2015 was the first year I took a serious interest in acquiring a vehicle from Japan. I first contacted Hi-Rev through email in June of 2015 to inquire about their purchase process. I briefly exchanged emails with them and later I ended up calling to ask several more questions over the phone. Later I was doing a lot of research on the legalities behind importing and costs associated with the process. I had absolutely no intention of doing any of the dirty work on my own due to my full time work commitment but I still wanted to understand the process to better educate myself. I followed Hi-Rev on both Instagram and Facebook which lead me to a lot of questions. My original concern was, after speaking with them, why&how they were selling newer cars such as the Nissan Skyline R34. According to my research at the time it did not seem plausible to legally purchase one of these vehicles but here they were for sale through this company.
Due to my line of work I couldn’t risk getting involved with anything illegal so after much consideration and several discussions with this company I decided to pass and go with another company to acquire a vehicle from Japan.
This year I found myself in a position to purchase another vehicle from Japan after already having purchased 3 others from 2 different importers. I decided to give Hi-Rev another look and see if maybe things have changed or maybe I wasn’t fully clear on something I had assumed previously in 2015. I started taking a serious look at Hi-Rev around January while watching their advertised inventory. In March, however, I ended up in a very awkward discussion with one of the Hi-Rev employees from their Midwest operation, I don’t recall his first name but I believe his last name was Vasey, about the legality of certain vehicles and how they were imported. The discussion didn’t go over very well as the employee was trying to stress to me that a specific vehicle they had at their Florida operation was imported under Show or Display which wasn’t possible at all because it wasn’t on the list managed by NHTSA. Later in April I called Hi-Rev and asked some additional questions, basic stuff just to get my feet wet and see what kind of answers I’d get. After about a month of sitting back and browsing their inventory I ended up engaging in a conversation with 2 employees from Hi-Rev, Francesco and Max, in a Facebook group for people in the US who have Skylines. This is where things went south and got weird.
I don’t consider myself to be the average buyer. After a lot of research I consider myself to be very informed on the process to acquire a vehicle from Japan and the associated costs. I will admit that being an informed buyer can sometimes frustrate some people in the business but I’m very careful with my money so I always become extremely meticulous when talking dollars and cents. I found myself engaged with the 2 employees from Hi-Rev where I initially was questioning additional post-arrival fees. As a car enthusiast I enjoy working on my own vehicles and I also have very good friends that do a lot of work for me thanks to my occupation. One of the big things that Hi-Rev seemed to preach about is how they take extra time and money to invest into inventory vehicles where they paint them and do additional work to them which can sometimes include adding modifications. Now, I have no complaint over the average buyer who may find this to be attractive but for me I’m not someone who really wants someone else that I don’t know to be doing things to my vehicles. It’s not that I don’t trust the other people or their work but rather that I’m very OCD and prefer to have things done my way for my hobby.
During the conversation I had asked if it made sense to force these post-arrival expenses onto customers or do we (as customers) have the option to decline these services and instead just purchase a vehicle as-is. Now, at this point the conversation was very cordial and informative. The problem started to arise when I had to ask the same few questions multiple times because they were not being answered. What ended up happening after this is the 2 employees from Hi-Rev started getting hostile with me over my questions and eventually one of them blocked me on Facebook so I couldn’t see the discussion anymore or reply further.
Normally I wouldn’t waste the time to do one of these reviews or further comment on the matter, but in this instance I find it extremely odd and somewhat annoying to be in this situation where I just wanted some answers to general sales questions from my perspective as a well-informed buyer. My initial question that seemed to get avoided was if I could buy a vehicle as-is through them or if I was basically locked into their package deal where I pay for a paint job and all kinds of other things I didn’t necessarily care to pay for. After several back and forth comments they finally stated I could buy a car as-is only if I accepted the known condition of it while it was in Japan, which I’m not entirely opposed to but it did leave me with a lingering question I didn’t have the opportunity to ask which is what happens if something arrives and it is not as advertised. I’m not looking to pull a fast one on anyone but I would like the peace of mind knowing if the car arrives with a bad motor that I would likely have that taken care of at no cost to me. At any rate, the next major issue that came about was where I asked about fees. Actually, I didn’t outright ask what their fees were since I was still discussing with them about the post-arrival stuff I didn’t want to pay for, but it was at this time that one of the Hi-Rev employees, Max, mentioned something called “Sans 8% export tax” which kind of threw me off and stopped me in my tracks. As any well-informed buyer would likely do I went ahead and questioned what the heck the “Sans 8% export tax” was and that’s when things got really sour.
