kakimoto33

Make: Nissan Model: Skyline GTS25t coupe Kakimoto Racing widebody Transmission: 5 speed manual Colour: red Location: Melbourne Complied? yes (can be registered for road use!) RWC & Registration? I can help with roadworthy and/or rego depending on price Price: $25,000 but will consider serious offers Contact: Craig on 0414 502 250 (please note that this is my personal car for sale) Comments / Modifications: KR33 Sol'id widebody modification (built by Kakimoto Racing in Japan) 17x10.5" Kakimoto Racing alloy wheels (front) 17x13" Kakimoto Racing alloy wheels (rear) new 255/40x17 Toyo front tyres new 335/35x17 Michelin rear tyres full CUSCO roll cage MOMO Commando steering wheel NISMO 320km/h speedo 3x dash mounted gauge pod SARD Trigger boost controller high flow turbo MINES tuned ECU high volume fuel pump Trust pod air filter front mount intercooler red leather interior aftermarket exhaust / titanium tip HICAS cancel lock OHLINS adjustable suspension TEIN adjustable castor arms This is one of only 2 genuine Kakimoto Racing build cars outside Japan, it's a very rare beast and would make anyone a proud owner. Considering it's not got a huge aftermarket turbo or other serious power mods it's still a very fast car, the turbo and computer it has are a great combination and make it quite quick, plus it has the potential to handle much more if you decide to modify it for more power in the future. Currently it has a red leather interior, Sony CD stereo and air conditioning still installed as it was used for road driving mainly, however it could be easily changed to an awesome track toy or used for both road & race. I am looking for a serious buyer who actually wants this car, no dreamers please ... if you are interested then please call me to arrange a viewing time or request photos, etc. Images: more photos can be taken on request for serious buyers!

Please keep in mind that we only list a small sample of what we have access to on our website as a sample for you to see. This list is usually what we are asked for frequently, but if you are after something specific then you need to let us know what you are looking for so we can search around all of our other sources for possibly suitable cars. We have acccess to more than 150 various Supra's alone just to give you an idea of what we can show you if you ask!!

Please note that delays in replying to emails is usually because we are busy with existing clients and we always give our actual clients priority on our time and resources. Once you are an active client you will be emailing us directly (rather than the general enquiry address) and replies will normally be much quicker, often within minutes during the day. (see the reply time on this post for example!) If you wanted to see some examples of cars that might be suitable then please drop me an email at [email protected] with details of what you are looking for including year range, make & model, preferred colours, any required features or options, and of course your maximum budget assuming we can find you the perfect car? ... this would also give you a chance to see how good our email replies can be for actual clients before getting signed up with anyone, and we might even find you a perfect car right away too.

Start by calling DOTARS on 1800 815 272 and give them the chassis number to check if it was ever issued an import approval. Assuming it was imported legally and there was an import approval then you will probably need to get the original importer (whoever is named on the approval) to apply to DOTARS for a duplicate copy, then you can look at arranging compliance. You should also ask DOTARS if the approval was issued under the current SEVS compliance laws, the previous CPA scheme from a number of years back or maybe under the '15 year old rules' before they ended as this will have a huge effect on what needs to be done for compliance and the likely cost.

This may be true of a traditional broker however things are far different (at least in our office) with the 'good' brokers having the best interest of the client at heart ... we pride ourselves on helping our clients get the best possible car regardless of the timeframe needed and this often this means advising against buying a car that they may have otherwise been happy with because we know we can get them something better, cheaper or more suitable in some way with a little more looking and waiting. Also it's impossible for us to make more or less money as we charge the same flat fee regardless of what car is purchased or where is comes from. In any case I do agree that every business has different priorities so it's critical to choose a good broker, workshop or whoever to give advice when importing because it's way too easy to be tricked into thinking you got the best deal even long after you recieved the car, and many people will never know that they were ripped off with misleading information or over charged for their car by a dodgy exporter or dealer who just wants to make $$$. A good broker or workshop acting as a broker would be worth their weight in gold if you really want a good honest car at a good honest price, on the other hand if you just want thing to be easy and basically spend your maximum budget to get get a decent car then you can use almost anyone with reasonable results.

