what importer is the best

[SootyR32]

My R32 GTR will be on a boat next week or the one after all thanks to Geoff at Prestige. I often thought he'd be getting sick of my calls and emails but quite the contrary, in fact he'd often call or email me. Nothing but prise for their service.

As stated above, any individual or company can import a car but if it is less than 15 years old, was privately owned by you and driven by you for 12 months in the country or origin or is being imported for race use then it must be on the SEVS list and be complied by a RAWS workshop. As mine is an 89 model and due to the fact I paid for it before September 2nd, 2003, I only need to carry out the ADR work and get an engineers sign off and roadworthy.

[jlnewton]

I went through direct imported. I found Phil very good to deal with, my GTR gets loaded onto a ship in 3 days, can't wait. As soon as this process is finished I will be getting Phil to find me a nice 4dr 33, for a more practical car, but still a line.

[SXCSKY]

Nuthin more to say then Prestige Motorsport.....wouldnt give my money to anyone else....found my skyline with every single spec i wanted and more....

[Oz_Dazza]

Hi All,

This is my first post but I have been sitting on the side lines for quite a while. At the moment I am looking at getting a R33 GTS-T (Spec II) or a R34 GT-T. Now the problem is that I am having trouble deciding on who to use to import the car.

The reason I was looking at getting a direct import car instead of going through a yard is because the cars yards like "Street Machines" in Brisbane and have been pretty unhappy with the vehicle after a few weeks because of one thing or another.

I was looking at either Prestige, SVI or DirectImported. I live in Gladstone, Queensland so SVI and DirectImported are closer for me. However Prestige has a good record by the sound of it.

I have read some good stuff about Prestige and have seen quite a few good cars on their website. SVI looks ok but I haven't really seen too much info on cars that they get in etc. The same goes for DirectImported.

I guess my question is who should I go through for the least amount of hassle. Basically I want to be able to look at a few cars that have been sold with for what prices (I mean every thing, FOB, Stamp Duty...the lot. I don't want to have to chase up 10 plus people to try and organise things. I want to be able to pick it up and drive home.....600km from Brisbane in one weekend).

Any help or advice would be great in this matter as I really don't want to get screwed or be unhappy with the whole experience.

Thanks in advance guys,

Darrel

[jlnewton]

I went through Direct Imported as stated in post #22. I now have my car and couldn't be happier. The only person I dealt with the entire time was Phil. He organised everything for me, I just had to pay the $$$ to the necessary people when required. His initial estimate was prettty much on the money for the final total price aswell. The only thing I had to do was take it from the compliance workshop and drive it 2km to the transport Dept to get registered, everything else was done.

I currently have a Series II R33 4dr coming in as we speak that Phil found for me aswell. Highly recommended.

[MAS2]

how much did it end up costing you jlnewton from start to finish and what was the price just for the car and nothing else?

[Oz_Dazza]

No one seems to say why one importer is better than the other. I really need some help on this as I don't just want to pick some random one and get burnt. Help on this would be great as I think it is the first major decision I need to make.

[funkymonkey]

I prefer to use J-Spec, coz they seem to be the only mob that give you an exact break down of costs, ie after my car is bought at the auction I got the bill for the car's value at the auction ($1700). Then I got a bill for de-rego and transport to the port or departure (all that is what I believe is FOB cost). Then when the ship arrived, I pid for shipping,a nd then when customs etc were done with it I paid the stamp duty, GST, customs etc. Then when compliance was done I paid the $2000 for compliance (under the old RAWS system) and also then paid for rego. Mine was the last R32 GTS to come into the country under the old system before they were deleted from the list so J-Spec did have a bit of hassle with the approval guys in canberra having to prove that the car and contract were finalised n landed before the cutoff date (even tho compliance was done afterwards). Then I paid the remaining $500 of their $1000 fee on completion of import process.

So as you can see it was a step by step process where I was always in the know. Also the fact that I paid for costs as they were incurred instead of as a lump sum made it easier on the pocket. I only had to ever deal with Craig from J-Spec and even got offered to go and collect the car with him from the port when it arrived so I could test drive my new car to the compliance centre. He also organised the whole RWC and rego, so all I ever did was fill in forms and he did all the work.

