Been trying to find some information after finding a car which I like for sale in Japan. I've been in talks with the dealer, who has sent me an inspection report which was really just the auction sheet - not as comprehensive as I'd like.

I want to have this car inspected by a company local to Japan so I can better understand its condition - something similar to an NRMA inspection in Sydney. It will be a private import and I will go through an import broker, however before I sign away circa 1,000AUD I want to make sure the car is the one I want. I have been looking into JEVIC, has anyone else been in a similar situation and can provide me with any insight/experience.

AIM: to have a comprehensive inspection report on mechanical and structural integrity of the vehicle located at a dealer in Japan.

Thanks in advance.

Jip

And is there something going on with the R32-R34 GTRs that these type of cars are getting more expensive in general in Australia? I mean even on carsales.com.au I am seeing prices quoted locally which makes no sense - AU$50K - AU$70K prices. I swear 5-6 years ago a decent R33 GTR was still around AU$20K to $35K at most. Am I missing something here? Am I being too unappreciative of my R33 GTR!? 

I have a 2009 Suzuki Escudo "O'Neill" Japanese import.

It comes with a clarion 2 DIN stereo. 

I am going to replace this, is anyone able to identify what the sockets on the back are? there a a lot of them! (see attached)

Any help appreciated because as this is a Japan-only model head unit all the info on the web is in Japanese...not helpful :(

Cheers

Tracy

I was also hoping to maybe save a few bucks on the fact that the car might have damage or is heavily modified; in your experience, is it so? Or does the price simply even out as these heavily modified cars just gets attractive to a different group of people?

Heavily modified can of course mean different things, but when it comes to the state of the engine, would that be something to worry more about in the auction grades compared to the higher grades?

I'm well aware that these grades can include accident damaged cars, but as I said, it's for drifting so it's definitely not going to be the last dent it gets. I'm importing it to the Netherlands so I'm not bound by the AU regulation (in case there might be something that may cause issues). I'm already rolling in a Japanese import (R33) but it was not imported by me, so now I'm looking into getting the full experience (although requesting help for the actual import) and doing as much research I can so that I can make a well-founded decision on what kind of car to choose.

In case you have other aspects that I haven't brought up already in terms of auction grade and the purposes of the import etc. let me know.

I am about to import my Forester STI from Japan to Sydney under Personal imports.

If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it.

Also, any known, reliable and recommended mechanics to do compliance work on JDM cars in Sydney?

Thank you very much in advance

Is there any specific process above getting a blue slip and rego to transfer that I need to be aware of?

Sovereign337 gave me an idea.

1) We are not supposed to rubbish an importer and...

2) We are not supposed to tout.

Sovereign337 said, "There are so many people on SAU with nice cars, they must have come from somewhere."

So I dedicate this thread to you Shane!

So...

If you're happy with your import car: if you had a happy experience with one and sold it, tell us who the importer was!

If you bought the car on consignment, who was the importer (- not the vendor or dealer)?

We have done a head count!

I've had 4x imports from Japan from 4 different importers.

2 importers are worth a positive mention.

1) Iron Chef Imports (aka Kristian)

and...

2) JLM (aka JapLink Motors)

* EDIT Post #2 is kept up to date!

I see that there have been some changes to importing legislation made recently, and I am wondering if anyone on the forums has any knowledge of what these new rules mean;

1. 25 year rule - well, I guess this one is pretty simple. I presume it is simply month/year of production and - like the old 15 year rule - these cars will need to be complied at the 'state level' (ie not SEVS  RAWS - but you get them engineered to the relevant state requirements)

2. Changes to the SEVS / RAWS - I believe that cars like the Nissan R35 GTR (2007-2008) will soon be permissible, but it doesn't sound like there will be that many more 'jaw droppers' than we can currently get under SEVS / RAWS. I guess this means that cars will require a process similar to the current compliance process (similar but not the same....from the customers perspective you still pay a couple or a few thousand and wait for several weeks, to be told that your car now complies to Australian rules)

3. Can anyone shed light on the new 'variant' rule? My understanding is that it only applies where a 'variant' was made to less than 100 units per year, which includes both LHD and RHD. Given most sports cars are usually made in higher volume for LHD....that would generally mean no more than 10-20 RHD units made per year of manufacture. I cannot think of many cars (aside from ultra expensive collector cars) that fit this criteria. If a car is produced from (say) June 2012 to June 2013 - is that regarded as 2 years (200 units), or 1 year (100 units)?

