Trying to find a Legnum in Australia

[dangermouse0000]

I had the 1998 ST GDi stationwagon when I lived in New Zealand, but now I'm back in Western Australia I can't find any Legnums for sale. I also can't find any info on importing one from Japan or NZ - I have been told that Australian Design Rules and registration requirements prevent this model being imported, but there is one VR-4 for sale online in NSW.

Anyone have any ideas or information?

Thanks

[Nick Mann]

Welcome to the club.

Try searching for posts made by user Atom.

One of the most useful threads for you is probably HERE (http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5280).

[dangermouse0000]

Thanks Nick, the thread you provided the link for was very interesting, if a little depressing. I had owned my Legnum for more than one year in NZ so maybe I could have brought it back as a personal item, but the relocation company basically said that no Japanese imports get onto Australian roads and I believed them! There's not many things I miss about NZ but my Legnum is definitely one of them. The cars sold on the Australian market - including Mitsubishi - are extremely disappointing after having such a great choice in NZ. Mitsubishi Motors Australia advised me that they will be releasing a Galant model later this year, so I'll be interested to see what that has to offer.

[Nick Mann]

Atom did post his car for sale a while ago. I can't remember if he sold it or not.

I guess you will be getting a version of the 9g that is on sale in the USA. I believe that there is a ralliart version, but not sure if it is in production. I also think it was not quite as awe inspiring as the VR4 on paper. Maybe a site search would throw up a few more useful bits?

Let us know what spec the 9g is when you get it!

[aaron68nz]

This guy was selling his legnum at the start of the year. The little show/clip at this site is interesting to watch if you haven't seen it before.
http://www.remlap.net/legnum/
I have just imported my VR4 to Australia as a personal import so know all about the process. All up it cost abouut $9,000NZ to import and only imported it because my partner's company paid for it as part of her relocation deal to Australia. As a personal import you don't need to meet ADRs. You could import one maybee under the SEVS scheme.
My only concern is getting parts for my VR4. There are obviously heaps of Magnas and Lancers some parts could be used otherwise best bet would be to get them from NZ. It is good having a car practically nobody else has and have de-badged the car to further the stealth effect!

[pagan]

aaron68nz, did you import it for $9k from japan or from nz?
if from japan what was the total amount with the car?
i'm thinking about moving to australia but belive it or not the fact that there are no legnum vr4s there really affects my decision.

[bradc]

I think that was the price from NZ, once he already had the car.

If I moved to aussie I would definately definately bring my Legnum across with me.

I don't think there would be many options once you are in the country though, probably too expensive to realistically do it. Just buy yourself a Magna or a Commodore.

[pagan]

importing from japan can be cheaper since a trip is shorter and no need to pay NZ GST in additional to AU import duties

magna - commodre - no way, atleast they have evo there :)

[aaron68nz]

Pagan, I imported from NZ. You need to have owned the car for at least the last year and unless you went through some big rigmarol I doubt it could be imported from Japan unless of course you have been living there and owning one for a year. Evo's are on the ok list to import so might go for an Evo GTA when it comes to upgrading. I'm yet to know of another 8G sedan VR4 in Australia. Sure it costs a lot to bring over but the value of the car in Australia should equal at least the NZ value plus the import costs. And it aint all bad here, the new 100 octane optimax seems to really make a decent difference to the car!

[pagan]

here they say about different ways to import a car to australia
http://www.pcug.org.au/~jdeakins/
i thought it was not too bad - find a car on the auction and tell someone to do all the job or do it yourself.

NZ car price + 7k is a lot, 7k spend on mods would make the car almost twice as powerful :)
but you say that cars there are more expensive so there is not much difference if you buy one or import one... so it is not that difficult to justify sepnding such money, i feel slightly relieved now :)