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Hey guys recently i have been looking at cars in Japan and i must say some of them look really nice. im not gonna be vague and say im gonna get a skyline or a silvia they are all pretty tempting as im unsure as to what i want for a next car, dont say buy local, ive bought enough local and im not keen, i want to import a car aswell cause then at least its another thing i have done and can vouch for others in the future etc. MY QUESTION IS:

What in the most simplest form is the process in importing a car from Japan to Fremantle port, now dont go giving me links to sites explaining, i have read this 100 times and it still doesnt make sense so i wud prefer someone (from past experience in perth prefferably) to explain to me the relative total costs involved in importing

I get it you pay the amount they require for the car and about 1-1500 in shipping costs, however prior to doing this do you have to fill out a form to let the government know theres a car coming or when it lands on the shore do you start the whole delegation process.

I know you pay 5 and 10% gst but what else is required, like if the car came from jap with scissor doors would you need to get an engineers certificate from them or would you need to do that here.

All help is well appreciated thanks alot

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First things first - it's nowhere near as cheap as easy as you're probably thinking ;)

Have a look at the Import Process and FAQ sections on my site or on J-Spec too, that should get you started.

As stated it is definitely not cheap. The government makes it as difficult and as expensive as possible to import. Its called "Free market economy" where you must protect inefficient sectors from efficient ones......have a look at what GT-R's sell for at auction compared to their price here........democracy at work.

Anyway to give you an example, I have a 370gt going through the process at the moment which cost about $27000 FOB in Japan. After all of the bulls%&t it will eventually be costing $42000 - $43000 to get it on the road, including rego. The majority of that is tax and then tax on the tax......

All that being said, the car will have more gagets and toys than a any locally built car under $70000. I would definitely suggest going through an import broker such as Iron Chef or Prestige Motorsport who is also in Perth. Unless you have done it before and know about all of the little do's and donts it would be EXTREMELY difficult and time consuming, they will be able to guide you through the entire process.

Being in Perth is a disadvantage as well as there are only 1 or 2 compliance workshops, who will bend you over on price and there is extra shipping involved. I spoke with one of them who quoted $5-6000 for compliance, so on Prestige motorsports advice i had it done in Brisvegas for $2400. Even with $1500 in extra shipping I am still better off.

If you get in touch with a couple of the brokers, who can all be found on here, have a chat and pick one that you feel comfortable with. From experience the difference in price will be minimal, any decent ones will have access to almost all of the same cars as the others, just find someone who answers all of your questions quickly, who returns calls and you are comfortable with.

Now that I have been through almost the entire import process I would be more confident to try it myself, but even then, my time is very valuable to me and to pay someone else $1000 to take care of most of it and to guide me through everything is definitely worth the money.

Good luck to you, I hope you get what you are after!

Al

Hey guys recently i have been looking at cars in Japan and i must say some of them look really nice. im not gonna be vague and say im gonna get a skyline or a silvia they are all pretty tempting as im unsure as to what i want for a next car, dont say buy local, ive bought enough local and im not keen, i want to import a car aswell cause then at least its another thing i have done and can vouch for others in the future etc. MY QUESTION IS:

What in the most simplest form is the process in importing a car from Japan to Fremantle port, now dont go giving me links to sites explaining, i have read this 100 times and it still doesnt make sense so i wud prefer someone (from past experience in perth prefferably) to explain to me the relative total costs involved in importing

I get it you pay the amount they require for the car and about 1-1500 in shipping costs, however prior to doing this do you have to fill out a form to let the government know theres a car coming or when it lands on the shore do you start the whole delegation process.

I know you pay 5 and 10% gst but what else is required, like if the car came from jap with scissor doors would you need to get an engineers certificate from them or would you need to do that here.

All help is well appreciated thanks alot

Buy one of iron chefs skylines..

As stated it is definitely not cheap. The government makes it as difficult and as expensive as possible to import. Its called "Free market economy" where you must protect inefficient sectors from efficient ones......have a look at what GT-R's sell for at auction compared to their price here........democracy at work.

Anyway to give you an example, I have a 370gt going through the process at the moment which cost about $27000 FOB in Japan. After all of the bulls%&t it will eventually be costing $42000 - $43000 to get it on the road, including rego. The majority of that is tax and then tax on the tax......

All that being said, the car will have more gagets and toys than a any locally built car under $70000. I would definitely suggest going through an import broker such as Iron Chef or Prestige Motorsport who is also in Perth. Unless you have done it before and know about all of the little do's and donts it would be EXTREMELY difficult and time consuming, they will be able to guide you through the entire process.

Being in Perth is a disadvantage as well as there are only 1 or 2 compliance workshops, who will bend you over on price and there is extra shipping involved. I spoke with one of them who quoted $5-6000 for compliance, so on Prestige motorsports advice i had it done in Brisvegas for $2400. Even with $1500 in extra shipping I am still better off.

If you get in touch with a couple of the brokers, who can all be found on here, have a chat and pick one that you feel comfortable with. From experience the difference in price will be minimal, any decent ones will have access to almost all of the same cars as the others, just find someone who answers all of your questions quickly, who returns calls and you are comfortable with.

Now that I have been through almost the entire import process I would be more confident to try it myself, but even then, my time is very valuable to me and to pay someone else $1000 to take care of most of it and to guide me through everything is definitely worth the money.

Good luck to you, I hope you get what you are after!

Al

If I could 'like' a post, I'd like this one! You've summed it up perfectly Al!

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