Newcomer Here - And Asking Questions ;)

[And]

Hello guys,

Found this forum last night and, i should confess, spent hours reading it. Thank you for sharing the info and so on.

My story is simple and usual - time to buy another car As a family man I need something like a wagon, but for some reason I dont want to have another camry or falcon or commodor or.. (you name it). Was thinking bout Outback (3 l engine) but... but I found that stagea exists on this planet and was thinking bout it since

It sounds like a very good option for a man who needs family wagon but still wants something a bit more than boring family wagon

The problem is - I've never driven one; actually, I saw one (silver) stagea turning from reid hwy to freeway couple of month ago - and that's it. For sure, there are alot of pictures and reviews on the net, but I 'd prefer to see (and possibly feel) the car...

Well, my first question is - do you know if someone is selling Stagea in Perth (so I can come and have a look) or maybe someone will be so nice and show me his car ? )) or may be events are coming where I can see stagea(s) ? (Sorry if I'm asking for something... well, too much... but I couldn't find any info)...

Another big queston for me - I'm not sure if I want to import the one or buy it from the dealer ? Each option, I believe, has pros and contras; I know some of them but I'm afraid, not all... would you guys be able to give me few hints please ? May be, there are things which are not obvious ? And if importing - can you recommend someone who can help me to find a car in Japan and organise other things (like prestigemotorsport.com.au and others) ?

Thanks again guys for your efforts to run this forum.

[AMS]

Im off to school at the moment, I will post something more detailed when I get home. But basically, I'm importing through J Spec Imports. Recommend 100%

[StageZilla]

hey mate goto autowholesale.com.au i think it is, its in vic park and they got plenty of stageas last time i checked, even the 260rs

u can look at mine as im from perth, though its got no engine/gearbox at the moment, but the car is completely together besides that

cheers

Brad

[funkymonkey]

j-spec website is www.j-spec.com.au in case you're wondering.

http://www.j-spec.com.au/list

should have some Stageas listed in there, to give you an indication on what to expect and how much to expect to pay for them.

Cars that are landed and held at stock yards generally will cost you more than importing one yourself. The tradeoff is that you have a dealer warranty and the ability to test drive your car prior to purchase if you buy one locally.

[Sydneykid]

I bought mine through Prestige, great service and their car review was spot on.

http://www.prestigemotorsport.com.au/

They also have stock listings and will buy a car to your specifications if you want.

cheers

PS; I was faced with the same delimma as you, needed to replace the old Foulcan waggon that was mostly used to tow the race around. The Stagea ended up the best choice.

[Red Sky II]

In relation to the dealer warranty a lot of dealers will "include" the AWN warranty with the car which effectively gets them out of the statutory warranty - the AWN one is usually for 3 years.

Found out the above when I had to get work done on the Stagea not long after I purchased it.

I do remember though that when I imported my Skyline from Prestige, you could purchase your own AWN warranty and they weren't that expensive - that was a while ago now.

Only reason fr not importing again was financing as didn't have the spare money to start the importing process plus I needed the Skyline until I got the Stagea - plus got a good deal on trade in and Stagea price.

The silver Stagea you saw may have been me and I sometimes travel that way - stock Series II version.

Cheers, Al

[stuartnorman]

If you want you can come and have a look at mine.

I live around the Leederville / Mount Hawthorn area.

Tell me when you're available and we can tee up a time.

Stu

[And]

Guys,

Thank you very much for your replies.

I've spent more time researching web-sites you gave me .. looks like "import your own car" option is better from financial point of view, but certainly more risky (you have to rely on third-party, copmplaince, insurance during that time (???)).

Finance should not be a problem as I'm going to organize it in advance (takes a while... hmm...).

I've checked autowholesale.com.au, according their web-site, they've got only 1 stagea autech in stock. But I'll ring them tomorrow and find out if they have someting else.

If not, I'll probably PM guys who offered me their assisiance - thanks again, guys.

Stuartnorman, sometimes I work very close to UWA - close to you

Warranty - yes, I was thinking about buying 3-year warranty myself; it looks allright and not too dear - unless there are some fine prints ))

Red Sky - who did you buy your stagea from, may I ask you ?

[Red Sky II]

And

The only issues with the warranty are that you have to have it serviced at least every 10,000kms or 6 months (which you should be doing it more often), you have to send them copies of the service receipts within 7 days. If getting repairs they prefer to obtain the quote first then organise repairs but the last two times I used it (to replace coil packs, wiring loom and re-core the radiator) it waas done after the repairs were done.

I bought my Stagea from Autowholesale a while ago - don't go off their website though as it is terribly out of date.