Japanese Passat

mark2912

I am looking to buy a new car and am looking at getting a VW Passat.

Today I test drove a 2016 Passat, but it was a Japanese import. The one I drove today seemed to perform just fine, but I'm hesitant to buy a Japanese import due to issues trying to find someone who will insure them..

Just wondering if anybody has had any experiences with Japanese VW cars? And if so, what they're like to drive? Issues/reliability etc.

User1998

Jap import VW’s are no harder to insure than UK/Irish. Theres only a few Jap imports like Toyota Aqua, Toyota Vitz, Honda Fit. These cars were never sold here so can be hard to get insurance but VW are usually fine.

Jap import VW’s are much nicer, usually higher spec, lower mileage, and generally just looked after a lot better. Always petrol automatic which is nice.

projectgtr

My wife has a Japanese Polo she imported herself, we have always had imports but always from Japanese manufacturers. So we were used to paying a little extra or being limited to a few insurance companies. When it came to the Polo none of them seem to care and it was just treated like a normal polo, at the end of the day they are built in Germany and afaik they are built to the same spec with exception to the radio. As for driving and reliability its the same as an irish car, the mileage and quality tends to be a hell of a lot better and you tend to get a lot of extras, in the case of the polo it had wind deflectors, fitted mats, rear false floor and DSG which is what she was after. Parts wise we have gotten anything we need in VW and have had no issues with parts differences.

Things to watch out for though, being japanese the tyres are not "E" marked mostly, now ours passed 2 NCTs with them just fine but some centers are stricter than others. Also budget to replace the radio we picked up a new OEM headunit with apple carplay for about €150 on Aliexpress that was a 5 min install. Me personally id like to see the auction sheet if possible.

colm_mcm

There’s a guy in Louth that “translates” the JDM VW head units, for what of a better word. Does it for the garages.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119310200#Comment_119310200

Do you have any info on the lad that does it?

colm_mcm

I’ll PM you his details

mark2912

Went and test drove another lovely 171 Highline model today, also a Japanese import, and I think they're definitely the way to go.

With regards to insurance, would anybody here who has a Japanese VW mind sharing who they're insured with? My current insurer Boxymo (AIG) refuse there and then to provide a quote for any Japanese import car regardless of make/model/year.

PatrickDoherty

Have driven all passat models and the highline version is stuffed if your looking for something with a bit of power, the gt and some r line models are the way to go.. Highline has serious lag when you put the foot down in a dsg.

coolbeans

Have a brother working for Case New Holland in Basildon, Essex. He says that all tractors going to Japan get far better attention to detail at the end of the production line and pre delivery to iron out any issues that may be acceptable in some markers but are totally unacceptable to new tractor purchasers in the Japanese market. If that's anything to go by I'd suggest that Japanese people buying foreign cars new expect a very high standard of product.

mark2912

Would I be right in saying that "Japanese" imported Volkswagens aren't actually Japanese? As in they were actually built in Europe and then exported to Japan, then later imported into Ireland? So they'd be built to European/UK/Irish standards rather than Japanese?

I've also noticed that some of these imports state the trim/spec level as, for example AT 5G1ZD7, rather than the usual Trendline/Highline etc, why is this?

bazz26

They don't have to be built in Japan to be built for the Japanese market. They are still built in Europe and shipped to Japan. The trim levels are specfically for the Japanese market and tend to be higher spec that what we got here.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119351513#Comment_119351513

Yes Japanese imported Volkswagen were built in Germany and shipped to Japan.

There is no such thing as Highline/Trendline in Japan. They are distinguished by engine code and when the cars get imported to Ireland they are registered using that method. Its the same for all makes/models in Japan.

If you see a Japanese import being advertised as a Highline that is because it is the Japanese equivalent of a Highline and its easier to understand. But if you check on Cartell for example it will usually just have the engine code

Glaceon

Do Japanese VWs have immobilisers? That seems to be the big issue with the Toyotas being easily stolen here.

mark2912

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119352435#Comment_119352435

Ah, that's what I was worried about, that if an insurer sees the car registered using the Japanese method they'll refuse straight away to insure it.

I've had it happen to me when getting quoted for several Japanese cars, never tried a VW but its happened with the likes of Nissan March (Micra) and the Toyota Vitz (Yaris)

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119353375#Comment_119353375

Thats different because Vitz and March were never sold here so they aren’t on the insurance database. VW are usually fine for insurance.

CreadanLady

If anything goes wrong with them there is a chance that it can't be fixed so be willing to take that risk. Dealers here won't be able to do diagnostics on it or read the ECUs. So if anything electronic goes wrong in it, it is pretty much bricked and good only for scrap.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119353836#Comment_119353836

This is completely false

mark2912

Back to the issue with insurance..

Strangely when I try to get a quote with my current insurer online as a “new” customer, using the the reg number of the imported car, it will say the usual that they can’t give me a quote etc

However when I go into my own account and try to change my policy over to this car using the same reg number, it seems that they will cover it for me, as it proceeds to the payment screen to pay the difference in the policy cost.

Just wondering why would they seem to allow an existing customer to insure an import but not a new customer?

_Kaiser_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119379437#Comment_119379437

I stand to be corrected, but I think that if you're an existing customer they're obliged to quote regardless - but usually get around that by pricing it at some ridiculous amount if it's not something they really want to cover.

I recall something similar when my 05 3.0 TDI A6 was getting on and the broker told me that most wouldn't touch it because of the age/engine/mileage but the existing insurer would still quote.

bazz26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119379437#Comment_119379437

Because your an existing customer so they may have slightly less strict criteria on the type of car they cover over that of a new customer. But it's hard to know the thought process of insurance companies because they move their own goal posts so often.

saabnut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119310938#Comment_119310938

Can you send me the details of this bloke too? I've a JDM import VW that will need decoding!

Thanks

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121780987#Comment_121780987

https://www.instagram.com/carplayunitsdublin?igsh=NmNkY2FpeTRvNmFj