Japanese Import Values

[Unregistered]

Hi guys. Have loved the look of these beauties fro years and now have the funds to buy one. Does anyone have a view if an original UK vehicle should command a price premium over a Japanese import? Is there anything else a newbie ought to look out for? Thanks Guys

[amo]

get some history easyr with a uk car

id get a modded 1 from jp as u get more for ur money unless u go to usa turbo or s/c 1

welcome and enjoy

thx amo

[simonprelude]

If both vehicles are already in the UK then the UK car will command a higher price, fresh imports are at whatever price they will let them go for in Japan.

Don't forget even older examples in Japan are still cherished and may well end up costing more than a similar UK car to bring over here.

[Senninha]

If both vehicles are already in the UK then the UK car will command a higher price, fresh imports are at whatever price they will let them go for in Japan.

Don't forget even older examples in Japan are still cherished and may well end up costing more than a similar UK car to bring over here.
I guess a good example of what Simon is referring to would be the early Type R model. V-Tec direct are showing 2 currently for sale in Japan. The sale price for these are around £38k plus shipping and registration etc. They have one here in the UK that they own and this would be ITR of early £30k.

If importing from Japan I would only consider this route for something a bit special and the definition of special would be personal choice. You could look at the Type S or R models or go the route Amo chose which is to get somethign that has been highly modified.

Whichever way you go, good luck with your hunt. Decide what you absolutely must have in terms of specification, check this is reasonable within your budget and be prepared to wait. Many of us here have spent months looking for our current NSX.

It may also pay to register on the site, post a wanted thread, as others could then contact you if they are selling but not wishing to post an advert on the forum

HTH and good luck, Paul

[Papalazarou]

I think the difference between Japanese imports and Uk cars comes down largely to perceptions.

Take the arrival of volume grey import motorcycles in the mid to late 90's.
In the early 90's a Fireblade would cost you around £9K. By 1997 the import market was supplying the same bike for around £7K! The UK dealers in an attempt to save their businesses would either import themselves or try to rubbish the import bikes by arguing they were lower spec, which of course they weren't.
Anyway, for the first few years the import was considered a poorer cousin and sold for less money second hand. After a while however, they became mixed up in the general consumption and few people cared.
the same could be said of Bob Gerards S2K's; around £5K below UK dealer prices they sell well and have a good reputation on the S2K forum. I guess they still sell a little under book but the savings easily cancel this out. However, these cars 'may' be harder to sell second hand because the British public are IMO 'traditional' buyers. We don't like complicated transactions.

Before I bought my car I called about a 'very clean' 94 JDM car on Autotrader for a massive £28K! from the description, the car looked (or looks, it's still for sale) very good and had been in a collection for over 6 years. The car was imported in 2000 but had no history for the first 6 years of its life.
My perception was although it had very low mileage, you couldn't prove it.
I also considered resale and decided that even if that car was a few grand cheaper, it was unlikely to realise anywhere near that in a couple of years time, especially when you consider there was a 91 UK car sold recently for around 24k with only 12K miles.
It seems to me that JDM cars, unless special editions always go for a bit less.

Just a few questions;

1. Do we buy UK cars, even older ones and maintain the service history because we hope that if something goes catastrophically wrong that Honda might help?

2. Do we 'not' pay top dollar for JDM cars because they aren't playing by the rules? And this somehow offends the mainstream British sensibility?

3. Does it really matter these days, when there are probably less than 300 cars to choose from?

Finally, what do we predict the prices of NSX's to be in say 5 years time?


Cheers,

James.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the very comprehensive replies guys - reminds me of the feel of the old Lotus boards (Do I trade the Elise for the NSX or go deep into debt to keep both?)

Decisions...

[TheQuietOne]

I'd say there are enough differences to justify both...:D

[AR]

PS Do not forget that the JDM car will not have front fogs, will have a JDM radio and more importantly, it will have JDM shorter gears.

[simonprelude]

And someone will have done something to convert to mph, from a basic signal converter and marking out the k from km/h to a full professional conversion.

Then for the odometer you have to think well the first 20000 were actually kilometers then after that was miles etc.

Sometimes certain parts (windscreens especially) are actually different parts and if something does need replacing it can turn out to be difficult to get the parts and costly.

