Anyone Have Experience With J-spec Or Imports 101

[private9]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, but am hoping to become either a Skyline or Stagea owner real soon

Does anyone out there have any eperience positive or negative using either J-Spec or Imports 101 through the whole searching, importing and compliancing process?

I'm not sure who to go through and although J-Specs pricing seems really cheap I'm concerned there are hidden costs, or the vehicles are simply worn out, so would appreciate anyone's advice!

Please post or pm if you have any advice.

Thanks,

Justin.

[KR.15.YS]

I imported my stagea thru prestige motorsport.

Have a look at them, we found them the cheapest for what we were looking for.

Geoff is really helpful and was there to help us thru the whole process if needed. They have alot of available stock, depending on what your looking for.

I found it best when we were sourcing for a broker to look around and do alot of research.

All up I cannot fault them they were great. Our stagea in the country with 12 months rego owes us bout $16K but with all the mods and insurance were just under $19K

Still looking at doing more mods though since we saved so much money importing it ourselves. Have a look it won't hurt..

[djr81]

Danny (Imports101) does a very good job aswell. I can recommend him.

There is also a third option - depending on what type of Skyline/Stagea you want - you can easily find them locally. If it something like an R33 GTS-T you will find heaps of them about with the added bonus of being able to drive them & not having to wait for auctions/shipping/customs/compliancing/registration etc etc etc.

[funkymonkey]

J-Spec Imports are awesome. Tell em I said so. AMS and EGA41T both recently just bought stageas through us, so you can ask em.

[Beer Baron]

J-spec are great guys. except for a bloke their called Shan. he is really unhelpfull and not very attractive either.

[dezz]

you wont hear any negative feedback

but j-spec is fine...and they dont have hidden costs, any additional costs will be part of compliance etc, and nothing to do with j-spec....

[funkymonkey]

J-spec are great guys. except for a bloke their called Shan. he is really unhelpfull and not very attractive either.

you really have to stop calling us and asking about importing mail order brides though

As dezz said, you're invoiced for everything that happens along the way, from initial purchase to shipping to compliance etc. Its a totally transparent system and the costs are as they're incurred. Sometimes unforseeable things do happen and may increase the costs involved, for example the car can get to compliance, and the compliancer can deem the brake pads to be worn out, so you have to get SEVS tested brake pads. This is not something we allow for in our initial estimates, and can put the figure out by a couple of hundred dollars.

[Beer Baron]

you really have to stop calling us and asking about importing mail order brides though 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i would but Ben told me about your stash. i only want 2. one to stay here, one to send back and forth in a container to guard my parts from wharfies...lol

[EGA41T]

J-Spec Imports are awesome. Tell em I said so. AMS and EGA41T both recently just bought stageas through us, so you can ask em.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my stagea that i bought through J-spec leaves japan tomorrow, thus far i have nothing but praise for them, craig is very helpful and willing to take the time to explain everything you need to know, and its also great to have funkymonkey on the forums (as you may have already guessed works for J-spec) whom can also answer any questions just by sending him a pm.

Overall my experiance with J-spec has been great, i couldnt ask for anymore.

...cheers EGA41T

[private9]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, really appreciate it! Will help make the decision easier now!!

[Informer]

You can do better getting the car yourself.

Importers source their cars from a limited supply, which if you think about it isn't all that big.

Just my experience

[private9]

You can do better getting the car yourself.

Importers source their cars from a limited supply, which if you think about it isn't all that big.

Just my experience 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I know you can get them cheaper by doing it yourself, but I simply don't want the hassle or the risk associated with going it alone!

At least with a broker they take care of everything from start to finish, and I'm much less likely to end up with a piece of crap because realistically some car yard in Japan isn't going to care if they sell me a shitbox and I never come back as I'm only ever worth one sale to them, whereas they would think twice about screwing a broker because they'd be losing a hell of a lot more than one sale

[Paradizzle]

Yeah, I know you can get them cheaper by doing it yourself, but I simply don't want the hassle or the risk associated with going it alone!

At least with a broker they take care of everything from start to finish, and I'm much less likely to end up with a piece of crap because realistically some car yard in Japan isn't going to care if they sell me a shitbox and I never come back as I'm only ever worth one sale to them, whereas they would think twice about screwing a broker because they'd be losing a hell of a lot more than one sale    

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you go direct through a reputable supplier in Japan they would have more to loose selling you a dodgey car then a broker here would. A supplier in Japan gets business and survives through building a good rep and keeping an honest name, thus having to ensure quality cars arrive as described to the final buyer. If they f**k up, word will spread quickly and their reputation/business goes to shit.

Most brokers here will go to the suppliers in Japan with good reps, and they will source the car. So in effect if you get in contact with the supplier in Japan you will be able to save your $1,100 and put it towards getting a better car.

Customs, compliancing....etc is not difficult, and only really requires a few phone calls.

