Buying a French classic in Japan

Hi :)
I know this thread is a bit old and has been resurrected by a newbee but my :2cents:.
I have in my family a 2000 model Toyota Regius 8 seater, that was imported commercially probably 10+ years ago. I bought it some years after that and then some years later passed it to my daughter. She loves it ! I service it and it has been almost trouble free and has no rust to worry about. She cleans it once a year :rolleyes: It looks like it will keep going for quite a while yet. The kids love the space and versatile seating. We had an earlier model before that for a couple of years.
My point being that there are certainly quality cars in Japan that go up for auction, that work well and go well and will not rust out quickly. I would be happy to buy a favourite car there and import it if the price worked out OK. I still look sometimes. ;)
Jaahn
 
RINGER said:
there were hassles about the wood packaging. Exactly the same packaging as dealer ones on the market here @ that time but that didn't matter.
Bureaucrats, not getting free lunches, can make things as difficult as they want.
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Better not buy a car with walnut trim then! 😉

Seriously though, it was the same in the export beef industry, half the time the importer and our AQIS inspectors were more concerned about the dunnage we used to protect the load than they were about the product itself.🤷‍♂️

I've had a few Japanese imports (all Japanese made though) and rust was non-existent in all of them.
 
Greenpeace said:
Better not buy a car with walnut trim then! 😉

Seriously though, it was the same in the export beef industry, half the time the importer and our AQIS inspectors were more concerned about the dunnage we used to protect the load than they were about the product itself.🤷‍♂️

I've had a few Japanese imports (all Japanese made though) and rust was non-existent in all of them.
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The idea of importing a petrol C6 from Japan is intriguing, but I note the following from the presitigemotorsport site:
QUICK TEST – If the SAME vehicle year / model / configuration was SOLD NEW in Australia AND it is younger than 25 years, then it CANNOT BE IMPORTED.
I see from Redbook that the petrol model was available from 2006 through 2008. From Wikipedia I see that:
"The 3.0 V6 petrol engine model was discontinued by Citroen in February 2009".
I have seen petrol C6s for sale in Japan that state dates of 2009 or 2010. I'm assuming that these dates must be the equivalent of compliance plate date?
Is there any scope for getting past the restrictions?
 
gwest said:
The idea of importing a petrol C6 from Japan is intriguing, but I note the following from the presitigemotorsport site:
QUICK TEST – If the SAME vehicle year / model / configuration was SOLD NEW in Australia AND it is younger than 25 years, then it CANNOT BE IMPORTED.
I see from Redbook that the petrol model was available from 2006 through 2008. From Wikipedia I see that:
"The 3.0 V6 petrol engine model was discontinued by Citroen in February 2009".
I have seen petrol C6s for sale in Japan that state dates of 2009 or 2010. I'm assuming that these dates must be the equivalent of compliance plate date?
Is there any scope for getting past the restrictions?
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Hmm I might be interested in an answer too. Some sales sites say "Please check import regulation of your country for this unit before placing the order." or similar statement. EG If i wanted a C5 aircross with a diesel motor, these were not offered or sold in Australia. Wold there be a case to be made for allowing an import even though they are only several years old. The diesel has a more generous towing capacity so you could tow a small van.
Any experts on the import regs here ??

Greenpeace said "I've had a few Japanese imports (all Japanese made though) and rust was non-existent in all of them."
I have seen cheap imports overseas that had rust due to the inclement area they came from, and salting of roads in winter, so that is not necessarily a given for all Japanese cars at auction. Check pictures and condition report. Like all Jap cars the paint is good but thin and when it is breached the cancer spreads. In the Pacific islands it spreads fast !

Note that there are not many private cars in Japan. Most are corporate owned and used a bonus for the employee. They are often never serviced after the first service and possibly never had an oil change nor anything else much done as they know they will be sold off. Hmm I have seen oil like grease and top end wear like you would not believe. Cams worn 3 mm into the heads. Rattley !! Cam oil seals leaking profusley onto the cam belt. Be careful !
Jaahn
 
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What desireable current French BEV/HEV & PHEV models are available [being auctioned?] in Japan that are not in Australia?
 
