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G'day all.

I'm looking to buy a Stagea soon, and am weighing up wether to import or buy from within Aus.

Just wondering if anybody's had any bad shipping experiences with their imports, and wether there's any way to prevent something happening to my car if I buy from Japan.

Thanks.

HELLO ALL

I'll give you some true and friendly advice .

When you are going to buy a car from the auctions in Japan deal with a reputable Japanese company that will place your bid online for you . They will firstly email you pics of the car that you wish to buy , Take your pic as there are plenty to choose from , next they will have their mechanic check the car for you and advise you of buy price , at this stage if you are happy with the car give them your top price that you are willing to pay . If you are successfull in your bid you will have to pay them approx Yen 1,000 000 which is what is called FOB charges thsi will include all Japanese paperwork and deregistration and a/c degas which is required by Aus law . ( The main auction in Japan is on Thursadays , so make your arrangements early in the week .) Your car will then be taken to the wharves and then shipped . Ro/Rf is by far the easiest and cheapest way to do this ( Usually about AUS $1000 ) Be sure to get your import approval doc through a raw before you even contemplate shipping the vehicle . Do Not waste your time with insurance . I have imported many many vehicles into Aus over the last 25 years and have never had a warrant to use insurance , although over the years small items such as stereos were stolen , this does not happen any more nowdays . A word of caution Do not put new or used parts into the car as these may go walkabout ..hahahaha even the shipping comanies willl discourage you from doing this . I hope that I have been of some help to those of you that want some info on the procedure of buying and shipping , as I said I've had 25 years experiance . If any of you folk want any help or some guidance I will be more that pleased to give you some info or to steer you in the right direction . want somebody reliable to deal with in Japan ? then send me an email to [email protected] for further info ...Cheers John

PS to the guy that said Kiwi is not too good ....Your right buddy :-))))

Thanks JohnK.

I'm still 50/50 on wether insurance is worth it or not.

My arguement for insurance is that when my step-dad imported a Celica GT-Four, he had it shipped Roll On/Roll Off, and when he recieved it, it had large amounts of damage like it was not tied down properly.

But you just gotta wonder what the chances are of the same thing happening. I think I'd probably go for insurance just to be on the safe side.

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