Any thoughts on the advantages of the new rules with regards to turbo or similar performance vehicles?

Cheers,

Foibles

Just need a new Blue Vin Plate.

Thanks 

Would like to import brand new Alphard Executive Lounge from Japan, any one knows how to do the compliance in AU?

Any recommendation about RAW company?

Much appreciated.

He then mentioned how a bunch of Maserati owners overseas, who were bringing their rare, collectible, concourse condition to Australia for a cruise week during the Grand Prix, had their cars impounded at the port and were refused entry. Each has had their car turned back (to Europe) so their week-long trip has now been destroyed - at massive personal cost to each. 

https://www.motoring.com.au/australian-border-patrol-nabs-maseratis-111746/

I'm not really going to lose sleep for these people, but it raises some important points around importing, such as;

* Has anyone actually successfully imported a car under the new rules? If so, did they actually comply with the rules, or merely escape 'detection'?

* Border Force - as is typical of any public service function - seems unwilling or unable to fully specify just how someone must comply. For instance....I have heard that after a specific manufacture build date, all cars will be deemed 'OK' (as that is when asbestos parts were no longer used) - however this still seems wishy-washy because;

a) nobody can actually say what this month and year of build is

b) nobody wants to admit that asbestos parts could still have been retro-fitted to these cars at a later date.

* My understanding is that the 'gold standard' evidence package (if I could call it that) is to have an accredited, certified, asbestos testing professional run a series of tests on a car at their own testing facility, whereby they must sample pieces of gasket, heat shields, brake pads and linings, clutch plates, etc etc - at their premises - and then test these samples and - if all is clear then submit a written report with official NATA-style certification letter head, with the importer to show invoice from and payment to this overseas consultant. To be quite frank, this service would run to thousands of dollars....and made more complex by the fact that the importer would not have wanted to buy the car yet (in case it fails the asbestos test)....and so also requires a very tolerant seller who is happy to have their vehicle carted away for some forensic style testing.

Despite all the (apparently, but not really) good news about changes to import laws such as a 25 year rule...these changes now look absolutely dead in the water. In fact, I would say the situation is now worse, because all vehicles prior to a certain year (whatever that year is) may be affected, so even SEVS cars such as Skylines and Supras may be affected.

Does anyone have slightly more helpful insight into the new asbestos rule, how it affects imports, and how to comply?

I ask this because one prominent importer is already advertising a 'pre-law change' buying service for potential 25 year imports - but they make no mention of the risk of asbestos tests needing to be carried out on these cars, and I suspect that a truly massive caveat emptor applies to these cars (not just because they are being bought in advance of legislative change, but mainly because there is no indication as to how they will comply with the asbestos ruling).

but is any of the below actually possible?

can we really import 2007/2008 - R35 GTR, Forester STI, Evo Wagons with these changes.

also does 25 rule mean NSX become available.

because, if it is true.. it could mean golden time for some nice car to be imported.

Looking at moving from nz to western Australia and bringing my s14 200sx with me. I'm pretty sure nz got the same spec 200sx but without the ADR tags. So, I'll need to fit a high flow cat? Of do I wait until it arrives in strata for this? What's the go with minor panel damage? She's had a bit of a hard life nothing structual just dented guards.do I need to get it panel beaten or would it be OK? I'm assuming a rear fibreglass bumper and missing front bumper reinforcement would be a problem but I'll get that sorted. Last things are I have a hks ssqv bov that vents externally which I believe is illegal in oz? I can get an adaptor and reroute it into the air intake if neccesary. And I have a hole in the battery tray- battery's in the boot- for the intercooler piping. I plan on welding in a section of steel with a pressed factory hole I cut off a wreck so it looks factory. 

I appreciate any input cheers andrew

Im currently looking a a car to purchase however it does not can an Australian vin number plate (the long rectangular stamped alloy one), however it has the blue japanese compliance plate. 

Can the car be registered on the road in Melbourne if it does not have this australian vin tag?

Cheers,

Michael

Hey guys anyone here used autoproject to import a vehicle? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Looks like you get alot of car for the money you're paying in comparison to the local RAV4, Tiquan, Murano etc.

