How Are Cars Treated When Shipping Between Japan And Australia?

[MP_R33]

Hey guys,

I have currently got an R32 GT-R on the way from Japan and I received photos of it sitting at the port.

One thing that worried me is that the car appears to have very little fuel in it. Pictured below:

I'm just wondering, if cars are this low on fuel do they actually fill them up enough to continue driving them or do they just decide to let it run out and then move it with a forklift? Really worried about the sills and rails being damaged as I have heard that they arent that careful when it comes to those kind of things

Thanks guys.

[pol1on1]

I know when I imported my boat from America, it had about 150 ltrs of fuel (half tank) customs did not like that and almost got a fine, got let off because it was my 1st import.

Because it's only needs a small amount, just to drive off n on and to yard max 4 to 5 km depending on location.....

But that'was my boat hope it helps.

Never imported a car, I hope I will in a few years.

Let us know how your experience went.

Edited January 22, 2015 by pol1on1

[GH05T]

could be worse

[Sinista32]

Personally, I'd expect it to be shipped with minimal fuel.

I seriously hope they don't use a forklift at either end like they used to back when.

I'm sure during your search locally (Aus) you would not have seen many without marks on the sills or rails.

Speak with your importer.

Damn it looks so clean. Congrats.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Sinista32

[GH05T]

very clean... moar picks

[GTR-N1]

looks like mine...

[I gotta R34gtr v-spec]

My r34's low fuel light was on after the auction & before it was driven on the boat .And it was still on when i picked it up from compliance 10 weeks later.

[MP_R33]

looks like mine...

Really? Same as that when it was at the port and it made it. Hope this one does.

[MP_R33]

My r34's low fuel light was on after the auction & before it was driven on the boat .And it was still on when i picked it up from compliance 10 weeks later.

Compliance workshop might have put some in some in. I have jusr heard that they don't do that at the port.

[GTR-N1]

Correct. Compliancer puts some in some in

[GH05T]

reality is they deal with this allot, im sure they would make it easy on themselves by having enough fuel to not have to push cars around.

[ShawnG]

Just picked up a V36. Compliance put in 10L in, enough for me to drive to a fuel station and put in a full tank.

Picked up 2 Evo's last year. Both did not have any put in but still had fuel light on and I had to limp 2-3km to fill up.

I think that's how it normally is?

[MP_R33]

Not so much worried about compliance. It's more when it's at the port. I have heard they use forklifts to move them around.

[NISSAN GTR]

Not so much worried about compliance. It's more when it's at the port. I have heard they use forklifts to move them around.

Yes forklifts smash the chassis rail like pancakes , then car is worthless , i also had seats , steering wheels , gear knobs and floor mats all swapped over for hacked up ones during storage/shipping .

Edited January 22, 2015 by NISSAN GTR

[RBN1]

Yes forklifts smash the chassis rail like pancakes , then car is worthless , i also had seats , steering wheels , gear knobs and floor mats all swapped over for hacked up ones during storage/shipping .

Or you could get the rails repaired.

My had something sharp used to take the badges @port in Aust, metal valve caps removed, rear boot clips taken. But that was in 2004. I'm sure the wharfies are much different now.......

[MP_R33]

I'm using a company called autohub so the quarantine is done already in Japan which is good.

I just hope they don't use a forklift. Time will tell.

[nashy311]

Mine was imported late last year with zero fuel but the car only did 4km between the pre-purchase inspection and me picking it up from compliance. No damage to rails or anything but i did lose the contents of the glovebox somewhere along the line!

[GTR-N1]

I wonder what these dockers do with gear knobs, steering wheels, wheel caps, jacks and tools

[jiffo]

From my experience with equipment found at wharf facilities, their forks would do no damage to chassis rails.

A fork that can hump a 20t container is big gear with massive tynes that offer a huge area to spread the load, far greater than say, a tyre changing shop's air operated jacking equipment.

But once the car is shipped off to a road transport company, the size of the fork drops dramatically and these are the machines that might damage rails. (especially if the rails were suspect to start with)

Car haulage companies aren't keen on cars like Skylines which don't have the front bar clearance to clamber up their ramps so they often get forked onto the single vehicle spot above the cab.

You can be lucky, your car may still have the wedges in the front coils.

These raise the car's front eliminating problems for the drivers shuffling vehicles to/from the ship.

[GTR-N1]

Great info and explanation G