Hey guys its almost time for me to get an FD here in Japan, my budget will be around 500 000, lower if possible and i will be looking a for a tidy example to drive around over here and then possible take back home to Australia.

My question is, is it better to buy from an Auction like in Kobe or from a local Sale yard.

-Initially i thought Auction because i could get a nicer FD for my money, but there are draw backs to buying from an Auction. I dont know anything about the cars history, nor will it come with any warranty, incase the turbos die on the first day, right? Plus a sale yard would do the registering for me as well, which could save alot of effort!

Can i trust an Auction?

Where does everyone buy there FDs over here?

William

 

your budget is kind of low if you plan on having it registered and street ready for 500,000. If you were talking just the purchase price for 500,000 and you have more to spend on shaken and insurance then that is reasonable. If you don't mind me asking how in tune to rotaries are you? You need to do some research on what you need to look for when buying the car. Also unless you have a connection to the auction you wont be buying from there cause any random guy cant just walk in and buy at the auctions. Plus a lot of auction cars are put to auction for a reason. Majority of the cars are not there from insurance claims or repo or theft recovere like they are in the states. The auctions are a source for getting rid of junk, crashed, or problematic cars when it comes to FD's and other sports cars. Don't get me wrong you can get some amazing cars from the auction but usually when good car pops up most of the buyers know it and the price shows how good the car is.
I would say you may have the most luck shopping at some used car dealers or even tuners.
Good luck!

 

you'll need a mill to get a good one - trust me - I've been following the market for four years. I bought four cars in my first four years here (including an FD), I've worked for a car yard, and I've met several auction-savvy people (never bothered with that option myself - as, like anywhere, that's where they take cars that they can't shift on the domestic market - usually, that means the runts). In all that time, I've never seen a 500k FD that I would even spit on.

However... you might be able to find a goodie which has ~100k km - price drops massively, regardless of the overall quality of the car, at those kms. Bear in mind, though, that you're going to have to factor in a rebuild sooner, rather than later (only bonus is the cheap buy-in price). Stay away from the version I FDs (91-mid 93) they have the worst reputation of the lot (like any first-run model).

Cheap FDs are as real gamble a personal import 12 month runabout. Pay-off is good though (not as good as it used to be).

Given that taking advantage of the personal import regs is a factor (so you're not going to be wanting something as common as a skyline, wrx or silvia), I'm not sure what kind of car I would recommend. GTi-R comes to mind - but they are incredibly rare these days. There really is SFA at that end of the spectrum. Maybe an early GTO? (but they're often more run-down than the FDs these days, and more problematic). You might get really lucky and find a high km JZA80 supra. MR2 turbo is definitely possible. An older aristo is a good choice, if you don't mind the auto. Perhaps the best bet might be an early evo.

FD = financial difficulties.

If you do decide to take the risk - good luck!

 

For 500000 its gonna be difficult to get one that doesnt have some major issues or will be in need of a rebuild, but its not impossible. You should look at both austions and car yards, car yard would be easier for you, but with that price you must look at everything and you cant afford to be to picky.

Here are some things to consider:

- The car may or may not have shaken on it when you buy it from a car yard, if it doesn't your looking at another 100000 or more depending on what needs to be done, plus theres the registration paperwork that also costs money and insurance... Basically if you buy from a car yard or auction and it says "2 years attaching" it means there is no shaken and you will have to fork out... which is basically 200000 on top of the price.

- Unless your are military don't even bother buying a car from one of them because they have special plates and they dont pay tax on their cars, so if you get it you'll have to pay the tax off it plus all the other ****.

- Fd's are expensive to run and the only reason why I can afford to is because I do all work on it myself, I have lots and lots of tools - due to my uncle being a motorbike mechanic and I dont have to pay a lot of the normal living expenses (apart from my apartment) that others must because I have family here. I have a mate that has a wikid car, but he can't afford to run it so its MO TAI NAI... it just sits in the space... buy a car you can afford... the fun of driving the car is whats important after all. There are lots of other good cars you could find an alright s13 for that money or there are plenty of other options like Dai suggested. If you get a car you cant afford its gonna be more of a head-**** then fun.

- Don't necessarily stay away from 91-93 models... they are cheaper after all, and they may be in decent condition, they may have some bad points, but if you are going to be driving hard, these are the things you would change anyway, like radiator brakes etc. and parts are easy to get and cheaper then back home in aus.

