Importing Without A Broker

[raz0r$harP.UK]

Here's a post that was put together by tdawg about importing a car without a broker. If you feel that you don't need a broker, here's how you could get your car from Sapporo to Sydney!

Vijay

//UPDATED 29 AUGUST

**

NOTE: I have a pretty bad memory and may have forgotten a step or left something out, If I have just let me know and I will add it in. If you have anything constructive to add just let me know what it is. KEEP ALL PAPERWORK AND EMAILS

1. Finding a car. Best way is to find an exporter working out of Japan that has Australians or English speaking people working for them. You can buy from that dealer’s stock list or you can get them to bid at cars that are for auction. You can even look on Australian brokers sites for cars because these cars are actually just cars from the stock lists of various Japanese exporters.

You should always view the auction report for a car before sending any money. This will outline the exact details of the car and most importantly if it’s had an accident.

A couple of sample auction sheets.

http://members.ii.net/~tfroggydawg/sau/1.jpg

http://members.ii.net/~tfroggydawg/sau/2.jpg

How the cars are graded.

6 Under 3 years old with less than 10,000 km's - near new

5 Any age with less than 50,000 km's - near perfect condition

4.5 Better than grade 4 (often grade 5 with 50,000+ km's)

4 May need very minor repair or clean

3.5 May require a few small repairs or have high km's

3 Average condition for it's age, probably has some repairs needed

2 Poor condition, badly rusted or in need of major repair

1 Heavily modified car (sometimes used for flood damage also)

A Previous accident repair (generally high quality, but not always)

RA Very high quality accident repair or very minor accident (almost impossible to see repairs)

B Large accident, poor quality accident repair or generally very bad condition

A1 Accident repaired car that is also heavily modified, or very minor accident repair

** Current accident damage, still in need of repair, stolen & recovered, etc

Inspection legend.

Inspection sign

A1 Scratch (fist size)

U2 Dent (palm size)

A2 Scratch (palm size)

U3 Dent (larger than U2)

A3 Scratch (larger than A2)

W1 Wavy Panel (fine)

C1 Corrosion

W2 Wavy Panel

C2 Corrosion (Hole)

W3 Wavy Panel (conspicuous)

E Tiny Dent

X Needs Replacing

R Chap Repaired

XX Replaced

RX Chap Repaired Needs Replacing

Y1 Hole Crack (thumb size)

S Rust

Y2 Crack (palm size)

U1 Dent (thumb size)

Y3 Crack (larger than Y2)

I have personally used Motorworld twice and found them to be great.

http://www.motorworldjapan.com/cars/

I have heard many good things about Mark Hocking at Mytrading.

http://www.mytrading.org/

*** If you have used other Japanese exporters with great results please let us know so we can add them in. ***

2. Make payment for the car via telegraphic transfer from a bank or online from net banking. The amount you pay is called FOB (freight on board) it includes the car cost plus all costs to get the car on the ship.

A typical cost analysis is shown below. Most prices are approximate prices and not exact and would vary depending on your situation.

Currency converter - http://www.xe.com/ucc/

FOB * current exchange rate

Telegraphic transfer fee – $35

Shipping fees - $2000

Taxes (15% Duty + 10% GST) on the FOB

Compliance - $4400

New tyres

Alarm/immobiliser system

On road costs, stamp duty + licensing and registration

3. Organise compliance with a trusted compliance workshop, generally you pay a deposit. The compliance workshop will also apply for your import approval for you.

List of compliance shops can be found at the link above.

http://raws.dotars.gov.au/rawswebpublic/RA...age.asp#results

SEVS information site

http://rvcs-prodweb.dot.gov.au/

4. Some time before your car arrives you will get a Bill of lading and deregistration papers sent out to you. When car finally arrives you need to contact a customs broker, who will sort out all the paper work and payments at the wharf and present you with a single bill. You don’t have to use a customs broker you can do the paperwork yourself, but I have never done this so can not give advice.

After the car has cleared customs the broker will have it delivered to a place of your choosing. If that car has mods on it make sure you get it delivered to your house so you can remove all your mods and replace them with stock parts. This is very important as any after market parts are supposed to be destroyed by the compliance guy.

You can see shipping schedules on your states relevant port authority website. http://www.fremantleports.com.au/

5. Car will be complianced.

6. Ring up the roads and traffic people and get yourself a 48 hour registration number (they are cheap) so you can legally drive your car. Take it to the pits and get it registered, remember to take proof of ownership like an invoice.

7. Congratulations you just imported a car without paying an Australian broker $1000+, Enjoy.

[noise]

cheers Vijay,

When I get some time I will ad additional information and also clean up what is already there.

