Landcruiser 60 Series

[?UESTLOVE]

Hey guys,

I know you could import these before, but can you still??

[Beer Baron]

if built in 1988 or earlier then yes, piece of cake. otherwise has to be SEVS so you'll need to check the SEVS list to see if they are on it, and who (if anyone) has compliance for them.

along with hilux surfs and delicas they helped ruin the 15yo rule.

[Mr Eps]

Baron - i thought it was just total Shitters and the backyard compliance that ruined it?

ie my friend bringing in a cefiro - that is still in the country to this day... won't say which one...

but /it/ was brought in as a total hack - oil leaks everywhere, used as a street drift car in japan. everything about it was garbage - he got it for free... or $1000 FOB. i thought it was cars like THAT which ruined the 15 year rule?

when you get a minute can you please elaborate what hilux surfs and delicas did to help abolish it???

for years i was dark on the gubbermint for getting rid of the 15 year rule. these days i'm glad they got rid of it - keeps the imports exclusive. and keeps them safe and controlled with official documentation!

[?UESTLOVE]

if built in 1988 or earlier then yes, piece of cake. otherwise has to be SEVS so you'll need to check the SEVS list to see if they are on it, and who (if anyone) has compliance for them.

along with hilux surfs and delicas they helped ruin the 15yo rule.

Awesome, thanks Beerbaron. That one there is an 88.

[Mr Eps]

not that my input matters here but that's a pretty clean looking rig for an 88!

pre 88 cars are very easy to comply from what i hear

[Beer Baron]

Baron - i thought it was just total Shitters and the backyard compliance that ruined it?

ie my friend bringing in a cefiro - that is still in the country to this day... won't say which one...

but /it/ was brought in as a total hack - oil leaks everywhere, used as a street drift car in japan. everything about it was garbage - he got it for free... or $1000 FOB. i thought it was cars like THAT which ruined the 15 year rule?

when you get a minute can you please elaborate what hilux surfs and delicas did to help abolish it???

for years i was dark on the gubbermint for getting rid of the 15 year rule. these days i'm glad they got rid of it - keeps the imports exclusive. and keeps them safe and controlled with official documentation!

what ruined the 15yo rule was volume. plain and simple. too much volume. the rule was instituted to allow enthusiasts to import cars in LIMITED numbers. the problem was the only real limit on it was the available supply of 15yo cars and the popularity of the available models. for years that was fine as the number of popular available models was low, their supply was low, and the cost was fairly high. now in around late 2004-2005 as the AUD grew stronger imports became cheaper. At the same time the moving 15yo rule moved into 1989-1990 which was a golden era of car production in japan. So all of a sudden many more models became available to import, demand was strong and there was still lots of supply in japan. this led to big increases in used 15yo imports.

However, even with every second 20yo with his hat backwards wanting an S13 the total numbers of silvias, skylines/whatever being imported was not exactly a plague. If you went down to the docks at any australian port around that time you would have been surprised to see a small section with some performance cars and then masses upon masses of four wheel drives, vans etc. many of which were in extremely poor condition.

The one thing that makes aussie car dealers and car manufacturers nervous is volume. and small importers who could previously only bring in 3 or 4 performance cars at a time (due to the investment required) could suddenly afford to bring in 20 landcruisers in one shipment as they were dirt cheap and plentiful. They could then dump them on the market with small profit margins for quick sale and re-investment into the next batch of 30 or 40 hilux's or landcruisers. There were also issues with the safety of many of these cars.

This also annoyed many of the rule makers as bringing in old hilux's that were already sold here in full volume was not in the spirit of the regulations and it lowered the used car value of the models already here of course. the rules were supposed to be there to allow us to import models that were not previously imported and that appealed to enthusiasts. basically the law was being abused so they put a stop to it. I think in the end the market was changing anyway and once we reached saturation point people would have stopped bringing them in as sale prices and demand both fell, but the rule makers acted before it was allowed to occur naturally and thus we all got punished for a group of people using a loophole to profiteer.

[Beer Baron]

Awesome, thanks Beerbaron. That one there is an 88.

in that case knock yourself out. anything built in 1988 or before is fine to import. you still need a Vehicle Import Approval and will need to get the car to meet basic ADRs and get a engineers inspection etc. same as the old 15yo rule.

