Should I Look At Importing?

[Glurps]

Hi. I'm 19 and from WA and I'm looking at buying my first car. I'm still currently on my Ls due to being lazy but I've been searching around Carsales for a Turbo Skyline/180sx but a lot of the cars I find are usually high ks or not really what I'm looking for. My mate told me I should look at importing a car from Japan, he suggested to talk to Edward Lee's because he heard about them from Mighty Car Mods but upon searching around it seems that they have nothing but bad rep so I think I'll stay away from there, however the idea of importing a car still stands.

I've got a budget of around $15,000 however I could look at getting a 5-10k loan ontop of that if I really wanted to. I'm mainly interested in a R33/R34 GTS-T or a 180SX with under 70,000ks. On a side note what would I be looking at in terms of insurance for an import, what insurer should I be looking at and what would I be looking to pay?

I'm wondering if it's actually worth doing. I have no idea how much effort or how long it will take or even if I will be able to save money doing it. This is my first experience buying a car, let alone an import so any tips/advice you can give me is welcome.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Glurps

[niZmO_Man]

Contact Iron Chef if you're dead set on importing a turbo car (there are a few turbo imports on sale locally).

I don't recomment buying a turbo car as your first car. You're better off getting an N/A (R31 wooo) until you get a decent amount of mileage under you (i.e. experience). Plus it will be cheaper for you and you get more time to save for a better condition turbo car later on.

[smidy]

to import you are looking at about 2-3months from purchase in japan to you door, im in brisy so thats how long for me maybe longer to get to get west oz or shorter not sure on that, more hold ups in oz than from japan! australian goverment sucks balls with legalitys and fees/charges!

I imported through j-spec a 33 gtr v-spec and expecting to get it this week or next week once it gets compliance approval and bought it at the auctions in japan on 20th may 2013. Good feedback on Ironchef too if you look at the thread about "if your happy with your import who was it".

you will get stung real bad for insurance for a turbo car an only on your P's let alone on you L's and under 25 too, I dont imagine rules like that change for west oz to east oz. I'm paying $1300/year for $27,000 insurance value on the gtr through just car insurance but i'm 32 also and had my license since 17.

[Truffles]

Iron Chef is the man you want to speak to on this forum. He'll give you the specific information that will allow you to make an informed decision on importing.

Generally speaking, as a rule of thumb most guys have on here; The cars you've listed (maybe with the exception of a clean, late model R34 GT-T) aren't really worth importing, as there are a substantial amount of them in the country already. You have noted you haven't found any that fit what you're looking for but you may need to expand your search to the east coast if you haven't already.

Also, I'd have to note that your under 70,000km expectation is unreasonable. Logically, these cars are at the very minimum 12 years old (2001 R34 GT-T) and upwards of 15 for others. If you're looking at buying a 15 year old car with 70,000km on it, that's 4666km/year or not even 90km/week for the entire life of the car. Like all other cars, Nissan built these to be driven. Yes there are genuine low km examples around but people have been trying to source the cleanest of these particular models of cars with the lowest mileage for over a decade now....so realistically you're going to be running low on options.

I owned a 1992 R32 GTS-T that was imported in 1998 and it had over 100,000km when it was imported. People in Japan do drive their cars too, they don't just lock them in the garage to be a low KM export in 10 years.

You're almost only going to be able to get insurance with Just Car insurance with your age and lack of driving history. I'd expect $2000 a year plus without excess adjustments.

Edited July 30, 2013 by Truffles

[BakemonoRicer]

^ 180sx is worth importing as it is fast becoming a collectible classic. Immaculate low-km examples are going for a mint in Japan.

Would be the most fun to drive out of the cars the OP mentioned (i.m.o), & you'd spend less to get it to go quicker.

Yes, there is a lot of local 180sx's in Australia, but good luck finding one that isn't a banana.

[niZmO_Man]

What's wrong with banana?

[Glurps]

^ 180sx is worth importing as it is fast becoming a collectible classic. Immaculate low-km examples are going for a mint in Japan.

Would be the most fun to drive out of the cars the OP mentioned (i.m.o), & you'd spend less to get it to go quicker.

Yes, there is a lot of local 180sx's in Australia, but good luck finding one that isn't a banana.

That was my thoughts too, while a nice R34 Coupe is my dream Nissan I don't think I could quite afford one like what I'm after. From what I've seen looking around various Import sites 180sx with low Ks are bargain prices whereas on Aus just about everyone who owns a 180 has raped it so hard it would probably fall apart after a few thousand ks.

I thank everyone for the advice that they've given but there's still one point I'm wondering (unless I'm blind and I missed it). Is using Iron Chef or someone else to find an auction car in import it likely to save me money compared to looking for one locally? I know it would vary from car to car but on average what sort of price difference would I be looking at when buying locally vs imported.

Edited August 1, 2013 by Glurps

[Albus]

Buying imported is like 5k on top of what the price of the car is said to be because u need compliance and all that shit

[Prestige Motorsport]

Any decent broker will set out all the costs for you, and provide a cost calculator so you can be fully informed and add all additional costs that apply to your situation for tyres, registration and stamp duty. Like anything, take your time to work out the full cost and make a decision on that basis. Sometimes local vehicles can be the best option but at other times importing is much better. Each situation is different. Often just knowing your import options will allow you to negotiate a local price down. Check any vehicles carefully and make sure you are comparing apples with apples, ie. the same condition, no repairs, and genuine kms.