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Pros and Cons to buying an import from a dealer.

Mr. Oizo
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Mr. Oizo Grand Master

Mr. Oizo

Posted
Posted

I went down to JSA motorsport on bell st today and had a look around.

I'm looking at getting an SW20 MR2, and if I buy one through a private sale, that's about 12k, and the prices at JSA started at 15 and just went up.

Is there some kind of guarantee that I'd get with buying it from a dealer, to make it worthwhile paying the extra charge, or is it just the convenience of not having to drive out to some random place and look at the car in someones driveway that I'm paying the extra $3k for.

has anyone had any experiences with JSA?

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted

I would have thought its fairly obvious why you are paying more: because the dealer needs to make their cut.

IIRC dealers are required to provide a 3 month warranty in Victoria, but check that. Usually they are pretty worthless anyway.

Lucien.

Mr. Oizo Grand Master

Mr. Oizo

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I would have thought its fairly obvious why you are paying more:  because the dealer needs to make their cut.

IIRC dealers are required to provide a 3 month warranty in Victoria, but check that.  Usually they are pretty worthless anyway.

Lucien.

ha, i overlooked the obvious, i completely forgot about that.

yea, im not really sure what good a 3 month warranty would be :

krzysiu Grand Master

krzysiu

Posted
Posted

Advantage of buying from a dealer is my car, bought for the price of a stock r33 series 2 (2003) with more goodies than he ever knew where on it. First time i known of a deler that got ripped ;)

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted
Advantage of buying from a dealer is my car, bought for the price of a stock r33 series 2 (2003) with more goodies than he ever knew where on it. First time i known of a deler that got ripped ;)

I'll bet the dealer made money on the sale :)

LW.

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted
K, i payed 25g'z for a 250rwkw Series 2 skyline in 2003. Back in 2003 stock series 2's were selling for that price ;)

I'm not saying you didn't get a good deal, but do you really think the dealer made a loss? That's not how the auto industry works :)

Lucien.

Lepperfish Mentor

Lepperfish

Posted
Posted

Buy from private sale. But it from an enthusiast who has looked after their baby.

Dealers dont give a shit about them generally and just want a sale and to make their money on the car.

Go private sale for sure mate..

TMPTED Contributor

TMPTED

Posted
Posted
I've *heard* that some buy accident repaired vechiles and sell them for normal prices so that their margins are bigger.. but thats what i've HEARD.. I'm sure there are plenty honest ones too

I bought a car that had so much bog on the boot floor that it resembled a mountain range. Dealers will do anything to make a good profit, and so will the bloke 2 streets down. Buyer's beware and get your car professionally checked out by a mechanic with a hoist, whether the car is at a dealer or private sale. The underbody is a very good indicator of damage.

This myth is busted.

SKYL9 Community Regular

SKYL9

Posted
Posted

i know of sum1 that owns a caryard in melb that payed 12k for a s1 33gtst with adjustable suspension, full exhaust, rims and a few other things then sold it less than a week later for just under 20k.. just an idea on how much they buy/sell them for

sandyb Enthusiast

sandyb

Posted
Posted

I looked at 11 (no exaggeration - their yard is just around the corner from my place) r32 GTRs that graced JSA's yard earlier during the year, all of which had major dodgy repairs, and still needed further attention. Not one of those cars appealed in the slightest, even with warantee/garuntees from JSA. They were trying to tell me that if I bought from them, ALL damage/wear and tear on the car would be fixed by them first. Way dodgy.

But privatly from someone who knows the car and has looked after it well.

My 2 cents.

Cheers, Sandy.

lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted
JSA are shifty as. They sell private cars and pretend its theirs.

Selling on consignment is standard industry practice: I'm not sure what their legal obligations are though in terms of informing a purchaser as to who owns the vehicle.

Lucien.

predator Grand Master

predator

Posted
Posted
K, i payed 25g'z for a 250rwkw Series 2 skyline in 2003. Back in 2003 stock series 2's were selling for that price  

yeah, but he probably got it for like $15k off a dealer-dealer auction or trade in.. dealer always wins :rant:

Buy from private sale. But it from an enthusiast who has looked after their baby.

Generally I'd probably agree with that, but these days I know of so many Skylines being involved in fairly major front enders that private sales are becoming risky.. they get repaired for as cheap as possible, and forsale on here a couple of months later - with no mention of the damage whatsoever for "normal" prices. Maybe its my imagination, but the amount of R33 you see / hear about that have been involved in little "dorfito" style incidents with gutters and the like is becoming larger and larger - just have a look in the "wanted" section for front end parts. I could say "never buy from anybody under the age of 22" as well - but maybe that would be a tad unfair :)

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