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buying for a dealer has a plus that they will have to give you a statutory warranty for 3 months even for used car.

then depending on your deal you can buy aftermarket warranty that covers up to 3 years.

so in the event of a mechanical fault, you may be covered for part or whole of the cost of repair depending on what aftermarket warranty terms & condition.

also a dealer must ensure the car is roadworthy and safe before they can sell it to you, so if it turns out an ex write off car like that Supra sample, you can held the dealer responsible if they are doing the dodgy thing.

buying from private or importing yourself can be cheaper, you save lots of $$$ but if the car is a write off like that Supra, you will loose all your money in one night because you can't return the car to the seller.

buy private or import yourself if you can take the risk of ending up with a very dodgy car. You can do a lot of research, ask for photos (harder if you import as you can only see low res pictures from japan). if buying privately you can do an inspection and see the condition of the car, but as always, buying privately is a caveat emperor (buyer beware), because as soon as you pay for the car, drive down the road and the car break down 100m later, in the eye of the law, the seller is not responsible at all. it;s your bad luck.

my brother in law bought an Alfa 147 from a seemingly nice lady in NSW. car looks alright for its age & km. drive the car back to Melbourne, 600km down the highway the car break down. auto trans actuator is gone, car refuses to go into gear. seller got the money, and of course, since it is a private sale, she is not responsible. my brother in law had to pay $3500 for emergency tow service 350km away to Melbourne, $4000 for a new actuator & reprogram the auto transmission from Alfa dealer. no warranty, he is out of pocket a lot...

on the other hand, I bought my V35 by importing it privately. 49000km landed, now done 57000km, so far no issues. it all depends your luck.

if you're scared, pay the extra and buy from a licensed dealer.

it doesn't have to be a fancy dealer with a fancy showroom. remember beauty is only skin deep.

that guy down the road you mentioned with a garage full of cars could be fine and legitimate, providing he is a licensed & registered dealer.

tom, if you want a dealership look at nagoya motors (caringbah) or topsecretimports.com.au (blacktown).

If you want to get one imported yourself chat to Kristian at ironchef imports, he'll look after you

got it, i'll try, thx a lot.

yeh i saw that guy yesterday and was looking at one of his v35s coz im on the market for one. They seemed clean to me but after that supra incident i dont know.

How much money do you actually save if you decide to go through the self importing process or through say iron chef as opposed to buying one locally?

if the car is already registered locally, half of your worries are gone.

the SEVS industry is heavily regulated with RAWS can loose their license if they comply cars that aren't suppose to be complied.

so once a car passed compliance, passed RWC and has rego on, it's a lot safer than buying a car from japan unseen.

buying locally vs importing may save you $5-6k but you gotta ask yourself - is importing game really something you dare to risk on?

remember importing is not for everyone. dealer may be a bit more expensive, but you get statutory warranty, and most dealers will

include 3 year limited warranty, so there's your extra 'peace of mind', it all comes to a price.

  • 2 weeks later...
tom, if you want a dealership look at nagoya motors (caringbah) or topsecretimports.com.au (blacktown).

If you want to get one imported yourself chat to Kristian at ironchef imports, he'll look after you

so what do you think of the 2006 you picked up :)

The guys from camperdown trade under allimports.com out of Habberfield, been looking for a v35 for a few weeks but still no luck finding what i want.

Hey 'ther,' what do you want! And how much are you willing to pay for the right car?

Hey 'ther,' what do you want! And how much are you willing to pay for the right car?

thats a good question....03/04 not fussed about the screen , half leather interior. White or silver with decent kms...price? well nothing more than 26k..

thats a good question....03/04 not fussed about the screen , half leather interior. White or silver with decent kms...price? well nothing more than 26k..

Cristian, you will have to spend a lot more for something decent with ''genuine'' low Ks [ Prem/coupe] plus any other factory options such as electric sunroof, Bose,and half leather,Sat/nav, etc, any V35 coupes out there for around the mid twenty's I would think are a bit ''sus'' or on the rough side [smash Repaired] or are non Prem with high Ks, used 350Z's bring more $ than V's 'why' I'll never know! You get a lot more car for your money with the V35s especially orig/low K ones, If your budget is around 26k check the car over ''very carefully'' and ''most important it's history'', showroom V35's are hard to find, anyway good luck with your search Regards G.T.

Cristian, you will have to spend a lot more for something decent with ''genuine'' low Ks [ Prem/coupe] plus any other factory options such as electric sunroof, Bose,and half leather,Sat/nav, etc, any V35 coupes out there for around the mid twenty's I would think are a bit ''sus'' or on the rough side [smash Repaired] or are non Prem with high Ks, used 350Z's bring more $ than V's 'why' I'll never know! You get a lot more car for your money with the V35s especially orig/low K ones, If your budget is around 26k check the car over ''very carefully'' and ''most important it's history'', showroom V35's are hard to find, anyway good luck with your search Regards G.T.

Thanks for the advise, looking very carefully and luckly i have a good mates in the car industry sussing things out for me as well. As i said not fussed about the extras and as i have found out lately many 35's out there had had their seats replaced to "appear" premium here in OZ.

I'm not deluding myself as to whats out there but i believe i'll find something round the 26k mark... or i'll go the import way...

how did you found out seats are being replaced?

I think you might be exaggerating by saying many...

if the car has bose and leather more likely they'll be premium

audio control on steering wheel is optional, even a premium may or may not come with audio control on steering wheel.

so does factory nav/tv, they are optional, regardless premium or not.

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