DaiOni

yep, clothes = harajuku

+ (for most people) the middleman mark-up cost of compliance can be a big saving + you can mod the car while you live in japan! and no hassles when it gets back + you don't have to comply to ADRs + you get to selectively choose the car you want - test drive it, and so on - that's very important for many people So all in all, it's a winning set of regulations Of course, for some people there is the great incentive of buying a car, for 'X' amout of dollars, then selling it for 'Y' dollars in oz. There's plenty of profit to be made if you have the motivation and capital. as for the government - yes they are theiving bastards - especially considering it is often a car that has been owned for some time (I've had my FD for nearly three years), and has already had sales tax applied in the first instance

"yeah but we speak english here...so we're after the english pronounciation" so who decides what that is? think about it.

was flicking through the new option 2 magazine last night and noticed that trust's GREX brand (brakes) is pronounced 'goo-reksu' - so I'd assume greddy is 'goo-reddy'

using shyster's interesting little test, excite provides th following; "What do you want to translate?Because the site like these doesn't do it well too much. They always almost mix the word up." pretty damn good, IMO

"the other site is in japanese to start with" if you look at it that way - you're already doomed it's pretty simple - paste in the text and choose english-japanese or vice versa. You have a 50% chance of choosing the right button, and if you get it wrong - try the other one

'breed' is the most common bastardization of the japanese pronounciation, which is, in any case, a mispronounciation to start with...

nothing does it correctly however... use google language tools for a page translate or use http://www.excite.co.jp/world/ for text cut n' pastes - this one is better than google, but doesn't do whole page translations

ブリッド = bu-ri-d-do or (to simplify the phonetics a little more) = boo-reed-doh

do you want to know what the most common (mis)pronounciation is? or the actual japanese pronounciation? the japanese is (phonetically): ah-pec-sue juhn (that's a downwards pronounciation - not 'joon') sue-tey-jia bu-ree-doh I've actually never heard a japanese person say 'greddy' - but it's probably gu-reddie

yes and it turns out my 3rd party is 17600 p/month !!! glad I only run one car now

I forgot to add two other big bonuses about personal importing... * the car can be modified * as it says in the dotar regs - (paraphrasing) 'the imported car doesn't have to conform to ADRs' - which is a 'get out of jail free' card, in terms of defects.

That's for the FD. The forester, despite having 260hp, was significantly cheaper. Youngest person on my policy is female, 26 and foreign. Be very careful with your insurance - I can't stress that highly enough. Compared to australia, comprehensive policies are relatively uncommon (for 2nd hand cars). As well as checking for at fault damage repair for your own cars, check for 'hit and run' (ie: while parked) as well. The only reason I have theft is because it is in 'group B' ('group C' is comprehensive). I'll check the exact details of the insurance classes when I get home. My wife has got a better memory than me a guy I work with is about to send his fourth car home - so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

