Cars Made After 1989...

[Dvus R31]

This must be a stupid question, but I just spent 30 minutes scouring government info pages regarding importing a car and all I can see is information about importing vehicles made manufactured before 1989 or as a migrant or returning Australian expatriate...

I've been browsing through stock R32 GTRs on a Japanese website and I'm seeing some acceptable ones between 600,000 and 800,000 yen, (manufactured after 1989) and I'm just wondering about the added costs of importing and complying would be, so I can get an idea of the total price of the car. Also, a basic idea of the process of getting the car here and getting it complied. Do I just contact a RAWS service and have them contact the seller in Japan? Any info would be much appreciated.

[Mr Eps]

600 thisand yen is about 15 odd landed n complied...

For more info... Just stick around

Google sevs too

[chunkylover69]

This is a good explanation of the process.

http://www.ironchefimports.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=31

[Dvus R31]

15 grand total.. so $7k for the car and $8k to have it get it shipped and complied? Seems a bit steeper than figures I've heard previously.

Thanks for that link chunkylover,

Pay the $990 broker’s fee

Buy the car

Pay for it in Japan

Car gets shipped to Australia

Pay the customs broker

Car goes to compliance workshop

Car is complied

Car is delivered to your door

How much more of a pain in the ass would it be to do all of these things yourself and cut out the $990 broker fee?

[Iron Chef]

lol believe me I earn every cent of my $990 - if you want to do it yourself, be my guest. I'll put you on to the bloke who came to me to get an import approval AFTER his car had landed in Australia, the one looking at a $1900 storage bill...

[Iron Chef]

PS there's plenty of info on this already in this section, make sure you do your research before sending thousands of dollars overseas to someone you don't know...

[Mr Eps]

Lol Kristian was this the geniussrs from my old work that imported three cars at same time n applied for all three cars under the pis scheme while cars were on boat???

[Iron Chef]

No this was a new one who contacted me after his car had arrived in Adelaide, car not de-gassed, no import approval, no shipping docs, just an arrival notice....

[Mr Eps]

......but the important part of it is that he didn't let some theiving lazy useless broker $990,, right???

to OP - if you know how to apply for import approvals, import brokerage, de-registration and export from japan,

AND if you trust sending money to some random overseas... like... THOUSANDS of moneys...

...if you know how to get some guys who live in a completely different country to drive the car you just spent thousands of dollars on - from the auction house... and onto a boat...

..if you know how to send a car through customs, quarrantine, steamcleaning, inspection, towing to compliance... then organise compliance of that car..

if you can do ALL THAT and MONITOR and quality control everything personally to ensure things go smoothly - as if your reputation is on the line...

if you can do ALL THAT... and still show up to your "real job" everyday... then.. please - import your own car.. it's a buttload of fun as im sure you can imagine..

...but if you would rather just sit back, relax and go tend to your zen garden... pay $990 and use a reputable broker - you're sure to find one in this forum... and we're all a wealth of knowledge

(not so much me though)

to answer your initial question about GTR...

600-800 for an R32 is rather expensive i must say... BUT. mind you.. the R32 GTR in japan is .... how can i explain this...

it's like... "run of the mill" ones cost sweet eff all..

GOOD ones however.... that have no accident history... service documentation.. good condition well maintained and even restored GTR.. can set you back between the 25-30 grand mark landed and complied...

the japanese car culture is something absolutely backward to what we have here in australia...

in australia - you advertise your perfect condition well maintained MINT condition rare build iconic car... and you'll get three offers of some alcoholic deadsh1t offering you 14 grand lower than your asking price..

where as in japan... that example of a car commands a value to rival brand new cars. for instance old laurel coupe tend to fetch around the 1.5 million yen mark if they're in good condition...

....so you can imagine that an R32 GTR landed and complied will cost anywhere between $9,000... and $35,000... budget somewhere in the middle of that and you'll be sweet.

and yes. im serious. that is your goalposts.

[Mr Eps]

for example... have a look at THIS GTR BY CLICKING THIS TEXT

it has:

1 owner it's whole life

orig km, no winding back or cluster exchange @ 18,000km

garaged indoors it's whole life

not a scratch on it

just had it inspected by nissan - nissan confirms that every single thing on the car works properly

he is asking just short of 3.2 MILLION yen for it...

...which landed and complied in aust... is *around about* 54 thousand dollars

which is expensive.

but i tell you right now.

if i had the money. i would buy that car.

and i'm not a "GTR" guy!!!

[llama_au]

What they said, use a broker. They earn every cent of what you pay them. There's so much you wouldn't even think about when importing a car and they've seen it all before.

[Import Monster]

recent phone call from a guy whose customs broker (who he found AFTER getting the arrival notification) put him on to me to discuss getting an import approval for his bargain BMW M5 he picked up in the uk for a quarter of the local price. He was over the moon with the deal he got.

And then I gave him the good news. Poor bloke, lost thousands. Ended up sending the car to NZ and trying to sell it there.

So yeah, brokers... why waste your money?

[Iron Chef]

OOOOOUUUUUUUCH!

[Mr Eps]

i have had it up to HERE with you brokers and your broker propaganda!!!!

if i want to import a 2008 lan evo i WILL!!!

i dont see why i should pay for one over here when they're so much cheaper in japan..

speaking of which..

friday on way home from work, these kids pull up next to me in a van.. i get the usual

oi man nice car bruu, how much was it bruu? awww nah bruu could have got one HEEEEEEPS cheeper over here bruu

the usual..

anyway then he pauses for four solid seconds..

"my mate just imported a mitsubishi GTO for four grand he did it all himself"

"..... no he didnt."

to the OP - before you ask..

...importing won't always guarantee you will save money from buying local. sometimes, wait... MOST times now you may save a few bucks buying locally..

but if you want that *special* one - then importing is for you.

R32 GTRs are one of those cars that buying locally will probably save you some money... only import one if you're looking for "the one"

cars that are rare / new to importing like the gloria / cedric / V36 etc... that's where you save-a-da-money

[Beer Baron]

Above all the other stuff eps is right about one thing. R32s in japan will set you back anywhere from about $16k to $40k. How much exactly is up to you. I just imported one for myself and it runs in the 30-40k range but it's very neat with lots of gear. I'd advise a budget around $23k for a decent standardish car. The ones for $15k are mostly pretty unloved and an unloved gtr is a repair bill waiting to happen.

[Mr Eps]

^^^exactly - not just GTR's though... but with ALL cars.. double check that "bargain"

as rich said, budget about 23 grand and you'll come out on top...

buy a car for 23 grand... and you'll buy a car for 23 grand...

...buy a car for 14 grand... and expect an ongoing 9grand repair bill

my mate just bought a 2006 WRX... i showed him one for 24 grand that was stock with 28 thousand km

...he ended up getting this other one for 22K cos the guy accepted his offer, it has 55xxx odd km... 19inch ROH rims. bov, pod filter etc...

since buying it about 5 weeks ago, he's had to pay rego... get new tyres all round cos they were worn to the belts...

get new brake pads cos they were down to the metal... and last week had to get new brake rotors cos previous owner was driving around with pads on the metal..

...not to say he bought a lemon - just sayin... it's good to love a car... but it's GREAT to pay that bit extra for a car that will love you back..

*nawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww*