maintaining and servicing a jap import

jon1981

hi guys,

another question about a jap import, was looking at a celica or altezza. I asked my mechanic if i was to buy either of the two would he service them. he was saying normally he wouldnt touch a jap import because they are heavily modded. but he said depending on how unmodded it is he would service it. do any of you guys ever have trouble getting your car serviced?

also i hear some stories of people ordering a car and when it arrives it is far more modified than expected. is the case most of the time?

easyontheeye

thats what put me off buying a jap import!

Wibbs

It depends on the car. Some models are prone to the heavy hands of our Japanese modder cousins. I'd say finding a bog standard Glanza as an example would be difficult.

Then again I've seen enough Jap imports that were pretty standard or had very few mods, beyond air intakes and the like. Which shouldn't throw a decent mechanic off.

Some of them just want an easy life(don't we all) and will use any excuse to avoid what they may see as a "difficult" car. It can also boil down to simple ignorance of the car in question too. Most issues that will require a mechanic are standard stuff that apply to any car. This is especially the case with servicing. I mean oil change, air filter change, brakes and clutches are hardly gonna tax the mind are they? I'm no mechanic(Not even close, sadly:D ), but I can and do service those things myself(clutch was interesting and I had help from my betters on that one). If I couldn't do those jobs myself and my mechanic started to hmm and haw about doing the standard stuff, I'd look for a different mechanic TBH.

I can see where they may get iffy on something like suspension, tuning or engine rebuilds etc as they can't know what's been done before and with non standard parts, but I really don't get the issue they would have with standard servicing. Weird electrics could be an issue, in fairness. Parts availability may be also an issue, but I reckon half the time that's more a perception than a reality(though it does depend on the car). The one area I could see where a mechanic would rightfully have an issue is with an over or badly modded car that leaves the engine overstressed and a bit delicate. They may be fearful of the muppet who, when the car blows it's oily bits to hell and back, blames the mechanic after he changed the oil or something unrelated.

Maybe a mechanic chappie here could point out something I'm missing?

AntiVirus

I used to have a 1995 Celica GT jap import and used to get it service by a Toyota Dealer. Linders of Chapelizod. Toyota will order jap parts for your car if needed