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I just recently imported a 1997 R33 GTR Vspec Series III. Seeing what was on the market now, and what I paid, I did make quite a bit of savings. Just looking at the cheapest 1997 Vpsec Series III listed on Carsales is $25K. And in all honesty there were times it felt like I would have to actually fork out close to this much (including shipping, compliance, rego) to get the car I wanted when I was bidding on them (and frankly, I did not budget to spend $25K) .

If you're keen on importing, it pretty much comes down to how much you want to spend, how long you want to wait, and how fussy you are going to be about your car (ie, do you want to be the first Australian owner of the car?).

I waited for well over 5 months to get a car I liked (its all about bidding wars sometimes - and I bidded on over 7 different cars before I finally won mine) and then had to wait another 2-3 months before I actually could get my hand to drive it.

I wouldn't discourage you from importing, because sometimes you might get a good find (mines pulling over 300 kws at the wheels - and that's how it came off the boat).

You can find 300kw cars here. You can drive and see them in the flesh, here. Being the 'first Aussie owner' means shit, don't any of you watch YouTube and see how the Jap's drive? It's no different to us. How do you really know where the car is coming from, you don't even meet the previous owner.

All the people importing more and more of them are just diluting the market and bringing local prices down to the price of a VN commodore.

I cant speak from experience because i havent imported anything, but i cant see myself forking out $20k odd on a car without seeing it in the flesh and driving it etc. Imo the gtr is such a complicated car that you really should know the ins and out of the car (know what to look for etc) before you buy. When i buy one (hopefully soon) i am going to hit up some expert sau members to come along and help me look at the car so i dont pick a lemon. Im not knocking those who have imported the car themselves, obviously you can still get excellent gtr's from Japan without driving it first, its just that with that sort of money, i believe its quite a risk you are taking.

Yea and no...

If you are smart about it and pick a good broker with great connections over in Japan they'll find you a good GTR because they know where to look!!!

All I'll say to the OP is this. Importing a car is thru sevs. That stands for specialist and enthusiast vehicles...

If you're a real enthusiast... And you aren't afraid to spend a few extra dollars on finding "the one" then importing is for you.

If you're hoping to save six grand in this then you're in for a bad surprise...

Anyone can go up the street n buy a GTR if they want these days... But if you're wanting to be the guy that imports... Then by all means - import...

It's your call!!!

GTR POWa - LOL!!!!

You're an idiot. I'm not mad, I'm not angry, there is just no other words. The explanation of why I say this is found right here in this thread. For future discussions between us, I'll simply ignore you. Don't think I'm avoiding anything in particular, you're just retarded, or have some other underlying mental problem that hasn't been given a clinical name yet. Enjoy. :)

Would it be appropriate to say "Starting from now?" - I guess it would, because this is the final post I'll bother directing to you. Keep them glasses shiny.

well we just did 2 mitsubishi evo's.

depends what you want so ill try and give you a cost effective scenario off the top of my head.

always remember that having the car imported in a container is safer yet MUCH more expensive then having the cars imported using break bulk.

we do alot of reputable brands that use breakbulk.

regarding ocean freight, its best to have a check with shipping lines will be able to to take on cars. wallenius wilhelmsen do specific cars from great britain etc.

you can give them a ring to find out which forwarder to contact to get the best rates.

break bulk will be cheaper, but its roll on and roll off ( being exposed to weather conditions ).

once you get an idea of the freight cost lets say it costs you. 1150aud, with insurance 740aud. ( shipping lines can help you get insurance )

once the vessel docks at the wharf you will be inclined to pay port charges. this will include, ocean freight, documentation fees, handling charges etc.

including your freight from japan to syd/mel i would really budget up to 2-3 grand ( dont think it'll cost that much but you dont know )

you will then need to have the vehicle customs cleared.

we charge i think about 100 brokerage fees to clear your goods through customs. just a quick classification of it in 8703, you would have to pay 10% duty and 10% gst. of the total value of the goods. so if it cost you 10 k aud, 10% of that will be duty and 10% gst.

there is a bi law thats put in so you dont incur the 12 grand tax but ur broker will help you here ( if his smart ) .

so now you have ocean frt/port charges = 2-3 grand.

brokerage = 100.00

customs duty payable to customs = $1000.00 aud

gst = 1000.00 gst ( yuour not a big company so you cant defer the gst )

remember you will need to request documents such as, packing certs, cleaning of vehicles, if they find that your vehicles have any soil, dirt bugs. your gone.

if the car has any timber in there. you will be requred to treat it. aqis inspection fees are between 150-200 ( IM going off the top of my head )

if aqis has cleared you vehicle ( using an import permit ) yes u need to obtain one.

the car will then be transported using toll ( thats who we use ) not sure on cartage costs i think it wouldnt be more then 200-300 , but best to cal em to take the vehice from the wharf to the depo ( if your in sydney , you can use WSI for aqis inspections.

depending if its in a container. ( load/unload mite be around 500+ - 800 )

im guessing here.

once they've inspected and you've paid aqis fees you have passed quarantine measures and can take the car into compliancing. ( this is not my field ) best to call up a compliance place and get a quote i think it'd be 2 grand last i saw 3 years ago.

so overall it mite be about 6 k, but im sure it will be less if its roll on roll off... once u obtain the forwarding quotes you will get an idea.

for the 2 evos we did that was in a container, her bill was 12 k

but they were 2 mitsubishi EVOS! :)

hope i've helped if anything you can ask ( i forgot there is something on the age of the cars being 10-15 years old etc. ) im pretty braindead but you might wanna look into it

Edited by zayd687
  • 3 weeks later...

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