japanese car imports?

Cavman

ive heard alot about japanese car imports etc im very knew to all this how does it work?

cheers sorry for the noob question.

paul moore

Its simple enough !!!! First of all what type of car are you after ?
do you want a big sports car ....well you picked the right country !!!!!
Japan auction up to 20,000 cars a day --- i still can't beleive it,but if ur thinking of buing on-line i think the bigger the car the more trouble it could be,turbo's,4WD,clutch's etc...buy from a dealer and you can't go wrong.....honda still have'nt had a problem with there V'TEC'S yet !!--- tat's what Clarkson said !!

5500

What exactly dya mean?
Are you looking to import yourself or buy from an importer here?

There's loads of importers operating in the country at the minute but as a word of warning if you dont really know what to look for when buying a car get a mechanic to go over it first for you.

Some importers buy in crashed cars for next to nothing,dickey up the body work and then sell it on for scandalous prices so be carefull

Wibbs

Yes Japanese imports can be a very good way to get a good second hand car, but buyer beware(caveat emptor and all that). Re what paul moore said about dealers, yes you can get a good car but be very very careful. I'm currently in the process of importing a car from Japan myself, as I found many(if not most) of the cars in dealers here were not what they appeared to be. Not by a long way.

Japanese cars are a good buy as their version of the NCT(shaken) is a lot more stringent, the Japanese tend to do less yearly mileage(this varies a lot though) and look after their cars more as it's much more expensive to run a car in Japan.

The cars that we get here are all sourced at auction in Japan. Every car that goes through these auctions gets an auction report which details the condition of the car. These are very thorough. There are 5 grades(sometimes 6 depends on auction), 5 being highest(basically a nearly new car). The car to aim for is a grade 4 or higher. Sadly most of the cars you see here with dealers are grade 3.5 at the very best. Some indeed are accident damaged(R/A/-1 grade), which are very much cheaper, They get tarted up and sold on to unsuspecting buyers as eireal pointed out. This happens a lot.

1. Do your research. Then do it again. Make sure your insurance company will cover a Jap import for a start(claiming that your car is a lesser Irish version will get you into trouble if caught) .

2. If you do get a car from a dealer insist that you get the Japanese auction report. Don't buy one without it. If they tell you it's not available, walk away, they're lying.

If it was me I'd go direct and buy the car directly from the auction. Check out the web for companies that allow this. It's more long winded but you will be safer in getting the car you want(and save a bundle too).

As for Clarkson, it's hard, but you can blow a VTEC. Especially if it's not cared for and the belts aren't changed at the right intervals.

paul moore

Its true, be very careful importing youself,

I have this little baby on the way !!!!
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3369111#post3369111

Wibbs

Be careful certainly, but I would go down the route of importing a car myself(in fact I am )At least you know what you're getting. There are dealers out their with good cars, but be prepared to do a lot of research. As I say insist on an auction report. Here's a linky that helps explain them. http://www.v8register.net/subpages/RV8auctionreports.htm

Cavman

ill have a good look first

cheers for your help guys.