Tokyo Drive – The easiest way to own a car

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FAQ

In short Japanese imports are better because they have an unbeatable value for money. When buying an import, you are getting a higher quality, better designed car with more options and less mileage for the same price tag or in most cases even lower than local counterparts.

HIGH QUALITY
Japanese car makes reign supreme when it comes to reliability in any market, be it Europe or Australia.
However, Japanese cars for domestic market are designed and manufactured even to a higher standard than vehicles built and sold outside of Japan.
Due to high quality of Japanese cars, they are very reliable and have an excellent reputation of long lasting and low maintenance cars. It means no headaches for owners if a car is serviced regularly.
Most vehicles imported to Australia are preserved in an immaculate condition. They do not show wear and tear common on local cars after a certain number of years/kilometers.

EASY LIFE
Imported cars have much easier life due to better roads and lower speed limits (in most cases up to 100km/hour only) in Japan.

LOW MILEAGES
In general Japanese cars travel less distances as they have a superb bullet train system in Japan. It is not uncommon to find a 10-year-old plus vehicle that has travelled 5,000km or less in a year.
THOUGHTFUL OWNERSHIP
The notion of respect is very strong in Japanese culture… Drivers are more affectionate to their vehicles and take a really good care of them. At the same time there is much more respect and consideration towards others in car parks, etc. so dents and scratches are less common.
99.9% imported vehicles from Japan arrive to Australia with genuine mileages. After custom clearance and before compliance some vehicles go through a procedure called a “haircut” – illegal odometer tampering by dealers and privates alike. In this case compliance papers for these cars will show new fake low mileage. Some cars have 50-60,000km slashed, but most of them are “cut” to match the odometer reading on the Export Certificate ex Japan.
I have already spoken about advantages of Japanese imports in general here.

Let’s have a look at the family cars category in imports, like Nissan Elgrand and Toyota Estima.

Most people movers sold in Australia are focused only on a primary function of any full size three-row vehicle – convenience and easy access.

Apart from a few very expensive and near new models, they are typically unattractive, uncomfortable and low on options…yet quite pricey! A good example would be Toyota Tarago that hasn’t been updated for nearly 10 years and hasn’t had a reverse camera as a standard option until 2018.

Modern Day Technology
Japanese people movers offer a lot more: great engines, refined interiors, and luxury features. Models as old as 2003 and 2004 come with all power options, including electric sliding doors, Sat Nav, Xenon lights and reverse cameras. AWD on demand is another very popular feature among our customers as it is not available on any local minivans.

Low Mileages
The other striking difference is mileage. In Japan it is not uncommon to find a 10-year-old plus vehicle with genuine low mileage under 100,000km. We sell a lot of 2005 models with 70-90,000km. It always blows me away how great they look and drive compared to local counterparts.

Great Ride Quality
All people movers that we import are top of the range models. They are equipped with the best engines in their class. Whether you are driving Nissan Elgrand or Toyota Estima, performance and power are outstanding… they love to be pushed. You can never tell you are driving a big “beast”: combination of excellent engine and supple suspension delivers a good impression of a sporty sedan.

Best Value for Money
Want a reliable and long lasting vehicle? Love high quality interior and modern day technology, such as electric sliding doors, Sat Nav, Bluetooth and Xenon headlights? It is simply impossible to find a better value for money 7 or 8 seater than Toyota Estima or Nissan Elgrand in Australian market as prices start from $10,000 for a fully optioned family car.

Wow Factor
And last but not least, people choose Japanese imports because they want something unique and fun to drive. And nothing fits the bill better than a sporty and lifestyle people mover from Japan. Japanese owners hate uniformity and most of them go for aftermarket add-ons to express their individual style. Some are subtle, some are weird and wonderful, the choice is your.
We recommend to service every 6 – 8 months or 7,000 -10,000km depending on your situation. Any good local mechanic will do, there is no need to take your import to Toyota or Nissan service center.

Average bill for service in Sydney area is between $125 and $175. It is very cheap compared to European and Korean family cars ($400-$700 plus).

If you have any further questions or would like to book our trusted compliance shop mechanics to service your car,

Once the vehicle is purchased, a customer has two weeks to transfer in their names at any RTA office. This is when you pay 3% stamp duty off the amount of the tax invoice. If you go over 2 weeks, there is a fine around $110 in NSW.

