Hi there, I wonder if anyone had recently imported a Japanese car from Japan?
Any tips and tricks? I found one model which is not in Australia and should be OK to import. I checked government website.
But seems it can become tricky, if you done it, used an agent?
Thanks.
Thanks
if you done have agent?
I done have agent.
Thanks.
Would you mind give me steps?
E.g. do i need to get approval from ROBER first?
I went through websites and got different steps… sort of confusing …
Do you mean ROBERT? I haven’t spoken to him for years
You mean ROVER? The workshop gets the import approval for you.
Dr Zoidberg said approvals are done by ROBIT
I got mine imported via Cult & Classic, check out their socials. Awesome run downs and top notch communciation!
Mind you, this has been my first every experience and it was a pleasure :)
Thanks for the advise
Advice?
I think he means thanks for advising :)
Bound to trjjer Muzeeb
how much you paid vs how much it would cost to buy from carsales / car dealer (average price) etc?
and what model + year car you bought?
Made Insurance enquiries or got Insurance quotes yet?
Not yet. Is it so expensive?
I will have a look.
Thanks for reminding this
Hi,
Look at: Shannons, Just Cars Insurance, Budget Insurance and others.
Some good generic advice @
https://www.iselect.com.au/car-insurance/imported-car-insura…
Just Cars are dead. Found out recently.
Add "Enthusiast" to the list and probably take out Budget, they wouldn't touch an import when I tried them.
I just left Shannon's after 20.years years of being milked….
@nismo: Are you with Enthusiast now? I've been with Shannon's for two years and they've been fine. Haven't claimed though.
@itsfuze: Yes. 20 years isn't a typo, was actually 21.
S' were putting my premium up 25% and reducing the "agreed" value by another $1K - which seemed to keep happening year on year.
I moved to Enthusiast to save that 25% AND increased the cover by $10K at the same time. No brainer
21 years, never made a claim, never, not once (and i'm on all the discounts possible, Rating 1 (many years), multi-policy, reduced KM's, always garaged etc)
2 door, manual, turbo import. Mention those words to most insurers and they run / laugh / hang up on you
Just make sure you’re importing for the right reason. It’s not to get a cheap car. It’s to get a particular feature/model that you’re enthusiastic about.
You need to be keen enough to overcome some of the drawbacks of an import. That it’ll be a bit harder to insure and harder to source parts for.
Won’t just harder to get parts, but a bit tricker because all our local parts suppliers aren’t set up for models they aren’t familiar with. it might be picking up a compatible part from a local model but the tricky bit is actually working out which model is compatible. Some parts may need to be imported. Eg going to supercheap to look up a filter might show that your model isn’t listed despite it looking like the same motor and shape as a locally delivered model.
AKA ‘Grey import’. Quite frankly I would not go near one.
Which model?
complex job from a/c gas to tyre bio compliance, ask true experts
Im on my second import from Japan. Waiting for a 4wd hiace to arrive from Japan. I used siximports in Melbourne, very happy with the importer he is on his own and is Japanese. Things to watch for imports is rust, mileage and auction details. You could do it yourself but its quite expensive around 10k I have been told. Use someone you can trust as you dont know which dealers in Australia might be turning the clocks back. Dont go near the websites asking for a deposit and they will find a vehicle for you Ive heard some horror stories where they keep your money after your money has been transferred overseas.
Waiting for a 4wd hiace to arrive from Japan
Could've done a conversion in Aus - https://www.bus4x4.com.au/
And spent twice the money too
Great. Thanks!
This seems to be very popular in New Zealand, every second car seems to be a second hand Japanese import. Not sure how they do it but they must have a scheme setup to make it easy
They never had a car manufacturing industry to protect, so the laws for importing there were pretty relaxed. Apparently things have changed recently and it's a lot harder, but maybe still not as hard as here.
Lucky we have a thriving car manufacturing industry..
I see a lot of Corolla Fielders hybrids driving around. Anyone actually have any idea insurance on one of those things?
Not recently, but I brought in an EP3R and an R33 GTR Vspec2 through Aaron at Import Monster. Very thorough and they do a lot of cars (they do the MCM cars and parts too)
Yeah Import Monster is great, top notch work and very thorough as you say.
Get an important agent. I recommend jspec, I used them!
Like others have mentioned, it would be easier if you use an agent to avoid the hassle. Please try to find out reviews of the agents before you go with them.
In my opinion, if you already have a primary vehicle then no problems at all even if there are any issues, however, if its going to be your primary vehicle you would be stuck if there's any mechanical issues or parts to be imported from Japan.
End of the day, they are amazing vehicles but you never know what could go wrong as they are still second hand vehicles.
Insurance is expensive as hell and don't have many options to switch when they jack up after a year.
J-Spec, Prestige, Iron Chef…they've been dealing with this shit since day dot.
Get a customs broker to sort out your clearance. Screw running around Customs then off to AQIS by yourself.
AC gas isn't a concern any longer.
Just pay the $1100 fee to use a broker to learn the ropes then the next one you can probably deal with it with your eyes closed. It's not that hard once you got your customs broker, compliance workshop and towie all sorted.
Research like there is no tomorrow!
I recently purchased the dream car. A 1994 Toyota Celica ST205 GTfour. I used a broker who helped a mate previously.
How old is the car? If it's more than 10 years get a comprehensive report. Some take offence to this though.. While mine came in quite good condition there's the small issues like windscreen wipers not working, etc.
