Has anyone on hear imported a car from japan?


Looking at buying an integra type R, Impreza or Skyline....

Not fancying any of the high mileage, abused and extortionately priced shite available over here so I recon importing is the way forward.

Can anyone who has imported a car give me a bit of an insight into the why's and what for's of importing?

Mostly what do I need to do once the car arrives in the UK?

 

Not 100% on this mate but you would need to apply for uk registration from the dvla possibly get it inspected by vosa and mot it.
Think the logistical part of getting it over here would be the hardest part.

 

Most performance car have been abused.

 

If any one could do it every one would you need a agent
In Japan to sort shipping an paper work
It's a dead trade at the min

 

http://www.jm-imports.co.uk/

 

There's abused as in driven hard, then there's down right neglect! Most of what I've looked at are total rubbish!

 

Happy to use an agent, just don't know what to do once the car lands on British soil

 

Nice one, I'll have a look on there now

 

Personally bud, I wouldn't buy a used car without seeing it first, look before you leap and all that. But that's just me. Good luck with whatever you do.

 

Haven't exchange rates pretty much stopped it being worth your while.

 

I know what you mean mate, I've bought blind before. Sometimes you drop on nicely, others you get shafted!

Can't be as bad as some I've looked at lol

 

i used to deal a lot in jap imports, bought them straight off the boat at the liverpool auction, there is plenty of nice tidy cars come over, BUT there is just as many rough dogs arrive, and they dont go for that much less than the tidy cars,
there are bargains to be had but they were getting harder and harder to find, thats why i stopped
and since then the exchange rate has knocked it all on its head, the cars are now dearer to buy over there than they are here,
then by time you pay agent, shipping, import duties, registration, get thru sva(or new equivilent), the car is gonna cost thousands more than 1 already here
best advice i'd give is join an owners club and buy a car known in the owners club
these are usualy the best examples around, and they may be a little more expensive than the going rate but still be much cheaper than importing 1 yourself
and it'd be months faster to getting your car on the road

 

Ive bought a couple of imports off the boat at auctions. As above some are real shitters but there are some nice ones. You need to SVA them to get them registered in the UK. Some cars can be a big pain in the arse. I have imported a DC5 intergra and an S2000 over the years, neither come with headlight washer jets or self levelling lights so the Xenon lights need to come out and replaced with normal bulbs. Not just a straight swap, the brightness through the light and beam pattern is totally wrong so its a vicious circle Easiest way would be to buy uk headlights which arent cheap so immediately you are spending out loads! Wouldnt bother nowadays, some great bargains in the UK....

 

Get a version 5-6 impreza type R...

 

I doubt there are much type r impreza left in Japan as they are over 10 years old now

 

Have you gone for any car auction? If you want a used car then car auction will be a best option for you to buy Impreza ? And if you are talking about Nissan skyline will check one of my friends in Manchester willing to sell it.

 

ive imported a couple, used to use a japanese agent, who no longer trades,
it is simple to do, if you can find an angent who is willing to deal with you.
you get sent live auction details to jap auctions, you view the auction with about 8 pictures and a description in japanese, they use a scoring system for body, interior and engine grade. 1-5 1=bad 5 = good from memory.
you buy blind and then have to have faith in the agent to check it out for you that end.
if the car doesnt match what the auction report says it can be rejected if it does then you pay your monies by electronic transfer in yen ( exchange rate is wank at the mo) the car gets loaded onto a boat, it slowly makes it way here, to a chosen port, liverpool, southampton etc depending on carrier.
you collect the car from the docks, paying duties to the shipping company,( some wont take card payments) take a trailer or means of transport to get the car home,

once landed and home, if the cars is over 10 yrs old, mot it and the register it at your local dvla office with all the relevant paperwork.

if the vehicle is under 10 yrs oldyou will need an sva or esva depending on vehicle, the ins and outs can be found on many a website.

jm imports are a decent company to deal with,jurgen seems nice enough, friend of mine used them and he seemed honest, but the car arrived and wasnt entirely as was told, but its the case of buyer beware as the car is described and translated across two languages at the end of the day.





at the moment, i wouldn't bother, the exchange rate is poo and there are plenty of cars here at docks at auction to grab for a fair price.

excahnge rate is £1 = 150 yen, when i was importing the rate was £1 to 275 yen so was a hell of alot cheaper.

 

I think you said right. And also explained the whole process of buying a car from Japanese auctions.