The other common insurance issue for import owners is that very often they will not be provided with a courtesy car in the event of a claim (justified along the lines that imports need to have parts ordered from Japan).
As usual with insurance, individual circumstances greatly affect both the premium, as well as the available products. These circumstances include age, address, job, driving record.
In some parts of the UK, it has been an historic truth that the insurance products available have been very restricted; the obvious example is Northern Ireland (not for the reasons you might think; the main reason is that NI juries can set damages, leading to higher damages payouts). For a long time, there was only 1 broker willing to insure imports, and, it nearly became none, after McWhirters decided to withdraw cover from imports, but thankfully, Aon, in conjunction with the OC, launched their Roadster policy, that included NI.
Although for me, the extra premium to insure a Roadster has shrunk over the years, I have to be mindful this has coincided with my approach into middle age. I was somewhat shocked to find out that in 6 years time, I can start making use of Age Concern’s services. I was in my 20s when I brought my first Roadster… So whats true for me now, is not necessarily true for others. I can say if you own a 1996 Roadster, live in a LU7 postcode, with a drive, 44 years old, no points, but a few claims over the years, and work as a research scientist, the extra cost amounts to a few tens of pounds.
TW Whites are a major dealer in NB automatics; although they are an official Mazda dealer, I do see that they sell imports as well (as a matter of fact, my present Roadster was imported by them in 2000).
Don’t assume automatics have been driven carefully. Go and have a look at Minkara, a Japanese car enthusiast site, and you will find plenty of automatics that are regularly ragged around a track. Some importers were crafty enough, when the cars were imported, to take off the go fast parts, refit the leather seats, and convince you the previous owner was a middle aged housewife from Yokohama. These cars can hide a lot of tales with a bit of t-cut.
my auto (import) is insured by SAGA for £126 fully comp.
or Mx5 they are not built here so they are all imported in anyway, so i personally am not ars*d either way, but to attack the imported JDM roadsters, and make a badged version called an Mx5 look on a higher plain does not make any sense in my eyes, as they are the same motor, just different specs.
I was worried about this until I spoke to them.