SteveL

If it's stamped 'Surrendered' and the date then that's what you need. Your CA should also get a copy. I have other thoughts on this but I'll say no more.

I sent you a PM some time back but got no response, if the R32 manuals cover the GTR I'll take a copy, so PM the acct details if that's the case. Thanks

I don't really need (or want) to hear things like this....it's one of the major reasons I'm not happy about the delay that's occurred.

This is not the norm, I did a lot of chasing with the shipping company and my customs agent all with the same result - unless I had the original B/L or proof of its surrender absolutely nothing was going to get my car moving from the dock. I even got a hold of a copy of the B/L and that got me nowhere. I don't recommend anyone rely just on the Arrival Notice...but congrats on your success

So you think I'm being too hard ??....maybe....but I still think it was something simple that should have been simple to take care of. Anyway I've vented now, just more waiting....

I still think he offers a great service and would recommend him, but this last step has been a disappointment, no doubt.

I'll have to disagree with you about Geoff in this case. While it's true that the supplier is ultimately responsible for taking care of the matter in Japan, AFAIC the broker (Geoff in this case) must take some responsibility for ensuring it actually happens - in fact in the broker supplied documentation I got it specifically states that: "we (ie broker/supplier) will take care of the B/L for you" - pretty clear cut in terms of responsibilities AFAIC. After all, isn't this part of the service we are paying a fee for ?? At the end of the day this is not rocket science, and the procedure concerning the B/L could (and should) have been taken care of within a few days of the ship leaving Japan. It's also a simple matter to check wether it has been actually done (it took me one phone call to the shipping company) - I would have thought the fact that a faxed copy of the surrendered B/L hadn't arrived on Geoff's desk well before the ship docked would have been raising alarm bells.....but apparently not. Because of this unnecessary delay I am now looking at next Tuesday to get my car at the earliest (that's more than a week after the car arrived on the dock). I'm up for storage charges and there's the worry about potential damage and theft from the car.

ABS unit is circled. Strut tops don't look standard, but I'm not an expert on GTS4's, although I did almost buy one once

My customs agent told me today that there are a lot of car carriers coming from Japan at the moment and that is causing delays at this end. AQIS in Melbourne is booked out this week and I can't get my inspection until next Monday, which means I get the car probably Tuesday at the earliest. Is it possible the typhoons around Japan in recent weeks have caused a backlog of shipping (??) Anyway I finally got the B/L this morning so my CA is on the case and I feel a bit better about the situation - but not entirely happy because the delay should never have happened in the first place. For those that may not be aware I'll explain and give a bit of advice about how to try to overcome any problems like I had: When a car is put on the boat the shipping agent creates a 'Bill of Lading' (B/L), which is the official document containing your details (address, etc) and the car details (weight, etc). In effect it's an agreement or contract that the shipper will transport the car between specified ports. Since we/you have an FOB (Free on Board) agreement with the cars supplier, the B/L is marked 'freight collect' meaning that we/you will pay the shipping fees. To ensure that the 'correct' person collects the car at the receiving end, the shipping company mandates that the original Bill of Lading must be provided at collection - a copy is not sufficient, and there are NO exceptions to that rule....but continue reading. In theory the supplier should send the receiver (me/you) the original B/L to allow collection of the car - and things can still happen that way. However, to speed things up and to overcome the potential for loosing the original in the mail, it's possible for the supplier to 'surrender' the original B/L at the point of origin - this means that the supplier declares you/me as the owner of the vehicle and fully responsible for all charges, etc. The 'surrender' is recorded electronically in the shipping companies system and the original B/L is stamped accordingly. A faxed copy of the 'surrendered' B/L is then sufficient to allow collection of the car (because of the concurrent electronic recording which appears at the shipping company offices at the port of receipt virtually instantly). In my case the original B/L had not been mailed or 'surrendered' in Japan until yesterday. A ludicrous situation considering it is such a simple thing to do and it should have been done within days of the original B/L being created (in my case on the 18/9...and the car arrived Monday morning). Since my car was not released by the shipping company until today, I am now having to wait until next week to collect it (see above). Of course this is not a lot of time considering I've been waiting since April, but it didn't need to happen. My advice to those of you still waiting for cars ??....in the week before the ship docks you will get an 'Arrival Notice' from the shipping company. This a courtesy notice and gives the ETA of the and the details of your cargo (the car). On the notice will be the B/L number and you should ring the shipping company to determine whether the B/L has been 'surrendered in Japan or not. If it has, your home and hosed although you should ask your broker for a copy if you don't have one already. Otherwise I'd advise getting in touch with your broker ASAP to find out what the situation is.

Yep....I'm not impressed to put it mildly.

You've probably checked, but is the P/W 'lock' button 'unlocked' ?? The fact that the drivers window works but the others don't suggests that might be the problem.

YHM re stacker and GTR indicators

Well I'm now glad Geoff took the risk (on my behalf !) and got my car on a boat before I had approval...but it did cause a level of stress.... Ship docks 3:30am Monday morning, but still no B/L and that's a worry.

