capella re
21-03-2010, 11:46 AM
ever thought of importing your own mazda from japan but not sure of your options?? here's a good write up someone has done on their experience that may help you decide what path is right for you. his example is for buying a gtr but can be used to explain anything from an r100 to an fd.
Your options:
If you want to buy a used Japanese sports car, you have four options:
Buy one second hand from a private citizen in Australia;
Buy one from a dealer in Australia;
Pay a Japanese agent to buy one in Japan, and organise everything else yourself;
Pay an Australian agent to buy one in Japan, and to organise the shipping for you.
Buying from a private seller or a dealer in Australia
If you want to buy from a private seller or a dealer you can find them in the local newspaper, national newspapers like the Trading Post, specialist magazines such as High Performance Imports (see below) and Unique Cars, or on car sale websites.
Why buy from a private seller?
Because there are many nice cars out there, and buying from private sellers is normally cheaper than buying from dealers. People import cars or buy them here, and decide to sell them because their finances, tastes or needs change. Some people drastically overcapitalise cars and are then forced to sell. If you are careful, there is an opportunity to pick up a nice car with lots of improvements already done to it and with the problems sorted out.
Why avoid buying from a private seller?
Because there could be expensive problems that the seller wants to pass to someone else, and because there is no warranty. Ask yourself why the seller is selling. Buyer Beware!
Why buy from a dealer?
By going through a dealer you will get a warranty and can be in control of the process. There is the opportunity to thoroughly inspect the vehicles in the car yard, and to be able to find out exactly how much they will cost. If the vehicles do not suit you, or cannot afford them, there is always the next car yard. There is also a theoretical 'good will' factor, where a dealer may help the customer with problems so that the reputation of the dealers yard is maintained.
A dealer also does all the waiting and hard work for you. You can decide to buy a Japanese import and drive away with a car the same day. You spend more money, but get a warranty and more certainty, and save time and effort.
Why avoid buying from a dealer?
A dealer imports multiple cars, and spreads risk over all of them. If one ends up being a problem, the dealer has to make enough money from the rest of the cars to cover the loss on the problem car and still make a profit overall. A dealer is not there to be a public service. The intention is to make money, but there are staff to pay, a yard to maintain, taxes, and a list of costs that go on and on. A good business tries to buy cheaply and sell at the highest price the market will bear (hopefully much higher than the buy price plus costs). However, it is possible for you to buy at around the same price as the dealer, so the money to support the car yard and that goes into the dealers pocket could stay in yours. There's a big caveat though. Remember that you may end up importing a problem car, and you have no ability to spread the risk (and see the other caveats below).
A dealer can only offer what he has on the lot. Around 50,000 used vehicles are auctioned at 30 major auctions each week in Japan, so there is a huge range available if you are willing to wait, and to take the risk. If you go through an agent, you have a better chance of getting exactly what you want.
Buying from a Japanese agent
If you want to buy from a Japanese agent, I cannot offer much advice, but start by looking at John Williams site and follow the "import cars" link on the left. Also ask questions on aus.cars and on the forums listed below. They are fantastic resources (and much more current than this page). Don't forget to search the forums for previous answers. Your question has probably been asked before.
The main (only?) advantage is that you save the $1000 or more that you would otherwise pay to the Australian agent. Of course, you have to find the car, have it inspected, organise the Japanese agent (who may help find the car), organise the money, the transport within Japan, the shipping to Australia, and you have to wade through the Customs process. All of which is possible, but which I paid the Australian agent to do, and I think it was a bargain!
Buying from an Australian agent
Australian agents are not used-car dealers. They never own the car. They act as a broker between you and a buyer, dealer or used car yard in Japan, and organise everything up to the delivery of the car to Australia. If you want to use an Australian agent to organise the car for you, the three biggest companies that I know of are:
(just anote i know a fair few fd owners in sa that have gone through iron chef)
J-Spec Imports
Prestige Motorsports
Special Vehicle Imports
These companies import vehicles as their primary business. There are many other companies that can organise the importation of a Japanese car, but it is likely to be a sideline.