- The other thing to consider is what are you going to be using the car for, will you use it for thrash or will you just fairy it around??? IF your gonna do the thrash or drift.. chances are your gonna rag out so you dont need a real clean body but if you are going to be just pimping around in it one with high K's may be ok - also yo can get NA FD's which are a lot cheaper and cheaper to run.

- If you are planning to take it back to Aus as a registerable car, Make sure the chassis is straight, you won't pass the clearence in aus if it has any damage.

- Dont worry about how powerful it is, insurance is only on AGE, unlike aus... so if you can find a good one with a nice snail on it get it... the price on isurance will be the same as a stock one.

- Make sure you drive it or get driven in it with the stereo off, while hes telling you how good the fd is, just listen to the car. There was one instance when I went to look at a car with my cousin, and he kept appologising to the dude cos I was taking to long going over the car... dont worry. Take as long as you want, cos I am 22 I had a lot of dudes try to put **** past me cos they thought I was clueless, so make sure you have a good inspection and of course try to get the compression if you can! (oh try to take a japanese person with you to translate the more tricky questions, or if you dont speak any japanese DEFINATELY take a japanese person with you to translate)

- One last thing, if I was you I would try to get a stock one with minimal mods... more of a chance that it has not been thrashed that hard, and as I said before parts are cheap and easy to get compared with aus.

I hope this helps dude, your a fellow aussie so I thought I'd help out and I was in the same position as you a few weeks ago..apart from having a quite a bit more *****

If I were you I would try to save more. but anyways...

GAMBATTE! let us know how it goes.

 

First of all thanks very much for the replies, im gonna need all the help i can get. I wont be buying anything until around May or June, because im still gotta sort out license stuff.

- Ive basically been using goo to help with a rough estimate of car prices in sale yards, and i know some people involved in auctions, who told me i could probably get a decent FD for around that price. I was kind of hoping to get an FD with at least 1 year of Shaken.

Heres some FDs from goo that a possibles for me

This first one is for 580,000, type R with 66,000 kms

This second one is for 480,000, type R with 99,000 kms



This third one is for 390, 000, it has 94, 000 kms and is type R.



- Insurance i will pay monthly if possible, and will work it out after the purchase, im guessing around 10,000 yen a month?? Im 24!


- i would only be using the car perhaps once a week, for a cruise on Sundays, with the occasional red line punch through the local hills, but i wont be thrashing the car or doing many kilometers.

Well im not that much in tune with rotaries, apart from the basic knowledge of how they function, can can give me some advice?

I was kind of hoping that if i purchase the right car, and am not driving it hard, then nothing should go wrong during the 1 year of ownership,...!!!?



When you say this, how are they expensive to run? Do you mean when things break they can cost a fortune?


Well i kind of narrowed it down to the Evo 3 and the FD. I just felt if im gonna drive it around for a year then i would prefer the FD as it is definitely my dream car and i reckon more enjoyable to drive.

I love aristos, but unfortunately anything listed under the SEVS importation scheme costs a lot more money as i will have to comply and pay extra taxes. Whereas FD i do not, apart from basic compliance measures like seatbelts and tyres.



Does anyone else have ideas where i should look for cars, like tuners or such, in western honshu.

 

You can import any car you want to australia dude! even an aristo, just as long as you haved owned it for one year here. I have emails from the government, if you want me to forward them you, saying I can import any car I want as a "personal import" just as long as I have owned it fro a year.

Also if you are on a tight budget, you have to be careful of where you buy the car from. That Rabbbit RX-7 shop is in Osaka and that second FD is in Kanagawa. I actually went to that shop to look at another RX-7. If you buy from a shop far from you your gonna have to pay for shipping it or driving it back and travell expenses back which means tolls, petrol and possible head ****.

I had a lot of people tell me I could buy a crazy FD for 500000 but when I looked at them they all turned out to be **** boxes. People talk **** cos its easy to.

Insurance for you will cost around 15000 per month I think since you are under 25, but it wont cover your car.

Its not that things arent really expensive to fix if you break something, if you know your way around a car then FD is almost the same as any other car. Costs come from the labour that you would have to pay to get something fixed if you dont have the mechanical skills to fix it yourself or the hook ups. Its the fuel costs etc, but if you only got a drive it once per week, that snot really an issue.

Other things to think about, have you got yourself a registered hanko or a parking space? Even if you get the car it wont be in your name untill you get these.

