Considering buying a Jap import..Are there any issues?

[tc]

As per the title, I'm considering buying something soon and looking at the mileages of the Jap imports for sale I was wondering if there are any issues with buying one? Can I still take this to a main dealer for servicing etc and does it cause any issues with insurance and mot's?

Cheers..

[Forg]

First step is not to believe the mileage, as soon as a manufacturer comes up with a new way to encrypt the odometer readings the exporters find new ways to "fix" that little problem.

You need instead to be able to see the amount of wear on the interior, the armrests, the steering wheel, the carpets, the pedals etc. This doesn't necessarily work if you're looking at something >10 years old as it's probably welded together from 2 cars using the best bits of both, but for something relatively new it's a lot more reliable than the claimed odo reading.

If buying from Japan direct, make sure you have photos from underneath the car etc. The combo of snow & salt PLUS a lot of it being coastal in the north of Japan makes it brutal for rust.

It's probably pointless paying dealer rates for servicing, you'll get a better job from a decent small business who'll put a bit of care into what they're doing; there's no warranty, so you won't lose anything on resale by not going to a dealer. However, if a dealer is all you have access to, there should be no problem with them doing it. If you want something that has the same engine as is fitted for sale new in the UK, it should make servicing & parts somewhat easier (and cheap parts are relatively easy from the US if you want something with the same engine as was sold in North America).

Do they have to install a speedo with MPH on it, when importing used cars into the UK? It's by no means the end of the world, but needing to convert back to MPH all the time could be annoying (I don't know about EU cars sold new in the EU, but JDM cars pretty-much never have a MPH ring on the speedo).

MOT & insurance I can't answer. Here in Australia they're considered an enthusiast car which tends to up the cost of all insurances, but if you want it insured in such a way that your insurer will be repairing it if you make a claim, the lack of available parts makes such insurance more expensive here too. It doesn't really matter if it's pretty-much the same car as is sold new here, because the insurers don't want to work-out how many of the tens of thousands of parts differ; their risk is based on needing to get stuff from Japan.
But that's here, there may be different.

[Rocinante]

Think there's a couple guys on here that have imported from Japan. They may drop a comment at some point, but in the meantime, you could have a look through this :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=312484

Interestingly, Rolling Thunder thinks that Japanese cars are virtually rust free, as apparently the Japanese don't use salt on the roads.

[Familyman 90]

The Japanese don't universally salt their roads. Some areas spray an ainti freeze solution on their roads, some areas even have heated roads!

Some prefectures will use salt, but within those districts in some areas its up to the residents to do it themselves using grit from roadside bins. Not surprisingly they often don't bother.

So salt is in use over there, but not as widely, and not at all in many areas.

[RollingThunder]

TC... from Wigan... yup, it has to be the same TC ! Welcome back!

I'm on my second Japanese import - my first was a LandRover Discovery V8, and my current one is an 850R, so I can give you some first hand advice

First off, as mentioned ^^^ the use of road salt in Japan is nigh on non existent, so even my 25 year old 850 has zero rust - this is a pic of one of the sills -



This lack of rust is the primary reason for buying from Japan. However, it does mean that Japanese cars have little rust protection applied at the factory - meaning that you have to have the car treated when you import it, otherwise it'll soon start to show rust spots. I have just had my 850R treated with a mixture of Dinitrol and Raptor paint as a cost of £1300 - that did include stripping the exhaust off, along with the heat shields, arch liners and sill covers etc.

The cars are often low mileage, and with luck you'll find a car with a Japanese service history so that you can verify this. Most if not all cars bought through Japanese auction sites include mileage verification checks.

It is indeed an MoT requirement that the speedo shows the speed in MPH. Older cars like my 850 can have the instrument cluster swapped for a UK spec one (which is what I did). Alternatively you can fit a standalone GPS speedo which displays the speed in MPH - it isn't a requirement that the main cluster displays the speed, just that 'the' speed must be displayed in MPH.. somewhere You might have to have the cluster setting changed to show MPG etc in the computer display - which may be able to be done manually, or may require a dealer computer link to enable - I have no knowledge of the modern stuff sorry

MoTs are not a problem - mine sailed through without anything needing to be done to allow it to pass any emissions tests etc. The only requirement was the MPH speedo.

A few things to be wary of however...

The export sites/agents use a grading system to identify the state of the car. This grading system is pretty coarse as it is linked into the mileage of the car and its age - so you can't tell whether a car is actually mint but is being downgraded by its age, or whether it has some issues. Just to clarify this with my personal experience, my Discovery had a declared engine issue so was downgraded due to that, however it was otherwise absolutely mint - virtually factory fresh and absolutely stunning. My 850R had a similar grading, however it had no issues but was quite dirty inside and has a few scratches - normally unheard of on a Japanese car.

