Buying a car from Japcars.ie(Dublin)

EPM

peposhi wrote: »

Hi, there

It's Peposhi, the thread starter.

Few months have passed and I have no probs at all with it. Despite a lot of slagging here I went and I bought that car. It's all about a proper check by a good mechanic. Mine did a good job. Have to say that I'm satisfied with the purchase.

BUT

In fairness I must add that the car has been clocked. I've checked the books it came with, even though they were in Japanese
Do not expect to get a not clocked car. They've clocked even the Honda I traded in. It was 77k on it and it was advertised as 61k. Now my car is In Waterford, I even saw it last Saturday
If you decide to go ahead, DON'T give any money until they do everything they've promised - tyres, NCT, etc.


Don't believe any car seller, they are just making money

Good luck!!!

Out of curiosity, did you report the fact they were sellong a clocked car to anyone?

peposhi

I didn't. I was listening to the radio one night and there was a very good discussion about clocked cars in Ireland. The final conclusion was - in Ireland it's not illegal to clock a car and you won't get prosecuted if you do it. In England is a crime and you do get in troubles for that, but here - not really. So, I didn't bother after that...

Ah, two of my friends have bought cars from "good" sources, both of them clocked... So, don't believe anyone unless you have the service book in front of you. And even then it's still possible to trick you. Reality I'd say

Moanin

peposhi wrote: »

The final conclusion was - in Ireland it's not illegal to clock a car and you won't get prosecuted if you do it.

Not True.It's illegal if you knowingly clock the car and don't tell the prospective buyer if they ask.But if they don't ask you don't have to tell them.The law is very wrong here.

djimi

peposhi wrote: »

I didn't. I was listening to the radio one night and there was a very good discussion about clocked cars in Ireland. The final conclusion was - in Ireland it's not illegal to clock a car and you won't get prosecuted if you do it. In England is a crime and you do get in troubles for that, but here - not really. So, I didn't bother after that...

Ah, two of my friends have bought cars from "good" sources, both of them clocked... So, don't believe anyone unless you have the service book in front of you. And even then it's still possible to trick you. Reality I'd say

Its not illegal to clock a car but its fraud if you do so and do not inform the person you are selling the car to.

louisa1

hey saw on car on Jap Cars and then looked up on here.... not many nice things to be said!!!! anyone know if this has changed??????

Wibbs

IMHO it boils down to this when buying a Japanese import; ask to see the Japanese auction report. It will give you a very good rundown on the cars condition. Both exterior and interior. It also logs the mileage.

If they say they never see them? They're lying, simple as that. When they bid on the car it's there for all to see. If they bought the car through an agent they should ask for it. If they did buy through a third party, then why should you pay the markup? If they tell you you wouldnt understand it as its in Japanese, they're also lying. The mileage is in european script. The condition the same.

Basically if it has no auction report, walk away. It's dodgy in some way. Either accident damaged or clocked. The latter almost a given.

ennisweed

i sadly bought a altezza of jap cars few years bak when prices where sky think i paid 14 grand or that for a 99 altezza anyway i traded in my 04 pajero and got cash bak off them... i had nothing but trouble with the car went thru 2 gearboxes and cluthes counthless power steering pumps,

in fairness to them tho they always fixed the car when i brought it up without to much hassle even tho they were puting **** parts bak in... even the cars they lent me when mine was being fixed were dirt gave me a 02 sabb 2.0 turbo driving bak home and the engine blows in it..... anyway rant over just hope no1 buys a car from theses again pure dirt and there the biggest gangsters ever

Max Power1

I cant believe that anyone would buy a car from japcars after reading this thread now!

Thats one of the problems with importing a car from the far east. Practically all are sold as as, no history, most are clocked, and are more trouble than they are worth

bryaner

louisa1 wrote: »

hey saw on car on Jap Cars and then looked up on here.... not many nice things to be said!!!! anyone know if this has changed??????

Highly unlikely.

ennisweed

i very much doubt that

Wibbs

Max Power1 wrote: »

I cant believe that anyone would buy a car from japcars after reading this thread now!

Sadly there's one born every minute and plenty of dodgy character willing to bend rules to sell to them.

