Importing your own VR4...

[bernmc]

Hello all

I was wondering if any of you had gone the personal import route for a Legnum VR4, and had any recommendations?

I've got sick & tired of travelling all over the shop to see the dodgy overpriced rubbish being offered by UK dealers and importers.

I've spent the last 2 months pouring over the jap auctions, so have a reasonable idea of what I'm looking for and what to expect. I'm very tempted to import a post 97 Legnum VR4 and get a Model Report done. (Anyone know if anyone else is on the brink of doing this yet? I've contacted the big boys like modelreports.com, and they're not interested due to the limited number of Legnum imports ie. limited return on their investment.)

I've spoken to MIRA which is just around the corner from me - they'll do the necessary emissions & noise testing for around £1000, but don't generate the full report - which means I'd have to transport the car to another lab for the rest of the report. Bit of a long-winded process. Of course I don't have any idea of the market potential, so don't know how long (if ever) I'd make the money back through report rentals. Simon at Rallyart doesn't think there would be any problem getting the car through the ESVA test with the necessary speedo/fog light/fuel cap/frequency changes.

Assuming I stick to a pre-97 car, I'm torn between paying a UK agent around £500 to act on my behalf, or avoid that cost and deal direct with a Japanese auction agent. Anyone done either?

I'll keep y'all posted with how I get on anyway.

[Nick Mann]

Good luck!

I don't know of anyone who has done the whole thing themselves. The post 97 issue is an interesting point - how much do you think it would cost? There would be a small demand on facelift VR4's (late 98 onwards) but how much people would be prepared to pay for the priviledge is another thing!

I would expect the big stumbling block to be the paperwork side of things rather than the physical side of sourcing, shipping and converting.

Definitely keep us informed!

[bernmc]

Good luck!

I don't know of anyone who has done the whole thing themselves. The post 97 issue is an interesting point - how much do you think it would cost?

modelreports.com claimed that every report they comissioned cost £3-5000. I suppose that if you took the time and effort involved it might be true. It also depends on what tests you need doing. For eg, post jan 97 jap cars need emissions and noise tests. Cars with their engines behind the front axle (people carriers etc) need a steering test as well. Each test adds cost.

MIRA's bod who deals with the testing for model reports is away atm - back on Monday, so I'm waiting to speak to them. They've quoted Noise for £350, Emissions for £ 525, and a £100 admin fee. They don't generate the whole report thoug, which invoves photos of the relevant bits like cat, throttle body, ECU etc etc. I expect it'll end up being around £1500 all in.

Once a model report has being commisioned, the person that payed for the report then owns the intellectual rights to that report - no one else can use it without permission (you're free to go and produce your own report though). The report owner can then 'rent' the report out to future importers who need to ESVA the same model. So eg, if the report cost £1500 all-in, and I charged £100/rental/car, I'd need 15 cars to be imported to make the money back.

The ESVA is stricter than the old SVA, and the car compared to the model report has to be exactly the same spec, even down to wheel size. This means that if you do import a car with aftermarket mods, it'll have to be returned to standard before the SVA. Obviously, you can stick everything back on after the test!

[Nick Mann]

The ESVA is stricter than the old SVA, and the car compared to the model report has to be exactly the same spec, even down to wheel size. This means that if you do import a car with aftermarket mods, it'll have to be returned to standard before the SVA. Obviously, you can stick everything back on after the test!

Very interesting info. I would be tempted to try that or jump on board with you if I had the cash! Those numbers are less than I was led to believe, but I didn't investigate anywhere near as far as you obviously have.

From an aftermarket mods point of view, I'm sure amongst the club members we could supply a fair few standard items on a loan basis. When I was looking, that seems to be an easy way round the ESVA requirement. As you say, simply swap it all back afterwards.

Once again, good luck.

[westy]

my legnum is on it,s merry way from japan.it may need a model report so i will keep you informed what happens but i do need a standard exhaust to fit it for sva

[bernmc]

What flavour legnum have you ordered - is it manufactured (as opposed to registered) post Jan 1997?

[westy]

hi. its a purple tiptronic twin turbo .just looked and it is manufactured 1996 registered 03/97 so should be ok for model report

[bernmc]

hi. its a purple tiptronic twin turbo .just looked and it is manufactured 1996 registered 03/97 so should be ok for model report

You'll be fine then - no model report needed. Some other questions for you, if you're willing to share :
Have you used a uk agent to source, or did you go direct through a Japanese agent?
Are you planning to have the car collected and SVA'd near the docks, or are you using someone farther afield - if so, how are you planning to transport the thing? I'm trying to decide whether I should hire a vehicle trailer and collect myself - there's an SVA station near Donnington which is not to far from me, and they do a lot of legnums - or get it put on the back of a lorry.

[westy]

hi. i am registered with a japanese company who supply cars for export.they come to liverpool.i.actually do all the s.v.a stuff and registration.i have a single car transporter to collect cars.was at liverpool this week picking up a mazda mx-5. the car park was like a big toy shop.no legnums though

[bernmc]

AAARGH! FFFFF@@*$$#ing Japanese auction agents!

For a few sweet hours, I thought I had my VR4, and it was a MANUAL! Car sold for less than my maximum bid, so I thought that I must have won it. Surely?

