A PI JDM (parallel import Japanese domestic model) car is Japan’s home-market equivalent of an official model also available here, with the best-known examples being Hondas – Fit and Jazz, Vezel and HR-V.
Made in Japan to world-class standards, these vehicles are generally reliable, like the Tokyo trains that always arrive according to schedule. They are also easy to drive and perfectly predictable on the move. And neighbourhood workshops don’t need mechanics with degrees in quantum mechanics to service these cars.
Buyers also appreciate the earlier availability of unauthorised JDM models in Singapore – anything from six months to a year earlier than the authorised export version. Dealers dealing in PI JDM new cars also offer a decent choice of specifications and options, in addition to competitive pricing made possible by lower OMVs (open market values), lower overheads and lower margins.
In the case of a low-volume JDM special with ultra-niche appeal, the handful of units (or sometimes the one and only unit on the road here) provide a novelty value valued by individualists.