Once you purchase a car and it gets delivered to you, you need to take it to a local roadworthy inspection. After a car passes an inspection, you then proceed to RTA with all paperwork (from the dealership where you bought a car and from roadworthy inspection) to transfer in your name and pay stamp duty. Stamp duty varies from state to state and reaches 4% in Victoria.

Once I nearly lost a customer because NRMA hit them with a very high quote and they honestly believed that this was the only company that insured imports. Unless you are lucky and live a stress free life in rural and remote areas, NRMA is always going to charge you ridiculous amounts of money. Someone has to pay for their wonderful commercials that I can’t take my eyes off. For those of you who like to think outside of the box, here’s a list of other insurance providers with reasonable and affordable prices:
1. Enthusiast Motor Insurance 1800 101 044 2. MB Insurance 0299 669 777 3. Youi 1300 234 162 4. RACV 137 228 5. Suncorp 131 155
P.S. Please note that you need to make a phone call to most insurance companies. Online quotes don’t work for Japanese Imports.

Nissan Elgrand is the king in MPV category. But I will be honest; a lot of my customers prefer to buy Toyota Estima aka “Tarago on Steroids”.Let’s have a look why.

Nissan Elgrand shares its “luxury people mover #1” status only with Toyota Alphard, another popular Japanese import. Brand new it would be way over 100k in Australia if ever allowed.

Nissan Elgrand E51 (2002-2010) is one of the most versatile, spacious and luxurious 8 seater on the planet. In the next model E52 (2010 and onwards), Nissan shifted luxury status towards its 7 seats model, namely VIP, Rider, and Highway Star Premium. However, its 8-seater model Highway Star is still very impressive, especially compared to local vans.

Elgrand is always more presentable and more optioned than Estima. Inside or outside, it just oozes a high-class status. Everything you see or touch is fabulous from the scroll wheel for the infotainment to luxury leather and thick mats on the floor. Standard features include proximity entry and start and fantastic 360 all around view cameras from as early as 2007.

Estima is definitely one class down even in its top shelf model, however most customers choose it over Elgrand because it is cheaper, smaller, less on fuel and less on maintenance. People also feel “safer” because Estima has a local counterpart Tarago and hence parts are more available in Australia. Plus, everyone knows how reliable Toyota is.

Another benefit is that it is much cheaper to convert its head unit into English. You can have a budget of around 10K and get a very nice low mileage 2004-2005 Estima with all power options and brand new infotainment with built in GPS, Internet, Bluetooth and reverse camera.

To sum up, Toyota Estima is a perfect fit for a practical owner who is sensitive to petrol consumption, uncomfortable to drive “a big beast” and can’t be bothered to look for a knowledgeable mechanic in case of any issues.

If you are a serious car enthusiast, looking for a great ride, genuine luxury and a wow factor, you will fall in love with Nissan Elgrand. Besides, it has a bigger cabin and boot: It is possible to walk through the vehicle to check on those in the rear, and the rear seats could be folded flat to accommodate lots of luggage and the biggest of prams.

Series 1 (2002 – 2004)
Very comfortable and spacious, clever design, and easy access to all seats but from my own experience mechanically is not very reliable when mileage is close to 100,000km and over. There may be rattling noise in the cabin, especially in sliding doors.

Series 2 (2005-end 2007)
Fantastic car, but it lacks 360 all around cameras that is so nice to have on such a big car!

Series 3 (2008-2010)
The ultimate people mover. Drives better than previous series of E51, very reliable, interior is excellent, 360 cameras, and updated looks. By default all series 3 have dual electric sliding doors, Xenon lights, proximity entry/start, black luxe leather, and 360 cameras as standard.

Optional features include AWD on demand, electric sunroofs, drop down DVD and electric curtains.

Late series 3: runs from Dec’09 to July 2010 is a limited edition with some mechanical updates and new luxury leather on seats with white stitch.

Series 3 2008-2009 is always cheaper and much easier to buy in Japan, whereas 2010 is limited in numbers and hard to find, hence price is more at the auctions.

Both 7 and 8 seats Estima have long runners and middle row seats can slide back and forth. Third row of seats does not slide but they go neatly inside the boot and you end up with a huge space, handy if you need to go to Ikea or move furniture.