In Japan they have a national sales tax which is applied to all sales in the country. This tax is actually made exempt for anything that is exported from Japan granted that the exporter files the appropriate things to prove it was exported and claimed it on their taxes in conjunction with the sale (5003 Consumption Tax Exemption on Exports). With that said, my eyebrows raised as soon as the Hi-Rev employee said I needed to pay an export tax. I am an adult and I do consider myself to be well-educated, I’m not stupid to the fact that businesses have to make money. Having said that, it doesn’t mean I’m okay with throwing money away when I shouldn’t be obligated to pay for something that is legally exempt. When I’m told there’s a fee then I want to know what the fee is. If it is labor or claimed as time and material then that’s no problem, I at least know what I’m paying for. In this case I was presented with a “tax”, for exporting of all things, and this tax seemed to be an arbitrary number thrown out there that was labeled as 8% and I was told by the Hi-Rev employee that I had to pay this “tax” in conjunction with the export of the vehicle I purchased with them. For the sake of the discussion we happened to be using a recent vehicle at auction as an example that was not cheap by any means and the supposed tax I needed to pay them for the purchase and export of the vehicle in Japan was $1,384. Now, being that I did my research on this topic and I’m educated enough to do basic arithmetic so it wasn’t very hard for me to connect the dots and see that I was throwing nearly $3,000 away to someone in this process. The problem is that based on the tax exemption law for exports, the supposed 8% tax of $1,384 is actually something that the exporter in Japan gets returned to them as I stated which means that exporter is pocketing $1,384 x 2. I get that people need to make money but you’re not making money off of me with exempt fees.
When I raised these details to the Hi-Rev employees I got no response from Francesco and then a series of very rude and hostile responses from the other employee, Max. Basically, I was told to “get real” and deal with it because everyone pays that fee. As the discussion continued this same employee who told me to “get real” then said since I’m an expert why wasn’t I in the business importing cars myself. I did mention earlier that I consider myself a well-informed buyer. My interest isn’t in consuming my time with doing the dirty work on my own, that’s why I pay people to do it for me and just deliver a car to my residence. But that shouldn’t mean I deserve to be ridiculed for knowing the process and wanting to make sure I’m not getting taken advantage of with my purchase.
Eventually at the very tail end of the discussion with these guys I was asked about how much I paid for my previous cars and who I purchased them from. I declined to provide details for obvious reasons and then the one employee that told me to “get real” asked if I was drunk because I didn’t agree with him. At this point I went ahead and provided a link to a certain exporter that dealt with one of the import companies I used and directed the Hi-Rev employees attention to the fees which that particular exporter had listed on their website. It was at this point that the Hi-Rev employee, Max, started accusing the exporters of manipulating the prices on the USS auction system in Japan saying that they padded additional hidden profit in the prices by saying vehicles sold higher at auction than what they really did. Again, as the well-informed buyer I then linked them to another exporter that has an auction system to view from and explained that prices are visible in the system and I’ve seen no evidence or indication of manipulation of the prices. Once I posted that info the Hi-Rev employee then blocked me on Facebook effectively ending the discussion.
This wasn’t the ideal ending that I was hoping for with this company. I would have rather seen the discussions go over much differently and possibly lead to a sale with them. Instead it seems they don’t like to deal with customers who are educated and well-informed on the export and import process. I’ll be taking my business elsewhere for better customer service where I’m not told to “get real” and deal with fees I shouldn’t be paying in the first place.
I wrote an online review of this company on their Facebook site which can be accessed as the following link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=211000035950811&id=100011224471135 where some additional supporting information can be located following a couple of responses from Hi-Rev Motors over this matter.
Stay away from them at all costs. Not only do they have questionable and possibly illegal vehicles but they are also ripping people off or they are getting ripped off by their supplier in Japan and don't care about their customers. If you want to get taken for a ride and waste money then this is the place to go to.
