"the Age" Article On Grey Imports

[SS8_Gohan]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/car-...00507-ujoz.html

and for those that can't be bothered clicking...

"Car lovers look to foreign shores to find their perfect sets of wheels"

CAMERON FOSTER could not find a car he liked locally, so he imported one from Japan.

The seemingly extreme solution to finding the perfect set of wheels is not uncommon. More people are making use of a law that allows buyers to import cars that are not sold through domestic dealerships.

The so-called grey imports represent a small percentage of cars on Australian roads but are becoming a big business and an irritation to car companies.

Buyers have been warned that there are risks involved in buying the vehicles at apparently heavily discounted prices.

Mr Foster, 23, an electrician, wanted an all-wheel drive, turbocharged station wagon but could not find one in Australia for the right price. He opted to buy a 2001 model Toyota Caldina from a Japanese auction house and have it shipped to him.

"If you look at the Australian market there's not a lot that's competitive with this," Mr Foster said. "Nothing appealed to me in the $15,000 budget I had. The only other car I could have looked at was a Subaru WRX station wagon. But I didn't really like the look of the car."

The Japanese car cost him $4300 at auction and he spent $2500 on shipping, customs charges and import duties. Modifying the car to comply with local road rules added another $2800. With new tyres, registration and insurance his outlay was $11,500 - well below his budget and much cheaper than buying a second hand car in Australia.

Mr Foster is happy with his vehicle, but there are traps. Some manufacturers refuse to service grey imports at authorised dealerships, and owners can be forced to buy parts from overseas because mechanics may not stock them.

Andrew McKellar, the chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, said there were questions about the safety of some older grey imports permitted by the law.

"Everyone else has to comply with a higher standard of safety than they do,'' he said.

The situation has improved compared with a few years ago, when sometimes questionable operators were importing more vehicles that were ending up as street-racing vehicles.

Changes to the law had forced many of those operators out of business, Mr McKellar said.

"What we were seeing prior to that was a surge in numbers," McKellar said.

Usual scare factor in there and what a load of bullshit about street racing and 'safety'!! We all know that the local manufacturers went to Canberra and had a whinge saying they were losing massive business (my ass) and the clamped down.

Street-racing one is stupid because their very laws TARGET the importation of high performance vehicles! Don't SEVS vehicles in general have to meet a kw/tonne number? In any case, it's an enthusiast scheme that targets performance cars, and yet they're "apparently" complaining about street racing. Of course a commondoor or falcon have never been involved in street racing

Article was good until the tripe at the bottom. Safety pfft... we're talking about ALL the major manufacturers here and he's claiming safety concerns? It's got baby seat anchors! Five star safety everyone!

[mad082]

welcome to a few days ago

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Im...et-t319919.html

[TUFF_350]

welcome to a few days ago

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/Im...et-t319919.html

Harsh but true...its a beautiful thing.

[SS8_Gohan]

just spreading the love to the skyline section

my bad

[GTR-N1]

Cameron Foster quotes, "....an irritation to car companies." = an understatement ! !