R35 Gtr

[JesseJames]

Hi Guys,

Hoping to just get a simple answer to this one.

I do appreciate that DOTARS 'maintains' a website as to vehicle eligibility, and I do know that some guys have brought in R35 GTR, so can anyone help me out here please?

* Does anyone know who (as in, which workshops in which states) has plates for R35 GTR?

* Are plates still available and - if so - what is the 'asking price' (of compliance)?

any details would be much appreciated, either by post or by PM.

Muchas gracias.

[rehab2010]

Only a 2008 model with less than 200kms on the odo - new 2008 cars only - can be imported. If you have a car like that then I'm sure you'll find who has the complaince plates etc.

[mxfly]

The answer is that not many workshops have the rights to import R35's. Only 2 I know of in Sydney are IMG and Powerplay Imports. Envy did have something in the making but it didnt eventuate.

[mxfly]

Also I cant see why you cant import them up to March 2009 as Oz Nissan officially launched them on the 1st of April.

[Chris Rogers]

TGI in darra have plates for them but as ruled above.

[JesseJames]

Thanks guys,

Ok, so it seems that not only are workshops limited (but still out there), but the rules around R35 are also quite prohibitive.

I'm not quite clear still on eligibility (is the 200klm reading a fact - as in an enforced rule by DOTARS and Customs?). I'm aware that ther have been other times when cars were and then weren't eligible (such as R32 GTR, Mazda RX7 Series 8, S15 Silvia, etc) but what is the reasoning behind the 200klms? How and why did DOTARS come up with that as a requirement?

And I assume that eligibility would also be matched by month / year on the de-reg paper, but more likely by the chassis number itself (as in, there will be a specific chassis number cut-off point, and by the sounds of it, one must also meet the mileage requirement as well?). This - as is seen with RX7 Series 8's - creates an artificial market price, as Japanese exporters know that such vehicles can be sold into Australia, and push the price up (well, Australians push the price up..).

Ah well, between the AUD now crumbling back to 75 Yen (it was at 80 Yen when I started this thread), and the restrictions on the R35, it looks beyond me....thanks for the feedback guys.

Cheers!

[costco]

Thanks guys,

Ok, so it seems that not only are workshops limited (but still out there), but the rules around R35 are also quite prohibitive.

I'm not quite clear still on eligibility (is the 200klm reading a fact - as in an enforced rule by DOTARS and Customs?). I'm aware that ther have been other times when cars were and then weren't eligible (such as R32 GTR, Mazda RX7 Series 8, S15 Silvia, etc) but what is the reasoning behind the 200klms? How and why did DOTARS come up with that as a requirement?

And I assume that eligibility would also be matched by month / year on the de-reg paper, but more likely by the chassis number itself (as in, there will be a specific chassis number cut-off point, and by the sounds of it, one must also meet the mileage requirement as well?). This - as is seen with RX7 Series 8's - creates an artificial market price, as Japanese exporters know that such vehicles can be sold into Australia, and push the price up (well, Australians push the price up..).

Ah well, between the AUD now crumbling back to 75 Yen (it was at 80 Yen when I started this thread), and the restrictions on the R35, it looks beyond me....thanks for the feedback guys.

Cheers!

The answers to your questions are as follows,

- There is no 200 km rule. The vehicle must be NEW and DOTARS defines "NEW" as in never been driven on the road. The 35GTR usually shows 40-70km on its speedo before it is presented for sale (these are run in kms by Nissan). 2007 and 08 vehicles can be considered new if they haven't had road use.

- Yes there is a chassis no cut off point. It is R35 010079. (there is potentialy 10000 vehicles to import if they satisfy the above criteria)

- If you were lucky enough to find a vehicle that falls in line with the above criteria then you can choose from one the following entities to comply your vehicle, (powerplay imports is not one of them). TGI (QLD) , IMG (NSW) and Enterprise Motors NSW Pty Ltd.

[Beer Baron]

yep, powerplay certainly do not have R35 compliance. in fact as far as I know they do not comply any cars?

IMG most certainly do (I had my last one complied there).

I can't say for sure if TGI or Enterprise do but everything else costco said is correct so I've no reason to doubt that. either way I would go with IMG.

the problem you have is we are now in late 2009. you can only import BRAND NEW 2007 or 2008 models. as you can imagine there are few if any cars that would fit that bill now.

