Which Jap import to get??

master-d

Hey guys!

Im lookin into impoting a used Jap car myself with an Irish value of about 6-7k it seems to be a simple enough thing to do, and I have heard only good things about the process, nobody seems to have had any problems, this sounds to good to be true and I was wondering;

Have any of you guys had any bad experiences or heard any scams or things not going to plan?

Can you recomend any reputable agents in Japan?

Is there anything I should be aware of, ie hidden costs with the exception of customs, vat, vrt, and nct?

Im aware that some small modifications may need to be made to made the car road legal in Ireland such as changing the sidelights, is there anything else I should be aware of and roughly how much will it cost?

Im looking for something similar to a Mitsubishi fto or celica but as im only 20 I think Il probably end up going for something with a smaller engine no bigget than 1.6 for insurance purposes, any suggestions?

Or should I just forget about the whole idea??

Thanks guys!

Wishbone Ash

Moved from Learning to Drive to Motors.

Kimbot

IBC in Japan are good to deal with. Don't register with a euro account, make sure it a Japanese yen account and prices will convert to a lower amount for you!!

colm_mcm

You haven't a hope of getting insurance for half reasonable money on a V6 FTO at your age. A 1.8 may be easier to insure, but they're quite slow and the standard spec isn't as good as is on a GR or a GPX.

here is a calculator program (for any import) download that factors VRT, VAT freight and excise duty to give you a final price, there is also guides to importing on here too

http://www.fto-ireland.com/downloads.html

E92

Disadvantages of a JDM car:
JDM cars have no way of knowing the car's service history(what are you going to do, ering up Japan, and ask them in Japanese what the service history of the car is?, I don't think so) , they could have been driven to the moon and back for all you know(see previous point), they have no sercurity(no immobilizers etc) safety systems like seatbelts etc are designed for people who are in general a good deal smaller than we are, the cars themselves are called JDM for a reason, they're not designed for here,they are designed for Japan, the JDM radio need to be retuned for Europe, they don't have safety equipment like rear foglights etc, the engine's ECU is set up for a much higher fuel rating than here(100 RON as opposed to 95/98 RON) meaning that the JDM's quoted bhp and torque will be less(around 10% apparantly) in reality, so someone who's bough themselves an AE111 and boasts that it's 1.6 4A-GE 20V lump has 160 bhp is wrong cause they really have 144 bhp at most due to the ECU and RON rating issue, and they're limited to only 180 km/h.

Advantages: Superior spec to what equivalent Irish spec car has(aircon, electric windows and plenty of other equipment), supposedly low mileage(though hard to verify really, but we'll have to take their word for it), and in the case of some cars like the Corolla, the Japs offered far more interesting versions of popular cars like the Civic and Corolla for Japan only, the EJ6/8(96-00) Civic was available as a Type-R version for JDM markets, we never got it, the E100 series (92-97)Corolla was available in Japan as a GTi and it got a 1.6 20 valve engine with 160 bhp, needless to say we didn't get that(the fastest Corolla at the time we got was a 1.3 with 86 bhp).

colm_mcm

E92 wrote: »

Disadvantages of a JDM car:
JDM cars have no way of knowing the car's service history(what are you going to do, ering up Japan, and ask them in Japanese what the service history of the car is?, I don't think so) , they could have been driven to the moon and back for all you know(see previous point), they have no sercurity(no immobilizers etc) safety systems like seatbelts etc are designed for people who are in general a good deal smaller than we are, the cars themselves are called JDM for a reason, they're not designed for here,they are designed for Japan, the JDM radio need to be retuned for Europe, they don't have safety equipment like rear foglights etc, the engine's ECU is set up for a much higher fuel rating than here(100 RON as opposed to 95/98 RON) meaning that the JDM's quoted bhp and torque will be less(around 10% apparantly) in reality, so someone who's bough themselves an AE111 and boasts that it's 1.6 4A-GE 20V lump has 160 bhp is wrong cause they really have 144 bhp at most due to the ECU and RON rating issue, and they're limited to only 180 km/h.

Advantages: Superior spec to what equivalent Irish spec car has(aircon, electric windows and plenty of other equipment), supposedly low mileage(though hard to verify really, but we'll have to take their word for it), and in the case of some cars like the Corolla, the Japs offered far more interesting versions of popular cars like the Civic and Corolla for Japan only, the EJ6/8(96-00) Civic was available as a Type-R version for JDM markets, we never got it, the E100 series (92-97)Corolla was available in Japan as a GTi and it got a 1.6 20 valve engine with 160 bhp, needless to say we didn't get that(the fastest Corolla at the time we got was a 1.3 with 86 bhp).

Most of the stereos in 90's sports cars regardles of whether they're JDM will probably be replaced and upgraded, and top secutity systems installed. You couldn't drive my FTO away even if you had the keys. Speedo conversion chips which also delimit the car are widely available, Rear foglights are not a legal requirement over here. If you factor these extra costs in you should be ok.

gniie

Just to give you a word of warning.
I follow the same path as you are going to, trying to save a few bob, and after I read all the good reviews I imported a car from IBC Japan. My car arrived with major electrical fault that has cost me to fix more than what I paid for the car. I've made a claim against IBC Japan and the shipping comp and none of them is assuming responsability. And if you think you can sue the Jap exporter be prepaired for massive cost with little chance to win. I think there is no comeback.
After my experience I'll advice you to buy here in Ireland( even if it is a jap import) so you have some backup- at least you can check the car yourself. Or import from UK- it looks like you can get almost as good deals as Japan but with less risk.

dcGT

master-d wrote: »

Im looking for something similar to a Mitsubishi fto or celica but as im only 20 I think Il probably end up going for something with a smaller engine no bigget than 1.6 for insurance purposes, any suggestions?

Nissan Pulsar VZR
Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg
Honda Civic SiR
Toyota Levin BZ-R

All 1.6L with decent performance (circa 160BHP)
There are loads of examples on each on carzone.ie. If insurance is an issue get some quotes on each and see which is best value. The results can be very different.

I know a few guys that have used this crowd before for importing...

http://www.grahamberry2.co.jp/

DC.

Doodee

dcGT wrote: »

Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg
Honda Civic SiR
Toyota Levin BZ-R

Any of those 3 and you'll be happy.

Remember that if its being imported direct from an Auction that you will want to see the Auction Slip to make sur eht eMileage is accurate. Also, be prepared to pay for a couple of things to be replaced (as was said, Radio, Battery unit etc).

I bought my car down the country and got a fantastic price on it.
www.dcimports.ie

very nice guy. He would prolly do an import for ya also

S.I.R

id buy the st165 celica as there rather rare here... white is the best color as they have the highest re-sale value...

should be around 6000 all in but haven said that everyone gets the st205 model instead

zilog_jones

ST165 is the first gen GT-Four ('86-'89) - they're getting on a bit now, and as he said he prob won't get insured on any 2.0. So if it's a Celica it'll have to be an AT180 or AT200 (that's a 1.8 though).