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[Sir Tigger KC]

So I'll be selling The Merc soon before it dissolves and will be using The Mig again as my daily drive!    I'll keep The Mig going as long as possible for all the reasons frequently talked about here.    But with 217,000 on the clock inevitably the day will come when we will part company. 

So thinking ahead on a dull Sunday afternoon, I thought about importing an elderly but low mileage car from Japan and was wondering if anyone here has done it? 

A quick Google found this 1999 Subaru Legacy with 23,180 km on the clock, that's 14,487 miles  and priced at £584!! 

http://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/subaru/legacy+touring+wagon/12473245/

Sadly it would cost a lot more by the time shipping, insurances, import duty, VAT, registration fee and MOT fees have been paid. Also the speedo has to be converted to MPH and many Japanese cars don't have rear fog lights which is a requirement here. So as a rough estimate, and assuming the cars a goodun and didn't need a great deal to get it through an MOT it'll cost about £2500 

There are lots of obvious pitfalls like the car turns out to be a shed, you don't get the car you bought etc but £2500 for a car that's only done 15000 miles dons't seem bad to me!  Also I'm only using this car as an example, so there's no need for lots of posts picking this particular vehicle apart. 

So back to the original question has anyone done it? Is it worth doing etc? 

[RobG]

http://www.epoi.com/faq.html

[Sir Tigger KC]

That's a good resource thanks Rob! 

I didn't know about the remote control frequencies being different. 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

In the past I have heard that importing a Japanese car has one serious flaw.

I learnt back then that cars built in Japan for their domestic market did not have the same level of rustproofing as European cars due to their climate.  Indeed even early Japanese cars imported into the UK had this flaw, and ended up rotting away at an alarming rate!

In 2013 I do not know if domestic Japanese cars have this flaw, but perhaps it is worth you doing some research on Sir Tigger.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Yes I've heard that as well Lizzie. Thanks for the input though! 

If I decided to do it, I'd research it thoroughly and at the moment it's a interesting thought on a grey Sunday afternoon! 

The other thing that I've picked out from Rob's link is that Japanese radio is broadcast between 76 - 90 Mhz FM which is all well and good in Japan, but you'll only get Radio 2 here....... fine if you like Radio 2!!   

[05omegav6]

You can easily change the radio

[mrgreen]

you can certainly stretch the frequencies on the radio, a1999 legacy is that worth it? you have to remember all those low mileage jappers have sat in traffic jams which would make the m25 look like a German Autobahn! so you must reckon with more wear on the motor than just the mileage showing, A 1999 is a VERY old car in Japan, i know that when the markets were deregulated in N.Z we had an influx of used Jappers as evry three years (if i remember correctly) they would need to have new brakes/brakelines seatbelts and such to get a new m.o.t over there making them a very cheap import option, i don't know if this is still the case though, in N.Z importing was relatively painless apart from having to have the whole car high pressure washed to get rid of any unwanted gremlins!

[Sir Tigger KC]

a1999 legacy is that worth it?

you have to remember all those low mileage jappers have sat in traffic jams which would make the m25 look like a German Autobahn! so you must reckon with more wear on the motor than just the mileage showing

Too be honest I'm not that bothered about the age and if I could find a decent low mileage car it might be worth a punt as a 'keeper'. 

But that's a good point about the traffic jams, so although it might have low mileage it might have high hours.... 

Thanks! 

[05omegav6]

Truck ecus record hours and mileage, no reason why newer car ones can't/don't 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Truck ecus record hours and mileage, no reason why newer car ones can't/don't 

Good idea Al! 

Do you happen to know the Japanese for " Can you read the ECU and tell me how many hours the engine has run for please? "

 

[05omegav6]

Try google translate... my Japanese stops with 'konichiwa',  I forget what it means though

[andrew38]

I have imported 3 cars from Japan, 2 x Mitsubishi GTO's and the best and quickest car I have every owned a 1997 Mitsubishi VR4 what a piece of kit that was, owned it for 4 years.

I have never used tradecarview, I have an account with idirect, http://www.idirect.co.jp never had a problem at all. Couple of things to remember, in Japan they change their cambelts on mileage, not age. My VR 4 had 45k kms on the clock when I got it and was on its original belt so budget for that. There are two main islands in Japan, the southern are temperate, they very rarely get ice and snow so these cars don't get the salt, however Japan is an island so cars that are owned on the coast suffer like they do here.

There are grades which are supplied with used cars:

Grade 1-5 is condition of body work 1 = Junk 5=like new I always buy a Grade 4
Condition interior A-C A = New C=Dirty and damaged
Underbody A-D = A = New D=Heavy corrosion

Companies like idirect look after all the paper work and import to Southampton or Bristol, I always go into Southampton, budget for a £50 paperwork fee at this end, Vat at 20% and import duty at 10% of total cost including shipping.

Conversion is straight forward, over 10 years old from first registration no SVA needed, at the docks is a company called SVA UK they will collect it if you want and do the speedo conversion and the fog light, they built my fog light into the rear light cluster very neat job.

Then you need to get the registration document from DVLA to register, not sure the number but you can get it from a post office no problem.

Fuel remember Japan cars are mostly tuned for Super Unleaded that means Tesco 99 or Shell V-Power.

Rust proofing is recommended but easy enough to do on a dry day and a ramp.

Some people say that cars from Japan are clocked, though this is true of some, Idirect warrant all their cars mileage, any issues you get a refund even if its been landed in the UK. Also I work for a Japanese Bank in the UK and the reason for the low mileages is that people commute by public transport more than we do also their road charges are horrendous, want to cross a bridge or use a tunnel that will be £25 please each way! Also their cities have congestion charges and car parking makes central London look bargain basement. They also never or hardly ever tow things, they don't do caravans and the like so very rare to find a tow bar fitted even to a 4x4.

I am also importing a Subaru next year, going for a 2004 GT-B estate never came to the UK so nice to have something a bit different. Good luck happy to answer any other questions you may have.

[chrisgixer]

I have no idea why anyone would import a model from Japan that's also available in the uk.

It would need to be some sort of Japanese exotica you really want, to make it worth the extra cost. I thought there where company's that deal in grey imports that do all that crap for you? Which is where the profit is for them of course.

[MR MISTER]

Nice one, Andrew 

[chrisgixer]

Nice one, Andrew 

NUUURSE , HES OUT OF GENERAL CHAT AGAIN !!!