I always recommend going with seven seats where possible because of the following factors:

  • 7-seater is a walk through model – you get much easier access to the third row of seats.
  • From 2006 a 7-seater model has super comfy recliner chairs a la business class in the middle row. They look chick as well.
  • As a premium model it is always better optioned than 8 seats. For example, 8 seats model doesn’t come with factory leather or 360 cameras.
  • 7-seater’s cabin is more versatile and can convert into a luxury four seater really easy and quickly – and you have a chance to sleep in full comfort on a road trip.

From my experience, absolutely nothing can beat Toyota Estima Aeras 2004-2005 in terms of value for money. This model comes with a choice of economical 2, 4L (ACR) and powerful 3L V6 (MCR) engine and 7 or 8 seats capacity.

Right now in 2018, prices start from $10,00 by custom order and even at this low price point, you will get a very nice low mileage vehicle with plenty of life in it.

The list of standard features is mind blowing for the year of manufacture and includes: dual electric sliding doors on remote, high quality trims, reverse camera, Sat Nav, Infotainment unit with Bluetooth, USB and Internet connection, Xenon lights, cruise control, ABS brakes, steering wheel controls, airbags, dual zone climate control, alloy wheels, pearl paint and all power options.

If you don’t want to spend a fortune and need to move your clan in comfort and high tech, without thinking about maintenance and parts, this is the one. You will be very happy.

“I’m becoming increasingly agitated over the amount of total crap I’m reading. What is it about this particular vehicle that attracts bad sorts, from sleazy private importers bringing in auction rejects and repairable wrecks… and the full size car yards down Parramatta way… There are exterior photos of vans with sunroofs, which mysteriously disappear in interior shots. On other sites the vans are so photo-shopped to be almost unrecognisable, and so many with options that don’t exist.”

I got this email from a ranting and fuming member of the Nissan Elgrand FB group and loved it… couldn’t put it better myself: there are a lot of dodgy sellers and a mountain of fake ads for imported vehicles online.

What can you do if the authorities turn the blind eye?

You can educate yourself and avoid those “fake news” yards and private sellers.

Firstly, what is a fake ad?

  • – An ad for a vehicle that doesn’t exist and serves as a fat online bait to lure you to a car yard. Think of a Flying Dutchman, a ghost car: it is surfing the Internet but never reaches a car yard.
  • – An ad for a vehicle that does exist but it has a serious problem such as a clocked back mileage or a bad auction grade.

Here’s my selection of 5 warning signs for you:

  1. There is no VIN number on the ad or VIN number is too short or the sequence of numbers is just silly – 123456 or 456456, etc. It means a seller is hiding a serious problem with a car and trying to avoid Japanese history check just like my cat avoids a mandarin peel.
  2. There is no picture of Export Certificate (or “dereg paper”) on the ad so you can’t do any checks of the VIN and mileage.
  3. Inconsistency in pictures: sunroofs/drop down DVD in some pictures and no sunroofs/drop down DVD in others, different floor mats, etc.
  4. Discrepancy between text and pictures – ad copy lists options that are not visible in pictures.
  5. And this is my favourite one: If a seller advertises a few cars of the same model/year all around 50,000km and cheap

Low mileage cars are VERY EXPENSIVE at the auctions in Japan. When a car with low kms shows up, everyone bids on it and that pushes the price up. They are also not that common after a certain number of years.

So, if you see a seller that puts up a number of Elgrands or Estimas all with around 50,000km on the clock – Houston, we have a problem. They’re either clocked back OR those are ads of non existent cars designed for you to take a bait and come to their car yard, where they’ll BS you to death (No, really! You probably know that better than me).

Here’s some examples of correct VIN numbers for you:

  • Nissan Elgrand E51: 6U900000E51262139
  • Nissan Elgrand PE52: 6U90000PE52005951
  • Toyota Estima 2006 and up: 6U900GSR500010534
  • Toyota Estima 2004-2004: 6U900ACR300309171

We all know that purchasing a vehicle is an important investment and, like any other investment, it should be protected. By planning now you can avoid potentially costly expenses for unexpected mechanical failures and major repairs.

Whether you buy a new or used vehicle, there are flexible extended warranty packages available to suit your vehicle.

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