It has to due with the Japanese compulsory insurance and inspection cycles. A new car goes for 3 years and then it is every 2 years. The inspectors are real picky and it gets harder to get the car to pass as it gets older. There comes a time when it is cheaper to get rid of it. Especially the small cars.
As for "millage" distances are less in Japan and the toll roads there are expensive. You can take the "bullet" train for the costs of tolls from Tokyo to Osaka. Then there is the price of petro. After that is the lack of parking at work.
Oh unlike America the cars themselves are insured for a basic amount. It goes with the car and can not be refunded while the car is tagged. So when you register the car the insurance is paid up for the time frame upfront.

Having worked in the automotive industry (and even in this specific maket) for a number of years I would NEVER just drop ANY used engine in a car.... even if I hated the person. You have absolutely NO idea what it's been through and trust me, low mileage means NOTHING with a 20+ year old engine which has possibly been beaten to hell in what road life it has seen. I've dealt with plenty of "bulletproof" engines which have died terribly with less than 20K on them (even after testing out just fine prior to installation).

Mostly bicycles? You think it's China huh? They've got more technology open to them than that. ;) It kills me how people think it's that hard for kids to find open road upon which to beat the shit out of their cars on anywhere in the world. Even if it's not driven daily it doesn't mean it's not run low on oil or over heated every weekend; It only takes one screw up to start the time bomb ticking.

A JZ install isn't a straight drop in and many people dig themselves into a hole because they can't do what's needed or afford a competent mechanic. It's a bad idea to just throw it out everytime without explaining the pitfalls. I've seen a lot of these projects sold for pennies because they couldn't afford to continue or just gave up.


And 100 posts doesn't mean much, when I came here I had over 2000 posts on most of the other forums I participate in... Low post count != newbie.

As Cre said.. it would be silly to drop a JDM import straight into the car. You want to replace seals first.. EVEN if it doesnt need them.
Salt corrosion is bad and thats what you are going to find. Cheap engines really.. but there is a reason for it.

I looked at getting a front clip and dropping it in. My mechanical abilities are not what they should be since I haven't torn out engines and rebuilt them in over 20 years.. so I ask the experts. For me to do it the way I want, is going to take a minimum of 10,000.00 (more like 14,000+)

I can pull the engine, I can put the engine in.. but I don't trust myself with finessing things and generally I like doing things once only. From all my research I will be sticking with the 7MGTE solely because its the most cost effect way to reach my modest HP desire of approx. 400 at the wheels. If I wanted above 400 I would go with a 2jz swap and single turbo. My initial estimate for doing this with a single turbo was slightly over 14,000.00. You cant just drop it in and hope for the best.

JDM imports are great if your prepared to redo the engine prior to popping it in. If your not.. your gambling. (which isn't too bad if you can pull the engine and rebuild yourself later on)

100,000 miles out of a properly built/properly maintained 7M or 1JZ or 2JZ is simple to do. I only drive my car 2000 - 3000 km per year.. so the car should outlive me :)

Supera engine is strong enough, i feel your engine is not bad with 150,000 miles.