expensive to maintain a car? i don't think so, but that depends what you think falls under the 'maintenance banner'. The first thing you need to know is that the sticker price you see on the windscreen isn't the 'real' price - that price will be listed elsewhere, hopefully on a sheet inside the car. There's usually quite a difference between these prices - so be careful. Extra fees may include sales tax, shaken, transfer, snow tyres, car tax, and a couple of other odd revenue raising taxes. When you go to buy a car you will need to have: money or bank details (!), your hanko, your gaijin card, and a letter/form from your shiyakusho (or equivalent) that says you have parking. If you don't have a parking space - then you've just discovered a new 'extra' to life with cars in japan. A parking space in a big city can easily hit 2man+ per month (and could be a considerable distance from your apartment). If you don't speak passable japanese - then you will definitely want to take a japanese friend with you. With or without shaken? IMO, if you are going to be here for a couple of years - it's better to buy without shaken - I've always been able to negotiate this into the price tag. The japanese aren't as flexible in negotiations as salesmen in australia (in my experience) - but you may well be able to get away with 'okay, I'll buy at that price - but you pay the shaken'. They get better deals than us on shaken - so it works out well for both parties. You also get a clean bill of health on the car. That said, the first thing you should do is get a basic service done on the car (or get it thrown into the deal, where possible - and check that they have done it). On average (and for an average car), most places charge around 10-11man for shaken + replacement parts. So it can quickly add up. There are discount places who do it for marginally less. You can also do it yourself - for significantly less - but it's not the easiest process in the world, unless you can take a japanese friend with you (or speak pera pera nihongo, and can understand technical kanji, etc). Car tax - each year this will cost you a significant amount, dependant on the capacity of the engine. With a kei car, you can pay with loose change. Standard cars, however, can get a bit scary. Most of my cars have been around the 3.5-4man mark per year. For foreigners, insurance is much higher than australia (in my experience) - for my FD I pay (IIRC) a bit over 1.5man per month - and all that gets me is third party, fire & theft. Full coverage is horribly expensive. Be very very very careful with insurance. Get them to show you EXACTLY what you are getting. With 2nd hand cars, or cars that they consider cheap, you will be expected to be asking for a low level of coverage. I've had to point out to many foreigners what their coverage is - and it's nearly always a shock for them. Even worse when the information comes too late... If you're in a rural area, particularly up north - then check whether or not the car comes with snow tyres. If not, and you need them - then see if they can throw that into the deal (it's another thing that may be easily negotiated). As for sending the car home, it's not as hard as some people make it out to be - and of course it's cheaper than buying the same car at home - as you've cut out the middleman (who pays the same fees, and adds his premium to the top). The only exception would be cars that are very common on the private sale market - r32s, silvias, soarers, etc - which you may well be better off buying at home. Personal import fees/taxes/costs include: * transport to the docks in japan (dependant on location) * customs and broker fees in japan * possibly, storage fees in japan * shipping (relatively cheap for RORO, not so for containers) * insurance * customs and broker fees in australia * 10% import duty (for private imports - this is supposed to be based on an evaluated price for the car - not necessarily what you actually paid) * 10% GST on the value + freight and customs fees (IMO, the biggest rort of all) * compliancing (which, for private imports, is far more lenient and cheaper than RAWS compliancing). that's about all I can think remember at the moment - I've probably forgotten a few key points

there's a pile of mine in this thread: http://pforums.company-hosting.com/forums/....php?t=67197819 I'd link them, but I don't have the time here's a couple though -

yes

It'll be a touch over A$1k by the looks of it. I could almost certainly find you cheaper aftermarket alternatives though. Anyway, let me know via PM once you have the colour code.

I should add that I don't do bulky bits - larger aero items, wheels, coilovers, that sort of stuff (most of us won't - because, frankly, it's a pain in the arse to do in japan) - but if it can go through japan post, and I can fit it into the back of the FD - then I'm more than happy to do it.

my pics are over at performance forums now (photography section) for anyone remotely interested.

I charge 4000yen (unless I have to go to the parts place more than 2x - order and pickup) + freight (EMS - to your door in 4-5 days, sometimes less) + packaging (minimal - that's just in case it needs a box) + paypal or transfer fees (depending on how you want to do it). If someone wants to pipe up and undercut me - go for it (I'm not doing it for any less, and I don't care if I have the extra business or not). cheers

this one? http://www.nissan.co.jp/OPTIONAL-PARTS/SKY...V35/sk_000.html if you want parts, just ask - most of us do it for a minor fee

osaka's 'akihabara' is denden machi (and signposted in english as 'electric town'). I've never heard of this title being used for aki, and I've been there 2 or three times (which is not to say it isn't the case - I just haven't seen it). anyway...

I can see where you are coming from - but whether it's a $1000 car part, or a $10 model - the time invested (bidding, dealing with the seller, the deliveryman and then the hassle of the post office) - is the same. I can't see how it would possibly be cheaper doing it from sydney. anyway, good luck finding someone (I know there are some people who charge below $40)

best to balance sarcasm with some truth, mate