I'm importing...

[noise]

yo

I’m importing a 97 gts-t skyline spec II type m, I wonder if anyone who has imported before had any problems and/or know of anything I should watch out for? Some of my friends have said the stereo will probably go missing? Seems like some sort of urban myth to me, could the wharf guys really get away with that sort of behavior? Also is it likely it will get dented or scratched while on the ship?

Yeah so any advice, opinion or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Sneeza]

If it is a good stereo they usually put this anti-theft tape across it. I imported my own car and it had guages and stuff - nothing went missing at all. But other people have had stuff go missing. Your car isnt likely to be dented to scratched - they pack the cars in super tight on the ship, but they are careful. Your car will be pretty dirty as well when is comes in. I have only ever heard of the stuff going missing on the Japan end of things, not from when it arrives in Australia.

As with anything - this is a risk you're taking. I didnt have any problems but other people did... you can look at insurance on the ship... but I am not sure about how that works

[CC]

It may be an idea to get the supplier in Japan to hide any expensive detachable stuff in the car....boot/behind panels etc

I had my expensive gear mailed seperately - I didn't grudge paying $100 postage for $2 grand worth of gear.

[33Spec2]

my 'S' badge on the bonnet went missing

but apart from that everything went well and yeh cars are always hella dirty

[RadiuM]

I placed my car in its own container so it never went through any wharfies etc. It went straight to the transport company where i picked it up.

It cost another 400 or so dollars i think from memory.

Shaun

[esskimodo]

Mine was in a container too....

Good idea if you dont want little stuff to go missing, be prepared for some things like scratches and parts a little different than was you originally thought, some of my stuff was different brands to that I was told and had a few niggling mechanical probs not mentioned

[PACEY]

Haha, a mate of mine imported a Sylvia, it had an aftermarket BOV which shock horror was missing when he went to pick it up...... hahhahaha just a big gapping hole!

[zanda]

personal experience:

had car broken into on wharf in japan - door locks ****ed, doors scratched.

needed to get it on a boat - due to the old scheme expiring, and it was sent with no door locks or handles, but the wharf insurance covered the repairs.

locks and handles posted to me from nissan.

somewhere along the way, my car drove an extra 1000km. it had the drivers side floor mat, and gear knob (small but frustrating items) go missing, and the front right 1/4 panel graunched.

on the upside, i found it had an obscure but expensive jap brand exhaust on it and an HKS AFR (budgo version of the afc). plus the rims on it which I thought were nice turned out to be VERY nice.

oh, I also found the car had a bown gasket at the turbo. very expensive OR time consuming job to fix. this could have happenned in between buying the car and shipping it, but eh, I dunno.

at the end of the day it was probably still worth it vs. buying a car from a yard here. would be even more so at the moment with the Aus vs. Yen.

the fact is that, if you're like me, you will probably end up very frustrated and angry at the process and the waiting. just remember the savings and why you're going through it, otherwise you'll be over the car before it gets here.

oh, yeah, having said that, once it's on the road and rolling, all the hassles that spanned over 4 months will roll away into about 10 seconds of memories and you'll love it.

[puckish]

personal experience:

had car broken into on wharf in japan - door locks ****ed, doors scratched.  

needed to get it on a boat - due to the old scheme expiring, and it was sent with no door locks or handles, but the wharf insurance covered the repairs.

locks and handles posted to me from nissan.

somewhere along the way, my car drove an extra 1000km. it had the drivers side floor mat, and gear knob (small but frustrating items) go missing, and the front right 1/4 panel graunched.

Zanda, Just a FYI.

The only driving that takes place here in Perth is from the Container to the Quarantine wash area and then the yard.

The yard is pretty busy but after having spent some time down there waiting for family to finish work I doubt that extra KM's occured here in Freo.

[noise]

I’ll hope for the best and expect the worst, but if there are any major things missing or major problems I’m going to smash the **** out of every single wharf worker with a baseball bat.

[zanda]

yeah, I suspect that all the extra kms and the missing items were a result of the panel beaters in japan.

after all, there was SFA I could do about it...and hey knew it!