Thats one of the problems with importing a car from the far east. Practically all are sold as as, no history, most are clocked, and are more trouble than they are worth

It's worse than that in a way as second hand Japanese cars can be very good value and very well looked after. Often with low mileage for the year. Their version of the NCT, the shaken is very very strict. As well as the usual safety and emissions stuff its a way to keep their domestic car market bouyant by making hanging on to a second hand car beyond three years prohibitively expensive(along with increased car tax). So someone who hangs onto one for longer is looking after it and paying through the nose to do so.

Then we get to the auctions themselves, where the cars are thoroughly inspected and graded accordingly. You can read the condition and mileage in black and white, even down to the position and size of scratches in the paint. Its no horse fair that's for sure. The odds of ending up with a lemon are long. Here's an example of one http://japanimport.co.uk/auctiongrade.htm

Then you come to some of the dealers here where lemons were/are being sold as high grade cars and it's a scam. Sometimes a dangerous one. Having perused the auctions myself a few years back for the guts of a year, I've seen more than one accident damaged R grade car end up on Irish forecourts a month later with a lick of paint and an inflated price. R grade cars in Japan go for significantly less depending on damage. A condition 4 or 4.5 car(nearly new by Irish standards) at 10,000 euro hammer price could be as low as 3,000 for an R or 1 grade car.

By far the biggest scam was mileage clocking. In my time looking a few years back I didnt see a single car that I had noted in Japan have the correct mileage in Ireland. Not one. On the auction site I was on you could download the auction report and I downloaded a few. Four cars I could match up in three Irish dealers and all had been altered. One by the guts of 70,000 Km. Another had pretty severe front end damage at auction, but ended up here with a new coat of paint and price to match. It was missing its under bonnet strut brace, I suspect because it would no longer line up. Dangerous. I reported the place, but as usual feck all happened.

There was also another issue for a time, where stolen Malaysian(and Japanese) cars were fenced out through the Irish import market. A Garda team confiscated a few of those. I strongly suspect I saw one of those ones judging by a few signs of car nicking techniques on it. And the fact that an ad flyer in the boot with the spare wheel was in Malay, not Japanese yet it was supposed to be the latter.

If you want one then import it yourself. Its easy enough if time consuming but you stand to save a fair wedge of cash as well as be as sure as one can be over condition.

TL;DR? No auction report, no sale. No matter how good it looks or the patter of the salesman.

Wibbs

peposhi wrote: »

In fairness I must add that the car has been clocked. I've checked the books it came with, even though they were in Japanese
Do not expect to get a not clocked car. They've clocked even the Honda I traded in. It was 77k on it and it was advertised as 61k. Now my car is In Waterford, I even saw it last Saturday

This I really don't understand in our psyche *shakes head*. Do not expect to get a not clocked car? I mean WTF? I just cannot understand that philosophy. That's why some dealers are the way they are. It's our fault. People complain about being screwed over, yet they stand there with their arse in the air saying "take me big boy". Think about it. The dealer clocks the car, then doesnt even bother his arse to remove the evidence knowing by experience no one will moan. Boggles :eek:

louisa1

Mmmmm this does not fill me with much confidence!!!! It was a nice car at what i thought was a reasonable price for a 2005 318i..... and the mileage didnt seem too bad but after reading a thread about a car that was clocked........ kindda makes you think....

djimi

A 318i is not an uncommon car. These guys are <snippy mcsnip>, so if you have any reservations about the car at all, and given their track record, you would probably be better off looking elsewhere.

louisa1

Well after what I've heard and other threads I found about how rude they where to others....maybe Ill give them a wide berth!!!!

Wibbs

louisa1 wrote: »

Mmmmm this does not fill me with much confidence!!!! It was a nice car at what i thought was a reasonable price for a 2005 318i..... and the mileage didnt seem too bad but after reading a thread about a car that was clocked........ kindda makes you think....

It wouldnt make me think so much. I mean one user here has a car he's happy with, but the car was clocked. His trade in car lost 10,000 odd miles from the time he had it to when it appeared advertised in the paper a week later. I can't understand why he's happy and accepting of this, but each to their own. In any case if true and Ive nore reason to doubt it, that's out and out fraudulent behaviour. If not "legally" certainly morally. How much more would a business like that hide? Like djimi said, its not an uncommon car, so shop around, maybe go private, but personally speaking I wouldnt take the risk nor support any business that acts like that. Too many do and shrug it off, hence we're plagued by unscrupulous chancers. The sad thing is guys who dont clock cars often have to look for lower prices for just being honest. And there are (sadly too few) honest guys out there.

rebel.ranter

Ah, it's a pity these have been the experiences. I went out to look at this today:
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/X5/3.0d-SPO/201031199115069/advert?channel=CARS
One of the staff had gone home in it so I didn't get to see it. It looks fine but if what is mentioned above is true then it would nit give a warm fuzzy feeling about parting with my money here.

