I notice you are from HK - so what's the deal with cars in Hong Kong? I'm spending this semester at the U of HK and was disappointed to see only newer cars in Hong Kong. I was hoping to see some old Mercedes, Land Rovers, etc., but most of the cars on the road are 10 years old or newer. Once in a while I see an old 123 300d, but not very often. Is there some regulation that forces cars off the road if they are a certain age or something? Cars don't rust around here, so where did they all go?

Also, are there any car shows in Hong Kong? In the states there are big auto shows every Spring showing the newest models. Does HK have anything like this? What about old car shows?

Thanks,

Greg

Also, are there any junkyards around? I would love to pick up some euro-style headlights while I'm here if possible.

Greg

Welcome To Asia...
 

You will find, round-eyes, that most asian countries do not approve of people driving around in "old" cars. Japan is notorious for junking automobiles well before we would here in the U.S.

When I was in Japan, I never even saw a car with "bondo" or "primer" on it! If it's older than 10 years, or needs body work, it's junk. And good luck on finding any used parts, most of them are shipped to the states for resale...

In fact, there's a company here on the west coast that specializes in just importing "retired" Japanese engines for re-sale here in the states!

Different culture, different values, different part of the world. Flow with the stream, grasshopper, it has already been flowing for thousands of years before you were born.;)

Living is the Orient is an experience of a lifetime. Enjoy it and learn all you can, but most of all, learn to appreciate, and respect this ancient culture...:D

I have heard that in Japan there is a 50,000 miles limit on engines, then those engines might be removed and shipped to the States for resale. Something to do with emissions/polution but do not know how true it is.

GregS...when I was in Honk Kong in 1984-8, there used to be some real good junk yards at Sek Kong which is just over in the New Territories. I used to keep an old Volvo going on bits form about 2 or 3 yards there. Of course, they might just be land fills and new high rises by now, just don't know. Oh what memories :)

GreyS,
Cars in HK are very expensive and costly to run .They are NOT necessities BUT Luxury. Also, The price of petrol in HK is most expensive in the world...
According to HK's regulations, a brand new car will have its warrant of fitness starting at the age of 6- That means your car will have to pass a quite strict inspection especially the emission test in order to be valid on the road. The best deal is to let the garages to handle it but they always charge you a lot to "tidy up" your car ??? :confused: before inspection totally about 500-600 US in which only 100 is the inspection fee.:eek: If your car is a older model one, it may cost a lot more $$$. As a result, people tend to "throw" their old cars away for newer ones. That is why old models are always cheap as nobody wants one. People in HK always want newer, newer and newer models and indeed HK is a real "THROW AWAY AND NOTHING LASTS LONG" world.-I DON'T LIKE THAT :mad:

Junkyards are no longer in SEK KUNG but there are numerous in a particular road called COM TIN in Yuen Long area of New Territories. As you are in HK Isaland, you may take THE FOLLOWING ROUTINE :

1. Take MTR TO KOWLOON TONG station
2. Then get in the KCRC (East Railway)
3. Go to Fan Lan Station and get off
4. Find a GREEN Mini bus to COM TIN in the fan lan transport conversion center (Just next to the FAN LAN Station)
5. Once the bus goes in the Com Tin road, get off wherever you want- Junkyards are so large and many that you may take more than a day to walk around.
Its quite easy to get lost in that complicated transpot network...BE CAREFUL AND ALWAYS ASK PEOPLE ON ROAD...


[Edited by Davis Lo on 03-03-2001 at 06:29 AM]

Mike:
I just put a used Japanese engine in the Acura Legend, and researched all the ins and outs of why the engines are here. Emission laws in large parts of Japan are TIGHT!!! In some prefectures they so actively discourage auto ownership that you can not buy a car without providing a letter from the police declaring that you OWN an off-street private stall or garage in which to park it at night. All cars go through increasingly expensive annual inspections after they are one year old - $300-$1500 were the ranges I found when I read info sites on the web.

There is no physical limit on the mileage or ownership that I could find, but on average (smaller country, shorter trips) the cars were 5 years old and 45,000 miles by the time they were judged by the owners to be ready for economic retirement. At that time they could find a foriegn guest worker to sell it to for a song, or, depending on prefecture, pay, give, or sell it to a salvage company for export. As it is cheaper to ship engines than entire cars (more fit onto the ship), most of the metal goes back into the next generation of Japanese cars, and most of the engines ship elsewhere (also saving them the environmental headache of separating the oil and antifreeze from the engine during recycling).

All the above was taken from about 20 web sites, ranging from "We import engine" companies to "So you want to work in Japan" guides from different countries. There may be inaccuracies or perpetuation of legends, but it seems to be the general picture.

Anyway, the Legend has a 'new' V6, which feels more powerful than the original when it was new! The tech says that for some reason the Japanese engines feel stronger than even a freshly rebuilt US engine?!?) $2400 parts and labor. They routinely replace the timing chain, water pump, seals, and gaskets before installing the engine, and as our old engine had just had a brand new distributer installed, the swapped that as well. Looks and runs great, one of the few 5 speed coupes out there, but needs about $1200 in AC work, so I think we will "economically retire" it this summer, or drive it with the windows down.

Cost Nightmare !
 

Here is my monthly bill to own my cars: ($ in US)
Hopefully not scaring

BMW 318iS
use 4-5 days weekly
- car park rent- $256
- petrol cost $380(1k miles)
- insurance $ 64
- licence fee $ 75
- tunnel charges $ 60
- warrant of fitness$ 26
- normal service $ 43
(done 4times per year)
- shopping car park $ 60
Total $964
------------------------------------------------------------
Mercedes S320L
weekend/holiday use
- car park rent $256
- petrol cost $250(0.5k miles)
- insurance $ 96
- licence fee $ 91
- tunnel charges $ 40
- warrant of fitness$ 30
- normal service $ 64
- shopping car park $ 50
Total $877
------------------------------------------------------------
So I spend about $1841 for owning 2 cars :eek: and that is why I feel hard to have one more- 560SEL classic version even I love it so much :(... I am always jealous of you guys that can own cars at a much lower cost in US...;)

P.S.If I am not a car enthusiast, I would not own them and the money saved can be put on a new house...hmhmhm GOOD IDEA :D

Tips for You, GergS
 

There is no big car show in HK BUT if you want to see Japanese MODELs that never exported officially GO to the old Airport (aparture section) in Kowloon City. There is a quite big second hand or grey market(unofficially import) brand new cars show. You may see some very exciting japanese models which are never exported officially except HK e.g. Nissan Skyline GTR, Nissan President (genuine Nissan top luxurious sedan), Nissan Gloria, Toyota Century (5.0 V12 lux.top model), Toyota Aristo (3.0 twin turbo), Mazda New 929 and there is a individual shop selling super cars like Maserati 3200GT, Ferrari 360, F355 and Lamborghini Diablo...etc
hopes you enjoy it!! :)