Have you thought about an FC or a Ae86? Fcs are wikid fun and AE86 would be economical but old skool cool.

 

yeah got me a car park..freeeeee and hanko!

Thanks guys with all the help, i will keep this thread updated as i go

 

500,000 = shitboxes. Seriously. If you're in the kansai area send me a PM and I'll take you for a spin in mine (not a shitbox, lol) - then you won't waste your time on something less. Mine leaves for oz in mid-April (after 4 years of ownership, and "I don't want to talk about it" $$$ spent).

 

my rx7 has just landed in aus. shipping from yokohama to Adelaide was AU$960 RORO and taxes and customs fees were $2000. so 3grand all up. i still need to get it inspected ready for rego.

funnily enough the quarantine guy said 90% of the cars coming from Japan dont start and was surprised that mind did even after 6 months of storage. The worse part about RORO is that if your car doesnt start they ALWAYS find a way to move it.

 

^^^^ what does that infer? I'd assume they would just release the handbrake and tow the car???

Secondly what is RORO?

 

roll on, roll off

just like a car ferry, they drive them in and park them very very close together

if a car doesn't want to start, floods whatever, (BIG possibility if it's 7 and someone previously just started it to drive a few feet) then it has to be dragged out of the way so the rest of the cars can be unloaded pronto

eric e

 

Great Post ALEX 7
Also bigwilie styles or others please jump in.

You mentioned any car can be imported into oz.
I will be sending a car back to oz which i Have owned here in Japan several years. Do I need to be an Australian citizen or is being a permanent resident sufficient.

I thought if I got someone to buy at auction a car with a grade of 5.0 or higher then I wouldn't likely be buying a lemon. In that case do you still think buying at a car yard is better. I have only bought 1 car at a car yard in Fukuoka. I tried pretty hard to get the price lowered but it was very different to Oz where 25 % was dropped almost buy asking.
They dropped about 4 %. Maybe it was my lack of skill, but I also had a native speaker with me. however big discount stores don't seem to give the discounts either.
You might squeeze 5% or a littler more but it sems the rare exception.
,. There seems an agreed price on things so most stores never go below
Whats the story for successfully dealing with car yards here in Japan?
If a car is advertised for 1 million yen what is a realistic purchase price with haggling? Could the same % discount estimate be used for a 2 million yen vehicle.
I relise its a vague question but throw in your 2 cents worth.
I was thinking of sending 2 cars back RORO but I also have personal effects of a family so I thought a40 foot container which might be overkill. I need to ring around but its still a year off.
I was thinking of importing from japan a car model that was reasonably popular so spare parts wouldn't be a problem. Is there any reason why, if I bought a car then applied for a personal import license 6months down th track, that I would be denied that licence?

I have also heard , but unconfirmed that the Japanese tyres have a softer compound and need to be replaced when trying to be registered in Australia. Is this false?

 

wow this is an old thread, i bought my car through a caryard, only cause it worked out easier as they did all the paperwork for shaken and carpark. I picked up a really nice car too at a great price. The Suzuki dealership got it as a trade in car and were happy to give me a big discount after i asked what the bottom line price could be. Didnt really take much haggling.

Your asking too many questions for me. Are you an Australian citizen? If you can prove that you owned the car for more than 1 year withing Japan then the car is illegible to be exported. All info can be found from DOTARS websit http://www.dotars.gov.au/roads/safet...importing.aspx

Your only allowed to send back one car a year. But if the car is on the import register like SEVS, you can bring the car back and the car will have to be fully complianced and returned to stock.

They will knock you back on import approval if you dont meet the requirements and cant prove you owned and used the car for atleast a year. You have to prove you paid insurance, shaken, carpark fees, and have registration and de-registration forms in your name.

Once the car is back in Australia, you will need to have the car complianced. This is a simple compliance, so im told, and just requires the car to be roadworthy. I think in the FDrx7, the seat belts have to be changes and the mirrors and thats about it. And yes tyres will likely have to be replaced unless they meet ADR requirements.

If you ever want to buy from an Auction, i have a good car agent who can search for a car for you.

Check out nissansilvia.com forums under imports, at the top of the page their is a sticky on personal imports which is 70 percent me asking questions

You can pay and imported to import the car and do all the paperwork and organize compliance.

What cars do you want to export?

Will

 

I tried to pm you but I need another 19 posts to qualify.
can you send me your email address re an agent?
cheers