After import considerations...

[Darren_S15]

Although new to this club and despite the fact in my new joiners thread a few weeks ago I said I was looking to buy at the end of the year I am now seriously considering borrowing some money now and just going for it.

The obvious costs would be all the importing costs (from auction in Japan to on the road in the UK) and insurance.

But I want to cover all bases and need to make sure I?ve not forgotten anything else I might need to spend money on.

I don?t mean things like a nice new exhaust and alloy wheels, but more essential things like new alarms and a tracker, brake pads/discs, tyres, cam belt change, oil change.

Can people tell me if there is anything else that I might need to consider when I get one?

In a perfect world Id like a Red or Blue Spec R with full Aero kit and spoiler, but I might not be able to be that fussy

So here is my worst case scenario list so far:

1. Alarm
2. Tracker
3. Brake Pads
4. Brake Discs
5. Tyres
6. Oil Change
7. Cam Belt + Fitting
8. Under-seal

I?m able to do must stuff myself so I can service it myself hopefully but wont consider things like cam belt changes.

Cheers

Darren

 

[Pazz]

First concern would be where and how are you going to borrow the money. If its from a bank etc it will cost in the long run.

I would just start learning as much as you can about the import process and the car while also keepin an eye on what is already in the country. As then you can inspect yourself and sometimes save money.

The USS Auction site is always a good start at looking at what is available and the auction process, I will pm you some login details

 

[Darren_S15]

First concern would be where and how are you going to borrow the money. If its from a bank etc it will cost in the long run.

I would just start learning as much as you can about the import process and the car while also keepin an eye on what is already in the country. As then you can inspect yourself and sometimes save money.

The USS Auction site is always a good start at looking at what is available and the auction process, I will pm you some login details

The money side is not as issue for me so much to be honest, but yeah it still needs consideration like you say.

Ive been reading about these cars for a little while now and feel like I already know a fair amount of the essential stuff I need to know.

Ive read ALL the threads in the 'Useful Threads Section'

My next step is/was to have a good chat with some importers to find out a lot more about the import process.

Yeah I have been looking at that auction site already as Ive got some login details :thumbs:

Im more interested in anything I might need to know about after the car is in the UK and UK legal.

Cheers

Darren

 

[Dazz0i]

S15's don't run cambelts, they run chains, so unless you get one that's done more than 100,000miles, i wouldn't worry about that...

service costs are no more than the average car.

alarm and tracker, is probably ?600.

brakes, are all car dependant, when i got mine, the discs and pads on mine were comepletely fine, no wobble, and loads of life left in the pads.

if you're gonna borrow, then fine, but always have a little spare cash stashed away for the "incase" moments....

 

[Darren_S15]

S15's don't run cambelts, they run chains, so unless you get one that's done more than 100,000miles, i wouldn't worry about that...

Now that?s something I did not know, cheers.

If I do get a loan I will not be living on the bread line I can assure you, and fully expect things to be expensive as I?ve found out with my FTO more often than not.

Yeah things like brakes and stuff will be car dependant like you say, I?m just trying to compile a list of all the possibilities

 

[Pazz]

I'm sure BigPhil won't mind me borrowing his pic :thumbs:but its always best with a picture

If your after more info on the importing side of things read this HERE

 

[Kango]

Remember to take the ESVA test into account. This cost me around ?1600. But, you might get a company to do it for you. I did mine myself by sourcing all the standard parts from SXOC :thumbs: and on here :thumbs:.

 

[LuPix_S15]

Hi Darren,

As you prob guessed from reading most of the useful threads - Mike and Tristan at Torque GT come highly recommended. Don't know how far you are from these guys but it's worth asking some questions you might have from them.

When I bought my S15 from them, stuff like a decent alarm plus undersealing were done as 'deals' so you might not have to fork out extra for this kinda stuff and I still believe their OTR prices for S15's are very competitive. You also get 3 months warranty so a bit more towards piece of mind etc.

Always bear in mind that if you are intending to everything yourself such as buying from auction houses and then booking it in for ESVA then stay away from heavily modified vehicles as getting anything to pass the ESVA means putting it all back to standard - or most of it anyway.

As a recent costing for front discs, I paid ?70 per disc which were OEM items (S14 fitment) made by Bendix.

lol - I brought forward my purchase by about a year but it has meant that mods are a bit slow at the moment cos of money!! However, rather have the car sooner and do stuff a little later...