Your biggest issue with an older car is rust. So get it checked throughly. Some surface rust is expected.
Check for mods. This will affect you getting a blue slip (nsw), road worthy, etc. Mine just had a pod filter and the rest was all stock and no one would blue slip it. Had to get an enclosed filter.
Other cost such as Import tax, compliancing, registration. It all adds up!
If it's not something you've always wanted and have some money to burn, I'd advise against importing a car. I have some regret, but YOLO. Never thought I'd own of these cars.
So what's your car you want??
excellent choice, the JZA80 and ST205 are my two favourites, the former sitting in the garage but I wish I had one of the latter. I love the shape and bulges on it.
Cost of maintenance/repairs??
I just received my 2023 Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo Extra about 3 - 4 weeks ago from Japan. I used Iron Chef Imports for the whole process and all I can say is, they provide a very valuable service for the small fee. They handle all the paper work, organising and even help with the auctions. All I had to do was pay the invoices as soon as possible and sign any documents they emailed me. The whole process took roughly 3 months from the first point of contact to pick up day, and from what they tell me, that's on the quicker side of things.
As for insurance, double check and get quotes before going ahead with anything. I personally went with Shannons and got full comp for roughly $950/year. There are other insurance agencies that will cover it, so maybe shop around. I actually asked insurance brokers for help and none of which could provide me with anything cheaper than Shannons.
As for parts, most of these can be purchased online and shipped pretty fast but can be costly. Parts for my car aren't too hard to find and are usually just special order at SCA or Repco. I purchased a 'new' vehicle in the hopes that parts are more reliable and won't need replacing for some years, so do think about that before buying a rust bucket drift car.
Why that particular vehicle?
I love small and efficient cars but I also needed something practical that could take rubbish to the dump. Also it was a bargain to purchase a 'new' car, ship and import for only $24k.
Also, the amount of weird looks I get is great. So many people have no idea what it is.
I've seen them on the road. They do look good when done up a bit.
I've imported a JZX and Crown through Iron Chef.
I would not recommend Iron Chef.Poor communication, push to buy poor quality cars, reluctance to inspect, zero communication once car is purchased. There are many other importers that have already been mentioned.
There are so many cool or well priced cars that can be imported. Just look at all the Hybrid or Kei engine size variants of local delivered cars.
Insurance costs are sky high for imports. I checked and decided against going down the import route because of it
Except thats not really the case at all. My Aristo was the same as my wifes Mitsubishi challenger.
Depends on insurer and car, and lots of other factors
If you get into an accident, it may be difficult to get parts which translates into $$$s.
Guys that did it before. So what are the costs? Assuming i find something for $20k AUD on a dealer's lot in Japan. Realistically, how much would it be driveaway here in Australia? $30k? Thanks.
$2k freight
$2k compliance
$1k port charges and cleaning fees
$1k misc costs (towing, dead battery that needs to be replaced, paint touch up from damages caused by wharfies)
$3k ransom to pay Customs/AQIS
Plus roadworthy/rego/stamp duty for your state
Sounds about right. lol thanks.
Summarising a sammit video… https://youtu.be/c6uQIfpkJ_Y?si=-Q_tFqO8IsnIZI14
Main thing to check is if they are registered as a business in Japan. This means you are covered for things like accidents to the car. Also means less room for things to go wrong. Lot's of "cowboys" in the space due to demand.
As @mini2 said about go to jspec. But ill spoon feed you..
1) Navigate to https://www.j-spec.com.au/
2) review the list of eligible cars https://www.j-spec.com.au/lineup/make/all
3) select your car you like and either buy one from featured cars such as this crown https://www.j-spec.com.au/featured/2018-Toyota-Crown_Hybrid-…
4) Or look into auctions if they dont have your model in featured cars. In auctions you can see past sales, average prices etc
a - Upcoming auctions for LS460 Example car https://www.j-spec.com.au/auction/SEVS/Lexus/Ls/344
b - Typical sales prices https://www.j-spec.com.au/typical_sale_prices
If you want to proceed further, email them and they will be glad to assist, but do your own research first
Or just call/email Ben…
I have imported two cars and a motorcycle from Japan, all of them quite a few years ago now though.
Both cars came through an import broker. I used Iron Chef Imports, which I still recommend.
You can save a bit of money buying from Japan but be aware it takes quite a while to get your car (maybe 2-5 months). Also you need to trust someone else's opinion on the quality of the car. Once it's landed in Aus, it then needs to be complied. This is the only part of the process I've had trouble with. The shop that done my Legnum were fantastic but my Stagea was a nightmare but that's a story for another time.
I imported the bike myself but that was a bit of a unique case. (it's a 1987 model)
Prestige car imports on Facebook, Dylan Buckingham
Let him do all the work and you pick it up
What about cars that have SEVS approval but don't have an approved Model Report? How does one go about importing these?
There is stuff like RHD is500 f sport now on the list which is not available here
RHD c8 corvettes can be had for a serious discount for Japan compared to direct from GM /gmsv Australia
You mean it’s on the SEVS list but no model report? No go. I’m waiting for the E63 wagon’s model report for a while now but still no a no show…somehow they’ve churned one out for S6 Avant and E43 wagon :/
Cars seem cheap compared to Aus prices when comparing similar models
Can you deal with - Import Approval / Transactions / Paperworks / Compliance / Transport Logistics ?
If not, then go with agent.
Try OZM Group for JDMs.