Japanese car importers (Dublin)

valdigre

Hi guys,

I am going to purchase an EK9 Civic/DC2 Integra next month and I was wondering if you have experience with any of the following importers:

- Per4mance carz,
- Japcarsdublin,
- Sean Byrne motors,
- others.

If you could recommend one of those or any other, I would really appreciate it.
I am interested in honest ones, selling cars in very good condition and not overpriced.

I would be grateful for sharing your experiences.

Thanks,

Wibbs

A really simple way to judge; Insist, insist, insist(see a pattern here?:D ) on the cars Japanese auction sheet. Anyone who doesn't have that walk away. Do not take excuses on this one and you will hear some. "We don't see them'. BS They should have them if they imported the car. "You can't read Japanese". Again BS you can see the auction grade(avoid anything below a grade 3.) and a handy little cartoon of the cars panels tells you if stuff has been replaced due to damage(any X is bad) etc. Too many imports here are accident damaged or lower grade cars tarted up and of course the mileage is wound back.
I watched the auctions for a few months before I sourced my own car and I saw cars with accident damage end up as "clean" cars on Irish garage forecourts. I saw two where the mileage had been halved also.

Put it this way I brought one in myself sight unseen with all the hassle that entailed, but with a good auction report and real mileage, rather than trust the dealers I had experience of. A mate of mine was doing it for a while a few years back. Got to drive some nice pieces of kit, but sadly he's emigrated.

I would try to get a standard car as much as possible too. While the Japanese tricky bits are tempting it can mean the car has been hockeyed to within an inch of it's life and if they go wrong can be pricey to fix.

Doodee

try japnuts.com afaik he is based in Wicklow and I have heard good things.

I go mine through DC Imports in Mayo, was well worth the hike, Car was Beautiful then and still is. A grade 3.5 is considered Irish 2nd hand four court grade, but you do want to get a grade 4 or higher. grade 5 is only given to cars that are within 2 years and are near mint.
Auction sheet is a must, I almost got stung with a car that had done 194k wound back to 60k. You can always get the Chasis number checked against the Japanese records, this does take some time though.

Most of all be patient. Its well worth it in the end

Deception

Doodee wrote:

try japnuts.com afaik he is based in Wicklow and I have heard good things.

I go mine through DC Imports in Mayo, was well worth the hike, Car was Beautiful then and still is. A grade 3.5 is considered Irish 2nd hand four court grade, but you do want to get a grade 4 or higher. grade 5 is only given to cars that are within 2 years and are near mint.
Auction sheet is a must, I almost got stung with a car that had done 194k wound back to 60k. You can always get the Chasis number checked against the Japanese records, this does take some time though.

Most of all be patient. Its well worth it in the end

Totally heard good things also

Elite Autos in Galway also quiet good tbh ... but as above poster said you are far better off checking all the in's and out's yourself and insist on documentation and a clean grade3+ stock jap import as as good a base for modification as you are ever gonna get.

Blitzkrieger

valdigre wrote:

- Sean Byrne motors,

I bought my car off him. Walking into his yard at the docks in like being like a kid in a candy shop. You can get some good deals because he imports them direcly but get it inspected if possible and make sure he does everything you ask to the car. ****er didn't even give me the full tank of petrol he promised - it had just about enough in it to get me out the gate without the fuel light coming on.

colm_mcm

heard good things about WKD imports.

Atomic Pineapple

nearly everybody i've talked to about japcarsdublin have told me to stay away, they said some of the cars are in an awfull state up there and when asked they couldnt provide auction sheets, this was a good while ago though so may have changed since

colm_mcm

I'd be wary of anyone advertising a 2008 Avensis 1.6 Aura Estate (a model which doesn't exist anywhere) with 2,000 miles on the clock.

nice picture of the car too....


http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=Car&carID=561981&message=You%20searched%20for%3A%20Toyota%20Avensis%2C%20Year%3A%202008%2E%20Your%20search%20returned%20one%20vehicle%2C%20which%20is%20shown%20below%2E&CFID=24994973&CFTOKEN=12310755

5500

Alot of the dealers use each other stock so it's possible you'l see the same car in different dealers adverts for sale.

For the car your after id consider one here already via carzone,you'l make a saving over dealer price for sure.

Never heard good of japcars though,S&B supposedly have good stock and it can be hit and miss with p4c,in saying that thats just what i've heard from friends when they were looking in the above places.

touge_drift

ok one word of warning stay welll clear of jap cars dublin...

imo the guy out in man o war is goos byrne autos i think he's called.. no hassel or bull from him

carman1985

I know the lads in Per4mance Carz, seem pretty good and fair to deal with, there cars have auction sheets, cars are always displayed well not like other junk yards!! There in Coolock ind. estate. try them

Atomic Pineapple

The OP already got a DC2 integra type r

Tanabe

Lads, can anybody please tell me does Sean Byrne supply auction sheets with cars sold?

Thanks.

Atomic Pineapple

from what i've heard on other forums i doubt it, the word dodgy comes up in nearly every sentence with the mans name.