In theory there is no difference between using a good dedicated import broker or a good compliance workshop who also does brokerage, either should be able to get good cars at decent prices, assist with the import process and make sure things run as smoothly as possible, and only charge around the same fee generally for the service. If compliance workshops are complaining about losing money for cars imported by us then it's most likely because we make sure our clients get the best price possible and this means the workshops get to charge you less than they would without our independent advice and eyes watching over things to make sure you aren't evercharged, etc. We find that most compliance workshops (and other brokers) have limited access to cars around Japan and often buy from the same few sources all the time, this means that they can't get the wide range that we have access to in most cases and on top of that many will simply put you into any car they can to get things moving ... on the other hand we take our job seriously and actually work for you to find the right car regardless of how long it takes to get something that we believe is good (not just what you are happy to buy), then we walk you through the whole process, help arrange compliance where possible, assist with any unexpected problems that might arise throughout the process, and even collect you from the airport in Melbourne if you fly over from Adelaide to collect the car assuming compliance is done here. If you wanted to see some cars that might be suitable and know more about compliance availabiliy, cost, etc. then please let me know what you are after specifically including year range, make & model, preferred colours, features and your maximum intended budget assuming we can find that perfect car?

The issue with Japanese tyres is that although they may be exactly the same as a tyre sold here in Australia they will not have the DOT standard mark on the sidewall in most cases and that is what they look for to know they are suitable for Australian standards. Personally I have no trouble driving with Japanese tyres but the laws are that you must have DOT approved tyres as well as meeting the minimum load requirements and being of correct size for you car. There are smart people at the registration authorities and police officers around who will check for DOT markings and others who simply don't know or don't care, so if you choose to use tyres without the DOT marking then just be aware that it's not really legal and you may get pulled up for it if you are unlucky.

If the compliance workshop stick to the laws then ANY accident repair history is too much although minor paint repairs should be allowed - with that said there are workshops who will reject cars with any paint repairs just to be safe (overly fussy!) and others who will pass almost anything as long as the car stays together in their workshop (very dodgy!) ... personally I would suggest keeping well clear of any cars with known accident repairs and check all cars well before buying as most sellers will say 'no accident history' by default unless you prove otherwise. We have dealt with many sellers from TradeCarView and found that most are very dishonest about condition at the very least, many do not even own the cars they list for sale. Some sell on behalf which means that they are guessing the condition and can't check because the car is not in their yard. I agree that some sellers are honest and will list cars as accident grade (like this car with grade 0A) when they are unsure either way but most will do the opposite and note no accident history (like grade 4) for all cars even when they know or suspect otherwise. What I am saying is that you should not buy a car, especially from a frequently unreliable source like TradeCarView, unless you can verify the condition from an independent source - it's even more critical when the seller lists the car as an accident grade like this one. Keep in mind that TradeCarView is a place where sellers list cars targetted specifically at international customers, these are mostly end users who will only ever buy one car and by the time it arrives in Australia and you realise that it's far below what you expected then it's too late and you can't do anything about it then. Just in case you are still considering this car you should know that at the listed price it would end up costing around $45,000 landed and complied in Australia (at the current rubbish exchange rate), and as noted in this thread already you should be able to get a good one for around $25,000 landed and complied give or take.

You need a RWC to get the car registered but having a RWC doesn't mean the car is automatically registered. Although a dealer can sell a car without rego or RWC, if they have a RWC then it can either be registered or unregistered, so this car has obviously been complied and had a roadworthy inspection but not been registered yet. All you need to do is take all of the paperwork from compliance, roadworthy and purchase documents to VicRoads (after making a rego appointment) and it will be a simple 20 minute process to get it on the road. The costs should be around $475 to $580 for the rego itself depending on your postcode, plus a few $$ for licence plate fees, etc (average around $550 all up roughly) and then $8 per $200 (basically 4%) of the cars value for stamp duty. Assuming the car is $10,000 then it would be roughly $550 for rego costs and $400 for stamp duty ... if the car was $12,000 then it would be around $550 plus $480 ... and so on. I would have assumed that the dealer selling the car would have arranged rego for you so you could just come and collect the car afterwards, even if they added the costs on top of the price?

DOTARS still refer to them as "level 3" but if you want to be correct then it's now called a "National level" licence.

Obviously there are some exceptions in certain cases because it's up to DOTARS who they approve in the end, however their official position is a level 3 licence so I would not expect anyone to be approved without that unless there was some very unusual circumstances and/or some mistake on the part of DOTARS. I didn't want to mention that there was even a small chance to get a race import without a level 3 licence because the chances are so slim that it's not even worth considering. Before everyone starts saying that they should approve drift race imports without a level 3 licence because you don't need that to complete in drifting, I should advise that this arguement will not get you past DOTARS at all otherwise people would just import any car they choose and say it was for drifting. DOTARS will insist on a level 3 licence from everyone for any race import in 99.9% of cases.