If you need any help doing it on your own, PM people who have posted in this section or myself and we will be able to help you. I have recently imported direct through a supplier and it was not difficult and I have recieved a VERY nice car as described.

Edited February 3, 2006 by Paradizzle

[DRIFTT]

Some of the cars in "stock" over in Japan are Accident Repair cars that they have been bought cheap due to condition and put a high margin on a very average car, I have seen 1,000,000 on one car, 500,000 down to 300,000 is noting to see.

As it has been said before you are buying a car off a car dealer in another country, if he wants to make a margin so be it, the peoblem is the condition of the car. all the info is all out their for everybody to find, it is not hard to find sale prices and auction reports. Why send 20 photos of a car but it is to hard to scan and post a basic auction report.

A few Dealers in Japan have sent cars over for Aussies and have been that bad I personaly know of a few workshops who refuse to comply their cars again no matter how good they say the car is.

It also dosent matter about using a Broker or just doing it yourself, the key is the seller or the person buying for you in Japan, you are paying people who have "your best interest" in their hands which is why you pay the money so how can selling a damaged car with a inflated

[Informer]

Yeah, I know you can get them cheaper by doing it yourself, but I simply don't want the hassle or the risk associated with going it alone!

At least with a broker they take care of everything from start to finish, and I'm much less likely to end up with a piece of crap because realistically some car yard in Japan isn't going to care if they sell me a shitbox and I never come back as I'm only ever worth one sale to them, whereas they would think twice about screwing a broker because they'd be losing a hell of a lot more than one sale    

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its up to you mate.

Going there and finding the car you want will take time and will be difficult if you don't understand the language, however, you will be getting a car that :

- you definitely want

- has been serviced regularly and should still have the service books

- is clean

- you pay for what you get (if its in poor shape then its very cheap, in good shape then it will be a little more expensive)

I went through an importer and never got the car I wanted.

I went to Japan and saw it everywhere.

In fairness, you can probably find a car that might be close to what you want via the pool of cars that an importer might have. You can just buy that and fix up everything that needs fixing (believe me all imported cars need fixing one way or another). There are just so many nice cars available in Japan that a lot of people aren't aware of.

[raz0r$harP.UK]

If this continues into another 'broker or not' thread I will close and warn people. The poster is asking for opinions from ppl who've used J-Spec and Imports101.

[re2]

I hate been vindictive but just be VERY careful as when you signup to a service of a broker as you are only sign away a fair bit of the ground you may be able to stand on if something goes wrong.

My best bet if you don’t want to do the hard work, is, J-spec. At least they avoid the notorious dealer/s that other major mainstream brokers use, which is a damn good sign. Plus I have read here from poeples experiences that they will rectify any issues that you may have once your car gets here.

I take it that you are in Perth given your interest in import101?

If so go check things out locally. Paul at Autoworx is a genuine guy who looks after his customers, and has some killer bargains. Autoworx is good, as he is legally a car dealer as well as offering a broker service.

Another one is if you want top quality you can not go past Auto Wholesalers on Shepperton Road Burswood. They are great, I take all those I help import there, as I know I wont have any issues with them complaining to me if there car has an issue, and you get a 3 year warrantee standard. Just that says a lot about the faith they have in there cars.

If there is a slight chance that you want to import yourself, I HIGHLY recommend that you do a search on my user profile to receive all post posted by me. You will find a lot of information, and feedback with what other people have said. Information here is as good as gold.

At the end of the day it is an option which you have to take up yourself. It is very good you have taken the actions in getting information from those that have imported.

I'll end this post with rephrasing that,

The Best advise is to you is to READ what you are signing away, (your own ground that you stand on) when you signup to a service.

Edited February 6, 2006 by re2

[noise]

If this continues into another 'broker or not' thread I will close and warn people. The poster is asking for opinions from ppl who've used J-Spec and Imports101.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Problem being that all he will get are people saying they are wonderful because negative comments about businesses are not allowed on the forums.

Thread becomes a pointless advertising tool for a few people.

[gazza750]

i got my car throughDanny @ IMPORTS 101 and couldntgive them higher praise but ultimately its up to you to actually contact and speak to the importer yourself and go with your gut instinct i looked at a few other places (wont name names) and the level of service wasnt there with them like not full on road cost witheverything included was told lies about car being complied locally when @ the time there was no r32 gtr compliance in perth (mine was shipped to Sydney and then road freighted with tnt to perth and imports 101 informed me of everything and what stage the car was at

[R33GTRVSPEC]

I've imported 2 cars through j-spec and was happy both times with their service. however on the 2nd time, the shipping was really slow, so if i was to import another skyline, i would just deal directly with the guys that did my compliance since they can source the cars from japan themselves. they bought a r34 well after i bought my car and had it here before mine. thats just something to note if you're in a hurry.