Nissan Elgrand

[Silva478]

Greetings All, I'm new to all this, just registered today;-) so please bare with me... I'm trying to research and gain as much knowledge as possible b4 making any purchase. We're shopping around at the moment for a 6 or 7 seater that will comfortable fit a toddler car seat, a new born car capsule and two older children plus a pram in the back and have finally decided that we quite like the Elgrands but are still unsure whether we are willing to take the risk of purchasing a imported vehicle. I would just like to ask the question if anyone has had any negetative experiences purchasing an imported vehicle from Japan through a car dealer. We live in the outer South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne and any information received will be greately appreciated. Thanks in advance for your replies &time , cheers Suzie

[iamhe77]

Hi Suzie.

Have you been to SSV to look at their Elgrand's?

They are on the corner of Huntingdale Rd and Princes Hwy, Oakleigh East and may still have a few.

They do mainly stock E50's, but have also had a few E51's through.

I have either bought or organised 4 M35 Stagea's through Northshore Prestige as they are a pretty good dealership.... but they ARE in NSW.

There are a couple of dealerships in Vic which are average, but from all accounts SSV are pretty good.

Have you spoken to any import brokers yet?

It will take a bit longer, but you may find a vehicle at auction that suits your needs a bit more than what is already over here.

Lastly, don't limit your choice of dealerships to those in Vic.

There are a number of GOOD dealerships around Australia that can/do ship cars interstate.

Hope that helps.

[StageaMang]

Iron chef imports in SA ask for kristian he will sort it out

[StageaMang]

Iron chef imports in SA ask for kristian he will sort it out

[michaels14]

GL

[Silva478]

Thanks heaps for your suggestions. Not quite comfortable organising a vehicle through an agent. I have read that there are quite a number of vehicles in NSW & am happy to travel, but will visit SSV in the next day or so to see what they have available. Will be sure to let you know how it all pans out. Thanks again. Suzie;-)

[inark]

FYI - you can no longer (for the past 2 months or more) import an Elgrand under SEVS and legally register it in any state or territory of Australia as anything higher then a 3 (possibly 4) seater.

You can thank DOTARS for that.

I would be VERY selective from which place you buy an Elgrand from, especially when it is concerning interstate.

What is easily registerable in QLD, NSW, SA etc may be a lot more difficult to register in VIC.

If you havent already found it Suzie, go here http://www.nissanelgrand.com.au/forum/ and have a read.

I recently purchased an E50 from QLD which was registered as a 2 seater caravan. Before it was sent down it had to be reregistered as an 8 seater for me to be able to register it down here in VIC. Basically if something is registered in another state with 2-4 seats, make sure you check and the dealer can confirm that it can be mod plated to seat 8 before the sale. Otherwise you will only legally be able to use it for the amount of seats that it is plated for.

Then theres the VIN number debarcle i had with Vicroads... they wouldnt accept the VIN numbers stamped into a plate and riveted on... apparently other states this is how it is done but VIC do not accept it and it cannot be registered like that. Luckily for me i have access to a workshop with the metal letter and number stamps so i did this myself without an issue... well without much of an issue.

Then there was getting a RWC in VIC... even though it was registered in QLD as it was when i got it (18s, coilovers), this doesnt fly in VIC. So 1k later and a lot of sweat and tears to track down some wheels that fit an E50, (once again having access to a workshop helped me a lot, but not everyone does) that was sorted.

Having gone through all that rubbish though we are glad we did... there is nothing else on the road that even comes close to an Elgrand as far as a comfortable, adaptable and versitile family car with as many features for the price. My wife loves it and so do the kids. If you can, get one with the "Lounge Package"

[Silva478]

FYI - you can no longer (for the past 2 months or more) import an Elgrand under SEVS and legally register it in any state or territory of Australia as anything higher then a 3 (possibly 4) seater.

You can thank DOTARS for that.

I would be VERY selective from which place you buy an Elgrand from, especially when it is concerning interstate.

What is easily registerable in QLD, NSW, SA etc may be a lot more difficult to register in VIC.

If you havent already found it Suzie, go here http://www.nissanelgrand.com.au/forum/ and have a read.

