Japan Car Imports

Matt_78

I was just wondering if any members have had experience of importing & owning a grey import car from Japan?.

I have been looking at several websites that offer a service of bidding on your behalf at car auctions in Japan, they will then do all the paper work for the import into the UK.

The only down side that I can see is that the car needs to be paid for after the auction & before you can get to see it back here. Also a deposit of £500 is required befor the actual bid - (Dont know that I would trust a company with all that money!)

The up side of the deal is a saving of around 30% on the value of the car.
I would be interested to here if any of you have had such dealings and how it went.

Some of the company's I have looked at are TM Imports & Autoadvan

Thanks

Lally

My brother has one and it costs him a fortune for parts. Some parts can be ordered at great expense, others have to be custom made. It may be a saving initially, and if its the car of your dreams that you cant get here then that may be a plus, but its a lot of hassle.

Silent_Bob_3

What car are you after exactly?

Try HERE for a good selection of already imported cars and they come recommended. Plus it's less hassle as otherwise you have to get the car SVA'd and registered.

Matt_78

Thanks for the reply Lally & Bob, The Parts for the car don’t really concern me that much. The car that I have been looking at is a Nissan 350z. After talking to a friend that works for Nissan UK he has assured me that the specification for parts are the same as the UK model and that for a small fee the remainder of the 3 year warrantee can be transferred to a UK garage.

Huggins

Matt 78 not sure where you are based but there is an import auction in Southampton where you bid on the physical car in the hall https://www.a1carauctions.co.uk. Haven't been myself and as with all auctions you don't really know what you are buying..however as the 350z is a new model shouldn't be to much to worry about. Also check carefully for the auction fee's and SVA fee's etc.

The other alternative is to seek out a uk company that imports these already, might be more expensive but once you've factored in time, risk, shipping SVA costs etc etc it may be worthwhile getting the car through a company that is experienced in these matters.

Final point for consideration is insurance as Jap imports are as a rule of thumb more expensive to insure than UK supplied vehicles.

Good choice of motor tho and good luck with it. The convert looks nice.

By the way it may be possible to get a good deal on a uk ex-demo model by phoning around all the nissan dealers -as this is a v competitive market sector.

regards huggins

Silent_Bob_3

In that case try HERE and I guess theres many others.

Cardew

The specs are often different - sometimes kM speedo for example. You will get little help from Nissan dealers.

From what I have seen it often makes sense with older(hence cheaper) cars. I did consider getting a Sunny GTi-R. Skylines are popular to.

I would be wary about getting a new car though - it is probably a false economy and a lot of trouble to boot.

Matt_78

Thanks for all of your advice, I really don’t know what to do now. The 350Z's seem to be in very high demand in this country with resale value's very high. For example a 1 year old car with 9k Miles costs £25600 or £26500 new. I can't find any car supermarkets that deal with them. Autotrader has a few imported models but for around £3k more than what I have been quoted if I do a personal import from Japan.

Might just stick with my trusty old Audi for a little longer, But I have just fallen for the look of the new Murano after looking on the Nissan website would be more practical than the coupe but costs more. Doesn't sound like being a money saving expert if I go out and spend all of my cash on a new car. But with the resale values being so high might still be the best choice?.

Huggins

if you've got the cash to play with.. a new porsche boxster is your best buy in terms of residuals! Monaro's going to seriosuly thirsty mind ...like 15 mpg if you put your foot down and 19mpg if you don't!

Silent_Bob_3

Check out ads and articles in Japanese Car mags like Banzai and Japanese Performance. Addionally see if theres a 350z owners club.

I own a 95 FTO Jap import and am in the FTO Owners Club - might get some info there about importing (and Scooby / supra sites) as I know a fair few people have had theirs imported (https://www.ftooc.org ) - a car that was only available here via Ralliart - parts arent any more expensive than any other car either.

burbs_2

I import cars for a living. pm me