[Priestley]

Hey Baron, what are the prices like on 1980's 4x4s in Japan (40 series Landcruisers or similar)? From what I've seen in the past they sell for very high prices if they're in decent condition. I'm only basing that on goo-net and other such websites prices, not auction prices.

[Mr Eps]

WOW baron thanks for a lengthy and informative read! that makes sense really...

even yesterday i was driving behind a delica spacegear that was simply DUMPING oil on the road - and smoke pouring out from under the car - i was driving thinking "thank fk for sevs"

sevs is good to an extent - that extent is basically compliance costing 5 thousand dollars. instead of what it used to be.

in reality though - 15 years ago /today/ is the year 1995. R33 GTR - Toyota Supra - first gen facelift soarer - assorted lexus's and VIP cars would now be available

this would devalue these cars *if* it were still in place - which would be a bummer for owners!!!!

then again i was reading a thread that some guy was bad mouthing ben lippah from j-spec because he used his services to import a VIP Q45 under 15 year rule - verging on zoku-sha styled car..

full fibreglass gaudy bodykit. coilovers fully wound down. about 40mm off the ground and he was on forums bagging jspec because the kit cracked etc ... and at the time everyone was agreeing "they should've taken more care" ra ra ra - not ben's fault you can't get the illegally low car onto a boat ramp???

so instances like that it's good for business that it's NOT here for exporters and importers because there's less liability should something go wrong

OP - i'm sorry for changing the subject here!!!

[curlyjimbo]

Curious, how much would an 88 model cost as an import? (roughly)

Cheers.

[Mr Eps]

curlyjimbo - looking at your sidebar it says "none yet" - i'm aussiming you're new to imports or somewhat young - and i don't really know what you're asking here ie: how much would an 88 model /what/ cost to import?

in short - 1988 or pre 1988 cars are sold at auction in japan - generally speaking these cars are obviously OLD and will have a hard time getting past japanese shaken (shah-kenn) (which is an annual vehicle inspection applicable to cars of this age - it may even be more frequent than this so don't quote me!)

basically not many buyers in japan want these cars - too much headache for them to own...

you can attain cars of this age for about as little as 1000 / 3000 aud FOB. this depends on what build they are - obviously ae86 corolla will sell for higher than say - a toyota crown.

on top of this you have brokerage fees, frieght for RORO boat, tax, gst, customs, all in all you would have a pre 1988 car for about 6grand - that's landed, complied, registered, everything...

compliance however on these cars is very light on however - it must still adhere to ADR's and minor things must be done such as installation of child restraint points, chings of fuel filler cap (i think) and maybe some other things ...

a pre 1988 car is a very cheap way to attain a unique or rare first car - ie a Z20 series soarer

or old supra

etc etc

(these two cars i imagine would cost more than my projected budget i'm just showing examples)

the only issues you'd run into is safety - mechanical and maintenance issues... but that said - they will surpass most cars you can attain in australia at this price range and age... and uniquenessiquity. the *only* other issue i could imagine is it's now the year 2010... finding cars that are built pre1988 are becoming few and far between in japan!!

[Mr Eps]

...did that answer your question?

or can anybody correct me in case i gave falsified info?

[?UESTLOVE]

Thanks for all the info guys!

[curlyjimbo]

...did that answer your question?

or can anybody correct me in case i gave falsified info?

Hey thanks for your reply.

I'm asking for a friend of mine, who's largely into older Landcruisers, and it seems like importing may be an option for him, so thanks a lot.

As for me, I'm set on a Japanese car, and I'm still making my mind up if to import or buy locally. They both have their Pro's and Con's, but that's the decision you have to make I guess!

Thanks again!

[Mr Eps]

obviously you have your mind to work out for yourself and yourself only - i'm choosing to import because i'm looking for a particularly rare / special car...

not to say what i'm looking for is special but over here it is - 99-2000 VVTI single turbo soarer

realistically i probably won't save any money off importing than buying local - someone in NSW is selling a turbo manual for 15 grand - but i'm after a specific condition =P

[?UESTLOVE]

So guys, what is the deal with bringing in 88 imports? Does it still need compliance of course?