A Step by Step Guide to STOP THE CHANGES to the 15 Year Rule

[amosite]

How do you "put your contribution in" in a few easy steps?

[KILL HSV]

Prestige Motorsport are the ones driving this campaign to prevent the changes in 15yo law because they have the most to loose. They love receiving a full broker fee on the 15yo cars that take bugger all time to import and get on-road compared to cars that actually need compliancing. Prestige have gone to the extreme of no longer taking on customers who are after cars that need compliancing just so they can cash in on the fast turnover of 15yo imports.

Personally, I dont want to see the law changed.....there are a lot of great 15yo cars and I hate that car companies in Australia have the power to influence government to limit the choices of the people to suit themselves.

prestige do get cars under 15 years for compliance, its just that hardly any shops can get approval to compliance them.

This arguiment is not about little johnny wanting a $10k GTR

how did u know i bought a gtr for that price? although u spelt my name wrong, :jk: by the way good choice of xr6 turbo, would be the best car out if it was lighter.

when someone said that japanese guys getting harrassed by the cops, i would say that lebanese guys would get that the most, but if ur an aussie working in a shop of beer drinking v8 drivers then ur going to get paid out if u drive a skyline, FULLY SICK!! but yeh if there were more of them around then i don't think they would be targeted as much, besides i'm sick of seeing vs commos around. also the way dotars still hasn't made a decision can proly only be a good sign. buying an r32 gtr for less than 20k is a great buy and if u paid many a, for a later model then all i have to say is suffer in ur jocks. I don't think there should be a rule against young drivers getting skylines, someone said that, i think there should be a rule against idiots getting skylines.

[ian]

Actually, it isn't Geoff at prestige driving this, it's me. Geoff was one of the importers I emailed to see if they would help, and yes, he has helped the most (he has emailed out a lot of stuff that I've written)!

You might be interested in the 'please go away' letter I got back from John Howard a while ago -

xxxxx

Thank you for your correspondence of 13 April 2004 to the Prime Minister regarding regulations for the importation of second-hand vehicles. I have been asked to reply on Mr Howard's behalf

I note that you have written to Mr Howard about this matter previously. It is not customary for Mr Howard to reply to issues which are the responsibility of his ministers, and consequently I have referred your correspondence to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services, the Hon John Anderson MP for attention and to whom it is noted you have also written. This, and future correspondence, will be forwarded to Mr Anderson as Mr Howard is unable personally to assist in this matter.

Again, thank you for taking the time to write to Mr Howard.

xxxxx

At least we have delayed the silly trade barrier decision for a while, possibly till after the Federal election.. but maybe only till now given the USA congress has just passed the (non) FTA..

Ian

[relicr31act]

I keep reading "you can get an 89 gtr for 20k". Where? Having been to Japan in the last few months and helped purchase 2 such cars I know what they are going for and they won't be anywhere near 20k!!! What are these cars, grade 0 or what? Good GTR's in Japan bring GOOD money. Grade 4 cars are not going to be anywhere near 20k. And as for all this talk of depreciation. Have I missed something here? Cars devalue!!!! Get over it!! If you want to "invest" in something I can think of a few things before Japanese cars, and I don't need some fancy economics chart to know that!!!!!

[KILL HSV]

I keep reading "you can get an 89 gtr for 20k".  Where? Having been to Japan in the last few months and helped purchase 2 such cars I know what they are going for and they won't be anywhere near 20k!!!  What are these cars, grade 0 or what?  Good GTR's in Japan bring GOOD money.  Grade 4 cars are not going to be anywhere near 20k.   And as for all this talk of depreciation.  Have I missed something here?  Cars devalue!!!!  Get over it!!  If you want to "invest" in something I can think of a few things before Japanese cars, and I don't need some fancy economics chart to know that!!!!!

mine will be around 18grand onroad, and its grade 3, u must be going to the wrong auctions

[DRIFTT]

mine will be around 18grand onroad, and its grade 3, u must be going to the wrong auctions

I would like to see a good 89 GTR on the road for $18,000.

Some people who have bought cheap GTR's get big repair bills.

What are the klm's, mods and was it physicaly inspected or just bought site un seen.

It is hard to get clean 1995 to 1997 Skylines in qty let alone 1989 models.

The only 89 GTR's that I was offered that are worth looking at were 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 or just buy a 1993 Grade 3.5 or 4 for 800,000 and bring it under RAWS, $4,000 more and a lot better car.

Like everything else you get what you paid for.

[raz0r$harP.UK]

It's the luck of the auction game- sometimes you'll get a lemon, others a real gem. Just remember that the auction grading is just a guide, and there may be something that the graders may not have noticed.

As for what's happening with the 15 year rule, no further information from DOTARS..

(btw hello from your new mod of this section!)