But no - agent's excuse - the fact that it had a non-standard intercooler which wasn't mentioned on the auction sheet, so my bid was automatically cancelled. This despite the fact that I'd accepted the auction sheet which stated 'many non-standard parts', and the bonnet had EVO style vents which made it pretty obvious that there were non-standard breathing & cooling bits.

Oh well - what's another 2 months of late nights spent searching for another manual shift. Fume & spit.

[Kieran]

Which import agents are you using?

[enigma]

AAARGH! FFFFF@@*$$#ing Japanese auction agents!

For a few sweet hours, I thought I had my VR4, and it was a MANUAL! Car sold for less than my maximum bid, so I thought that I must have won it. Surely?

But no - agent's excuse - the fact that it had a non-standard intercooler which wasn't mentioned on the auction sheet, so my bid was automatically cancelled. This despite the fact that I'd accepted the auction sheet which stated 'many non-standard parts', and the bonnet had EVO style vents which made it pretty obvious that there were non-standard breathing & cooling bits.

Oh well - what's another 2 months of late nights spent searching for another manual shift. Fume & spit.

Wouldn't a car with all these mods kind of shaft your model report plans?

[bernmc]

Which import agents are you using?

At the moment, Autoadvan, who are a British front for several Japanese partners. I'm not sure that they're worth their fee - they charge £400 for their service which includes access to the full ASNET auction feed - covers most of the legitimate Japanese auctions. However, they also charge £5/auction sheet translation, and £10 to place your bid. You do everything else yourself - scour the auctions, check for cars every day etc etc.

Considering there are a whole host of Import agents in the UK who do everything (ie you say 'Find me a black 96 Mitso Legnum VR4 with less than 80000km )for you for a total charge of £500, value for money it is not. The only reason I'm putting up with them atm is that they had a Christmas special fee of £300. hmmf

[bernmc]

Wouldn't a car with all these mods kind of shaft your model report plans?

It was a 1996, so no report needed. I've just spoken to Nicole Fraser at MIRA re model reports, and am waiting for her to email me with a full lists of costs. Unfortunately, the costs she's quoted are quite a bit more than the 1st MIRA person I spoke to. Once I get the email, I'll post it all here for reference as I'm sure the question's going to keep coming up now that the ESVA exists.

[enigma]

I am wondering whether or not we as a club should look in to model reports and sourcing late VR4s from Japan...................... :rolleyes5

There has got to be a market for it!

[dcuk]

I imported a 96 Saloon and I didn't need any model report for the SVA. Would your car come with any warranty/MOT?

[bernmc]

I imported a 96 Saloon and I didn't need any model report for the SVA. Would your car come with any warranty/MOT?

You only need model reports for cars manufactured from 01 January 1997.

You don't get a warranty but the Japanese auction laws are very strict - all cars are inspected by an engineer, and you have a certain amount of comeback if they misrepresent or miss things on the auction sheet -

If a vehicle has been purchased and there is a defect not mentioned on the auction sheet then a claim can be made by the customer to the Auction hall

. There are certain exemptions which I won't go into here. The way I'm doing things, SVA, Registration & MOT would be my responsibility.

[dcuk]

Have you taken into account CIF, tax, modification, test + plenty of hassle into your total cost? Could you not find any of similar cost in the UK? Vr4s are much cheaper than it used to be in the uk.

However, I wouldn't say UK agents are overpriced compare to a Japanese agent, and if anything is not up to standard you'll know where to go.

[Kieran]

I am wondering whether or not we as a club should look in to model reports and sourcing late VR4s from Japan...................... :rolleyes5

There has got to be a market for it!

I was thinking this the other night, funnily enough - Unless someone does do a model report, VR-4 imports will effectively dry up once all the 1996 models are gone, as I've not seen a model report for the Galant yet...

/EDIT

What has to go into a model report that will get through the ESVA then? Can we use a VR-4 that's already over here?

[bernmc]

Have you taken into account CIF, tax, modification, test + plenty of hassle into your total cost? Could you not find any of similar cost in the UK? Vr4s are much cheaper than it used to be in the uk

A good point. It's important to point out that as a private buyer, you are very unlikely to be able to import a VR4 from Japan for less than they are being offered by UK dealers here. This is because the dealers (who currently import around 50000 japanese vehicles into the uk / annum) benefit from lower Jap auction agent fees, and it is a lot cheaper to ship cars by the container-load than it is to ship individual cars. Offsetting this is the fact that as a private buyer you don't need to make 2 grand on every car you import, so you can afford to pay a slightly higher auction price than a dealer would be happy with.

The reason I've abandoned UK dealers is because I've seen nothing but tat in my price range (£6k), and they all seem to have some excuse for not having the original Jap Auction Sheet - which majkes me suspicios as to the original state of the car. So-called warranties are usually not worth the paper that theyre written on.

At least by buying direct from a Japanese Auction, I get to see the Auction Sheet, so I know for eg I'm buying a grade 4b car that's been inspected by someone who knows what they're doing.

Yes there'll be plenty of hassle with collection and testing, but again, I'll be able to choose who I get to do all the work, so I'll know exactly what has been done and how.

Of course, if a gem of a car turns up on my local dealer's forecourt in the meantime, I'll snap it up!