Hi-Rev Motors LLC Reviews
2015 was the first year I took a serious interest in acquiring a vehicle from Japan. I first contacted Hi-Rev through email in June of 2015 to inquire about their purchase process. I briefly exchanged emails with them and later I ended up calling to ask several more questions over the phone. Later I was doing a lot of research on the legalities behind importing and costs associated with the process. I had absolutely no intention of doing any of the dirty work on my own due to my full time work commitment but I still wanted to understand the process to better educate myself. I followed Hi-Rev on both Instagram and Facebook which lead me to a lot of questions. My original concern was, after speaking with them, why&how they were selling newer cars such as the Nissan Skyline R34. According to my research at the time it did not seem plausible to legally purchase one of these vehicles but here they were for sale through this company.
Due to my line of work I couldn’t risk getting involved with anything illegal so after much consideration and several discussions with this company I decided to pass and go with another company to acquire a vehicle from Japan.
This year I found myself in a position to purchase another vehicle from Japan after already having purchased 3 others from 2 different importers. I decided to give Hi-Rev another look and see if maybe things have changed or maybe I wasn’t fully clear on something I had assumed previously in 2015. I started taking a serious look at Hi-Rev around January while watching their advertised inventory. In March, however, I ended up in a very awkward discussion with one of the Hi-Rev employees from their Midwest operation, I don’t recall his first name but I believe his last name was Vasey, about the legality of certain vehicles and how they were imported. The discussion didn’t go over very well as the employee was trying to stress to me that a specific vehicle they had at their Florida operation was imported under Show or Display which wasn’t possible at all because it wasn’t on the list managed by NHTSA. Later in April I called Hi-Rev and asked some additional questions, basic stuff just to get my feet wet and see what kind of answers I’d get. After about a month of sitting back and browsing their inventory I ended up engaging in a conversation with 2 employees from Hi-Rev, Francesco and Max, in a Facebook group for people in the US who have Skylines. This is where things went south and got weird.
I don’t consider myself to be the average buyer. After a lot of research I consider myself to be very informed on the process to acquire a vehicle from Japan and the associated costs. I will admit that being an informed buyer can sometimes frustrate some people in the business but I’m very careful with my money so I always become extremely meticulous when talking dollars and cents. I found myself engaged with the 2 employees from Hi-Rev where I initially was questioning additional post-arrival fees. As a car enthusiast I enjoy working on my own vehicles and I also have very good friends that do a lot of work for me thanks to my occupation. One of the big things that Hi-Rev seemed to preach about is how they take extra time and money to invest into inventory vehicles where they paint them and do additional work to them which can sometimes include adding modifications. Now, I have no complaint over the average buyer who may find this to be attractive but for me I’m not someone who really wants someone else that I don’t know to be doing things to my vehicles. It’s not that I don’t trust the other people or their work but rather that I’m very OCD and prefer to have things done my way for my hobby.
During the conversation I had asked if it made sense to force these post-arrival expenses onto customers or do we (as customers) have the option to decline these services and instead just purchase a vehicle as-is. Now, at this point the conversation was very cordial and informative. The problem started to arise when I had to ask the same few questions multiple times because they were not being answered. What ended up happening after this is the 2 employees from Hi-Rev started getting hostile with me over my questions and eventually one of them blocked me on Facebook so I couldn’t see the discussion anymore or reply further.
Normally I wouldn’t waste the time to do one of these reviews or further comment on the matter, but in this instance I find it extremely odd and somewhat annoying to be in this situation where I just wanted some answers to general sales questions from my perspective as a well-informed buyer. My initial question that seemed to get avoided was if I could buy a vehicle as-is through them or if I was basically locked into their package deal where I pay for a paint job and all kinds of other things I didn’t necessarily care to pay for. After several back and forth comments they finally stated I could buy a car as-is only if I accepted the known condition of it while it was in Japan, which I’m not entirely opposed to but it did leave me with a lingering question I didn’t have the opportunity to ask which is what happens if something arrives and it is not as advertised. I’m not looking to pull a fast one on anyone but I would like the peace of mind knowing if the car arrives with a bad motor that I would likely have that taken care of at no cost to me. At any rate, the next major issue that came about was where I asked about fees. Actually, I didn’t outright ask what their fees were since I was still discussing with them about the post-arrival stuff I didn’t want to pay for, but it was at this time that one of the Hi-Rev employees, Max, mentioned something called “Sans 8% export tax” which kind of threw me off and stopped me in my tracks. As any well-informed buyer would likely do I went ahead and questioned what the heck the “Sans 8% export tax” was and that’s when things got really sour.