What I was most impressed was after all that the service didn't stop. I wanted a sound system installed, and Gareth (one of the guys working at J-Spec) makes installs as a hobby, so he volunteered to install my goodies for me, as long as I paid for the raw materials. From what I've heard he's done this a few times, including once on a 300zx where he threw his back n couldn't get off the floor Now they organise shipping of all sorts of bits n pieces for me at mates rates. All that for $1000, I couldn't ask for more.

[funkymonkey]

Oz_Dazza you're only allowed to post positive info on this forum, as any derogatory comments about any business may result in legal issues which we as forum admin don't wanna have to deal with

My advice is take all the positives, and go to the one that has the most positive attibutes and is the most convenient (local call contact, office in the same city as you etc etc) to you. Always mention this forum as you'll either recieve special treatment coz they know that you're a member of a community that's in the know and they won't try to give you the run around, and also they might offer you a discount (we don't have any official arrangements with anyone yet).

[Oz_Dazza]

Thanks mate. Sorry if I have tread on any toes.

[Nismo_Boy]

I prefer to use J-Spec.

Dont you work for J-Spec? or somthing along those lines.

[i wear moccos]

just a question, all these places seem(i might be wrong) to be in qld, anyone in melbs provide a service like this? being from victoria myself, itd make it ALOT easier. thanks in advance

[jake32]

Dont you work for J-Spec? or somthing along those lines.

ditto

[Parag0n]

Geoff from Prestige Motorsport runs a great set up, i've had minimal problems and he has prompt responses and good customer service, also charges a reasonable rate.

[AutoTrust]

J-Spec is melbourne based, and Funky does not work for them.

[riggaP]

J-Spec =

I got my car thru J-Spec and was very impressed. Not only was the car exactly what I was after, it came in $1000 under budget, and its in showroom condition.

The best part about J-Spec is the extended service they offer. They wont take your money then forget about you after the car is yours. I hit a gutter after having the car for about 4 weeks which buckled a rim, bent steering control arm, and castor arm. I rang Craig and the car was back on the road within 3 days and for less than $500. That included a new rim, all necessary parts, wheel alignment, a tow truck, and their time! They also installed my alarm for a very competitive price.

I have since purchased a set of rays wheels, a trust intercooler, and tein coilovers thru J-Spec and saved myself 1000s.

Go J-Spec! :headbang:

[funkymonkey]

lol I don't work for em, I organise shipping of small stuff (spare parts) thru em I guess. I also have a share in their container coming down with spare parts etc since we both use the same agents now. I've become mates with em since I imported my car thru em (coz I kept goin back to em askin for favours and help since I was a n00b in melb havin then just moved from Syd), but like everyone else I paid my $1000 commission to em to start with.

Since then I've become good mates with em, I think what Danny was referring to in another post was me doing a bit of coding for their website as "working for them".

Anyways, that was my experience with em back when I imported thru em and didn't know em personally. Take from it what you will

[Oz_Dazza]

I've used Jspec, Prestige and Directimported.

I'll be using Directimported more regularly now.

IS there any reason why in particular? As I live in Gladstone Direct Imported is only like a 3hr drive for me. I am just really curious as my list is down to Direct Imported, SVI and Prestige..... Ohhh.... for the love of choices.

AHHHHHH

[Zagan]

IS there any reason why in particular? As I live in Gladstone Direct Imported is only like a 3hr drive for me. I am just really curious as my list is down to Direct Imported, SVI and Prestige..... Ohhh.... for the love of choices.

AHHHHHH

I'm looking to import around july, and I'm currently looking around at who to go through as well.

I would say to you go with who ever you think will do the best for you, so far I really do like Prestige because I have been added to the mailing listing not the buyers thou, but through the mailing list I have seen some pretty good cars.

Also I believe there FAQs will be updated so they are much better than now, they don't use autoterminal anymore.

Though I've been to auto terminal and have seen an R33 GTR white next to a blue R34 GT-T right next to the window

I don't know if a local importer will be better or not I'm in QLD as well, my thinking is that you will end up getting the same deal where ever you are.

I would be about 1/2 hour from SVi, I havn't been there I may check them out.

[funkymonkey]

it's probably in your best interest if you get to meet the guys importing your car directly... i dunno, i'd feel a lot more confident doing that. aren't there any guys like prestige jspec etc whose base of operations is in brissy?