Disadvantage of an imported vehicle?

GDB2222

This Honda Jazz seems a good price.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202411025887990

What are likely to be the drawbacks of buying a 3-4 year old import? Mind you, it says registered in 2021, but it may be older than that. How do I find out the details?

GDB2222

Mot info says it was first MOT'd in 2021, with 30000 miles on the clock. It gives the first registration date as 2011. 

So, I’ll give this a miss. But, it would be great to know what other gotchas there are to look out for?  Is insurance likely to be a big problem, for example?

Mildly_Miffed

When a used import is registered in the UK, the foreign registration paperwork is used to prove the original first reg date.

Put the plate of that Jazz into https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ and there's two dates given.
First registered - Sept 2011 - hence the 61 plate.
First registered with DVLA - Nov 2021 - so it was 10yo when it arrived here from Japan.

Anyway, disadvantages.

No official CO2 figure. This means that it's taxed on the pre-2001 engine-size rates, so £210/year. A similar age hybrid Jazz would be a lot cheaper.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407312354421
Same age, half the mileage. £9k
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410295737196
Couple of years newer, similar miles. £7.5k 
Both 104g/km so £20/year.
But hybrids were not common back then - they're the only ones on Autotrader.

When you're paying £3-5k more to buy it, though, that's a lot of years of difference in VED for the import to work out more expensive...

kph speedo and odometer. It shouldn't have - it would have had to have an MPH speedo in order to pass the SVA test, but that may have been done by a signal-converter box in the feed to the dial, so the dial says kph but actually reads mph. Is the conversion on the signal in to the ECU? That could cause problems with all sorts of things. Or just the signal to the gauges? The odo says 54k km, the ad says 54k miles.

Parts availability. If anything's different to UK spec, it may take ages to come from Japan.

Insurance. Insurers don't tend to like imports for the parts reason - delays put up repair costs.

GDB2222

Thanks. That is very, very helpful. 

This all arose because my daughter posted on our family's Whatsapp group:
"I need to insure a car with eSure by end of Jan or lose 11 years NCD. Do any of you have a car I can insure please?"

Of course, that's a long shot, as nobody in the family has a car just sitting around. So. I was looking at buying her a reasonably cheap car that she can run.  

facade

Other disadvantages-

JDM cars won't have the same anti-corrosion & underbody protection as UK cars, because the Japanese don't use corrosive salt on their roads.

JDM car radios don't work in the UK, the FM band is different, any JDM sat-nav won't work either as they are usually locked to the Home Islands and JDM radios do not have English language options. (that one boasts an "Android unit" that has had to be retrofitted)

JDM cars were not designed for e10 petrol, because the Japanese don't adulterate their petrol with ethanol.

JDM cars don't have rear blinding lights, so they either have those Halfords pendulum lights dangling under the bumper and a switch stuck in the dash, or someone has to swap the rear lights for UK ones and modify the wiring. (That one has an "odd" switch next to the green ECON switch)

Advantages-  

JDM cars are usually noticeably better built & finished as they are actually made in Japan, rather than at satellite factories that build to "Japanese standards" but don't.

JDM cars are usually better specced- nicer seats & more toys, and mostly autos.

JDM cars are usually low mileage.

(both the latter points may just be because the importers cherry pick what they bring in though)

I've had a couple of JDM 'bikes and they have been excellent.

 

Ectophile

I didn't see where it was imported from.  If it's European, it should come with all the right paperwork for European compliance and emissions (and we still use the same rules as the rest of Europe).  If it's from outside Europe, it may not.

Sometimes the official UK branch of the manufacturer can be awkward about sourcing parts.  If your car isn't on their computer, then they can't work out what parts it needs, and they won't help you.

born_again

Why buy a import when there are more than enough genuine UK ones.

Seem to remember a thread about a import not so long ago, that was no end of grief.

Herzlos

GDB2222 said:

Thanks. That is very, very helpful. 

This all arose because my daughter posted on our family's Whatsapp group:
"I need to insure a car with eSure by end of Jan or lose 11 years NCD. Do any of you have a car I can insure please?"

Of course, that's a long shot, as nobody in the family has a car just sitting around. So. I was looking at buying her a reasonably cheap car that she can run.  

How much is her NCD worth compared to the cost of buying and running a car?

DullGreyGuy

GDB2222 said:

Thanks. That is very, very helpful. 

This all arose because my daughter posted on our family's Whatsapp group:
"I need to insure a car with eSure by end of Jan or lose 11 years NCD. Do any of you have a car I can insure please?"

Could buy an absolute rust bucket and just insurer as long as she has somewhere off road to keep it and then sell it for scrap after. 

In principle she could add a second policy to another vehicle thats already insured, will be easier to do if it's owned by immediate family. Contrary to urban myth its no "illegal" but does cause headaches in certain circumstances (eg if stolen and used for street racing that damages others property or injuries)

Presumably her NCD is coming up to 2 years without being on a car? If they're willing to be limited to just Admiral then they accept NCD for up to 3 years at last look but being limited to a single insurer you may find the price is higher with NCD than being able to shop the whole market with no ncd

Goudy

Herzlos said:

GDB2222 said:

Thanks. That is very, very helpful. 

This all arose because my daughter posted on our family's Whatsapp group:
"I need to insure a car with eSure by end of Jan or lose 11 years NCD. Do any of you have a car I can insure please?"

Of course, that's a long shot, as nobody in the family has a car just sitting around. So. I was looking at buying her a reasonably cheap car that she can run.  

How much is her NCD worth compared to the cost of buying and running a car?

You don't have to run the car.
So no tax, no MOT.

You could just buy a scrapper, park it up somewhere off the road and insure that.
You can shop around for the cheapest policy/highest excess to keep the cost down but you'll be/she'll be paying out and getting no use out of it.

If you/she wants to float around in a cheap car, forget grey imports.
Look for something like a Fiat Panda, Hyundai i10 or Kia Picanto of around the same age as that Honda.
Keep it base spec, base engine and if it goes bang, throw it any and buy another.

motorguy

Ectophile said:

I didn't see where it was imported from.  If it's European, it should come with all the right paperwork for European compliance and emissions (and we still use the same rules as the rest of Europe).  If it's from outside Europe, it may not.

Sometimes the official UK branch of the manufacturer can be awkward about sourcing parts.  If your car isn't on their computer, then they can't work out what parts it needs, and they won't help you.

A lot of cars of that era were imported from Ireland.

The "normal" rear number plate, etc suggest its a European import.  I'd say 90% chance its Ireland.  From memory, Malta was another source of RHD imports at one point, but most were Irish.