buying a japanese porsche in the uk

buying a japanese porsche in the uk

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kayo

Original Poster:

4 posts

52 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
quotequote all
hi, i was after some advice. ive seen a japanese panamera, but wasnt sure on the resale value, servicing (seems less of a issue), and any other quirks that may occur. can anyone advise, the cars valued at 38k on webuyanycar, then when i change it to japanese spec its at 20k. is there anything i should be worried about if i do buy it?

samoht

6,290 posts

153 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
quotequote all
Need a bit more explanation. When you say 'a Japanese Panamera', I presume you mean one first sold in Japan. Where is the car currently? Has it been registered and used in the UK ?

In general with cars imported secondhand from Japan, off the top of my head
- 112 mph speed limiter (sometimes removed on import)
- no rear foglight (fitted to pass SVA/MOT)
- speedo, odo in km/h (sometimes converted or may be switchable)
- spec may be different in more and less obvious ways
- may restrict your choice of insurers
- road tax may be different as imports fall into a catch-all 'PLG' category (the regular EU cars may be higher or lower)
- satnav may be Japan only ?
- radio tuned for Japanese frequencies, the top of their range is the bottom of ours so limits you to Radio 2 (often an aftermarket head unit is fitted)

I don't know what year this car is, some of the above may not apply on newer cars, alternately new cars could have other issues.

Also check that it's RHD - despite Japan being a RHD country, they often order their imported cars in LHD to make them 'more foreign' and thus more ostentatious.

kayo

Original Poster:

4 posts

52 months

Wednesday 29th July 2020
quotequote all
its a 2016 number plate, appreicate the info regarding the limiter, not something i was aware of.

Axeboy

362 posts

127 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
Webuyanycar wont really want it hence the price difference, its really just a red flag for them

Samo above hits all the main points bang on. Tax will likely be cheaper which is a bonus but unless its a super rare spec then its likely not worth the trouble unless you are looking to keep it for quite some time.




swampy442

1,481 posts

218 months

Friday 31st July 2020
quotequote all
With so many being available in the UK, why bother with the risk?

I could see the attraction of importing an older car for the rust/condition aspect, but for a 4 year old car?