In Japan they have a national sales tax which is applied to all sales in the country. This tax is actually made exempt for anything that is exported from Japan granted that the exporter files the appropriate things to prove it was exported and claimed it on their taxes in conjunction with the sale (5003 Consumption Tax Exemption on Exports). With that said, my eyebrows raised as soon as the Hi-Rev employee said I needed to pay an export tax. I am an adult and I do consider myself to be well-educated, I’m not stupid to the fact that businesses have to make money. Having said that, it doesn’t mean I’m okay with throwing money away when I shouldn’t be obligated to pay for something that is legally exempt. When I’m told there’s a fee then I want to know what the fee is. If it is labor or claimed as time and material then that’s no problem, I at least know what I’m paying for. In this case I was presented with a “tax”, for exporting of all things, and this tax seemed to be an arbitrary number thrown out there that was labeled as 8% and I was told by the Hi-Rev employee that I had to pay this “tax” in conjunction with the export of the vehicle I purchased with them. For the sake of the discussion we happened to be using a recent vehicle at auction as an example that was not cheap by any means and the supposed tax I needed to pay them for the purchase and export of the vehicle in Japan was $1,384. Now, being that I did my research on this topic and I’m educated enough to do basic arithmetic so it wasn’t very hard for me to connect the dots and see that I was throwing nearly $3,000 away to someone in this process. The problem is that based on the tax exemption law for exports, the supposed 8% tax of $1,384 is actually something that the exporter in Japan gets returned to them as I stated which means that exporter is pocketing $1,384 x 2. I get that people need to make money but you’re not making money off of me with exempt fees.
When I raised these details to the Hi-Rev employees I got no response from Francesco and then a series of very rude and hostile responses from the other employee, Max. Basically, I was told to “get real” and deal with it because everyone pays that fee. As the discussion continued this same employee who told me to “get real” then said since I’m an expert why wasn’t I in the business importing cars myself. I did mention earlier that I consider myself a well-informed buyer. My interest isn’t in consuming my time with doing the dirty work on my own, that’s why I pay people to do it for me and just deliver a car to my residence. But that shouldn’t mean I deserve to be ridiculed for knowing the process and wanting to make sure I’m not getting taken advantage of with my purchase.
Eventually at the very tail end of the discussion with these guys I was asked about how much I paid for my previous cars and who I purchased them from. I declined to provide details for obvious reasons and then the one employee that told me to “get real” asked if I was drunk because I didn’t agree with him. At this point I went ahead and provided a link to a certain exporter that dealt with one of the import companies I used and directed the Hi-Rev employees attention to the fees which that particular exporter had listed on their website. It was at this point that the Hi-Rev employee, Max, started accusing the exporters of manipulating the prices on the USS auction system in Japan saying that they padded additional hidden profit in the prices by saying vehicles sold higher at auction than what they really did. Again, as the well-informed buyer I then linked them to another exporter that has an auction system to view from and explained that prices are visible in the system and I’ve seen no evidence or indication of manipulation of the prices. Once I posted that info the Hi-Rev employee then blocked me on Facebook effectively ending the discussion.
This wasn’t the ideal ending that I was hoping for with this company. I would have rather seen the discussions go over much differently and possibly lead to a sale with them. Instead it seems they don’t like to deal with customers who are educated and well-informed on the export and import process. I’ll be taking my business elsewhere for better customer service where I’m not told to “get real” and deal with fees I shouldn’t be paying in the first place.
I wrote an online review of this company on their Facebook site which can be accessed as the following link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=211000035950811&id=100011224471135 where some additional supporting information can be located following a couple of responses from Hi-Rev Motors over this matter.
Stay away from them at all costs. Not only do they have questionable and possibly illegal vehicles but they are also ripping people off or they are getting ripped off by their supplier in Japan and don't care about their customers. If you want to get taken for a ride and waste money then this is the place to go to.