Dealer admits truth about Japanese klm's.

[Guest]

A email I was sent from a dealer, I didnt leave his name as other dealers are not happy it is floating around.

We are constantly asked about "what is the mileage on Stock No# XXX" - which is an obvious consideration for anyone buying a car in Australia. We are very fussy when selecting cars from Japan to ensure that we obtain low mileage vehicles, but we are even more particular about the actual condition of the car overall to ensure that it is representative of the mileage shown.

The Japanese second-hand car market is a multi-million dollar industry with thousands of vehicles being auctioned and imported into other countries every year. The laws that govern the preparation and reselling of vehicles in Japan are different to our own and from our experience we have seen vehicles that show wear that doesn't appear to genuinely match the low mileage shown. As we can't control this situation we can only hope to help educate the prospective Australian buyer to inspect the car on it's total condition as the FIRST priority before assessing the mileage. The overall condition of the car should be your highest measure of the quality of the car.

We have been importing XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXfor many years now and it takes a specialist importer like ourselves to spot a high quality Soarer from one that may have been "tampered with". When buying a car be sure to compare the condition of one, to the condition of another. This will ensure you are doing an "apples to apples" comparison. If you just check the mileage you may unfortunately be comparing "apples to lemons".

The old adage that says "If something is too good to be true, then it probably is" couldn't be more fitting to the "low mileage, low cost" problem that we see in relation to some of the cars being imported and resold locally in Australia. If someone is trying to sell you a car based on "low mileage, low cost" alone then you could pay for it dearly later when the effects of the "true mileage" start to hit your wallet - hard.

Come and see our XXXXXXXX today - - We guarantee that we can offer you some of the highest quality Soarers in the state - Hand picked by experts who know the difference between apples and lemons. We can expertly provide you with the right advice on how to do a comparison on actual condition rather than just a set of numbers. In doing so you will be making an educated and informed decision about your import purchase that could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

[JCMarshall_Law]

That email would give a bit more faith in the dealer, admitting that k's on the clock don't really mean anything on imported 2nd hand cars is a good sign.

When I was looking for my car, I had a few dealers get a bit pissed off when I said I don't care what the odometer says.

Of course, the 75,000km's on my 95 GTSTare Genuine

[Guest]

As long as I have known him he sells on condition.

[lwells]

Not exactly a revelation I wouldn't have thought: any car buyer in the import game should be aware of these issues. Still, I guess its good to see dealers be upfront with customers.

LW.

[redline2003]

So if a 95 model skyline comes in showing 60000KM's, what is it really showing(more rhetorical question), i would be afraid to find out. How the hell can someone drive their car that much in Japan, its so tiny.

[madmurf]

So who wants to buy my 1991 180K V8 Soarer???

:alcoholic

[predator]

I think a couple of years ago when i was looking around a few dealers, some were actually pretty truthful.. and added "for what they're worth" when mentioning the km..

Even mentioned they were wound back in japan "before we get them".

In fact I think most weren't too fussed to give this opinion when asked.

[Rezz]

So if a 95 model skyline comes in showing 60000KM's, what is it really showing(more rhetorical question), i would be afraid to find out. How the hell can someone drive their car that much in Japan, its so tiny.

Trust me, they do.

Driving is something done for "pleasure" here, as opposed to driving as a necessity as it is in Australia. You guys clock up km's for work, going to your gf's house, the shopping mall etc, etc... the Japanese clock up just as much km`s *because they like the freedom of driving*. They'll purposely drive all day to nowhere in particular for the fun of it.

[madmurf]

Justin

That is exactly what I heard. I do have a Soarer with 180K on it and bought it with originally at 150K. Its condition is still very good with usual bolster seat and steering wheel wear.

I wonder how many cars say 80K are running at over 100K due for for the

cam belt ready to break.

Cheers

[jake32]

Trust me, they do.  

 

Driving is something done for "pleasure" here, as opposed to driving as a necessity as it is in Australia. You guys clock up km's for work, going to your gf's house, the shopping mall etc, etc... the Japanese clock up just as much km`s *because they like the freedom of driving*. They'll purposely drive all day to nowhere in particular for the fun of it.

i had a bid today on 2000 er34 turbo with 101,000 klms with books

i bought my dad a 190e 1989 with 41klm `s with full history books

i drive 190e 1989 56klms with history books

my 1998 260rs has 82klms with history books

1989 gtr arriving jan 05 has genuine 100kls with books grade 4

there is no straight forward or general rule to the mileage ..each car must be judged on it condition and documents...all my cars are genuine kilometers..i

[Trust33]

Trust me, they do.  

