Well I guess you could say I did both, I imported myself but I went through Prestige Motorsports as a broker. I got onto their auction list and waited until a GTR came up. I was seeing about 6 - 10 per week. Some cars grade R some cars grade 5 some in between.
I reviewed auction sheets and set my bid limit and eventially got my car at a USS Tokyo auction.
For an R34 GTR it is still advisable to buy in Japan. You will save money over buying one locally. Local examples for sale seem to be either pricey or of questionable history.
Some of the guys have gone to Japan to select the car themselves but this requires someone in Japan to escort you into the auctions and you'd need to organise it.
My advice is:
- Be prepared to spend 4 million yen for a good car
- Do not settle for a non-vspec
- Avoid cars from from the northern regions of Japan
- Buy a stock car
- Avoid cars with factory GPS this is useless in australia and clutters the dash with unuseable features
- Avoid Kiwi line shipping, use NYK etc
- Chase the bill of lading and dereg papers as soon as you can, chase your buyer up for this
- Use a customs broker, take a couple of days off work to ensure you are chasing everyone who needs to be chased when the car lands
- Pick it up from the docks yourself, be early, docks open 7.30am
- Drive the car to the complier yourself or pay good money for a flatbed who will not destroy your front lip
- Do your homework on the compliance situation, use a complier who will not destroy your xenon lights in the compliance process
- At the RTA they will tell you that you've been selected for a "random" numbers check and that you must book an appointment for an inspection. If the date they choose is more than 5 days away you are entitled for an interim rego label so you can legally drive the car until that is done