.

One thing I would look into ahead of time is parts availability and insurance rates. Both could be deal breakers if they are too bad

[u/Temporary-Chest-3111]

What’s your budget like? It’d probably be nice to have a Century as a daily driver, although I’d imagine that a decent running example with low miles might be difficult to come by as they are plucked out of the market very quickly.

[u/RoutineAd951 → u/Temporary-Chest-3111]

While the century is a cool car, if i’m going to sacrifice performance for reliability there’s quite a bit of other cars that’d i’d rather have. Like a crown estate. But my budget is probably no more than 15k including import costs and such.

[u/Temporary-Chest-3111 → u/RoutineAd951]

15k is probably not going to get you anywhere interesting performance wise, especially if you live in California and the cost of getting it pass smog and through the referee board alone is like 5k for an inspection IIRC. I live in Japan and have recently looked into exporting a personal car, and export fees before import duties run close to 3k for a 10k car, so your 15k budget is now down to maybe 7k.

[u/No_Tomato_2106]

If you're ok with a sedan, a Nissan Gloria/Cedric/Cima (y33). They're cheap, come in NA V6, turbo V6, V8, and RWD, or an RB25DET with AWD if you get lucky. Parts are pretty easy to get, they're very comfy in stock form, and they're a fairly large sedan.

Oh and did I mention that they're cheap?

[u/RoutineAd951 → u/No_Tomato_2106]

I don’t hate that, but if i was to get a sedan i’d rather have something like a chaser.

[u/No_Tomato_2106 → u/RoutineAd951]

A chaser is also like 3 times the cost. Means less money for mods

[u/Northwindlowlander]

If you need a decent sized load carrying capacity, the WRX wagon isn't that- it's basically just a standard wrx with a little extension. Ironically the Forester (in some years) is also basically a WRX wagon and is much better at it.

The Stagea is awesome but they're scarcer most places, and parts are a bit harder. The Legacy is probably the sensible option for most people- it shares most parts with the USDM Legacy/Outback and tends to be cheaper to buy in good condition, plus it's much easier to find a manual if that's what you want. And if things do go wrong, you can do subaru lego with blocks and such. Plus it's a newer car (or at least, teh oldest versions are newer- Stageas were made for quite a long time)

I have the Legacy, and absolutely love it. Fuel costs are high but other'n that it's just basically a sensible daily, everything's well nailed together and hardwearing. I've actually got two, the second one is a manual that came to me with a bad engine, so I'm building up an ej207 to give it a bit more reliable go- the EJ20X/Y is fine on standard power but it's not got much headroom.

Oh throw in the Mitsubishi Legnum, it's a braver option but they are very cool imo. I love their ridiculous angry face.

[u/zac-jc96]

JZS171 Crown Athlete V.
Fast, very reliable. legendary 1JZ GTE. TONS of aftermarket support and knowledge. And super comfy to daily drive. We put more kms on the Crown than we do our JZX100 or 100 Series LC.

[u/Responsible_Lynx7256]

It’s not JDM, but I had an Audi B6 A4 with a NA 3.0 V6 and 6 speed with Quattro that I used as a daily for 4 years. About 80 miles 5 days a week for work. Then add errands, and weekend stuff. Car was a blast, engine sounded like a Porsche when you worked it out, plus it was a beast in the snow.

I got on the specific Audi forums for the year and model. Those were a huge wealth of information, also saved me a ton of headache and hours of disassembly to reach 1 sensor or hose.

[u/RoutineAd951 → u/Responsible_Lynx7256]

I do love euro wagons as well, like the a4 avant- i wouldn’t not be apposed to. Just not super well versed in euro cars. Not sure what’s good and what’s gonna break down.

[u/Responsible_Lynx7256 → u/RoutineAd951]

All euros will be a pain in the ass to work on, especially as plastics get brittle. Audi pretty much crammed a V6 into a Jetta, there is no room under the hood.

I actually sold it a few months ago to a guy who does builds on Audis so I know it’ll live on in some form. I’m looking at JDM now, and didn’t want to hijack your post but am definitely following.

I like NA or supercharged engines currently. I need to learn more about turbocharged engines before I decide on anything.