Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Now I'm half keen on a S2 Stagea as they have pretty much everything I want. Space, comfortable and reasonable performance.

My question is this, is it cheaper to import and comply/rego a car or buy a landed one. Further to this is there anything I should be wary of when importing a stagea?

I was hoping to spend well under 20K, actually as close as possible to 15k is this achievable?

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/152904-importing-or-buying-already-landed/
Share on other sites

Oh boy this subject has been covered so many times, (and I've only been a member for about 4 months)!!

Importing will give you a better car at a cheaper price, but you have to have the dosh up front, (most of it) and be very patient, cos it takes 2 months to get a car here. There are many pit falls, but it can be rewarding. I'll tell you how rewarding next week when mine arrives. :) On the other side, buying one here will save you a lot of work. You can drive it first. (BIG plus). AND you can NEGOTIATE the price. Also you'll get it immediately. I would have gone down the "buy it here path", but I know that I still saved about $5000 - $10,000 importing myself.

If you want to import, PM me and I'll tell you more..... much more.

No, I am not a dealer.

Yes there is a lot to be wary of! But most of it can be overcome.

I dont really think its fair to say that you will get a better car for less.

For example, SEVS require you to have a pretty much stock Stagea for complaince, hence, it wont be "much better". Sure it will have some bolt on mods, but nothing more than whats for sale locally.

Additionally, there is nothing like talking to the seller, someone who actually knows the history. I guess in the end it comes down to the person that is selling their car.

For example, I will be putting my car up for sale as soon as I get my 200+awkw tune, just awaiting my DFA back from SK. To give you an idea of what 20k buys you locally, check out http://ebay.clearbridge.com.au/lachlan.html

Id say thats far better than any importable Stagea, specially with all the extra cash spent on it. And as I said before, you can talk to the seller and ask all the details (such as what ive listed with what oils i used, how regularly I service, what driving history of the car is etc etc etc)

I've imported two cars before, but chose to buy my Stagea locally. For me, it was more a case of "I want it now/need it now" and didnt want to wait. I now want an S13 pig to drift and thrash around, and for that purpose I am really considering importing as local sellers want too much, but for something that has to go SEVS's, I can honestly say there isnt much in it.

Thanks for the response and offer of guidance. Once I confirm what I want to do I will take you up on it. The wait will suit me honestly as if I decide to do it (get a car allowance through work and I'm just working out the numbers) I cant give me car back until after August this year.

After having a breeze through J-spec I saw this >> http://www.j-spec.com.au/list/index.php?ID=8837 which although its km's are high it still seemed OK value.

I dont really think its fair to say that you will get a better car for less.

For example, SEVS require you to have a pretty much stock Stagea for complaince, hence, it wont be "much better". Sure it will have some bolt on mods, but nothing more than whats for sale locally.

Additionally, there is nothing like talking to the seller, someone who actually knows the history. I guess in the end it comes down to the person that is selling their car.

For example, I will be putting my car up for sale as soon as I get my 200+awkw tune, just awaiting my DFA back from SK. To give you an idea of what 20k buys you locally, check out http://ebay.clearbridge.com.au/lachlan.htm

Id say thats far better than any importable Stagea, specially with all the extra cash spent on it.

Linky no work :)

I updated my post and fixed the link, was missing the "l" at the end of html.

Also, a note with M35 Stageas. There is currently, to the best of my knowledge, nowhere to comply them in Australia. If you want to bring it in and give it to a shop as their test car for compliance, it will be free compliance but expect the process to take between 6 to 18 months.

My question is this, is it cheaper to import and comply/rego a car or buy a landed one. Further to this is there anything I should be wary of when importing a stagea?

Phew, you are about to discover how true the saying is "opinions are like arseh0les - everyone has one"

I asked this question once, and never again.

And no, I didn't import mine.

I have updated my site with photos. http://ebay.clearbridge.com.au/lachlan.html

I am not "selling" it right now as Ive not tuned it for over 200awkw, but once I do, I will put it on the market right away. Alternatively id cut 500 off the price and sell it with all the hardware. 160awkw is still fast enough for now, but I want to feel the power of 200awkw :)

As for some advice, here is an alright thread. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=92065

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=80601

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...howtopic=148428

I have updated my site with photos. http://ebay.clearbridge.com.au/lachlan.html

I am not "selling" it right now as Ive not tuned it for over 200awkw, but once I do, I will put it on the market right away. Alternatively id cut 500 off the price and sell it with all the hardware. 160awkw is still fast enough for now, but I want to feel the power of 200awkw :happy:

As for some advice, here is an alright thread. http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=92065

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=80601

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...howtopic=148428

Thanks for your helpp mate, appreciate it. BTW I still cant see pics on your link, sorry.