A Sydney company did a good job compliancing my car. They are really friendly and helpful, and have a particular soft spot for R33s. They also import cars. They are:
Southside Performance Imports
I have also been told that the following company has lower pricing than the big companies (do your own research though):
Boost Imports
And another company contacted me to tell me they should also be included on my page:
Carmen Import Centre
Want to find a local compliance shop? Here's a link to a search facility on the DOTARS site:
Compliance shop search page
How much will you save if you import through an Australian agent?
A tough question. It depends if everything goes well. I importing a 1989 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR which was delivered in January 2005, after the customs rates fell, but while the old 15-year rule was in place. My all-up total cost was around $23,000 on the road. I estimate I saved $2,000 by importing it myself. A work colleague has a Nissan Skyline that lost power occasionally, and it cost $4,000 (and many weeks off the road) to track down the problem. That was only one problem, so there is a risk that problems will wipe out any savings and leave you far worse off than if you had gone through a dealer. You should also put a value on the 'grief factor'. Some people do not consider it to be a problem if repairs take weeks and require an open chequebook. Most do.
Finally, now that the 15-year rule has changed to a '1988 and before' rule, the compliance costs would be much higher for my car. My compliance cost $1,200. If I imported it now it would cost around $4,500, but older cars (1988 and earlier) can still get compliance for around $1,200.
June 2005 update: The market has lots of cheap Skylines available. There are lots of sellers and few buyers. It's a good time to grab a bargain, and a bad time to sell. For instance, it's a bit scary seeing the first R32 GTR with SEVS compliance only getting a bit over $20,000 bid on it on ebay. I guess that means I'm not saving as much as I hoped, but hey - I'm having a ball driving mine, and it will take a while for the market to flush out the last of the 15 year old imports and for the prices to normalise.
July 2005 update: I've found another good example, there's a Queenslander advertising his car on the Skylines Australia forum (see link below) who is advertising an R32 GTR with lots of nice gear and having real trouble getting the money he is asking. He's down to $26,000 which is cheap for the mods. Hey - welcome to the world of reselling imports in a slow market. But I feel his pain. He must be losing lots on this sale. Check out the specs and weep. This isn't a plug for the car, just an example of what's available.
How much will it cost, and when do you pay?
I had an agent buy the car for me. My actual rounded costs were:
When What How Much
Before Purchase Pay Australian agents fee for finding the car $ 1,000
Soon after Purchase Pay Australian agent for car ($10,000) and Japanese buyers fee ($1,000) $11,000
On Delivery Pay agent for shipping $ 1,000
Pay for Customs (10%), GST (10%) and various import fees $ 3,300
Pay compliance workshop $ 1,200
cost for fixing problems found, major service, tune, detailing, air conditioning re-gas etc $ 2,500
Before taking on the road Registration and 3% stamp duty $ 1,500
Before getting it insured a reasonable immobiliser / alarm $ 500
Insurance $ 1,000
Total $23,000 approx
For perspective, the car was sold for just under $10,000 in Japan.
In early 2005 it was possible (with a lot of haggling) to buy an equivalent quality car either privately or from a dealer with 12 months registration for $24,000 and pay $1,000 for insurance. That is only $2,000 more than I paid. That's not a huge difference. Think of it as half the cost of a reasonably big problem (or as the cost of a good set of mags, or a stupidly expensive sound system).
June 2005 update: If you take advantage of the local prices currently available, you will be well ahead of me. The prices should recover though - I hope. Also, the compliance on my car would have risen from the pre-SEVS $1200. A correspondent tells me R32 compliance is hard to get in Sydney as there is currently only one workshop that can SEVS compliance them, and prices have risen to near $5,000. Ouch!! That would have taken my on-the-road cost to around $27,000.
July Update: I've put the only Sydney R32 compliance shop in my Compliance list
The Plusses and Minuses
You may well be asking whether you should import a Japanese sports car. As with most things in life, there are plusses and minuses.
On the plus side:
You get a specialist car that is rare in Australia.
You may save compared to buying through a dealer.
You can specify exactly the vehicle you want at the price you want, and the agent can wait for a suitable one.
