/rant - where's my car..

[raz0r$harP.UK]

Grr..letting off some steam here..sorries but I'm annoyed slightly to say the least.I've got a car bought in Japan through a broker, that I'm not sure when it's coming in..

Received import approval for my car in early May, and car was supposed to be shipped end of May, but was bumped by the shipping company..to be shipped the following week.

Next contact from my broker was in mid June.. two weeks after the day the car should have been shipped (meaning it would have been close to arriving), saying car was now going to be shipped end of June.

It's now nearly two weeks since the proposed shipping date, and I haven't even received Bill of Lading, or even a confirmation of a shipping date.

Broker says he's been unable to contact the supplier, who's "been extremely busy." Now I'm getting steamed.. annoyed at the delay, but more worried that I'll have a car that will be left at the docks untattended incurring storage fees as I cannot even fill out the Customs Clearance forms since I know nothing about the shipping details.

Aah..serenity now, serenity now..

[jaqule]

Mate I brought mine in Jan , just got it last week , it's in the shop now will drive it for the first time next week , so yes I know how you feel

[boj01]

What type of car is it??? Ad is it being imported under 15 year rule??

[Ceffo]

I also had the same issues importing my cefiro. Man kept getting this amd that from the shiiping company. Ended up that the girl in japan had "typed" the wrong date in she put in april not may.. So one month later they say there are no ships going to sydney. WTF.. 3months later it finally arrived here.

Then the real trouble with the epa and so forth here in sydney started.

BTW this was in no way the brokers fault it was prtty much the shiipping/epa.

ONE word of advice Do not send the ship to sydney It cost me in the end 750 bux more in storage and wharf fees/admin duty and so forth as compared to someone in melbourne whom i know also imported the same car for the same FOB.

I would have been better for me to fly down there in jet star 80 bux.

Get the car tuned another 140 bux.

Apply for a permit 20 bux or so and then drive it up here with 100 bux petrol max.

Total = $340 bux

Man could have got better mods with the 400 bux saved. :bs!:

Im also hearing of guys importing to sydney and ecountering the same fate.

cef.

[pavel]

Mine is about to get on the ship next FRI, they say it will take 14 days from JAP to SYD... hopefully it goes all smooth *touch wood*

[ylwgtr2]

if you have the import approval,invoice your ok in regards to paperwork.you wont get a B/L until its been shipped out and you cant fill out customs stuff until the vehicle has landed....

[lwells]

raz0r$harP: Interesting: can you PM me who this is through for interests sake.

Ceffo: re: dock/wharf charges -- how long was your car sitting around on the Sydney Wharf though? Did you use a customs agent?

LW.

[raz0r$harP.UK]

ylwgtr2 I have the import approval, but I'm effectively stranded at the moment. I can't approach customs (I'm doing the customs paperwork myself) as I have no details of the shipping, nor do I have a Bill of Lading made out in my name.

LW - PM sent..

[lwells]

LW - PM sent..

Hi,

Thanks: I should have remembered but having a bit of a blond moment today

Lucien.

[Ceffo]

Ceffo: re: dock/wharf charges -- how long was your car sitting around on the Sydney Wharf though? Did you use a customs agent?

LW.

yeah i did man use a customs agent it was the shipping company that left it there for 7 days because some idiot in head office forgot to stamp the cars relaese papers. Hence incuriing the 700 bux. grrrrr.. Thye have recenlty admitted they were wrong but i said fcuk it not gonna contest it. wasting my time and so forth.

cef.

[DLuded]

i bought my car 25th dec 2003 and its still in japan. it was purchased by the broker before the 15 year rule changed so it should be able to be imported any time. but the import approval is a little biatch

oh well ill cry

[RTFGTR]

I also bought car in AUG 2003, but have had it stored in JAP for past 10 months ;P. Sent application in to DOTARS mid June...

I have paid FOB in Japan, still waiting for DOTARS to pull their finger out! Application states that it should take 17 days MAX. I called on the 17th day they said that they had completed the application 5 days earlier, but were waiting on "de-reg" papers from my agent. 2 days later I call again and got probably the most sex deprived bittch in the universe on the other line, I ask "have you received the paperwork you require for my application?"..."yes" (In my happiest voice) "cool... so my application is OK then, is my application finalised?"... (she replys like she just had hot coals stuffed up her moot)... I said we have rteceived it! We havent looked at it! (OK then... someones not getting any sweet, sweet lov'in) ... How long can I expect to wait? Middle of next week... maybee. Then, she fcuken hung up on me.

Even though they are a government body, I paid $50.00 for this service, not so upset about the wait. But if this were any other company where monies were paid for a service that bittch would get the arse and I would make sure of that! That shit is not accepable these days.

My agent has said once approval is received it should only be 15-20 days B4 car is landed in Melb. (fingers crossed)

[Duncan]

yeah, isn't it frustrating dealing with those guys at DOTARS. If only they ran customer satisfaction surveys . Its no wonder with service like their's that jobs get privatised....

[raz0r$harP.UK]

Update - when I got home today I got an arrival notice from the shipping line saying that my car came in over the weekend! Spending tomorrow running around like a madman paying the shipping line, customs & AQIS, and I should have the car out of the docks this week!

Broker still hasn't let me know the car has been shipped

[pavel]

Update - when I got home today I got an arrival notice from the shipping line saying that my car came in over the weekend! Spending tomorrow running around like a madman paying the shipping line, customs & AQIS, and I should have the car out of the docks this week!

Broker still hasn't let me know the car has been shipped

Dont you have to pay some big fines if you dont pikup your car on time or semothing...?

[MANWHORE]

mate, i've been through the process as well. hehehe, after that, all my friends swore to stay away from importing themselves. i hope it's not a 15 yr car? if you're not lucky, you could have lotsa problems

[lwells]

raz0r$harP: excellent news. Look forward to the "my new car" thread with lots of pictures

Lucien.

[SS8_Gohan]

ah, other "it's taken forever to import" people!! - I bought a R34 end of May, missed a June 3 ship (no import approval), more problems with import approval but i'm going through RAWs, so you can submit import approvals online and it takes 7-10 days to approve (altho took a bit longer) - Ship lands in Brissy Friday 16th. , then trucked down to Sydney for compliance, then 6 weeks to wait for Vehicle Inspection as my car will be a test car for the compliance place

There seems to be sooo much more waiting involved with importing and from all these posts, it seems to be the absolute norm. This is my first time importing, and if i do it again, i'll def get my shit together better and make sure things are done asap, because it's such a linear process, if one thing f*cks up, everything else gets thrown out of whack.

Despite that, i've prob saved bout $10k on what R34's are going for (thanks to some luck with compliance) so i guess the wait is worth it. But it's sooooo hard. I can just say, i can definitely understand what you guys are going through, the whole process seems to be really slack no matter whether you've got good ppl like J-Spec or Prestige doing it for you. This shit just takes a crap load of time.

Hope the Brisbane wharfies don't rape my car

cheers.

[lwells]

SS8_Gohan: Amen. As an individual, I think you would only ever bother going through this process if you really want the car

If anyone is interested, I have been keeping a diary of my import process in the hope others will get a first hand account of exactly what the process is like: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthre...threadid=256673

Lucien.

[skipppy]

Im from adelaide and went through same thing ,waiting waiting, had my 4dr ship to bris and complied in bris (couldnt get 4d r33 complied in adel) then trucked to adelaide. scary process

Its like you turn 10 again when ya go pick it up but, one of the most exciting days ever :~)

good luck with it and dont get grumpy will be worth it in the end

Erin