I recently purchased an E50 from QLD which was registered as a 2 seater caravan. Before it was sent down it had to be reregistered as an 8 seater for me to be able to register it down here in VIC. Basically if something is registered in another state with 2-4 seats, make sure you check and the dealer can confirm that it can be mod plated to seat 8 before the sale. Otherwise you will only legally be able to use it for the amount of seats that it is plated for.

Then theres the VIN number debarcle i had with Vicroads... they wouldnt accept the VIN numbers stamped into a plate and riveted on... apparently other states this is how it is done but VIC do not accept it and it cannot be registered like that. Luckily for me i have access to a workshop with the metal letter and number stamps so i did this myself without an issue... well without much of an issue.

Then there was getting a RWC in VIC... even though it was registered in QLD as it was when i got it (18s, coilovers), this doesnt fly in VIC. So 1k later and a lot of sweat and tears to track down some wheels that fit an E50, (once again having access to a workshop helped me a lot, but not everyone does) that was sorted.

Having gone through all that rubbish though we are glad we did... there is nothing else on the road that even comes close to an Elgrand as far as a comfortable, adaptable and versitile family car with as many features for the price. My wife loves it and so do the kids. If you can, get one with the "Lounge Package"

Greetings Inark, Thankyou for your valuable information. I did visit SSV in Oakleigh and they do have quite a number of Elgrands for sale. We were given great service but my partner and I both felt that the Salesman (Whos name I shall not state here) that we spoke to, didn't give us information that was 100% accurate regarding the number of seats that could be registered as you have mentioned in your post. It was through other forums that my partner realised that although there are 7 seats, not all seats can be used according to the laws in VIC.

So from my understanding from all that I have read is that the vehicle has to be complianced as a 7 seater for all the seats to be in use or the seat belts will be removed from the seats that may be physically in the vehicle but cannot be used (Hope this makes sense).

We have read that some people have purchased Elgrands in NSW as a 7 seater but when registering in VIC had problems registering as a 7 seater and therefore cannot use the extra seats if the vehicle was complianced as a 5 seater;-(

I have been speaking to a Dealership in NSW who is willing to bring in an import with all the MODS that we want and then onsell it to us with a 12 month warranty but we are not sure anymore who to trust in terms of getting 100% accurate information.

One last thing I'd like to mention, We wanted the middle row of seats to be rear facing and have the baby capsule to sit on one seat and a toddler seat to be on the other so that they can face the two older children aged 10 and 8 in the other row, but was advised by the salesman at SSV that it is illegal to have the seats rear facing in Victoria.

So now the partner and I are put off the Elgrand and are looking at purchasing a new 2010 Toyota Kluger drive away for $38,000 with 3 yrs warranty.

Thanks again for your reply and all the best to you and other Elgrand owners, we still really like all the luxuries it has to offer but don't want the headaches;-) Cheers Suzie

Edited February 17, 2010 by Silva478

[Silva478]

Iron chef imports in SA ask for kristian he will sort it out

Thanks StageaMang, I have looked at their site.

[inark]

Hmmmm... the guys down there have some funny ideas with a lot of things.

If its illegal to have rear facing seats then why do buses?

My father in law went to talk to one of them about elgrands and mentioned we bought one from QLD and they were swearing to him that i wouldnt be able to register it in VIC at all... especially not as an 8 seater (which it is).

The main thing to check is on the compliance plate (Pink for used imports, Green for Private imports) is how many seats it is complianced for... if it is less then 7 or 8 (depending on the model) then it will need a "MOD plate" which is basically an engineering cert to say it can seat x amount of seats. If it has those 2 things then it can be registered in any state.

The only thing i could see being an issue in having it rear facing with a child capsule is where the anchor point would go. You would need to speak to a workshop about it to clarify if it can be done or not. I have to take ours to get some extra anchor points put in so I will ask about getting them just behind the front seats. It will all depend on whats under the floor pan i suppose.

We drive around with the middle row facing the rear all the time. I highly doubt it would be illegal. You would be pretty unlucky to be pulled over by a police officer purely because you have your seats facing the rear, especially considering they have seat belts. I have searched the VICROADS site up and down and there is nothing saying you cannot do it.

We looked at Klugers and were seriously dissapointed with the size and functionality of it in comparison to the Elgrand.

I wouldnt get too turned off the Elgrand yet... unless you cant find one in the country which suits you.