Thought it might be neighbourly to pass on some points from my experience attempting to buy a newly imported Eunos from a trader:
The trader will have to provide a registration for you to tax the car, use this to immediately check the MOT history for free with the DVLA. There will only be one MOT, but all failures and advisories will be listed. I'd expect a newly imported used car to fail an MOT comprehensively, fair enough if checked immediately on arrival, but draw some conclusions with the timescale the failures and advisories are corrected in (overnight in my case).
When you see the car, so far as possible check those defects and advisories have been corrected and any other work paid for actually done. If not, ask yourself why not, are oversights by professionals likely? Is it likely your customer service experience will improve after purchase?
Take a big bottle of fresh water to pour slowly over the new hood. Look behind and under the doors to confirm the drains have actually been cleared as promised. Also check the boot and behind the seats for water to get some confidence the rain rail hasn't cracked & been bodge taped together.
If the trader has been difficult to contact before purchase ask yourself whether they're likely to be any more contactable afterward (see the second point). Don't ignore this point.
In short, don't assume the work you've agreed will have been done, check it. Also, remember there's lots of good, free, advice available online for returning a car and recovering your money should it be required. Of course much of the above is just standard buying advice, I think in hindsight the biggest mistake was to assume that work was done because it had been paid for.
Good luck should you choose this option, hopefully I was merely unlucky.
Exactly, I specifically wanted to be more constructive than starting a row.
I think there is a fair market for charging over the odds to bring a car in and prepare it, went into that part with open eyes. My mistake was to trust without checking. Hopefully if future customers arrive better prepared then the service will improve.
I’m sorry we had similar experiences, caused a lot of strain in my house but no permanent damage luckily. Not pleasant.
<<I’d expect a newly imported used car to fail an MOT comprehensively>>
Why? Sweeping generalisation?
My newly imported Eunos passed its first UK MoT three days after arriving in the UK - with no advisories. Only work done was a good check-over, a service, four new tyres - and a rear fog fitted.
In my lifetime I think I have imported 20 cars from Japan. Never had any problem with them for the MOT apart from tyres and rear fog lights. Cars in Japan have a “shaken” test every 2 years and due to the cost low value/ old cars are uneconomic so are sent to auction. No private sales allowed in Japan. When they are at auction they are given a full examination and graded according from 5 to 1 with R being reserved for accident damage.
So if you are buying from Japan you will usually buy from auction with these grades clearly shown. However there are “dealers” who may be less than honest in their description and will not show the auction sheet. So if importing a car from Japan use the auction sites with the help of a dealer who will charge a fee to bid on your behalf.
I would be interested to know which dealers would perform the service of bidding on a customers behalf and what they charge.
There are several who buy cars for themselves and then sell on to customers, possibly to spec but the idea of an informed dealer performing a bidding service is much more attractive. Autolink use facebook to do interesting reports on Japanese auction cars but do not think they normally bid on behalf of customers?
Certainly there was an importer who admitted to me he would through the auction sheets and any service documents away as “people ask too many questions”. He went out of business, or worse considering how that business collapsed, and those involved doing a runner.
At one time, a lot of the importers were going no further than Dublin or Southampton docks, and picking up what ever was lying around the docks. Mototec in Dublin used to seemingly bulk buy the cars, 3-400 cars a time, and dealers came over from England to buy. The yard looked a bit like a scrapyard at times, and the cars would be rammed bumper to bumper, touching. All sorts of rubbish. Nearly all the cars would end up in England. I went there in looking for a Roadster, and many looked to me to be unroadworthy (mostly body damage as I recall).
Autolinkuk used to do that for about £100 a car some years back. Payment was in various stages; payment to buy the car at auction, and upon delivery, with various guarantees that if you didn’t want the car, Autolink would. The difference was that your money is tied up at sea, not theirs. Customer tells them what they want. Japatrans did the same. Its a scarey process for anyone who thinks at the end of it they will be receiving a showroom fresh car delivered to them, that needs no work.
Most of these importers would require you to wire money to some bank in Japan. At least Autolinkuk can do it by regular card payment. Stick it on the Flexible Firend and you will have some protection,
I think they are graded 1 to 6 now, and the system is a bit shakey at times; a Grade 4 car might be in terrific condition, or it might arrive here, needing a 9 panel repaint. But we can only take a Janet and Jill approach to understanding these sheets, as we will have no clue what all the scribbled notes will mean
My car came via Autolink - won at auction December 2014, arrived Southampton docks March 2015.
I wanted a specific Eunos model, and asked Andrew @ Autolink to look out for one. I knew Autolink from previous spares buying, (they’re fairly local to me) and trusted them. Andrew (and the internet) explained the Grading process used in Japanese auctions. We looked for only a Grade 4 or better. An example of a VR-Limited in the right colour cropped up at auction within a week (pure chance, given the very few that I’ve subsequently seen). Andrew guided me on the auction price he thought it would go for. Was well within my budget, so we decided an upper limit. Andrew has/had a contact in Japan who was able to read the Japanese notes on the auction sheet, and advise. Although there was of course an element of uncertainty (I’d never bought a car unseen, let alone one from the other side of the world) for me it was quite an exciting process - and the car turned out to be a belter, in better condition than I’d hoped, and (unusually) full Japanese Mazda service history.
Before Autolink bid on the car, Andrew asked me for a payment of £250, as a mark of serious intent, and to cover their costs if they won the auction but I changed my mind. Once we won the car, I paid them the total costs of auction and transport to Japanese dockside, less the £250.
Aside from the other costs (shipping, import duty, VAT, UK-side docks clearance, registering with DVLA, Service & MoT, payable when I collected the car) - Autolink charged me a fee for their services of £250.
Andrew is currently in the process of moving the business to Scotland, but still has the premises (and some staff) in Hampshire, and still brings in the occasional unusual Eunos, Roadster - or other Japanese oddity. It’s certainly worth contacting him and having a chat, if anyone is really serious about having a ‘fresh’ Japanese import.
Very pleased this went well for you Steve and £250 is money well spent for some hand holding through this process,
I imagine a good VR limited bought in 2014 is now showing a significant paper profit:-)
It surprises me that Andy is moving the business up to Scotland, The current location in Hampshire may appear to be in the sticks but is close to everywhere that counts.
I’d say so yes really - no comparison between proximity to London and proximity to big access roads in a sparsely populated country with half the population of densely populated London.
Logistics and other issues obviously going to make business more difficult too.
Surely he will keep the Southampton hub going under new management.