If anyone wants to add any sites for exporters or information sites regarding imports or cars or thinks my information needs to be changed, let me know.

[raz0r$harP.UK]

I might add here that you could also do the Customs /Quarantine work yourself. Nice way to save even more money, although not recommended if you don't have patience and a working knowledge of how to fill out the forms.

[DRIFTT]

Tony at Motor world is not their any more so I wouldnt bother calling them.

I personaly only used Mark to buy my own cars.

Japan Auto Direct sell a lot of damaged cars and speek to Sydney Compliance Centre as who they would use.

Jdm-wholesale are a NZ company and specialise in omporting their as far as I know.

Japanese Used Cars want money up front just to bid and other points I cant say.

J-garage.com cant be contacted by phone, cars have accident history, 100% up front and a lot of their 'Stock" is Yahho/Goo Net dealer cars.

[noise]

Tony was just one sales guy at motor world, if he no longer works there it really makes no difference at all. I bought two great cars from motor world I will vouch for them.

Mark hocking seems to sell a lot of cars to a lot of happy customers.

The rest of the links are just random links I picked up.

Maybe it would be best to delete them and the reference to Tony above the motor world link.

There must be more exporters around that people in Australia have used that are reliable?

Edited August 27, 2005 by tdawg

[zymotic]

People not familiar with the auction grades should also note that any car with a grade R or R1 or RA or 0 as per the auction report has accident damage. Its likely that such a vehicle will fail compliance and need to be re-exported back to Japan or destroyed in Australia at the buyers expense. Damaged panels seem to be marked with X's on the reports.

Bottom line.. only consider auction grade 3 vehicles and above if you want a good car and to minimise risks of above. Auction grades can be bogus though so its probably even more important to use a reputable exporter like Mark Hocking or Motorworld to futher minimise risks.

Another good idea is to have the vehicle put on a hoist and inspected before it goes to compliance. Then damage may be properly repaired prior to RAW inspection. Apparently, Mark Hocking does this in Japan and if problems are found they can be repaired or re-auctioned in Japan. Thus, saving the buyer a lot of expense and heart ache if the car is already here. Lergo you haven't had to pay $4k for shipping/customs clearance in AUS for a dud car.

Edited August 28, 2005 by zymotic

[DRIFTT]

I personaly would only look at Auction grade 4 or above cars as they can fudge the grading a bit and a grade 3 needs a fair bit of work and a higher risk of failing compliance.

As you can see on Hard Tuned Imports 3 were Mark gets right under the side of the car to look for damage before even bidding and has no problem sending photos of the auction report compared to others.

For those who dont know the grading system.

6 Under 3 years old with less than 10,000 km's - near new

5 Any age with less than 50,000 km's - near perfect condition

4.5 Better than grade 4 (often grade 5 with 50,000+ km's)

4 May need very minor repair or clean

3.5 May require a few small repairs or have high km's

3 Average condition for it's age, probably has some repairs needed

2 Poor condition, badly rusted or in need of major repair

1 Heavily modified car (sometimes used for flood damage also)

A Previous accident repair (generally high quality, but not always)

RA Very high quality accident repair or very minor accident (almost impossible to see repairs)

B Large accident, poor quality accident repair or generally very bad condition

A1 Accident repaired car that is also heavily modified, or very minor accident repair

** Current accident damage, still in need of repair, stolen & recovered, etc

________________________________________

Inspection sign

A1 Scratch (fist size)

U2 Dent (palm size)

A2 Scratch (palm size)

U3 Dent (larger than U2)

A3 Scratch (larger than A2)

W1 Wavy Panel (fine)

C1 Corrosion

W2 Wavy Panel

C2 Corrosion (Hole)

W3 Wavy Panel (conspicuous)

E Tiny Dent

X Needs Replacing

R Chap Repaired

XX Replaced

RX Chap Repaired Needs Replacing

Y1 Hole Crack (thumb size)

S Rust

Y2 Crack (palm size)

U1 Dent (thumb size)

Y3 Crack (larger than Y2)

[noise]

I will create an updated post, I hope you dont mind if i add in some of the info you guys have provided?

I will even host some auction report examples I have been given a while ago.

[zymotic]

Edited August 28, 2005 by zymotic

[noise]

hmmm thats odd the update is missing some info that was in the original that I didnt delete on purpose .... will put it back next update

[ven]

6. Ring up the roads and traffic people and get yourself a 48 hour registration number (they are cheap) so you can legally drive your car. Take it to the pits and get it registered, remember to take proof of ownership like an invoice.