You get Japanese sports car performance for the price of a new but boring and common Australian car. (However, I have to point out that there are now some Australian V8s and turbo V6s being sold with serious KW as standard).
You become one of an eclectic group of performance car enthusiasts.
You are buying a car that has already depreciated a lot of its value.
The car will normally have travelled many fewer kilometers than an equivalent Australian car (mine had a genuine 70,000 km for a 15 year old car!).
The car may have been maintained by a specialist dealer who knew how to improve the power without affecting the reliability.
People sell 'old' cars in Japan because the registration system is biased against them, and there isn't a big market for them.
The Japanese auction houses have well regarded inspection reports (similar to NRMA pre purchase reports).
On the minus side:
The government has tightened up the import of used cars with new legislation.
Spares and expertise may not be available. At least the spares can be ordered from Japan. This is a big issue.
The local Japanese car franchise holders may not be much help - either for spares or expertise.
The cars may have been designed or modified to run on higher octane fuel than is available in Australia.
It will be very difficult to contact a previous owner if you want to find out about the cars history.
Insurance is expensive and hard to find.
The low kilometers were probably done in stop-start traffic, which isn't great for engines.
Petrol prices are rising (maybe you should import a Suzuki Cappuccino :-) )
The car may well have obvious or hidden problems (ask yourself: Why do most people sell a car?).
Repairs are likely to be expensive. These are high performance cars with spare parts prices to match.
Repairs may take a long time to diagnose or to get parts for. Trust me on this one. I know.
It can be difficult to find out what, if any, modifications have been made.
Improving Your Chances.
If buying from a dealer or going through an agent, make sure you trust them, and talk to previous customers.
Be realistic about what you expect. If you see an absolute bargain with 'just a couple of faults', balance the amount you save against the huge amounts in dollars and time it might cost in repairs later.
Buy the best you can afford - if you look at the figures above, a large chunk of the cost is fixed, so put as much into the car as you can. Superb cars will not cost much more than mediocre ones.
If you buy the cheapest hoping for a bargain, recognise that you are gambling, and make absolutely sure you know what you are doing.
Do not buy unless the car has been independently inspected (especially from Yahoo in Japan!)
Make sure you have an agreement with the dealer or agent to cover you if 'things go wrong'.
Check out the local cars available, especially while the prices have slumped.
Recommended Local Resources
Recommended magazine: High Performance Imports
Recommended newsgroup: aus.cars
Recommended forum: Skylines Downunder forum (obviously biased to Skyline discussions, and a NZ site)
Recommended forum: Skylines Australia forum (obviously biased to Skyline discussions, and Australian)
Case Studies:
I've shifted all the case studies into their own page. They were taking over the site - but they're well worth reading, In My Humble Opinion.
The future:
The modified rules on the importing of 15 year old cars were gazetted in mid May 2005. My crystal ball says that the prices of 15 year old vehicles will rise for the rest of 2005 because of pent-up demand and reduced overseas supply. Then there will be a long term drop in their value because of competition from HSVs and turbo XR6s that will be getting older and will be becoming more affordable. They will take away a lot of the market that is looking for a relatively cheap but high performance vehicle. They will be easier to insure and repair too.
Update June 2005: I must have been looking through the wrong side of my crystal ball! Local prices seem to be going down, not up. Let's see what happens when the stock overhang is absorbed though.
Another prediction: There will be a change in the mindset of people buying cars sight unseen from Japan. People will first look at the large number of imported vehicles that are already here. The reason? Because something strange is happening with prices. Many second hand prices are equal to or lower than the cost of importing a car, but buyers are choosing to import without even bothering to check out the local market. That's a strange mindset, considering that the buyer can have the local cars fully checked out before purchase. If it's a dud, they can walk away. If they import and have a problem, they've already paid for it.
