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Im looking for some feedback...

Morgs

By Morgs,
in New South Wales

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Morgs Veteran

Morgs

Posted
Posted

Hi guys,

Im looking for anyone in Sydney, who has recently imported their car i.e. through a broker. Im after a bit of information and feedback in regards to the post landing process (such as where did you take it to comply it, how long did it take, were there many unforseen problems).

Also how long did it take for them to find the right car in Japan? Was there a gap between expected price and actual landed price as quoted by the dealer?

My email is [email protected] if anyone has something they can contribute i'd be much appreciated, or just post it up here

Regards,

Rick

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JiMb0 Veteran

JiMb0

Posted
Posted

Guess I'll start ;)

I imported my vehicle through the services of Geoff Risbey @ Prestige Motorsport.

After researching all I could handle on Skylines, I decided I was after a 1996 R33 GTS-t Spec 2 (Sexy front bar) and had colour prefs of either Red, White or Silver. I had been looking around yards, forums, and other brokers such as Envy Imports, J-Spec etc, until I came across Prestige MS.

Originally, I was a little hesitant about laying down $1100 to a guy I didn't know, on the other side of the country, so I did ask him if he could direct me to any of his customers. Geoff was more than happy to supply a list of customers who had used his service who were more than happy to answer many questions I had, and rid me of the fear I had in reagrds to who I was dealing with.

For a period of time I was e-mailing Geoff constantly with every question I could think of, and he was more than happy to give a detailed reply in every case.

At 7pm on a Friday night, I transferred the service fee of $1100 to Geoff, and e-mailed him a list of specifications that I wanted on the car, as well as additional things that I wouldn't mind or that I would loathe.

The next contact I had with Geoff was at 2pm Saturday afternoon, a mere 19 hours after I had first contacted him. Geoff had a list of 5 cars which he felt I may be interested in, all to my specifications, most with more mods than I had expected, so I was certainly pleased. Geoff also included a few vehicles that didn't match my criteria, however he though I may have an interest in none the less .... I'm quite glad he did this also as my car was in this bunch.

After Geoff rattled off the specs and mods of each car, I asked him when the auctions would be, he advised in a few hours time, so I requested he contact me back in an hour to give me some time to have a look at some of the performance parts which I didn't know of, and compare expected outputs. After an hour as requested, Geoff contacted me back and I advised him of the vehicle I wished to bid on and set a limit. the limit I set was based on what Geoff believed this vehicle would sell for, and once again he was correct ..... Geoff kept me updated throughout the acuton and advised me when I had won the auction and at what price. I now had a Skyline :)

Geoff advised me of what was now required in regards to the winning bid amount + FOB which needed to be paid through a Telegraphic Transfer to the buyer at the auction ASAP. Having never done anything of the sort, Geoff was more than happy to explain how to go about getting Telegraphic Transfer sent, and even kept me up to date on the exchange rate at the time during the week I told him I would be making the payment, so as to try and save some $$$ ;)

As the auction was held in Kobe, and the car was to be shipped from Osaka, the vehicle required road transport from Kobe to Osaka. Geoff once again had this organised and was included in the shipping fee. The options I had for shipping were either on a car ship specifically designed or in a 20ft non refrigerated sealed container. Although the container option is more expensive (hardly in comparison to the grand scheme of thing) it's nice to have the peace of mind that your baby is safe, away from the elements and mainly the dock workers :P This is where the waiting game began. Geoff told me that shipping would take approx 17 days on the cargo was on the ship. The next vessel Geoff believed that I would be able to have my car on was in 10 days and I was happy with this. A shipping schedule was not available at the time, however once it was I had it promptly faxed to me, as well as the Bill of Lading and advised that the shipping was being handled through Auto Freight Brokers in Sydney.

During this time though, a lot needed to be done, specifically Import Approval is required before the vehicle is allowed of the dock, therefor I needed to find a compliancer in the Sydney area who would be able to supply a letter of compliance. Geoff recommended Ross @ Shogun Racing Imports however also adivsed that who I chose to have the vehicle complied by was my choice entirely. After raking the forums for people who had previously had vehicles complied by Ross, I was happy to go ahead with Geoff's suggestion, and contacted Ross to arrange for compliance of my vehicle apon arrival and for a letter of compliance to be sent so that I could arrange for the Import Approval ASAP. Geoff advised me that it's not the end of the world if the import approval is not ready when the car arrives as you have a few days to a week free storage before it costs you per extra day the car stays on the wharf. I'm glad they don't just push them off the edge of the docks :)

After talking with Ross, compliancing for the vehicle was to be about $2,400 plus tyres, plus any labour required in relation to the performance mods on the car.

------ to be continued later as I have to go out :)

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