I dont know about any other states, but in NSW you don't need any temporary rego. You are legally allowed to drive your car without any plates for registration purposes (e.g. driving to an AUVIS (blue slip), driving to get CTP insurance, driving to the RTA)

I rang the RTA about this on Thursday and i actually got pulled over by the cops on Friday when i was going to get my CTP insurance and Rego!

I told the cops what the RTA told me and showed him my Rego application, import approval, blue slip, proof of purchase, etc. (whatever documents needed for rego) and he let me go...

[noise]

I have a feeling motor world doesnt exist anymore.

lol oh well

[OBaYBe]

http://auctions.amayama.com/

Theres a good site showing car cost prices sold at various Japanese auctions. Use it as a budget guide prior to importing.

[andy25]

I have a feeling motor world doesnt exist anymore.

lol oh well

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<_< ahhh i checked there site they still seem to be active as there sites still up and running.. One great thing about there site is its easy to browse your self showing all the auctions they can send ppl to to inspect the car before bidding. I am one to vouch for motorworld i found there service great when i signed up a gentalman rang me up and we discused everything i needed to know before goin ahead and i was able to tell him in detail what i was after. To get them to bid on a car all you have to do is notify them by pressing the bid button on the car you want and they get in touch with you asap

I will be hoping to get a jzx100 off them in 4 months time.

It may have been tony i talked to when i signed up? was tony from brisbane? hey, must have got home sick

none the less im sure the rest of there staff are just as nice

just tell em andrew sent you and they wont have a clue wat your on about

[Deanna]

I've just joined, and thought I posted a reply yesterday, but cant see it anywhere (dont quite know how this whole thing works ), but anyways, I'll ask again - Can anyone help me with importing my car from NZ to Australia? I'm pretty desperate to get it over here. I need to know what it's gonna cost and how long it takes (and preferably, I don't want to be filling out all the vehicle importation approval certs and what not). If ANYONE can help me - you have no idea how greatful I'd be.

[raz0r$harP.UK]

Deanna I moved your post into a separate thread, as this one is dedicated to people talking about importing without a broker.

Find the link to your post before, along with a reply from myself and Funkymonkey:

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/in...showtopic=88264

[noise]

I sent a couple of emails recently and got no replies.

<_<  ahhh i checked there site they still seem to be active as there sites still up and running.. One great thing about there site is its easy to browse your self showing all the auctions they can send ppl to to inspect the car before bidding.  I am one to vouch for motorworld i found there service great when i signed up a gentalman rang me up and we discused everything i needed to know before goin ahead and i was able to tell him in detail what i was after. To get them to bid on a car all you have to do is notify them by pressing the bid button on the car you want and they get in touch with you asap

I will be hoping to get a jzx100 off them in 4 months time.

It may have been tony i talked to when i signed up? was tony from brisbane?  hey, must have got home sick     

none the less im sure the rest of there staff are just as nice

just tell em andrew sent you and they wont have a clue wat your on about

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[andy25]

hey tdawg have you checked your junk mail? did you get a heap of vehicles from motorworld emailed to you by a damien miller tonight? im not too keen on the whole mailing list idea but mine were goin strait to my junkbox maybe if you were still keen try sending an email to [email protected]

[BNR#$]

if you are going to import a car yourself, prepare to wait for more thn 3 months. start from if you already found the car you want, apply for the import approval, if you arent sure about if your car will approved or not, wait untill you received the approval letter, then ask your agent to load the car to the ship. the storage charge is not cheap in AUS port, plus you can have free rust spray. and chance of something missing.

also another thing that if you want to save money, do the custom paperwork by youself, normally some one will help you work out the loge mannual entry, and make sure you have other paper work ready for this. such as T/T, invoice, approval. it takes around 24 hrs, and you will receive phone call from custom, they will also tell you the amount that you have to pay.

arrange AQIS to inspect the car. get your credit car or bank cheque ready, it's better to ring before hand to make appiontment.

or more important thing! ask your shipping agent who is holding the car and location, sometime your car handle by P&O or steverdoor (spelling). arrange the port entry.

make sure your are there early, get the key, locate your car, do some small clean,(it is illegal) but sometime save you a lot of trouble!

if you pass, a paper and AQIS stamp will let you get your car out of port, if not, arrange a clean agent....and that is a nasty thing.

by doing this you can save around $300, but you have to spend around 3 days to doing this, it's not a full 3 day, but may be few hours here and there...

sometimes i wonder why i brother with that 300 bucks

[ShadowKnyght]

Resurrecting an old thread here but - any other good places to check if you want to import directly?

I notice that motorworld have 1 price for retail customers and another for dealers - so in the end you may not save to much money when compared to going through j-spec and prestige...?

And if the retail price is that much more expensive - why bother doing all the paper work yourself!?