Modified vehicles
Cars built after 1988 have to be put through SEVS, and have to be brought back to stock condition. Those people importing cars under the modified 15 year rule can keep the often obscenely expensive mods, unless they affect the registerability of the vehicle. If you get a good car, you may get a couple of thousand dollars worth of boost controllers, gauges, body kit and modifications. This is, in my opinion, a major advantage to bringing in 15+ year old vehicles, or buying one here that has already been imported. However (and how many times have I said THAT on this page), there are some down-sides. You may get a vehicle where the modifications do not work well together, or where the modifications have caused premature wear to the engine or chassis. The insurance companies get very nervous about insuring modified vehicles and, if you can get insurance, it is likely to cost more. Finally, don't forget that many modified imports have worse fuel economy than the V8 monsters of the 1970s. Try less than 400km to a $80 tank of petrol. It can be quite a shock to the wallet.
Summary
There are four ways to get an imported Japanese car, and I have obviously biased this page to people considering purchasing through an Australian agent or a dealer. If you are risk averse or do not have the time or money to cover problems, buy from a dealer and get a good warranty. If you do not mind risk and can afford to fix the car if something goes wrong, do your research and get into it! Remember to talk to others who have done it, and learn from their mistakes.
Skyline parts
I originally set up this page to help people decide on how to buy a Japanese import, based around my experience importing a 1989 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR. Now I'm gathering some facts and opinions that may be useful. For instance, I'm trying to create a list of Oxygen Sensors for all Nissan imports, and identifying generic parts that can be bought from your local spare parts shop. Note: It's up to you to check that they are suitable. I'm just gathering opinions from the web and, as you should know, practically everyone on the web is an expert, but many have trouble doing basic research before going into print. And Google never forgets....
Here is my Oxygen Sensor and parts page. Remember, it's a work in progress. If you can help fill in the gaps, let me know!"
Tyre (or Tire) Size Calculator
Here is my tyre replacement calculator page. If the speed shown on your speedometer is not right, you can correct it by fitting the right size rim and tyre combination.
Car written off
Sadly, my car was written off in mid 2009. The accelerator jammed open while a friend was driving it. The brakes couldn't stop the car while the accelerator was wide open, and the car only stopped when it hit the gutter and forced itself under one of those cables they put up beside the road to slice and dice motorcyclists. The cable pushed the driver side front pillar back until it hit my friend's shoulder. Another inch or two and it would have been a very bloody disaster. As it was, I only lost the car. I have to give Shannons Insurance a big thumbs-up. They paid quickly, and gave me the option of buying the wreck.
original link here http://members.pcug.org.au/~jdeakins/
Your options:
If you want to buy a used Japanese sports car, you have four options:
Buy one second hand from a private citizen in Australia;
Buy one from a dealer in Australia;
Pay a Japanese agent to buy one in Japan, and organise everything else yourself;
Pay an Australian agent to buy one in Japan, and to organise the shipping for you.
Buying from a private seller or a dealer in Australia
If you want to buy from a private seller or a dealer you can find them in the local newspaper, national newspapers like the Trading Post, specialist magazines such as High Performance Imports (see below) and Unique Cars, or on car sale websites.
Why buy from a private seller?
Because there are many nice cars out there, and buying from private sellers is normally cheaper than buying from dealers. People import cars or buy them here, and decide to sell them because their finances, tastes or needs change. Some people drastically overcapitalise cars and are then forced to sell. If you are careful, there is an opportunity to pick up a nice car with lots of improvements already done to it and with the problems sorted out.
Why avoid buying from a private seller?
Because there could be expensive problems that the seller wants to pass to someone else, and because there is no warranty. Ask yourself why the seller is selling. Buyer Beware!
Why buy from a dealer?
By going through a dealer you will get a warranty and can be in control of the process. There is the opportunity to thoroughly inspect the vehicles in the car yard, and to be able to find out exactly how much they will cost. If the vehicles do not suit you, or cannot afford them, there is always the next car yard. There is also a theoretical 'good will' factor, where a dealer may help the customer with problems so that the reputation of the dealers yard is maintained.
A dealer also does all the waiting and hard work for you. You can decide to buy a Japanese import and drive away with a car the same day. You spend more money, but get a warranty and more certainty, and save time and effort.
Why avoid buying from a dealer?