CAMS will advise you of what licence is required to drive a car in a certain class not what is required to import that car ... DOTARS are the ones who issue import approvals and they demand a level 3 licence for any motorsport import because it's not simple to get this level licence like it is to get a level 2, and that serves their purpose well to ensure that you are serious and active in motorsport. Call DOTARS on 1800 815 272 and ask them, and by all means if someone tells you that you can import a drift car with only a level 2 licence then make sure you get it in writing too!

The transmission should be no trouble as it's just about the same as what comes in the 260RS anyway, however this specific car has previous accident repair history so it would not be suitable for import to Australia ... the price is not so cheap either.

We import race only cars for people reasonably often so we can certainly help you too ... please email me at [email protected] with details of what you are after so I can see what's around for you now. Also please confirm that you have a level 3 CAMS licence (national level) and can provide some evidence of recent motorsport activity in order to satisfy the DOTARS requirements for getting an import approval - if you don't meet the requirements then you need to find someone else who can import the car for you or look at getting a 1988 or older vehicle.

I am looking for original factory fitted HID ballast and globes (not complete headlights) from a Skyline V35 or other similar era Nissan models ... these are removed from cars as part of compliance and most poeple get the gear that was removed back when they collect the car, so anyone with these parts please let me know? ... they should look similar to the photo attached.

We find that most ships take around 12-14 days roughly, with the occasional one going up to 16-17 days but not usually any longer ... if you tell us the name of the ship and your destination port then I can give you a more exact date?

If you want to be exact then the car is not in Australia until it's been cleared through customs and leaves the ports, the port area is a customs controlled area and is technically not actually Australian soil. Being more realistic the car will be inspected by quarantine and customs cleared while it's at the ports, then after this is done it will be released from the ports and can be collected for delivery to the compliance workshop, your house or anywhere else you choose ... in any case there is no way you can collect the car from the ports before it's quarantine and customs cleared.

Quarantine inspection (and cleaning if required) and customs clearance will be done long before you get near the car. Compliance workshops all charge different rates to each other and some include various parts if require (like brake pads, etc.) and others don't include any parts ... some will swap around non-standard parts at no cost to you sometimes and others will charge you an hourly rate for the time it takes, so you just need to discuss that with the workshop you will use.

In theory it should go to compliance as soon as possible, but if you really needed then you could keep it for as long as you like ... the only real trouble would be if it goes past 12 months without being complied yet, at that point there will be some pressure to have it done or for the car to be destroyed or re-exported. How long did you want the car to be kept at your house for - was it so you can remove non-standard parts or was it to give you time to save up money for the compliance or something?

Ideally it should go directly to compliance however you can take the car home if you wanted to swap parts around to make it standard for compliance, give it a good clean, or just play with it a little first.

I doubt you will find anything in that price range which is already in Australia unless it's an absolute pile of junk ... you can import something for around that price but you have to be actively looking and fairly lucky to get something really good for such a low price, but it is possible if you are serious about buying - keep in mind it would take around 8-12 weeks give or take to get a car landed and complied ready for rego. Obviously a higher budget would be better, usually a good R33 turbo coupe with 5 speed will sell for closer to $11,000 landed and complied ... either way please let us know if you are interested in using our service to try and find something suitable.

$2,000 is a good price assuming it includes GST, brake pads, DOTARS application fee, etc ... most places have been charging around $2,200 ($2,000 plus GST) but there are a few offering as little as $1,750 or $1,800 including GST but you have to be careful when you shop arond based on price alone as you may end up with lots of 'additional costs' like new battery, fuel, AC levy, etc. and might cost more in the long run. I would suggest going with a place that has been recommended by others at a reasonable price, and just make sure you get a quote in writing from them stating exactly what is included and what additonal costs they might charge on top.

Is this the same person that I am already communicating with? .. if not then please email me directly at [email protected] or leave a phone number here and I will call you back?

Actually if you call around you will find more than one workshop that has evidence which allows them to fit aftermarket side intrusion bars to the early model R32's ... don't go paying huge $$ for series 2 doors and fiiting/painting when you can have bars fitted to your doors for around $250 each side (around $500 all up), but either way make sure you use a good workshop with a good reputation not just a fancy glossy website!

Importing from NZ is easy and we are happy to help but as funkymonkey said the laws are exactly the same as importing from any other country and cars are usualyl cheaper in the country of origin, so if the car you are lookin at is Japanese then we can probably get one from Japan cheaper not to mention having a better selection there too. Anyway, please let me know what you were looking for specifically and I will see what we can do for you - it's best to email me directly at [email protected] for a faster reply as the SAU forum often doesn't email me when we get replies or PM's for some reason.