The reason for this is simple. when R35s were put up for eligibility for compliance that was applied for as low volume new. most cars on SEVS are on the list elligible as low volume used. Like S15s for example. as they are elligible as low volume used you can import used S15s up till nissan started selling them here. that is not the case for R35s. any R35 you import under sevs must be brand spanking new and must be a 2007 or 2008 model bought new, by you, from a nissan dealer. if you bought the car at auction with say 150kms on it you may find it gets knocked back as tecnhically it's now used. as someone bought it from a dealer, then put it up for sale as a USED car at auction. even if it's really low kms and still wrapped in plastic, technically it's used.

due to intense pressure on both DOTARS and customs from nissan to stop grey imports of R35s they have been very strict. to the point of insanity. I imported on R35 GTR back in 2008 as a race rally import. It was a legitimate application and has since competed in numerous tarmac rally events including rally tas and targa tasmania among many others. since it was a race only import IT WAS NOT SUBJECT TO THE NEW CAR RULE. it was however a brand new car with 80kms as delivered by nissan. still wrapped in plactic and not driven at all on the road in japan (trailered directly from the dealership to the boat). however nissan put so much pressure on customs they didn't even bother to check what type of VIA (vehicle import approval) the car was brought in under and sent a full team of investigators up from melbourne to sydney docks to try and prove that this car was not new and therefore not eligible for import. haha, had they done a simple 2 minute check and read the bloody VIA properly they would have seen that this car was not intended for SEVS compliance and thus not subject to that restriction anyway.

they wasted a week or so of my time with the car sitting on the docks. they came out a number of times and took numerous photos acting very secret squirrel about the whole thing and did in fact allege that the car was used! this despite the fact that I bought it brand new from a dealer in japan and had the invoices etc to prove it. we could have bought a used one but wanted it straight away and we had ordered that car in 2007. in the end of course it worked out ok, and had that car been imported with a SEVS VIA I would have contested their finding and won anyway as that car was as brand new as it can possibly get.

in many years of importing cars under 15yo rule, old LVIS/CPA scheme, SEVS, Race/Rally I have never experienced anything like it. they practically wanted to put a bore scope in my rear end.

my point is do not even think about trying to slip one in under the radar as it just will not happen. there is and has been intense political pressure on the various government bodies involved in car importation to limit R35 imports as much as possible and they did a damn good job of it. even guys like me who always operate 100% within the rules and the spirit of the rules were looked at very closely. it pissed me off to no end to be treated that way, but having done nothing wrong I didn't have anything to worry about.

As you mentioned the state of the AUD makes it not viable as well. it was only barely viable when the AUD was buying 100yen, now at 75 it's not worth it.

I would suggest that it may well be worth looking to buy a lightly used JDM R35 that is already imported into Aus. you may well pick one up for a fair price and capitalise on the original importer having bought it when the AUD was strong against the yen.

[Munro]

Phew. I am glad I have already got mine. I totally love it.

[JesseJames]

sincere thanks to costco and beer baron for comprehensive analysis of the situation ('my predicament'). gentlemen and scholars both....

[ACTIVE-LSD]

the problem you have is we are now in late 2009. you can only import BRAND NEW 2007 or 2008 models. as you can imagine there are few if any cars that would fit that bill now.

any R35 you import under sevs must be brand spanking new and must be a 2007 or 2008 model bought new, by you, from a nissan dealer.

sounds like they had it all figured out. to the point where even if someone were to clock back their R35 it still wouln't slip through. am i correct?

[Beer Baron]

yeah no way would I risk trying to buy say a 2008 R35 at auction with say 2,000kms and then wind it back to 80km and try and bring it in (that is assuming it is easy to clock them, i don't know if it is). they would be all over you like a rash wondering how you managed to buy a march 2008 model with 80kms at this point in July 2009? plus they want to see the original invoice from nissan proving it was bought new, and once on the docks here they may well choose to go over it with a fine toothed comb. like I said the one car of mine that they singled out was a waste for them as it was race use only and thus not subject to the rule (dumbies!) but if it had been they may well have tried it on even though it was brand spankers anyway. they crawled all over it for day taking photos etc and I was not allowed to be there. luckily I have a good customs agent who has been acting on my behalf for years and he insisted that one of his staff be allowed to be present to see exactly what they were doing with my property.