A dealer imports multiple cars, and spreads risk over all of them. If one ends up being a problem, the dealer has to make enough money from the rest of the cars to cover the loss on the problem car and still make a profit overall. A dealer is not there to be a public service. The intention is to make money, but there are staff to pay, a yard to maintain, taxes, and a list of costs that go on and on. A good business tries to buy cheaply and sell at the highest price the market will bear (hopefully much higher than the buy price plus costs). However, it is possible for you to buy at around the same price as the dealer, so the money to support the car yard and that goes into the dealers pocket could stay in yours. There's a big caveat though. Remember that you may end up importing a problem car, and you have no ability to spread the risk (and see the other caveats below).
A dealer can only offer what he has on the lot. Around 50,000 used vehicles are auctioned at 30 major auctions each week in Japan, so there is a huge range available if you are willing to wait, and to take the risk. If you go through an agent, you have a better chance of getting exactly what you want.
Buying from a Japanese agent
If you want to buy from a Japanese agent, I cannot offer much advice, but start by looking at John Williams site and follow the "import cars" link on the left. Also ask questions on aus.cars and on the forums listed below. They are fantastic resources (and much more current than this page). Don't forget to search the forums for previous answers. Your question has probably been asked before.
The main (only?) advantage is that you save the $1000 or more that you would otherwise pay to the Australian agent. Of course, you have to find the car, have it inspected, organise the Japanese agent (who may help find the car), organise the money, the transport within Japan, the shipping to Australia, and you have to wade through the Customs process. All of which is possible, but which I paid the Australian agent to do, and I think it was a bargain!
Buying from an Australian agent
Australian agents are not used-car dealers. They never own the car. They act as a broker between you and a buyer, dealer or used car yard in Japan, and organise everything up to the delivery of the car to Australia. If you want to use an Australian agent to organise the car for you, the three biggest companies that I know of are:
(just anote i know a fair few fd owners in sa that have gone through iron chef)
J-Spec Imports
Prestige Motorsports
Special Vehicle Imports
These companies import vehicles as their primary business. There are many other companies that can organise the importation of a Japanese car, but it is likely to be a sideline.
A Sydney company did a good job compliancing my car. They are really friendly and helpful, and have a particular soft spot for R33s. They also import cars. They are:
Southside Performance Imports
I have also been told that the following company has lower pricing than the big companies (do your own research though):
Boost Imports
And another company contacted me to tell me they should also be included on my page:
Carmen Import Centre
Want to find a local compliance shop? Here's a link to a search facility on the DOTARS site:
Compliance shop search page
How much will you save if you import through an Australian agent?
A tough question. It depends if everything goes well. I importing a 1989 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR which was delivered in January 2005, after the customs rates fell, but while the old 15-year rule was in place. My all-up total cost was around $23,000 on the road. I estimate I saved $2,000 by importing it myself. A work colleague has a Nissan Skyline that lost power occasionally, and it cost $4,000 (and many weeks off the road) to track down the problem. That was only one problem, so there is a risk that problems will wipe out any savings and leave you far worse off than if you had gone through a dealer. You should also put a value on the 'grief factor'. Some people do not consider it to be a problem if repairs take weeks and require an open chequebook. Most do.
Finally, now that the 15-year rule has changed to a '1988 and before' rule, the compliance costs would be much higher for my car. My compliance cost $1,200. If I imported it now it would cost around $4,500, but older cars (1988 and earlier) can still get compliance for around $1,200.
June 2005 update: The market has lots of cheap Skylines available. There are lots of sellers and few buyers. It's a good time to grab a bargain, and a bad time to sell. For instance, it's a bit scary seeing the first R32 GTR with SEVS compliance only getting a bit over $20,000 bid on it on ebay. I guess that means I'm not saving as much as I hoped, but hey - I'm having a ball driving mine, and it will take a while for the market to flush out the last of the 15 year old imports and for the prices to normalise.
July 2005 update: I've found another good example, there's a Queenslander advertising his car on the Skylines Australia forum (see link below) who is advertising an R32 GTR with lots of nice gear and having real trouble getting the money he is asking. He's down to $26,000 which is cheap for the mods. Hey - welcome to the world of reselling imports in a slow market. But I feel his pain. He must be losing lots on this sale. Check out the specs and weep. This isn't a plug for the car, just an example of what's available.
How much will it cost, and when do you pay?
