Was talking to my mechanic yesterday and he mentioned to be careful of Japanese imports, like Skylines etc. You get them over hear with only 80,000 kms on them and go "wow, just run in".
But in reality, in Japan they know that they have to get rid of them by that stage, so they don't waste money servicing them at all. This means that they many have done 80,000 kms without even an oil change. Some food for thought.
Of course some get flogged but the major drivers of getting rid them early are low interest rates and the high cost of rego renewal as the vehicle gets older.
I bought a nissan 180sx with 80,000 on it at auction online and then had it shipped over. Sold it at 150,000 to a mate a couple of years later. He then sold it with approx 200,000 to someone else and I still see it screaming around the Gold Coast nearly 10 years later.
I found parts easy to get and didn't pay a premium for servicing.
had a couple over the years (hi-lux, camry) - had no issues, Lot better speced and no part issues - hliux got 178K out of it then sold it on to upgrade
I have owned 2 imports both with service history in Japan and both have been cheap enough to service and painless to own. I dont see any downsides except for insurance when you are under 25
I've had a Surf that was in great shape when I bought it...only problem I ever had was trying to get tyres on it and the guy told me that he didn't have anything that fit because it was a grey import.... Walked out of that shop and never looked back.
Got a good friend who has family here and in Japan who sell cars into Australia and all over the world. They inspect every vehicle before hand with their own mechanical people top to bottom.
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1996 XJ with a few mods
2003 WJ with a lot of mods
2009 XH with no mods
I was talking to a mechanic the other day who told me I had rocks in my head for thinking about buying a Jeep because they're unreliable, expensive, made like rubbish and just really poor vehicles.
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Jap car imports
. Walked out of that shop and never looked back.