James

 

[Darren_S15]

I brought forward my purchase by about a year but it has meant that mods are a bit slow at the moment cos of money!! However, rather have the car sooner and do stuff a little later...

Thats how I'm starting to think myself.

I would import through someone so all the ESVA and stuff would be done for me, but I guess it will depend on who you import though as to what they will throw in when they do all this.

If I can Id like to bring in an S15 that is a standard as possible so mods should not be a problem I hope.

Cheers for the picture, I always like to see what things actually look like

 

[JEZ 8553]

Darren,

We can go through the whole process when we meet up to go out ? (which reminds me i need to speak confirm which dates Mell's down at mine). Charlie will hopefully give me a complete breakdown of the costs of getting mine over as well but he will give you a figure for the complete cost the closer you come to bidding.

Id suggest a budget of ?10-12K for a decent Grade 4 or higher. if you want a cheaper R grade (which i doubt you would settle for) then this will probably be about ?1-2K cheaper, however Charlie wont import grade R's to my knowledge (only grade 4 or higher) but Torque GT do i believe.

Red S15's tend to go for a higher price as they are very rare (like yellow), your best bet is Blue (whcih i have seen a fair few with full Aero kit go through auction, more so than Whites which the majority tend to be R graded).

You may have to be flexible though on your requirements, ive been lucky getting mine at the price i did and being standard but i waited 7 months too find one!

Charlie mentioned you had a chat with him so why not wait till i got my S15 ? If ive still got a big smile on my face when i pick it up then the 'proof is in the pudding' so to speak. Also no doubt id have plenty of spare OEM parts by the time you get yours (i already have new front brake setup, coilovers and a loft full of other new shiney bits!).

 

[Darren_S15]

Darren,

We can go through the whole process when we meet up to go out ? (which reminds me i need to speak confirm which dates Mell's down at mine). Charlie will hopefully give me a complete breakdown of the costs of getting mine over as well but he will give you a figure for the complete cost the closer you come to bidding.

Id suggest a budget of ?10-12K for a decent Grade 4 or higher. if you want a cheaper R grade (which i doubt you would settle for) then this will probably be about ?1-2K cheaper, however Charlie wont import grade R's to my knowledge (only grade 4 or higher) but Torque GT do i believe.

Red S15's tend to go for a higher price as they are very rare (like yellow), your best bet is Blue (whcih i have seen a fair few with full Aero kit go through auction, more so than Whites which the majority tend to be R graded).

You may have to be flexible though on your requirements, ive been lucky getting mine at the price i did and being standard but i waited 7 months too find one!

Charlie mentioned you had a chat with him so why not wait till i got my S15 ? If ive still got a big smile on my face when i pick it up then the 'proof is in the pudding' so to speak. Also no doubt id have plenty of spare OEM parts by the time you get yours (i already have new front brake setup, coilovers and a loft full of other new shiney bits!).

Hey mate.

Its OK Im not about to rush out and buy one tomorrow, Im just starting the whole investigation process now rather than in 10 months time.

I can assure you Ill be asking you loads of questions when I see you :nod:

There is no mad rush for me to get one and Im quite prepared to wait for a nice one to come along, especially as Ill need to shift the FTO pretty sharpish once Ive got one comming.

I dropped Charlie an email over the weekend to find out a little more about the import side of things yeah

Darren

 

[pablo]

is the saving worth the hassle over one in the uk?

 

[Darren_S15]

is the saving worth the hassle over one in the uk?

Its a fair point.

I guess the main reason I'm quite happy to import is there is going to be more choice through the auctions in Japan than there is over here at the moment from what I have seen.

If Im going to make any kind of saving is worth it, but thats just my opinion.

 

[mint]

Well i was going to import my own one aswell as i imported over an EK9 with a mate before hand and will be starting up Minty Fresh Imports when i finally move over to Japan, now i got asked the question by alot of people i deal with "Why didnt you import the car yourself if you could"..

Reason being at the time funds were low and i already knew about the importing thing and i also knew it would be easier for me to go through an already established importer.

Torque is who i got mine through, couldnt have been happier with the entire deal to be honest, from sourcing one to driving it away. I also got it alot quicked through them then i could have done myself and i had a car that i needed to part ex along side.

If i were you i would highly consider the "already here" option as it may cost 'slightly' more than finding your own but if you use the auction sites you can send the ID number for the lot etc and any importer in the UK can locate and import that one for you (obviously if you win the bid)

Just my 2p matey.