I had an agent buy the car for me. My actual rounded costs were:
When What How Much
Before Purchase Pay Australian agents fee for finding the car $ 1,000
Soon after Purchase Pay Australian agent for car ($10,000) and Japanese buyers fee ($1,000) $11,000
On Delivery Pay agent for shipping $ 1,000
Pay for Customs (10%), GST (10%) and various import fees $ 3,300
Pay compliance workshop $ 1,200
cost for fixing problems found, major service, tune, detailing, air conditioning re-gas etc $ 2,500
Before taking on the road Registration and 3% stamp duty $ 1,500
Before getting it insured a reasonable immobiliser / alarm $ 500
Insurance $ 1,000
Total $23,000 approx
For perspective, the car was sold for just under $10,000 in Japan.
In early 2005 it was possible (with a lot of haggling) to buy an equivalent quality car either privately or from a dealer with 12 months registration for $24,000 and pay $1,000 for insurance. That is only $2,000 more than I paid. That's not a huge difference. Think of it as half the cost of a reasonably big problem (or as the cost of a good set of mags, or a stupidly expensive sound system).
June 2005 update: If you take advantage of the local prices currently available, you will be well ahead of me. The prices should recover though - I hope. Also, the compliance on my car would have risen from the pre-SEVS $1200. A correspondent tells me R32 compliance is hard to get in Sydney as there is currently only one workshop that can SEVS compliance them, and prices have risen to near $5,000. Ouch!! That would have taken my on-the-road cost to around $27,000.
July Update: I've put the only Sydney R32 compliance shop in my Compliance list
The Plusses and Minuses
You may well be asking whether you should import a Japanese sports car. As with most things in life, there are plusses and minuses.
On the plus side:
You get a specialist car that is rare in Australia.
You may save compared to buying through a dealer.
You can specify exactly the vehicle you want at the price you want, and the agent can wait for a suitable one.
You get Japanese sports car performance for the price of a new but boring and common Australian car. (However, I have to point out that there are now some Australian V8s and turbo V6s being sold with serious KW as standard).
You become one of an eclectic group of performance car enthusiasts.
You are buying a car that has already depreciated a lot of its value.
The car will normally have travelled many fewer kilometers than an equivalent Australian car (mine had a genuine 70,000 km for a 15 year old car!).
The car may have been maintained by a specialist dealer who knew how to improve the power without affecting the reliability.
People sell 'old' cars in Japan because the registration system is biased against them, and there isn't a big market for them.
The Japanese auction houses have well regarded inspection reports (similar to NRMA pre purchase reports).
On the minus side:
The government has tightened up the import of used cars with new legislation.
Spares and expertise may not be available. At least the spares can be ordered from Japan. This is a big issue.
The local Japanese car franchise holders may not be much help - either for spares or expertise.
The cars may have been designed or modified to run on higher octane fuel than is available in Australia.
It will be very difficult to contact a previous owner if you want to find out about the cars history.
Insurance is expensive and hard to find.
The low kilometers were probably done in stop-start traffic, which isn't great for engines.
Petrol prices are rising (maybe you should import a Suzuki Cappuccino :-) )
The car may well have obvious or hidden problems (ask yourself: Why do most people sell a car?).
Repairs are likely to be expensive. These are high performance cars with spare parts prices to match.
Repairs may take a long time to diagnose or to get parts for. Trust me on this one. I know.
It can be difficult to find out what, if any, modifications have been made.
Improving Your Chances.
If buying from a dealer or going through an agent, make sure you trust them, and talk to previous customers.
Be realistic about what you expect. If you see an absolute bargain with 'just a couple of faults', balance the amount you save against the huge amounts in dollars and time it might cost in repairs later.
Buy the best you can afford - if you look at the figures above, a large chunk of the cost is fixed, so put as much into the car as you can. Superb cars will not cost much more than mediocre ones.
If you buy the cheapest hoping for a bargain, recognise that you are gambling, and make absolutely sure you know what you are doing.
Do not buy unless the car has been independently inspected (especially from Yahoo in Japan!)
Make sure you have an agreement with the dealer or agent to cover you if 'things go wrong'.