Absurdum

Wibbs wrote: »

I can't understand why he's happy and accepting of this, but each to their own.

I asked him this but didn't get a reply

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=64748565&postcount=124

Merch

peposhi wrote: »

Now car drives, sounds, looks great and is ready for NCT.

Not a response to the Op but a general one about NCT's and second hand cars, particularily grey imports where the dealers try sell you the car and say they garauntee it will pass the NCT, I've walked away from in the past.
First, is it legal for a dealer to sell a car without an NCT?
and if it is sold, how does the buyer get it to the centre? given it should have an NCT to drive on the road?

Wibbs wrote: »

It's worse than that in a way as second hand Japanese cars can be very good value and very well looked after. Often with low mileage for the year. Their version of the NCT, the shakenis very very strict. As well as the usual safety and emissions stuff its a way to keep their domestic car market bouyant by making hanging on to a second hand car beyond three years prohibitively expensive(along with increased car tax). So someone who hangs onto one for longer is looking after it and paying through the nose to do so.

Then we get to the auctions themselves, where the cars are thoroughly inspected and graded accordingly. You can read the condition and mileage in black and white, even down to the position and size of scratches in the paint. Its no horse fair that's for sure. The odds of ending up with a lemon are long. Here's an example of one http://japanimport.co.uk/auctiongrade.htm

If you want one then import it yourself. Its easy enough if time consuming but you stand to save a fair wedge of cash as well as be as sure as one can be over condition.

TL;DR? No auction report, no sale. No matter how good it looks or the patter of the salesman.

I've thought about buying a car direct myself, get a good condition car at a lower price than it would be sold here,but as much for the piece of mind that its good. so when you say, import it yourself, do you mean via the likes of the site you mention or are you suggesting it would be a trip involved?

Wibbs

Basically I mean through one of the many auction sites online where you can bid directly and they help with shipping. You will have to sort out the VRT stuff yourself at this end though. I used these guys http://www.ibcjapan.co.jp/default.asp. You can view the car beforehand(online) and look at the detailed auction report. Physically going to Japan wouldn't be much use even if you wanted to, as access to the auctions is(or used to be) tightly controlled to authorised agents, nearly all of whom are local.

Lynott

Was looking for a Jap-import during last week before I read this thread. More then half of the cars I looked at were very obviously clocked. One example was a '03 with 53,000kms on the clock, a worn seat, shiny steering wheel and the most obvious factor was the worn pedal rubbers. The car was tatty overall and had a horrible smell in it. And there prices are high, certainly no bargains. I'd give this crowd a wide berth

djimi

To be honest when it comes to Jap imports I just assume that they are all clocked. Im not defending Japcars; they have a horrible reputation, but it is not a problem unique to them.

voojeq

As long as op likes his car, its all rite lads. Fair play to japcars about fixing the shaft and changing autobox fluids. Afterall the car has to be roadworthy.

From the other hand, you still could back out from the sale when you had that " vibrations ". Car wasn't roadworthy at that very moment tbh.

Enjoy your japanese yaris, dunno why you decided to pay more for just a yaris but im sure you had a good reason for that.

peposhi

Hey, guys

... deleted ...

colm_mcm

Thread was dormant for 18 months until now to be fair....

C Eng

Nothing like taking a story full circle to prove/disprove any urban myth:rolleyes:

peposhi

I looked for some thread tool to close it/lock it but I couldn't find...
May have to ask the moderators

peposhi

C Eng wrote: »

Nothing like taking a story full circle to prove/disprove any urban myth:rolleyes:

Well to prove/disprove that's not an urban myth I have deleted my last post regarding the car...
No point dragging this story any longer

TestTransmission

peposhi wrote: »

Well to prove/disprove that's not an urban myth I have deleted my last post regarding the car...
No point dragging this story any longer

Good idea

Thread closed