Black Sky

Northside Automotive in Man o war out between Lusk and Balbriggan seem good. Was out there today to get a Micra for the mother-in-law.
Some lovely performance motors in the yard there...... more than is listed on their website....

http://www.northsideautos.ie/

Sean Byrne triggers something in the back of mind about past issues.... best avoided i think......

cathy01

hi any more info on the automotives in marO war, am looking at a Yaris 99, €4750.Jap.
any adivce .thanks,cathy

stecleary

stay away from that cowboy in santry japcarsdublin!!! wat a prick!

cathy01

noted, thanks Cathys.

Atomic Pineapple

cathy01 wrote: »

hi any more info on the automotives in marO war, am looking at a Yaris 99, €4750.Jap.
any adivce .thanks,cathy

was also advised to stay away from the boys out in man o war, dodgy!!

cathy01

Great , thanks for that.I was looking at N2 mototrs?any ideas.
cathy

SV

stecleary wrote: »

stay away from that cowboy in santry japcarsdublin!!! wat a prick!

PM me on this one please?

Atomic Pineapple

ClioV6 wrote: »

PM me on this one please?

you dont need a pm, do a search for them on any car related site and you will get bad experiences or just go up have a look around and chat to one of the lads there, you'll come out laughing at how anyone buys a car there

copeyhagen

i was in jap cars the other day chap seems like a bit of a clown alright.

lookin for 21 grand for a 99 sylvia. havin a fukin laugh, thing was in bits

ma o war, aka sean byrne is supposedly a cowboy too, ur warrenty covers ya to his gates!!!

cathy01

see, ts things like this we all need to know.
Any adivce on N2 autos???

thesoulfulldude

yeah japcars, my cousin does reports on anything car related and has heard a fair few bad storys from them

Yakult

Well thats Japcars off my list and Sean Byrne.

Atomic Pineapple

R_H_C_P wrote: »

Well thats Japcars off my list and Sean Byrne.

You could still go in to have a look they do have a large range of stuff and it would be good to get looking at the types of cars you want and if possible get test drives, just be wary if you do go to buy and dont believe a word they say

when looking for jap imports always ask for the auction sheet and dont listen to crap like they lost it or its in japanese you wouldnt understand it

Yakult

Thats what I will do "Oh ya I have money and willing to buy. Just gotta test drive them ya know" and never come back

Yeah I read that in my thread, wont forget that for sure. Does the auction sheet mention accidents/Damage etc.?

stecleary

if any of the pannels here marked with "X" it has been damaged or replaced. look at the grade too looking for a grade 4 is your best bet any lower than 3.5 and its time to walk away! the have to have this sheet in the dealership to be able to sell the car so just ask for it

copeyhagen

most sheets in the top right theres a box that will have 4 or 3.5 or whatever thats the grade of the outside of the car, whether panels have been scratched or replaced etc.

underneath that box theres normally another box that will have a b or c in it.

thats usually the interior grade.

Dolph Starbeam

Try www.tradecarview.com , cut out the middle man, they have a great selection of brilliantly priced cars, not on auction though.

Yakult

MOG7 wrote: »

Try www.tradecarview.com , cut out the middle man, they have a great selection of brilliantly priced cars, not on auction though.

They have great prices I must say.

So basicly that would be importing straight? No dealer?

Atomic Pineapple

R_H_C_P wrote: »

They have great prices I must say.

So basicly that would be importing straight? No dealer?

Yeh you basically have to do everything yourself, pay the handling charges, collect the car yourself, pay vrt, nct it, etc...

great savings if you can put up with it all and of course the wait

I'm thinking about doin it for my next car

copeyhagen

i have access to the axtual japanese car auctions. anyone interested pm me and ill give u the details.

makes tradecar look like robbing fooks.

this crowd do everything for you and theyre very good.

u get to pick the day u want to view the auctions for aswell.

join this website http://www.manic-motorz.com and check out the cars in the forsale section, good prices and sound lads, met a few 2day at a motors meet, there just modified car enthusiasts!

Yakult

draffodx wrote: »

Yeh you basically have to do everything yourself, pay the handling charges, collect the car yourself, pay vrt, nct it, etc...

great savings if you can put up with it all and of course the wait

I'm thinking about doin it for my next car

The question is, Would I be saving after paying all of those?

I dont mind the wait tbh.

copeyhagen wrote: »

makes tradecar look like robbing fooks.

How so?

copeyhagen

makes them look like robbin fooks cuz for example, an ek9 type r civic, 1999 grade 4 might be going for sale on tcv for about 8 grand, the estimated price (yes i know its an estimate) on the japanese car aution site is about 6 grand

Yakult

^Hmm.

So it would be the same story with nct/vrt/collection as tcv?

5500

I know people who have bought via tradecar with problems,its basically a japanease carzone,sometimes dealers dont even have the cars instock they have listed,and the price you see isnt the final price you pay,theres dereg charges or fob/cif to be added.

Look at idirect.co.jp,your buying direct from auction there and the end price you win at is the total price you pay shipped to ireland.

The winning bid price there is your CIF price to dublin,after that you just need to worry about customs vat and vrt then collection,tax nct ect ect

Theres money to be saved either way,you just may be talking 3/4 months total time before the exact car you want turns up/you win it/its shipped so you need patience!

chris11

Can anyone list some auction sites that they have used and more info about this whole process?maybe we can make a definitive guide to importing a jap car by yourself thread.

copeyhagen

i think there is one sumwhere but its never been stickied.

a fresh up to date one with info from people that have brought cars in would be very useful.