Taxation class. On both my cars, the taxation class was set as age related, both being pre 2001 cars. The emissions code is declared as 'unknown' - now I don't know whether this is a routine default setting, or whether the DVLA genuinely didn't know and so couldn't assign an emissions code. This MAY have an effect if importing a newer car where taxation is related to emissions - you'll need to investigate that.

Japanese oddities - the obvious one is the radio. In Japan they use a narrower band of frequencies, so you'll need to fit a EU/UK spec radio, otherwise you'll be left with Radio 2 and little else Thats not usually an issue tbh. Japanese tyres are made of a harder compound that EU tyres - they are terrifying in the wet! So you should assume that you'll need a set of tyres asap The heat in Japan can cause all sorts of issues with plastics and rubber. The plastics become brittle, and the black sealant often used around windows degrades causing nasty black streaks when you wash the car. If the car was parked under a sunshade/car port (as is often the case) then you might see the front / rear plastics being different shades due to sun bleaching. You'll often find the leather is hard - it'll need a thorough clean and conditioning to bring it back. Finally, the Japanese LOVE their electronic gadgets, so be prepared for a lot of superfluous wiring. If you're lucky it'll just be a toll card transceiver, otherwise you may have aftermarket TV/DVD players, media players, and other devices which can't be readily identified My Discovery was white with blacked out rear windows and a pair of twin telescopic antenna on the roof - they were for a TV/DVD system, but many UK drivers assumed it to be a Police car which was hilarious on the motorways

Finally, you'll have to assume that a Japanese car is just the same as any other used car - the suspension, brakes, etc etc will need to be checked and the usual 'stage 0' maintenance work undertaken.

IMHO its definitely worth buying a Japanese import - the ability to simply unbolt stuff without anything snapping is priceless You'll be amazed at the condition of these cars - the Japanese MoT (the 'Shaken') is very expensive and very thorough, so keeping cars on the road out there is expensive and they take great pride in them. Plus their national mindset is one of mutual respect, so they tend to have very little damage - even cosmetic blemishes are attended to.

HTH

Edit - insurance. Forgot to mention this sorry. A lot of the mainstream insurers do not like imported cars and will not quote on them - something that surprised me as my Japanese spec 850R is virtually identical to the UK spec one (with minor technical differences). However, the usual specialist insurers are happy to provide competitive quotes, so it isn't really an issue - unless you are going for something genuinely JDM (ie no equivalent UK/EU model such as the S-Cargo and Cappuccino).

[DAN AT ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.
If you need any help with insurance for an imported vehicle then please feel free to give us a try.
Regards,
Dan.

[Forg]

The fact that rust isn't a problem for most cars is what lulls buyers into a false sense of security, and not check it. A friend imported an RX7 Turbo, I was amazed the body hadn't just fallen on the ground leaving the "chassis" behind, there was so much rust.

[Wagon Sailor]

Re the mph vs. kph thing, my JDM Integra had the speedo tweaked to read miles and mph when it was first imported. I don't know what electrickery was involved. Once its needle worked, the speedometer was modified only by a tiny bit of matching black tape over the 'k' in 'km/h'.

[dingov70]

Hello TC , I am an MOT tester & regularly test JDM imports prior to issue of registration number by DVLA . From experience the interiors range from factory fresh to quite badly soiled & worn , however the mechanical side of things generally seem to maintained to a better level than UK owners manage . Have never found anything corrosion wise that would require advising , let alone a fail , so a positive point .

I had a run on people carriers ( not saying which ) that seemed to enjoy lunching front suspension arm bushes , presenter simply found a source of poly bushes to sort that issue .

As an aside , you are not required to convert speedo to MPH , the MOT simply requires that it works either in KPH or MPH & illuminates when lights are turned on . If you present a JDM for test , please tell the tester if it still registers distance in kilometers , saves any mistakes being made .

I am presently getting a large number of Toyota Voxy's being presented as well as hybrid Estima's . Nicest though are the Nissan Elgrande

[savabill]

For your radio, go on the bay of E and look for an FM expander for European Cars. It plugs into the antenna at the back of the radio. Your kph to mph just needs the card changing inside the cluster. I bought a diesel cluster for £30, removed the card and fitted it into my petrol, 15 minutes work. Your biggest problem will be any warnings will be in Japanese. Good luck.