buying/importing a car yourself from Japan?

[A44RON]

Hi all,

I've noticed the last couple of months there isn't much stock around at all in NZ, so figured I'd rather cut out the dealer mark-ups and buy an exact model and spec I want directly from Japan myself - or failing that, the UK - and save some $$$$ in the process.

Has anyone on here done it yourself? How difficult is it? Do you need to be a licensed motor vehicle trader to buy from the auctions there etc?

I'm after an E60 M5 or M6 coupe

Thanks

[mark387mw]

I’ve only imported from the USA and dealt with the dealer over there and a shipper over here.
Doesn’t really answer your question but this guy on Facebook might be able to help.
www.svjpn.com
https://www.facebook.com/SVJapan/

He used to advertise on trademe a lot but now he only seems to buy to order and ships direct to the new owner.
I’ve not used him but I’m sure it’s a good place to start.

[A44RON]

mark387mw said:

I’ve only imported from the USA and dealt with the dealer over there and a shipper over here.
Doesn’t really answer your question but this guy on Facebook might be able to help.
www.svjpn.com
https://www.facebook.com/SVJapan/

He used to advertise on trademe a lot but now he only seems to buy to order and ships direct to the new owner.
I’ve not used him but I’m sure it’s a good place to start.

thanks Mark, I'll contact him too.

I've also found importyourcar.co.nz - not sure how good they are, but the example savings on their website sound reasonable

[dobly]

I bought my JDM-only Honda NSX Type S directly from Japan in 2014 - I had been searching for a car of the exact spec and colour for about 2 years.
I found it via kuruna-ex.jp which is (i think) the biggest car sales listing site over there. The car was at Route-KS.com, and they had an English speaker affiliated to them (proslink.jp) who sent me emails, loads of photos and answered all of my questions, as the staff there in Suzuka do not speak English. He also arranged the (container) shipping to my local port. Was sent pictures of car being loaded into the container, given container tracking number, vessel names, routes, dates etc. so could follow movement from Yokohama to Singapore then down to NZ.
I used IFL.co.nz as the import agent - I knew them through work.
Once the container arrived at Port Chalmers, it was cleared and transported to me the next day.
All very painless except the GST bill...

[A44RON]

dobly said:

I bought my JDM-only Honda NSX Type S directly from Japan in 2014 - I had been searching for a car of the exact spec and colour for about 2 years.
I found it via kuruna-ex.jp which is (i think) the biggest car sales listing site over there. The car was at Route-KS.com, and they had an English speaker affiliated to them (proslink.jp) who sent me emails, loads of photos and answered all of my questions, as the staff there in Suzuka do not speak English. He also arranged the (container) shipping to my local port. Was sent pictures of car being loaded into the container, given container tracking number, vessel names, routes, dates etc. so could follow movement from Yokohama to Singapore then down to NZ.
I used IFL.co.nz as the import agent - I knew them through work.
Once the container arrived at Port Chalmers, it was cleared and transported to me the next day.
All very painless except the GST bill...

thanks Dobly, sounds great. I'll have a look at them too...

I know shipping/freight would be more expensive now compared to several years ago, but hopefully it's still viable and works out cheaper

[skedaddle]

Did you go ahead with importing a car into NZ as I'm thinking about it too?