I'm wondering about a grey import from Japan.
There are some clean , low mileage, ones at a dealer not too far away, in Bradford. (MPV Choice)
E.G an under 6000 miler Honda Jazz/Fit 1.5 CVT. 2005, for £2995.
Has anyone bought from this type of source?
What are the insurance implications?
Are parts available?
..........and so on.
|
|
I'd be wondering what sort of use it had if its only done 6K miles in twelve years. Also, do the Japanese measure in miles or kilometres?
|
Gawd, you'll set me off, I love browsing Jap domestic market cars.
I always think why would they import them if they were rubbish? Rubbish must be cheaper here. And I think the rationale is that there are economic reasons why the Japanese effectively discard good cars. And they are AIUI all rust free (though not necessarily rust proofed).
Against that they are generally pricey for their age.
They are usually petrol, and automatic too.
They have a following. The guy I bought my Eriba from was a serial Bongo man, thought they were great and good value.
|
>> And I think the rationale is that there are economic reasons why the
>> Japanese effectively discard good cars. And they are AIUI all rust free (though not necessarily
>> rust proofed).
I was told that the Japanese MOT is very harsh and can cost a lot to get a car through it. Apparently it was designed to shorted the life of a car to bolster the new car market. (Probably an old wives tale.)
Its always a question that comes up on insurance so the premiums may be higher / pay outs may be lower in a crash.
|
|
My Prelude was a "Grey" import, and very nice it was too! Insurance was a bit higher priced than it would have been for a "European" Prelude as it was a 2.2VTI (apparently they didn't do that model for E.U) and only certain Companies would insure it. Most parts for it were interchangable with E.U models, except the exhaust front pipe, which I couldn't find over here, I had to have a full S/S system fitted to future-proof that problem. It came in to the U.K from N.Ireland and on Irish plates, most Insurance co's wanted me to re-register it on to U.K plates, but I rather liked the Irish ones and had to argue to keep them (which I eventually did), other than these problems, there were no others, and I would have no qualms about having another.
|
P.S
Mine also had a "Limiter" fitted, (mine was set at 105mph) and I could have left it but decided to have it dis-abled. I think most Japanese Market cars have them fitted.
|
|
My son's girlfriend's father ( this is already complicated isn't it ? ) has a second hand car dealership specialising in Japanese grey imports. I could try to find out a bit more about that market if anyone would be interested? I don't mean brokering any deals obviously, just happy to ask about and report on what are the things to watch out for and so on.
|
|
...for God's sake, don't get tangled up with the Yakuza........ ;-)
|
|
He doesn't do motorbikes. ;-)
|
|
I lived in Yokohama for a few years; my car, along with alll local market ones I think, was limited to 112mph from memory. Driving in Japan was actually remarkably enjoyable, if a little heavy on the tolls. The car, a Toyota Altezza (Lexus IS200 outside Japan) was a pleasant enough car. I seem to recall that it was fitted with an emergency flare as well...in cas of earthquakes!
|
Grey? - bathtub tom