[KILL HSV]

I would like to see a good 89 GTR on the road for $18,000.

Some people who have bought cheap GTR's get big repair bills.

What are the klm's, mods and was it physicaly inspected or just bought site un seen.

It is hard to get clean 1995 to 1997 Skylines in qty let alone 1989 models.

The only 89 GTR's that I was offered that are worth looking at were 1,500,000 and 2,000,000 or just buy a 1993 Grade 3.5 or 4 for 800,000 and bring it under RAWS, $4,000 more and a lot better car.

Like everything else you get what you paid for.

It's got 108000 k's, i got it from prestige, (not going to japan for a 15 yr old car) besides plenty of mates have bought cars through them and got what they were told they were getting, so i trust them. Its almost stock, no engine mods, clean as.

The exchange rate is rooted, i found out if i had paid for my car a week later, it would've cost $500 less.

[SteveL]

I would like to see a good 89 GTR on the road for $18,000.

Some people who have bought cheap GTR's get big repair bills.

I follow threads like this with interest (because of my particular interest in 89 GTR's ) and there are always a few individuals that make statements along those lines (ie any 89 GTR picked up for less than $20K or so CAN'T be any good or words to that effect, more or less). One implication of these types of statements is that importers are in fact MISLEADING some, if not all of their customers on the condition of the cars they are purchasing. Personally I find it hard to believe that any of the (reputable) companies would put themselves in that position. After all, reputation is everything in that sort of business, and they won't be in business long if such practices are occurring.....

Not having a go at you personally, DRIFTT, it's just that yours is reasonably typical of the type of negative response that invariably comes up in importing threads. What I'd like to see are some examples of cars (pics, web pages, etc) that have turned up in Oz in a 'not as described' condition (before and after, if you like) so that we can judge for ourselves....in the case of '89 GTR's we will probably have to wait a bit longer as more start to come in from about August onward.

At the end of the day, there are very few of us that have the luxury of being able to go to Japan to inspect these cars for ourselves. Consequently, the majority must rely on importers and there's no doubt that the 'well known' ones have a very good reputation. As I said, I can't see them deliberately setting out to endanger that reputation.....

[predator]

Thing is, no, they're not out to endanger that reputation, but at the end of the day, most of these companies are import *brokers*. This basically means, they are doing some small facilitation to get the car into your hands which you might not otherwise have the skills or knowledge to be able to do that successfully. They are not buying the cars for you, much of the time they are not even able to inspect the cars for you - they are helping, you the buyer, purchase these cars from overseas with their knowledge and experience behind them. Things can and will often go wrong, and expecting them to be all knowing and all seeing is a little ridiculous.

In the end its really up i think a lot of the time for the buyer to check the auction reports, ask the right questions, and do their own research a bit. Some expect everything to be done for them and for the broker to cover every single base and for them to get that "perfect" car that they want for $5-10k cheaper than they could get locally. If that is the case, and you still want from japan there are those more specialist "importers" (as opposed to "brokers" in my definition) that will go over there, will spend the time, and personally select a great car for you... or you may in fact find one of these some of the more respected dealer lots in Australia later on. But the key is, you pay more for this privlege, it may take several months longer and you may (or still may not!) get a better car. Anyhow, I think that is where some get a little confused.

In the end, if you ask me, if a person gets a car that you are disappointed with, you only have to blame yourself a little. To expect every single 15 year car (or otherwise) to come from japan in perfect "as new" condition is a little optimistic.

And it all comes down to the great saying that says you cannot hope to please every person 100% of the time...

Here comes a controvercial one.. i bet you bottom dollar most of these "reports" of people getting "ripped off" or "very unhappy" are young inexperienced guys expecting all the fruit for an unrealistically cheap price like they've seen in a car mag. It may be their first import car, and all they can afford and hence why they're importing. But in the end, considering the amount of cars coming into the country now, and the flurry b4 the end of the 15 year rule - its always going to be a small, but very vocal minority. I feel a bit sorry for them, but then again I don't.

[SteveL]

'Broker' is certainly a more accurate description, but I think my point remains valid....they would still need to ensure that their suppliers were doing the right thing, otherwise both will certainly suffer (lose business, even go out of business).

[predator]

yeah, definitely.. interesting actually, as my car, whilst technically bought through one of the bigger names, really has passed through a supplier over in japan.

The supplier had in fact already purchased the car, pretty much on behalf of xxxxx in australia. The broker is really just relying on the details that supplier has passed on. So yeah, i'm kind of hoping that the supplier is not leaving any vital details out and is trustworthy. And I have to take the brokers word that he is trustworthy.. so there is a long chain.

Again, that is where i think some of the "big names" are more likely to have better connections and do things more efficiently than some of the smaller guys.

[DRIFTT]

Most cars on the mailing list are cars bought sight unseen off the net or supplyiers in Japan buy the car bump the price up and add FOB on top of that.

