Japan vs. Indiana

[Hola]

This may have been covered before but I didn't find what I was looking for in a search. I currently have a '93 that was built in Japan and it has been one of the most reliable cars I've ever had. I'm currently looking at a '92 that was built in Indiana. Threads I've searched in have indicated that there are some wiring differences as well as a difference in the fit and finish of the two. But are the Indiana ones less reliable? I would think that they would both use parts from the same sources so the only difference possible would be the build quality. Has anyone out there owned both? Does anyone know or care to speculate about the reliablity of the Indiana Legacys vs. the ones from Japan? Thanks.

[douglas vincent]

I suspect, and was just talking about this 30 minutes ago, that all the motor and tranny stuff is Japan made, no matter where it was assembled.

[206er]

build quality is comparable from what Ive seen, and the condition really depends more on how the car was treated.

[Hola]

Thanks for the input. I bought the Indiana car. It seems pretty solid.

[Bheinen74]

i kinda have some input, albeit its on Honda.
my old 91 crx si was built in Japan, no problems, for 226,000 miles with anything
my old 91 civic si, built in canada, was not near as well built, fit, finish, mechanics. I had problems with the canada built car, at half the mileage the same thing went out on the japan built car.

[NuwanD]

'92 legacy built in indiana???

I thought all BC legacys were built in Japan, and that legacy production moved to indiana around 1995 or so

[entirelyturbo]

No. The SIA plant opened in 1989, and the Legacy was the first car to be produced there.

Only Turbo Legacies were all FHI-built. Some NA Legacies were FHI-built from 90-91, but I believe all 92-94 NA Legacies were SIA-built.

I really don't have much of any solid evidence to say that the SIA cars aren't as well built as the FHI cars, but I can say that I've had problems with my SIA cars that some of my friends with FHI cars have never had.

[PhyrraM]

Just to add a bit more info for peeps to consider....

When my '93 Turbo needed a front end I could not locate another turbo to grab a front clip from. I ended up using the front core support (complete, side to side) and driver's side inner fender (from the seam infront of the strut tower forward) carefully removed from a '92 non-turbo. From what I can tell the donor car was an Indiana car. Everything lined up perfect. The original spot weld locations were a bit different, but the panels themselves almost fell into place like a puzzle.

To me that means that the panels were all stamped in Japan OR the build quality of the Indiana panels was spot on.

[entirelyturbo]

Body stuff isn't going to make any difference.

Just because your car was built in Japan doesn't mean that if you get in an accident, and want to replace everything with brand-new, genuine OEM parts, that the dealer has to special-order parts from Japan just for them to fit your car.

You're gonna hafta play stupid on this, like you're a regular customer who doesn't know any better. The difference between a Japanese and American-made car is not going to be apparent to you, the supposedly-stupid end user.

[Hola]

Some NA Legacies were FHI-built from 90-91, but I believe all 92-94 NA Legacies were SIA-built.

It's really hit and miss. My '93 NA was built in Japan and the '92 I just bought was built in Indiana.

[wiscon_mark]

JF1 = Japan
4S3 = Indiana

check your VINs!

[entirelyturbo]

Yes. But as Hola just showed us, there doesn't seem to be any pattern as to where our cars were usually built, except for all Turbos being built in Japan.