Check out the local cars available, especially while the prices have slumped.
Recommended Local Resources
Recommended magazine: High Performance Imports
Recommended newsgroup: aus.cars
Recommended forum: Skylines Downunder forum (obviously biased to Skyline discussions, and a NZ site)
Recommended forum: Skylines Australia forum (obviously biased to Skyline discussions, and Australian)
Case Studies:
I've shifted all the case studies into their own page. They were taking over the site - but they're well worth reading, In My Humble Opinion.
The future:
The modified rules on the importing of 15 year old cars were gazetted in mid May 2005. My crystal ball says that the prices of 15 year old vehicles will rise for the rest of 2005 because of pent-up demand and reduced overseas supply. Then there will be a long term drop in their value because of competition from HSVs and turbo XR6s that will be getting older and will be becoming more affordable. They will take away a lot of the market that is looking for a relatively cheap but high performance vehicle. They will be easier to insure and repair too.
Update June 2005: I must have been looking through the wrong side of my crystal ball! Local prices seem to be going down, not up. Let's see what happens when the stock overhang is absorbed though.
Another prediction: There will be a change in the mindset of people buying cars sight unseen from Japan. People will first look at the large number of imported vehicles that are already here. The reason? Because something strange is happening with prices. Many second hand prices are equal to or lower than the cost of importing a car, but buyers are choosing to import without even bothering to check out the local market. That's a strange mindset, considering that the buyer can have the local cars fully checked out before purchase. If it's a dud, they can walk away. If they import and have a problem, they've already paid for it.
Modified vehicles
Cars built after 1988 have to be put through SEVS, and have to be brought back to stock condition. Those people importing cars under the modified 15 year rule can keep the often obscenely expensive mods, unless they affect the registerability of the vehicle. If you get a good car, you may get a couple of thousand dollars worth of boost controllers, gauges, body kit and modifications. This is, in my opinion, a major advantage to bringing in 15+ year old vehicles, or buying one here that has already been imported. However (and how many times have I said THAT on this page), there are some down-sides. You may get a vehicle where the modifications do not work well together, or where the modifications have caused premature wear to the engine or chassis. The insurance companies get very nervous about insuring modified vehicles and, if you can get insurance, it is likely to cost more. Finally, don't forget that many modified imports have worse fuel economy than the V8 monsters of the 1970s. Try less than 400km to a $80 tank of petrol. It can be quite a shock to the wallet.
Summary
There are four ways to get an imported Japanese car, and I have obviously biased this page to people considering purchasing through an Australian agent or a dealer. If you are risk averse or do not have the time or money to cover problems, buy from a dealer and get a good warranty. If you do not mind risk and can afford to fix the car if something goes wrong, do your research and get into it! Remember to talk to others who have done it, and learn from their mistakes.
Skyline parts
I originally set up this page to help people decide on how to buy a Japanese import, based around my experience importing a 1989 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR. Now I'm gathering some facts and opinions that may be useful. For instance, I'm trying to create a list of Oxygen Sensors for all Nissan imports, and identifying generic parts that can be bought from your local spare parts shop. Note: It's up to you to check that they are suitable. I'm just gathering opinions from the web and, as you should know, practically everyone on the web is an expert, but many have trouble doing basic research before going into print. And Google never forgets....
Here is my Oxygen Sensor and parts page. Remember, it's a work in progress. If you can help fill in the gaps, let me know!"
Tyre (or Tire) Size Calculator
Here is my tyre replacement calculator page. If the speed shown on your speedometer is not right, you can correct it by fitting the right size rim and tyre combination.
Car written off
Sadly, my car was written off in mid 2009. The accelerator jammed open while a friend was driving it. The brakes couldn't stop the car while the accelerator was wide open, and the car only stopped when it hit the gutter and forced itself under one of those cables they put up beside the road to slice and dice motorcyclists. The cable pushed the driver side front pillar back until it hit my friend's shoulder. Another inch or two and it would have been a very bloody disaster. As it was, I only lost the car. I have to give Shannons Insurance a big thumbs-up. They paid quickly, and gave me the option of buying the wreck.
original link here http://members.pcug.org.au/~jdeakins/