But at least you won't have the Euro smile on the rear bumper.


PS Do not forget that the JDM car will not have front fogs, will have a JDM radio and more importantly, it will have JDM shorter gears.

[Rob_Fenn]

I basically would only get an import if it was a Type or like Amo's highly modified beast. The only problem is if the aftermarket bits go wrong, what do you do?

If you want a standard car then just be patient, UKDM bargains do crop up.

[Unregistered]

Thanks again guys - I think I'll stick to UK - I'd not be into a special - just a very tidy/original car.

[AR]

And someone will have done something to convert to mph, from a basic signal converter and marking out the k from km/h to a full professional conversion.

Then for the odometer you have to think well the first 20000 were actually kilometers then after that was miles etc.

Sometimes certain parts (windscreens especially) are actually different parts and if something does need replacing it can turn out to be difficult to get the parts and costly.

But at least you won't have the Euro smile on the rear bumper.

Simon as far as I know that was only on the NSX-R and the S-Zero.

Cheers,

AR

[mutley]

Well to stick my tuppence worth in, if I hadn't found my car for the absolute steal that it was, I was also considering an import. There are a couple of things I prefer, the rear lights, not just the slight difference in colour but the fact that more of them light up ( A small mod that I'll be attending to sometime) and the 2 reverse lights (I like symetry on a car) although I know that this means a rear foglight has to be fitted, but I think that should be able to be incorporated into the rear cluster.

Do all imports have the spoiler brake light? I like that too

As for values, I never bought my NSX for the re-sale value, yes it's good to know that they are holding price very well, and indeed if I sold mine today I would no doubt make a profit, but I just wanted an NSX. If that meant an import, then so be it.

Jim

[Senninha]

Thanks again guys - I think I'll stick to UK - I'd not be into a special - just a very tidy/original car.

Too good to miss?

http://nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?t=3487

regards, Paul

[Unregistered]

yeah the NSX are still valued highly in japan, but they do look after their cars
would like to import a nice NA2 manual in black

what are the main differences between JDM and UK spec ??

[nsx_Robert]

yeah the NSX are still valued highly in japan, but they do look after their cars
would like to import a nice NA2 manual in black

what are the main differences between JDM and UK spec ??

was me my pc logged out for some reason and came up un registered

[Silver Surfer]

JDM: no headlamp washer or leveller, square rear plates and they are from Japan. Thats all I know.....:think:

SS

[nsx_Robert]

JDM: no headlamp washer or leveller, square rear plates and they are from Japan. Thats all I know.....:think:

SS

not too bad, need to under seal as well like i did on my gtr

[Senninha]

http://www.carsensor.net/usedcar/detail.php?STID=CS210840&BKKN=CB0001502203

If only it wasn't so costly to complete the import transaction as I'd jump at this one.

Add the R hood and spoiler plus underside aero and this is a great car IMO. I'd also swap my rims.

[TheSebringOne]

Paul, are you now after a NA2 02+? Nice LBB colour too. How many Yens as Japanese is not my speciality and what would be the conversion to UK Sterling at present? Do all Japanese models have electric ariels that go half mast just like Bazza's JDM Type R.

[Senninha]

Paul, are you now after a NA2 02+?
James, did you check the spec as this is not just an 02+ .... I have certainly never seen this spec and color combo b4 ... this is why I would be interested ... biggest stumbling block is selling mine which I wouldn't do and I only have a single garage ...

regards, Paul

[Silver Surfer]

NSX 3.2 タイプＳ

Type S by any chance?

SS

[Senninha]

NSX 3.2 タイプＳ

Type S by any chance?

SS
Well spotted SS!

regards, Paul

PS, cant do this week but maybe next for a meet?

[Silver Surfer]

Well spotted SS!

regards, Paul

PS, cant do this week but maybe next for a meet?

Next week maybe OK too. :)

SS

[TheSebringOne]

Maybe I should have opened my eyes this wide! :eek: Then might have spotted it, but to be honest the Japanese writing confused me!Type S in NA2 02+ and in LBB, maybe a one off colour for this rare spec? Out of interest, there can't be many 02+ Type S around? Paul, I would be happy with your CF car as it stands, even if a Type S was an option! A credit to its owner. :)