 

Driving is something done for "pleasure" here, as opposed to driving as a necessity as it is in Australia. You guys clock up km's for work, going to your gf's house, the shopping mall etc, etc... the Japanese clock up just as much km`s *because they like the freedom of driving*. They'll purposely drive all day to nowhere in particular for the fun of it.

Of course yes there are still some gems to be found but 8/10 r33's in australia have looow low klms on the clock.There cant be that many gems in japan on the road can there?

[Rezz]

jake32: I said "guesstimate", "some gems to be found" etc... I don't know how buying cars with logbooks at auction changes what I've seen in Japan? My guesstimate is based on the 1,000s of Skylines I've seen over the last 4.5 years here. Don't get me wrong though, I agree, each car should be judged by it's condition irrespective of it's kilometers.

I thought it would be obvious that there are exceptions:confused:

Btw, I've seen a 70,000km '03 V35 Skyline Coupe at a dealer... wow who would've thought that would be possible in Japan? This is my point.

[ylwgtr2]

I think the term "no sh1t sherlock"comes into play here......as far as finding gems go....If i bought a bag of apples from place "x" and place "y" had them for a more expensive price...id be looking at buying them from "x" and selling them to "y"......however if an overseas orchard which we will call "z" wanted to buy some from me for a very minor commision fee not to mention added cartage fees and customs/shipping headaches(i also have to make sure an international money transfer went into my account and there are also extra fees there) ,i wouldnt bother i would still sell them to "y" because i have an account with "x" and i have sold it to "y" for a greater profit,less headaches and i havent even paid for it yet!Wouldnt this be a smarter way to do business???Unless those apples were rotten on the inside.....

[Trust33]

Arr but place ''y'' wants to buy at place ''x'' prices just like us all.Those ''y'' prices are crazy.Stock r33 gts-t's for $25000 at dealer.Trading post joe bloe from $17000 and up modded cars at arround the same price or a bit more as joe. :evil:

[Guest]

Arr but place ''y'' wants to buy at place ''x'' prices just like us all.Those ''y'' prices are crazy.Stock r33 gts-t's for $25000 at dealer.Trading post joe bloe from $17000 and up modded cars at around the same price or a bit more as joe. :evil:

Yes but $17,000 car has been thrashed within a inch of his life and is proberly two half a cars and had the clock wound back 3 times.

$25,000 car should be a straight tidy, standard car and with auction papers, if not dont buy simple as that. The new rules say a vehicle is to be standard simple as that, most people I know look at a car just from Japan and a car that has been here for 3 years and most will want a standard one.

If you can find a straight 80,000 klm 96 GTS-t manual in the paper with all the fruit for $17,000 tell me and I will buy it.

Dont take offence but I started this Thread about a dealer explaining what he thinks about klm's on a car and how he explains it to the customer, what people think a car is worth is a personal choice, if the cars in the Trading post were that good we wouldnt have a import industry.

Photos below are the type of car we like to buy from Japan, not some thrash out car.

[mcnamg]

personally i would pay a little more and buy from a reputable dealer rather than buy from the trading post simply because if you go to the right dealers (and not the shonky amateurs that are around everywhere) you should be able to pick up a good quality car in good condition and irrelevant of what k's are on there be happy with the look and feel or the car and also feel reassured that you have a nice 3 year warranty as well.

[ylwgtr2]

my point is that if a japanese company buys one of these so called gems.....he would be out of his mind to sell it to someone in another country for a commision fee....a smart person would send it to another auction....

[Guest]

my point is that if a japanese company buys one of these so called gems.....he would be out of his mind to sell it to someone in another country for a commision fee....a smart person would send it to another auction....

They send from Auction to Auction all the time and have done it for a while, a smart person will sell to the highest bidder and not give two shits as to who buys it,

My last post shows two very tidy cars coming to Australia and it would take a bit to get a better car.

[The_Paladin]

Klms dont mean shite is a pretty damn clear number when you think about it........it only was ever a guide.......

you could have car X that's done 60k's on the clock with the interior wear to match.......but if it's been driven by a 17 yearold who winds the boost up, revs the shite out of it on a daily basis and sticks the wrong fuel in it to save money........

Car X could have genuine low Klms but still last a lot less with something with twice the distance but a lot more TLC put into it.............

..........that goes for all cars not just the imports.....

[regan]

Justin

I wonder how many cars say 80K are running at over 100K due for for the

cam belt ready to break.

:Hi madmurf' date='

At last someone with a realistic idea of KM!!!! And on the cam belts Q. (LOTS)

I have recently seen a vehicle advertised-

1991 TOYOTA XXXXXX BLAH BLAH BLAH ONLY [10.000KM']

To say that the KM are gen would be a huge stretch , The onus of proof on KM should lie with the Dealer/Broker.I think its called "blatently misleading advertising"otherwise