RINGER said:
What desireable current French BEV/HEV & PHEV models are available [being auctioned?] in Japan that are not in Australia?
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Well my example is the newer Citroen C5 range. Here we were only offered one model Aircross with two trim levels and one model in the C5X. Overseas and Japan they had engine choices and PHEV. As I said the diesel engines had a greater weight allowance for towing, 1600kg, just enough for a modest caravan for example as opposed to 1200kg, not enough for decent one and any luggage. There may be other models that people might like too but I have not studied them. I was interested in the Citroen comfort suspension shocks.
jaahn
 
From my reading of the information on several local importing sites there is Buckley's hope of ever importing a modern French vehicle from Japan. The following are loose excerpts from the j-spec.com.au site

SPECIAL ENTHUSIAST VEHICLE SCHEME (SEVS)

This is by far the most common form of compliance needed for imported cars into Australia as this SEVS compliance is necessary for any car newer than 1988. SEVS compliance work can only be done by a Registered Automotive Workshop (RAW) and only some cars are eligible for import and compliance under SEVS. Vehicles which are eligible for SEVS importation are typically high performance vehicles (there is a minimum power-to-weight ratio restriction) or those with unique design features, and were not sold locally by manufacturers on the Australian market. Cars sold with a different engine variant in Japan than in Australia are not considered sufficiently different to be eligible for import.

Vehicles on the SEVS eligibility list are still only able to be imported to Australia once a RAWS workshop has collected the evidence necessary to apply to DOTARS, then imported, complied and had a test vehicle passed in order to get that model on their schedule for compliance. Since it is quite a costly process to collect this evidence, although some models of cars are eligible under SEVS, if there is not great demand for them it is unlikely a RAW will ever be able to comply them as they will not recoup their initial investment. You are not permitted to do the compliance work yourself under SEVS.
 
This was a stitch up job by the FCAI which is largely controlled by Toyota and the big dealers. There was a push to allow parrarell imports, and allow recognition of certification to eu and Japanese standards (because both are more stringent!).

But of course the big business lobbied the LNP and they immediately sided with the consumer haahahaha sorry I mean with their corporate mates.

There also appears to have been a lot of ignorance in the departments that made them easy targets for FCAIs self serving bullshit… If there is a second Labour term, they may be less timid and there may be an opportunity to fix this nonsense especially for enthusiast vehicles.
 
5008s - first generation but face lifted - were available there while the model had a hiatus here ... just not usually diesel.
 
Just got back yesterday from a few weeks in NZ. Spotting interesting cars is a full-time occupation there.

I was surprised at the number of used, ex-Japan European cars that were in the dealers. One place had heaps of VW Golfs, some choice of trim levels including RS versions. Also we saw a few VW Sharans and Tourans. Ex-Japan Smart ForFour (much later version than was sold here) caught my eye, bright orange colour and cute styling.
Here it is... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/smart/forfour/listing/4013864674

I also saw a couple of Ex-Japan Peugeot 307s, one was for sale at about NZ$3000. It had already been owned in NZ for years, 1.6 HDi, about 200,000 km.

On a previous trip we hired an ex-Japan Renault Megane, 1.2 turbo with whatever Renault calls a DSG. It was a lovely car to drive, its DSG was better than my VW. (The rental company were crooks though, and that company no longer exists... but that's another story.)

In NZ, both Toyota and Nissan (at least, may be other Japanese manufacturers too??) have embraced the JDM import thing, and offer "factory approved" JDM used cars which are for sale right alongside their brand new cars. They have generous factory warranty.
When we were there last year, we hired a Toyota Aqua which is the JDM and NZ name for Toyota Prius C, basically it's a hybrid Yaris. The car we hired was bought by the rental company from Toyota NZ as a "factory approved" used import, the deal includes 5 year warranty on the hybrid's battery. Intriguing little car but awful to drive. This time we hired a Mazda Demio (JDM name for Mazda 2) which was older and not a hybrid, but much more pleasant to drive. It had some Japanese characters in the dashboard displays, mixed with enough English to be comprehensible.

I did get a glimpse of some Citroen and Peugeot EVs (New, not JDM) at the Christchurch Pug/Cit dealer, they had "$15000 off" written on the windscreens...

I hope Australia comes to its senses, no point regulating to protect an industry that no longer exists here.
 
Agree with the second part, on the coast and south.

I have pics somewhere of deep snow near Izumo-shi, on the lowlands, not the mountains, at a guess 5 years ago, with the road being cleared for some cars to follow the tractor after a storm. In the south it is more likely confined to mountainous parts.
 
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