You're all traitors... keep your stageas, sell a kidney or something.

yeah, I sold my kneecap in order to keep my Stagea

Bought mine up in Qld, was good to see it in the flesh and not have problems with compliance etc. Plus at that stage it was the cheapest in Australia, but IMO the best bargain (Dayz series 1 for 18k when stnd S1 were 20k plus, and S2 was 25k plus)

fly510, just click the link http://ebay.clearbridge.com.au/lachlan.html

It 100% has the photos, maybe it saved in your cache without. Open that page then press the "refresh" button next to the stop button. Alternatively, press F5.

yeah, I sold my kneecap in order to keep my Stagea

Bought mine up in Qld, was good to see it in the flesh and not have problems with compliance etc. Plus at that stage it was the cheapest in Australia, but IMO the best bargain (Dayz series 1 for 18k when stnd S1 were 20k plus, and S2 was 25k plus)

lol

Ahhh, but you see. I am selling my Stagea because I DO love it so much.

If I was to keep it and use it for what I want to....i would surely kill it. On the other hand, an A31/S13/R32 is not so worthy of care :)

Rest assured, the stagea will return to me later in life...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • I think the concept is highlighting the various scenarios where thicker oil helps, and thicker oil potentially doesn't help and only generates heat and costs power, in turn for safety which isn't actually any safer (unless you're going real hot). If anything this does highlight why throwing Castrol 10w-60 for your track days is always a solid, safe bet. 
    • Jason should have shown a real viscosity vs temp chart. All the grades have very little viscosity difference at full operating temperature.
    • Oops... I meant to include the connector  view... BR/W - power from fuse L/W - motor negative to fan control amp (and off to HVAC pin19) OR/B - PWM signal (from HVAC pin20) B --  ground  
    • Yep, if you are applying filler it sounds like there is something wrong with the body lol. Safe to assume there is going to be a lot of sanding going on if your still applying fillers.  Picture a perfect bare metal panel, smooth as glass. You lay down your primer, it's perfect. (why are you going to sand it?) You lay down the colour and clear, it's perfect. No sanding at all took place and you've got a perfectly finished panel.  You won't be chasing your tail, sounds like you were prepping to start laying filler. If your happy with the body after the sanding, there is some bare metal exposed and some areas with primer, no issues at all, start laying the filler. You are safe to lay filler on bare metal or primer (of course check your technical data sheet as usual for what your filler is happy to adhere to).  This isn't a 100% correct statement. There is primer that is happy to adhere to smooth bare metal. There are fillers that are happy to adhere to smooth bare metal. Just make sure you're using the right materials for the job.  Typically if you are using filler, you would go primer, colour and clear. I've never seen any instances before where someone has laid colour over body filler (maybe this happens, but I haven't seen it before). So your plan sounds pretty normal to me. 
    • I don't think there's any way someone is push starting this car.. I honestly can barely move it, and moving it and steering it is just flat out not possible. I'm sure it is, but needs a bigger man than me. I have a refurbished starter now. The starter man was quite clear and consise showing me how nothing inside a starter really should contribute to slow cranking, and turned out that for the most part... my starter was entirely fine. Still, some of the wear items were replaced and luckily it didn't show any signs of getting too hot, being unfit for use, etc. Which is 'good'. I also noticed the starter definitely sounded different, which is a bit odd considering nothing should have really changed there.... Removed and refit, and we'll pretend one of the manifold bolts didn't fully tighten up and is only "pretty" tight. GM only wants 18ft/lb anyway. I also found a way to properly get my analog wideband reading very slightly leaner than the serial wideband. There's Greg related reasons for this. The serial output is the absolute source of truth, but it is a total asshole to actually stay connected and needs a laptop. The analog input does not, and works with standalone datalogging. Previously the analog input read slightly richer, but if I am aiming at 12.7 I do not want one of the widebands to be saying 12.7 when the source of truth is 13.0. Now the source of truth will be 12.65 and the Analog Wideband will read 12.7. So when I tune to 12.7 it'll be ever so slightly safer. While messing with all of this and idling extensively I can confirm my car seems to restart better while hot now. I did add an old Skyline battery cable between the head and the body though, though now I really realise I should have chosen the frame. Maybe that's a future job. The internet would have you believe that this is caused by bad grounds. In finding out where my grounds actually were I found out the engine bay battery post actually goes to the engine, as well as a seperate one (from the post) to the body of the car. So now there's a third one making the Grounding Triangle which is now a thing. I also from extensive idling have this graph. Temperature (°C) Voltage (V) 85 1.59 80 1.74 75 1.94 70 2.1 65 2.33 60 2.56 55 2.78 50 2.98 45 3.23 40 3.51 35 3.75 30 4.00   Plotted it looks like this. Which is actually... pretty linear? I have not actually put the formula into HPTuners. I will have to re-engage brain and/or re-engage the people who wanted more data to magically do it for me. Tune should be good for the 30th!
×
×
  • Create New...