JDM Import guide/walk through

Clarkey said:
I have a Crown Hybrid and yes the cruise control only works up to 115kph. I would imagine all the Toyota models would be the same. It's kind of annoying tbh, but the 180kph limit on JDM models is of absolutely no consequence, nobody drives that fast.
Click to expand...
Found this ............
limit of 114kph & around 2017 that increased to 135kph.
 
Hey there. They do come up at auctions sometimes yeah, too rare to price. The Te, Ts, Tm appear more often.
 
Ok, a wee update.

Invoice received today from Pacific Coast for the car. This is maybe a little more expensive than normal as I have paid for a full walkaround and loads of pics. This is mainly to show here, but I wouldn't always do this on cheaper stuff. It does give me a chance to catch any major issues early and if need be, put it back through auction, but I've never had to do that yet.

So, invoice includes:

VW Lupo GTI - 300000 (£1548)
Flat Service Fee - 100000 (£516 already paid)
Auction House Fees - 17000 (£87)
Inland Transport - 36700 (£189 - this is the fee to move the car from the auction at Nagoya to the Pacific Coast Lot for video review)
Photo and Video Report - 20000 (£103)
Jevic Car History Report - 3500 (£18)
Licence Plates after dereg - Normally 11500 (£59) but this car has been deregistered already
Additional Shipping Insurance - 8000 (£41) I always add this, its just extra peace of mind
Car Shipping - 159363 (£822) Cheaper than normal, benefit of a smaller car

So that brings the total to 656063 or £3386

My deposit of 100000 comes off that, so I paid 556063 today. Ive asked them to put the original wheels back on it, it may add a small charge onto things for that, but thats pretty much everything Japan side paid.

At the cheaper end, you can send the car straight to the port avoiding some of the transport fees, ditch the added insurance, the Jevic and the Video report. That would have taken the price to 587863 or £3034

Next thing to do is just await the car video and photo report
 
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Nice thread!

There's so many cool and quirky cars in Japan, so I was going to ask why you picked a VW Lupo to buy - but didn't realise how rare they are!
 
Never had a problem yeah. Used 4 or 5 others prior and just preferred Pacific's transparent ways as well as their YouTube channels

What did you import?
 
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Great thread, I considered buying a JDM car many times over the years. There are plenty of cool JDM cars we don’t get. At the moment I very interested in the Toyota Crown with a 3.5L V6, should have bought one when I first started looking at them. Like a fool I bought a diesel Jag instead. What a mistake…..
 
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I love this thread and currently ignoring the green-goblin mask quality that comes with the site.

I’m going end up buying a Kei car aren’t I?
 
Great thread OP. I've had a bunch of JDM cars now but always bought in the UK so I can properly inspect. Never quite made the jump to importing one myself but I do fancy doing it at some point.
 
All the pics have arrived, maybe 100 or so along with videos covering:

1. Full walkaround (will be on Youtube soon and Ill share)
2. Panels
3. Interior
4. Cold start
5. Wheels and Tyres

Ive not had a chance to look at it all or watch the videos. So when I do later, I usually start taking notes of anything to add to my todo list, swap stereo, replace a bit of interior trim etc. I enjoy that side of it to be honest.

So, a few pics:


 
Yeah, it can feel like that. Most people won't do it multiple times, and is with most things, you get more comfortable
 
Ok, seems like good news overall, once on Youtube I'll share the full thing

A few notes:#
1. No signs of any minor oil leak
2. Comes with service history and documents which is a bonus
3. Tyres have 40% tread, Toyo Nanenergy, ill see how they perform but means I dont need new tyres straight away
4. Leading edge of the front bumper has its fair share of scuffs, but otherwise good overall
5. New gear gaiter and knob needed I think - minor
6. Slight sagging headliner at the front
7. Passenger window intermittent fault when going down

Quite happy overall

A few more pics





 
Only query I had after watching the videos was if it had a spare key, and it does.

Full pack of documents and a spare is a nice bonus, not that spare keys at this age are difficult, but one less thing for the todo list.

Bought a new stereo for it, will remove the JDM double din as it has different frequencies to those here in the UK. You can buy a band expander, but it still doesnt do the full UK bandings. I wanted something that fits the style so went with this cheap Blaupunkt from Amazon at a bargain £75... its lower than normal.

I'll try and find a OEM single din cubby, or failing that, just get one from Ebay

Also bought a new geat gaiter which is needed. The top of the gear knob is worn, but on most VW's you can just swap the cap. Just going to wait till closer to the time before getting one and trying it, plenty out there.

 
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