thoughts on importing next year

[Hakujin1977]

(sorry if anyone finds this distressing)

i was going to do up my silvia but after reading some of the SEVS rules i thought i might upgrade next year.

as i understand it, under the SEVS 15+ rule, any car 15 years or older (e.g. an R32 skyline GTR) doesn't need to go through compliancing. it just needs an engineers certificate saying it's structurally sound before it can be registered an put on road.

this will have a big impact on the import scene with the prices of '89 cars dropping.

if you have a look at the price of GTR's on goo (japanese only) http://goo-net.com/used/search/maker.html or other sites

one could have a GTR on road in australia for around $20k.

not forgetting what this will do to prices of R32's already in aust.

thoughts?

opinions?

[Guest brad]

The 15 year old rule for vehicle imported into australia states that these vehicles have to have LO1 compliance. this includes new seat belts, d/side mirror, child restraints, side intrusion bars on cars not 4wd. new tyres, sun visors, dimmer switch etc. allow aprox $1000 inc LO1 plate. an LO1 is not just a normal modification plate.

Now the new Raws scheme is more expensive and vehicles compliance will cost aprox $4,000 to $5000 on average. so this should help keep the value of our vehicles that are already here up.

remember that there will always be people who try to bastardise the prices for their own quick gain.

If the car is cheap there must be a reason, rust? bad engine? speedo clocked?

a genuine import will allways hold its price. the buyers guide in high performance imports magazine shows R32 at $17,000 to $28,000. this is for a genuine car. you can find genuine cheap cars if someone is in dire straights but thats rare.

everyone should keep to the book price and then the values of our own imports stay up.

If you can get a GTR for $20,000 be carefull.... they have gone up in price in Japan not down since nissan stopped making the GTR series last august... they are collectors cars now.

[gtrken]

As has been posted before , watch the price of anything 88 in Japan atm.

The japs have quickly worked out the 15 yr old rule. 8mths ago GQ 88 Safari's about 250-300, 000 yen

Now won't get a good one under 450,000.

89 GTR's are already going up cos people are stockpiling for next year.

You will be paying the same for a 89 next year as your paying for 91 -92 now.

Cheers

Ken

[d0p3y]

Well I was planning to import a car around July/August next year (2004) - Either a Cefiro (1988 or 1989) or a R32 GTSt (1989) and the main reason i want to wait for them to be 15yrs old is mainly because i want to bring in a modified one. Has the rule changed for the 15yr rule? Can you still bring in a modified 15yr old car? Or does it also have to be stock as with the new RAWS scheme?

[PRIMO]

ryan depending on the engineer and state you are in depends on how modified your vehicle can be for a 15yr old vehicle. it is posible to do them but each case is done individually unlike the new raws as it has a standard to follow each model.

if you need any info ill be gald to advise you

[predator]

The 15 year old rule for vehicle imported into australia states that these vehicles have to have LO1 compliance. this includes new seat belts, d/side mirror, child restraints, side intrusion bars on cars not 4wd. new tyres, sun visors, dimmer switch etc. allow aprox $1000 inc LO1 plate.

Now not that i'm an expert an the import process, however, to me doesn't all this just sound fair anyway?? If I was driving a 15 year old car that was never driven Australian rules and want it to be reasonably safe and have these checked or replaced at this stage. Now things like new tyres, switches, etc, etc to me are just roadworthy items?? And things like seatbelts, child restraints, mirrors, etc while I'm sure don't cost nothing, aren't too difficult to replace (hell, i can do that).

...hmm - as [ryan] was saying, if somebody knows the list it would be useful to post or provide a link to such information and what is required. There is nothing worse than "floaty" rules, which seems to still be the case with the RWC scheme (at least in VIC).

Personally, while i think prices will rise temporarily, I think they will soon settle down as things such as the V35, and "the next generation" of performance cars come out in Japan. Mind you things like the Rx8 and 350Zx of course being sold locally these will not be able to be imported.

It all really depends what cars are released in Japan that aren't released in Australia as to the supply of these vehicles. In fact i see this decreasing with the steady amount of imports driving around and the desire for "something different" encouraging manufacturers to strongly consider bringing out Japanese models here. The 350ZX is a prime example and i that is one of the reasons I think it has gone on sale here.