I know personaly, in bussines or by reputation some of the sellers of these cars in Japan, some you would trust with your wife with and some you wouldnt trust with your dog.

It isnt about using a broker, it is more about buying a cheap high performance car with high klm's and expecting nothing to go wrong. You are not buying off the broker but a Japanese dealer, wrecker or off Yahoo.

I would just say get your moneys worth and get the broker to buy from the Auctions and see the auction report before you buy, a lot of the 15 year old cars are over priced that are spamed out.

But if you are prepared to pay more than they are worth do it, but dont just buy the first car that you see.

15 year cars will be limited after January so enjoy it while it lasts.

[Duncan]

C'mon, do people really think they can save $10k over a similar car already in Australia but not take any risk?

You are getting a cheaper price because of the chance it may not be great.

And can I suggest before you buy a 15yo GTR, go and look at a 1989 falcon to get an idea what 15 years does to a car.....

I've bought a cheap GTR. I'm very happy with what I got. But it was not in good condition, its just that I expected that

[SteveL]

I'll have to insist that it _is_ about the broker for the vast majority of buyers in Australia (and other countries, for that matter). Even an auction report is no substitute for a full mechanical, etc inspection and so 'we' must rely on the broker(s) having a good working relationship with their supplier(s). As to prices, it is clearly demand driven (look at the diff in prices asked for 89 GTR's compared with 89 300ZX), and suppliers in Japan are no different to secondhand car salesmen in Australia (ie get as much as they think they can)....whether they are worth is up to the individual buyer to decide BUT the difference is that 'we' (ie the vast majority of import buyers in Australia) have little to go on in terms of prices other than what the broker advises (usually)....

[funkymonkey]

i've brought in a couple of 15 yr cars personally thru USS auctions and a cefiro thru a private seller. The auction reports are a summary and should be treated as such, there's not much that a 10 word report can tell you about a car. The guys that bought the USS auction cars have been warned of the dangers of buying a 15 yr old car, and they still believe its worth the risk to buy a "cheap GTR". The ceffy I bought for my dad has to be the cleanest 15 year old car that I got, and I made sure it was by getting a mechanics report while it was in Japan, something you can't do at the USS auctions.

[SteveL]

C'mon, do people really think they can save $10k over a similar car already in Australia but not take any risk?  

You are getting a cheaper price because of the chance it may not be great.

And can I suggest before you buy a 15yo GTR, go and look at a 1989 falcon to get an idea what 15 years does to a car.....

I don't think anyone is suggesting there is no risk...for the vast majority it again comes back to relying on the broker/supplier relationship....

I don't agree with your 89 GTR vs 89 Falcon comparison....for one thing the build quality of Japanese cars has been far superior to the local product for a long, long time and I would expect (know !!) that the GTR would have far superior 'endurance'. That said, I do agree that it is better to set expectations on the low side....given the age of the cars we are talking about...

[funkymonkey]

Japanese people aren't docile and tender people like everyone thinks. If you had a monaro for 15 years it'd be as trashed as a 15 year olf GTR. There's some rare 89 GTR's that are owned by purists (like the one that was owned by a GTROC Japan club member) which are cared for like a newborn child. Whoever bought that car is guranteed an awesome car. Everyone else will find out what surprises are held in store for them when they get them.

Then again, most of the cars I get thru my agent are heavily photographed after purchase to make sure you know what you're getting (a bit late after buying the car but better late than never).

For example the pics I've posted of the ceffy that I bought in]http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh....php?t=47417]in this thread[/url] were taken after the car was transported to the port, just before it was put on a ship for melbourne.

[KILL HSV]

basically, what r u looking at for a similar price locally? an auspec 200sx, xr8, hsv, etc. compared to local prices a 89 gtr is a good buy, u may say that 'oh a 15yr old car is too old, unreliable' whatever but if u think about it, its only 4 years older than the latest r32, and companies like prestige rely on, if u couldn't then no-one would buy cars from them. and u can generally tell if a car has been drifted, raced whatever from the info they give u.

[DRIFTT]

basically, what r u looking at for a similar price locally? an auspec 200sx, xr8, hsv, etc. compared to local prices a 89 gtr is a good buy, u may say that 'oh a 15yr old car is too old, unreliable' whatever but if u think about it, its only 4 years older than the latest r32,  and companies like prestige rely on, if u couldn't then no-one would buy cars from them. and u can generally tell if a car has been drifted, raced whatever from the info they give u.

No offence mate but that statement is why a friend who is a buyier in Japan gets flown up to Tokyo to buy R34 GTR's for a guy in England because the grade 4 straight as a die car was a ex curcit racer including the holes in floor for the roll cage.

It is all a gamble when somebody in Australia is helping you buy a car in Japan.