Good luck with it.....hopefully whoever you got the car through is helping work on a solution.

Problem with this is that the QLD/NSW engineer won't be a recognised VASS signatory. It's almost certain that Vicroads would want to undertake their own inspection and that's where the same problem could resurface (ie Vicroads could demand another engineering inspection to cover the mods). On top of that there's the cost of shipping the car interstate (twice) which is probably going to be $600+ anyway.

Whether emissions or power, it's all still related to the turbo and it's obvious it's not original. Under Vicroads rules your car requires a separate engineers certificate for the turbo. The compliance certificate your trying to get only certifies that the car meets basic ADR's and any separate Vicroads issues (usually minor local requirements), any other mods require separate certification and that's why the engineer is baulking. Turning it into an NA is not really an option - there were no NA RB26's from the factory so just doing it would be a major problem. The first thing you should do is find out from the engineer EXACTLY what it is he needs changed to satisfy his requirements and go from there.

Actually has nothing to do with DOTARS. In this case the engineer is certifying to Vicroads that the car meets its requirements, including but not limited to ADR's. The car will also be inspected by VicRoads when getting reg/plates. It's possible Vicroads could decide it doesn't like the turbo at that time (even with the engineers signed certificate), reject the reg application and ask the engineer for a 'please explain'. He COULD lose his license. I actually had something like this happen....I did an engine conversion and had it all inspected and approved by an engineer, but Vicroads demanded that I have the car inspected by their own engineers and they found some things they didn't like. In the end it worked out, but I know that the engineer got a 'friendly reminder' letter from Vicroads about his responsibilities..... Ignoring the silly name calling, you don't seem to understand how it works....the engineer would only have seen the car once - AFTER the compliance work was done. When a car is brought in for compliance, the necessary work is performed and then the engineer is called in to certify that it has been done, and done to the correct standards. So in this case the engineer would have only seen the turbo when he first saw the car after the compliance work was done, and that's when he got cold feet. These guys aren't stupid, they've worked in the auto industry for many years and usually know exactly what they're looking at.

PM replied

Your in ACT, but in Vic the fuel restrictor is still required - that's straight from my compliancer AND confirmed directly with a Vicroads engineer today.

Oh and do you mind telling me who did your compliance work ?? PM if you'd prefer not to post here.....thanks

Unfortunately this is the risk you take with buying a modified car. The number of vicroads authorised engineers (VASS signatories) has dropped dramatically in recent years because of the increasing personal liability they face when signing off on modified vehicles. Not only does Vicroads hold them accountable, and even though they must have public liability insurance, they can STILL be sued in the event that a car they sign off is involved in an accident involving injury/death/property damage. Quite literally everything they own is at risk. It's called 'duty of care'. What's the answer in your case ??....unless you can find another engineer (I'd say unlikely), then your only option is to buy (borrow ??) a set of stock turbo's etc and bolt them on.... [Edit: it's more than likely the engineer isn't 'employed' by the compliancer but is 'called in' as required after the compliancer is finished his work. The engineer probably runs his own company which is entirely separate to the compliancer]

According to Geoff (prestige) it should come to him and then he'll send us (myself and the customs agent) an e-mail copy which should be sufficient to clear the car. Anyway, Geoff keeps saying 'don't worry it'll be here' (guess he must get hundreds of e-mails like that, LOL), but I'd just feel better knowing this last piece of the puzzle was in place.

Got the 'Arrival Notice' from the shipping company this morning. ETA is 4/10 (Monday). Ship berths at Webb Dock which is only about 1km from where I work so might go down and have a look (I know I won't be able to get to the car, but might catch a glimpse....) Still no B/L and I've noticed they've spelt my street address wrong on the arrival notice (one letter)....hope that doesn't cause any problems.

J-spec is the broker, they help you get the car in Japan and onto the boat. Customs agent does all the leg work getting the car through customs/AQIS (for a fee, of course). I assume they pay everything but you re-imburse them the full amount before being allowed to pick-up the car. My broker (Prestige) advised me of a customs agent in Melbourne to go through. Prestige gave me that info way back in April. I'd suggest you get in touch with j-spec and ask their advice, they'll undoubtedly have someone in Sydney for you to talk to.

I think someone else provided a list of the fees. Anyway, if you are using a customs agent they will provide you with an itemised invoice to pay in one lump, but if your not I assume you'd have to pay each item as they are demanded. The major items will be: shipping costs - worked out from the B/L (converted from $US) import duty - 15% of the FOB cost (converted to $A) GST 10% of the above added together In my case the above comes to roughly $4500 On top of that you'll have: customs agent fee (if your using one) port fees customs fees (clearance, etc) AQIS fees (clearance, steam cleaning) storage if necessary (basically first 3 days after arrival are free) and probably others, which could end up being another $1000 or so. I allowed $6K to cover all the above.