cereal

Audi B7 S4 Avant is up for sale as I'm moving overseas at the end of the week. Looking for 29k, but open to offers. Carsales advert is here: 2006 Audi S4 Sports Automatic quattro It's an MY07, so it won't have the cam chain tensioner issues that seem to be a thing in the US (haven't heard a whole lot about them here though). It's had an easy life and deserves a lot more kms than it has. Car is in St Kilda East, PM for contact details.

Pretty hard to beat one of these for a track car: http://www.swaptastic.net/

It's just that I'd prefer to buy a car that hasn't been in an accident. Especially in a country where I can't communicate 100% effectively with the guy I'm buying the car from. I'm not sure about the quality of Japanese panel shops, I guess they'd be pretty much of a similar standard to Australia though. I'm actually thinking of an FD too, I'm gonna head to Knight Sports this weekend to see what they've got. I'm looking at buying whenever the right one comes up. I'm in no huge rush, but I'm really looking forward to having something to take out on the track.

No, you're not seeing just the dregs on goo-net, but you're also not getting the full detail of the cars for sale. Search for cars with no accident history (Restoration = None) and have a friend who's fluent in Japanese call the dealer to get a bit more info on the car. I think it's best to find a workshop in your area and talk to them about sourcing a car. As dr1ft.jp said earlier, they are way more likely to look after you than a car dealer is. I'm looking at getting a 2nd car soon too, so I'll keep you posted as to how I go.

I wasn't saying that an FD would be any more expensive to own than a 32 GT-R, I agree that they would be a cheaper car to run (except for fuel costs!). I was just saying that what dr1ft.jp meant was that if you go for one of the cheap ones you'll need to be prepared to shell out a fair bit of cash to bring it up to spec. They're that cheap for a reason.

He was saying that the cheap ones usually come with so many troubles that it'll cost you a bomb to get them roadworthy. Any 10 year old rotary will be due for a rebuild, especially if it's modified. Plus, if you're unable to get a dodgy shaken it will cost you a fortune returning the car to stock each year to pass inspection.

Knight Sports is in Tokyo, RE Amemiya is in Chiba and FEED is in/near Osaka. All of them will either have cars for sale or have customers with cars for sale but they're all way too far away from you to be convenient. I'm actually planning on going to Knight Sports this weekend to see if they have any decent FDs for sale.

These guys will rent you one: http://www.premium-rent.com/en/cartypes.php Make sure you get an International Licence before you head over.

http://www.premium-rent.com/en/cartypes.php It's not $350 a day, but close enough. I'll take a ride out to Fujikyu Highlands please...

There's a bunch of 2 and 3 hundred dollar rockmelons for sale here in Tokyo. And they're not even shaped differently to normal ones. I thought it was just one of those little quirks that people always go on about; Used panty vending machines, 8 dollar cups of coffee et al... The yelling Japanese man was probably just angry at you because NHK ran another story about how the horrible foreign workers in this country are responsible for everything from rising crime rates to the recent spate of flash flooding.

At least you were staying upstairs from Suji's and you could get a massive hangover curing breakfast... That's really close to where I live now. I'm just down the hill a bit, in Azabu Juban.

One of these pricks just went through a red light and almost ran me over!! I was crossing at the "Team-Perfect" sign that's in the last couple of pics and two vans were at the barricade. One of them made a beeline straight for me and then stopped next to me with his megaphones blaring. Wouldn't wind the window down though... I'm more than slightly pissed off right now.

One thing that really gets me is the ultra-nationalists. They are an embarrassment to this country and no one does anything to stop them. They have been going nuts this week due to the anniversary of the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Driving past the US Embassy 3 or 4 times a day. Earlier this afternoon, the biggest bunch of them I have ever seen were protesting down the street from the Korean Embassy. They were much more aggressive than any I have seen before; Revving their cars at the police and one of them even hit the barricade which the police use to block them from reaching the Embassy.

Is this the one you're after? http://www.ocn.ne.jp/translation/webpage.html You have to click the radio button that's second from the left in order to translate into English.

yeah, funny that...

Use this: http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin.html Carshop Nagano's closest station is Aoto, and Crystal's is Sports-Center. Your closest stations are Roppongi and Roppongi-ichome.

Carshop Nagano isn't actually in Nagano. There's one in Tokyo and one in Chiba. Have a look at the website for addresses and directions... http://www.carshop-nagano.co.jp/

The closest Autobacs with anything that you'll be interested in is at Tokyo Bay. It's pretty crappy though. Check out Crystal over in Chiba or Carshop Nagano, located in Aoto... Nagano is probably easier to get to than Crystal. Both have many more parts available than Autobacs and are also significantly cheaper. http://www.carshop-nagano.co.jp/ http://www.c-jpn.com/

Not true. I, and many other people whom have a lot more experience purchasing cars in Japan than you, offered you sane advice which you chose to completely ignore. And then you magically arrived at a decision that takes all that advice into account a month later and claim it as your own.

never had any in the first place...

not really... i see plenty more M3s around here than R34s

People have been telling you that a European car does not ENSURE that you won't lose any money for the last 10 pages. Just grow a pair and buy the car you want. Stop looking to everyone else for approval.

i'm still around... sort of

No, no he hasn't come to his senses... He's now looking at TVRs. You would have serious troubles trying to sell a TVR that was originally sold new in Australia, and now you're looking at ones to import... This thread hurts my brain...

That $45k M3 will cost you over $50k on the road here, then you have to pay insurance and parking for 12 months, shipping back to Australia, import duty, GST, stamp duty, registration AND factor in depreciation for the time you own the car (A five year old M3 certainly won't be going for $100k AUD in 12 months time). Quite a few people have warned you about this already but you don't seem to be listening. Give it a go and let us know how it works out.