Jap Imports

[chooch]

Hey guys, just doing a quick check on what peoples thoughts are on importing cars from Japan eg Skyline's, Supra's etc. Anyone heard any dodgey stuff.

[FamiliaGTRAe]

G'day,

I've got a Japanese Import Mazda Familia, I reckon its pretty good.

The risks:

Because you can't really view the car in person or talk to the owner you do have a problem getting the right car.

Because Australia has funny laws and import restrictions you will need to change, all the fluids in the car, and tyres (sometimes) and seatbelts, and remove any of the aftermarket stuff fitted to it, before it will go through compliance.

*NOTE* Not all compliancers are the same, just like not every rego inspection is the same. :lol:

You can buy Skylines and Supras etc from Car dealers now who specialise in import cars, and since they are already complied you don't need to worry about doing it yourself. You are basically buying a 2nd hand car from a licensed Motor Dealer.

The only dodgey stuff I've seen, is people bringing cars in for rally / parts only (it is a different status meaning that you cannot legally register a vehicle brought in for parts / rally use for road use) and then taking it to another state to bypass the national registration records.

THe other thing I have seen is a supposed R32 Skyline GTR which was dark grey, but the compliance plate fitted to it said it was a silver R32 Skyline GTS. It had all the GTR bits on it, Diffs, HICAS, body panels the lot.....

Somehow this car had gone from a 2.0litre 6cyl non turbo RWD to a 2.6 Litre Twin Turbo AWD.......... Dodgy to the extreme!

Cheers,

Cameron

[mickq]

Its definitely a higher risk that an gen aussie import. Watch out for odometers being wound back, cars that have been raced, cars that may have been cut in half then re-assembled leading to a weak chassis. (Dont laugh, they cut it, call it parts so they dont have to pay certain car duties, then put it back together again. Seen this done with 5 series BMW's too!).

Before you go through it, also do some checks on how you go getting parts locally. Sometimes very hard and costly. Think up a few common bits that might break and need fixing and ring around to see what they cost.

Also insurance can be an issue. If it wasnt sold here ever, or is an import you may sometimes need to use specialist insurers as some companies wont touch grey cars - regardless of whether they have new compliance plates or engineer reports.

If you are going to go through all that, make sure its one of the very very fast models they sell! Some of them are absolute rocketships.

[Space Ace]

You hit the nail on the head mickq.

My missus had imported a Honda Prelude 94 model through a family friend who had contacts over there. It was specced up to a ST vervsion and had full electric interior as compared to the local delivery one.

When it came time to insure it, we told ZURICH that it was an import with blah, blah, blah on it and that it was first registered in 99. This, you would think, would make it obvious to everyone.

Anyway, I had a huge stack in it a couple of years ago. Got T-boned actually by a dickhead who ran a red and the last thing I remembered was the grille of an Fairmont heading straight for my head as the Prelude was lowered - anyway, that's a different story alltogether.

As the dickhead did not have insurance, I put the claim through in order to get the valuation dollars. That's when the sh*t hit the fan. Oh your car is an import, they say. Of course it is, and it was insured that way. Ah, we don't insure imports, they say. Luckily we had a friend in the insurance business who got stuck into them, (like isn't every overseas car technically an import) and as it turns out we eventually got our money.

So the morale of the story is, do your homework with insurance first and then source the car your allowed.

[buy14d]

when looking to import your own car there are some good people out there to help. there are also some people who are out there to make money off you.

the best advise I can give is to look at a car that have lots of parts around.

your spare parts will come from crash cars so parts like head lights and quarter panels are costly.

in turn things like motors and gear boxs become very cheap.

insurance is also a problem. as australia goes on past history. that was the biggest problem with wrxs, in the early 1990`s the wrx had a piss poor anti theift system so they were very easy to steal if you knew what you were doing. and that shows in the current price of insurance.

also young drivers with imports can kiss there money goodbye.

in turn if you look at the price of import cars they are great bang for your buck.

for $30,000 you could land a 1993-1996 toyota supra twin turbo or a nice R33 GTR the gov. have changed the laws in the last few years so now every car that is less then 15 years old has to come into this country with no modifications. but the lends I have been seeing mean that when you import a car you will find a massive amount of performance goodies in the boot. your best bet is to go through a company such as prestige motor sport. I have heard nothing but good things from people that have used them.

check out there website.

www.prestigemotorsport.com.au

if you need more info p.m me and I can give you some people that will help you decide if it is the right choice for you.

Regards

Chris

[ktford]

Burn 'em at the Jam Tin I say, except Cam as he is plain out of luck.

Scotty

[Blown BA]

  ktford said:

Burn 'em at the Jam Tin I say, except Cam as he is plain out of luck.

Scotty

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:lol: :lol:

[XRSEX]

I am involved in importing cars. The 15 year old rule just changed on Monday 7th February, 2005. The car has to be built before 1st January 1989. A lot of people including myself were bringing in GTR's, GTS-T's, Fairlady's (300ZX's), RX7's and the list goes on. The government has put a stop to it as they are nearly flooding the market. There will be no more after the end of the month. But Low volume imports are still OK but you have to check with the compliance holder before you import.

In general an imported car drives and goes better than an Australian built car. The power to weight ratio is better. It doesnt mean that Fords and Holdens are no good. I like my XR6T. I like the fact that it is easy to insure, easy to get parts and park it anywhere without any headaches. You can also lease or CHP an Aussie car without the headaches. 97% of finance companies dont want to know about imports.

Insurance these days is not a problem either. Just cars insurance is the way to go. If you shop around you will find a few insurance brokers as well.

As for the Japanese imports you will find they are better maintained than most cars due to strict registration renewals and inspections. They undertake a full EPA like inspection every 2 years. Another thing is that there roads are bloody awesome and it is very hard to find a pot-hole etc... Also there fuel is 100ron as well.

The only shame sometimes about the imports is that the person/dealer import cars that they import cars with high mileage or it has had some repair work done. With every car bought in auction a report comes with it. The report is as accurate as or even better than a NRMA inspection. So if its been in an accident it would tell you. It would even tell you where the dents are. I have faith in these reports as they have been proven 100% accurate.

that's my 2cents. If you have any further questions please dont hesitate.

[plonky]

I don;t like the 'grey import market'!

This market has a significant impact on the value of used cars in Australia. In saying that, I appreciate that they offer a lot of perfomance for the money and that their is a whole subsidiary market for the 'bolt on' brigade.

My opposition is based purely on the damage it has done for the whole used car market and the "Performance Stickers and Bodykits" mentality of the transient trogs that buy them.

[XRSEX]

  plonky said:

I don;t like the 'grey import market'!

This market has a significant impact on the value of used cars in Australia.  In saying that, I appreciate that they offer a lot of perfomance for the money and that their is a whole subsidiary market for the 'bolt on' brigade.

My opposition is based purely on the damage it has done for the whole used car market and the "Performance Stickers and Bodykits" mentality of the transient trogs that buy them.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with half of what you say. It has damaged the used car market somewhat.

Where Expensive Daewoo and Ford should stop bringing out a new series every 12 months. That would definetely help with the used car market as well. As for the imports the government should control how many cars should come in a bit better. They should put a limit. So that the genuine enthusiast can enjoy his car. This doesnt mean only Jap cars, it also includes some American muscle cars. A lot of people bring in the junk that's useless where as an enthusiast would bring in something half decent to keep.