Has anyone driven one? What do you all think?

I am looking at buying one shortly.

Recently, police have raided several dodgy Japanese Import dealers found tampering with odometers. Amongst those dealers, and possibly the worst of them all was Edward Lees, the self-proclaimed "Australia's Number 1 Import dealer" that has a reputation for being extra dodgy. Well, the snotfaced owner, Phil Lee, has decided to change the name of the business to Sun Rise Cars (sunrisecars.com.au) to avoid unwanted attention. They're already posting advertisements on Carsales, and are currently selling the "Best Fairlady Zed in the country". Beware.

Hiya,

Looking at buying the missus an E51 Elgrand.  Would rather buy one from over here than sight unseen in Japan.  Ive looked at plenty of dealers and cant find any I like/trust.  When you remove the oil filler cap and its either got water in there or you wipe your finger around and pull out black sludge then the dealer says they're mechanically A1, no thanks...  I'm onto my third private seller and after the first two auction reports revealed potential odometer tampering.  I have found one who has the papers.  Only thing is there's a couple of discrepancies with them.  

Can you guys wave your eyes over these and tell me if they smell like bullshit...

The auction report I received... Note the white square above the vehicle marking section.  pretty sure that is where the Vin number should be.  Also no date so a bit strange

The export certificate I received... This one has the correct VIN but the section where the mileage is is out of the watermark a 1 could have been easily coloured  in.  My main question with this is seeing how the writing is equally spaced, should the rows showing kms be shifted one symbol to the left if it really did have less than 100,000 kms???  I could only scan the first QR code and it came up with the 16 digit number at the top of the document which would probably be the document number.

Compared to the mileage from this sample document on prestige motorsport note where the kms start

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Rick

If you missed the news a couple of weeks back, here's the video and more details:

Prestige Motorsport

https://www.facebook.com/PrestigeMotorsportAust/videos/1107318409290351/

If you're buying a Japanese import, the GOLDEN RULE is to make sure you get the original copy of the export certificate either as the first importer by importing direct, or a copy of this independently for only $50 if you're buying local. Can save you a lot of headaches (not to mention $$).

Unfortunately it's not only odo tampering that's been rife with dealers for years, but plenty of accident damaged vehicles that should not pass SEVS criteria have been coming in as well.

Well seriously, what do you think is going to happen when the SEVS regulations allow a dealer to comply their own vehicles, particularly in a struggling economy ? With that sort of conflict of interest, no independent checking system in place for damage or kms, and limited ability for authorities to hold dealers to account for their actions, it's no wonder imports to Australia have developed a bad reputation and lost all trust over the years.

Allow it to continue long enough and you're basically left with only the dealers who bend the rules to their own advantage and to the detriment of the consumer, as no one who does it properly can compete on price.

This is something that MUST change with the new import scheme (http://prestigemotorsport.com.au/faqs/vehicle-import-regulation-changes/) to eliminate poor condition and false km imports, and restore imports to where they should be in the public mind -- top quality, high optioned vehicles for very good prices.

We don't see any reason to stop cars with incorrect mileage from coming into Australia (as NZ does), but there should be a public accessible database linked to the VIN which shows the important export certificate information and original auction sheet where available. There are plenty of legitimately repaired odometer cars available which come with dealer records showing when they were repaired and this is shown on auction sheets. These are often quite a bit cheaper as a result and can still have relatively low kms. Providing the consumer knows exactly what they are buying, they can decide whether they want to buy or not and a fair price.

The Govt. will be holding a meeting in Canberra on 31 March 2016 with stakeholders to discuss the details of the upcoming import regulation changes.

Just recently bought a r34 coupe na (because im a p plater) but theres no complience plate or import tag or anything? It doesnt even have a vin plate thats australian...its all japanese?

How can i get a plate or is it to late for the car as i dont know when it was brought to australia?

Cheers 

Hello friends want to get skyline r34 gtt. Who in Japan can I take and bring to Germany or do you know the reliable company doing this job.

I'm in the process of looking for a R32 GTR V and I'm currently with a broker.

There's obviously a lot of competition for vehicles given that all the brokers really have access to the same information.

I'm wondering if there's a broker out there who has access to maybe things that don't really come up at auctions, so things like private collection sales or other types of private sales in Japan...or do brokers all look there anyway?