Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[norustplease]

I was recently offered a Mercedes saloon as a 'grey import' from japan. It was a W124, so not what some would accept to be a classic, but held by many to be the next in line for classic status after the renowned W123.
It was high spec, very low mileage and in apparently almost as new, rust free condition and, although a little pricey for a older Merc saloon, was a tempting buy.
But....I have head a lot of horror stories about grey imports, spares unavailability, main dealers refusing to service or sell parts because of technical dissimilarities, insurance problems and so on.
Has anyone on here ever bought a grey import and what were their experiences?
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Ellis]

I owned two Mitsubishi Pajeros, one after another, both "grey imports" and had no difficulty obtaining spares or normal service items.
Mitsubishi dealers at the time (2003/04) had a policy of refusing any assistance to grey import owners but there were plenty of independent specialists who could supply almost everything including an electronic chip to convert the speedometer and odometer from kilometres to miles.

Insurance was no problem and I had no difficulty in selling either vehicle privately although some dealers would not take grey imports in part exchange.

If the need arises I would not hesitate to buy another grey import.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Ashley]

My son bought a type S Prelude and had no particular problems. There will be spec differences, so it's worth finding out what they are and it's also worth checking that you can insure it okay. I've heard they may charge extra.

[Rick]

The second of 'erindoors' MX5s was an import Eunos - from memory, the rustproofing wasn't meant to be quite as thorough (not that our previous UK car was brilliant in that respect), but out there they didn't spread salt on the roads - so I was told anyway, bodily it was better than the previous example.

I've had a few 124 estates over the years, excellent cars but not exciting. I'd have another six-pot estate anytime.

RJ
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[goneps]

In New Zealand, what you call "grey imports" are huge business. Our roads are swamped with used Japanese imports, in recent years augmented by used Europeans from Singapore.

Apparently Japanese authorities impose strict and expensive road worthiness checks on vehicles five years old, so in many cases it's more economic for owners to replace them—new models are cheap enough there. The used ones are then shipped to NZ by the thousand, and generally represent excellent value. Usually they're in mint condition with low mileage, optional extras, and the specification is often higher than that of NZ new models.

Owners' handbooks in Japanese are not much use, but translations are available for those who need them.

There can be some minor issues with spares. For instance, no-one can tell me which are the right brake pads for my Corolla unless I present samples. The parts are available, they just don't know which ones to supply.

There are many dealers who specialise in used imports. These vehicles have enabled a great many people to afford a decent car instead of a tired much older model.

Richard

[Mog]

I did hear that the cars used in Japan, have thinner steel on the body panels. So you might be worse off in a crash.

[goneps]

Those days are long gone. Nowadays they all have standard NCAP safety ratings. In NZ the safety rating determines the licence fee, a significant part of which funds the national Accident Compensation scheme.

Richard

[Penman]

Hi
It won't be a deal breaker, but it is likely that you will have to replace the radio setup. I'm told they use a different freq range in Japan.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[goneps]

Indeed. "Band expanders" are sometimes fitted, but in my experience are not successful, and the frequency display is always out by 10. Still, not a big consideration when you're saving thousands of dollars compared with a similar model, and with the utter garbage that passes for radio programmes it's not worth a second thought.

Richard

[52classic]

My experience of grey imports has been entirely positive. I have had 2 Pajeros, a 2.5 MK1 and a 2.8 MK2, friends have had a Celica Supra Turbo and a big Honda saloon whose name I forget.

All of them came from the dockside auctions at Southampton (closed down now AFIK) All were much cheaper, better spec and condition than UK equivalents. No serious problems with any of them and service parts were easy to obtain at first from import specialists and later from local factors. I most cases the same price but sometimes even cheaper than UK cars.

The Pajeros have a really excellent owners club too. They helped with insurance which was sometimes a problem in the early days. An issue that's worth checking out if you are serious about your Merc.

The fokelore says that in Japan, the MOT gets tougher as the vehicle gets older whilst at the same time the taxes increase so that by age ten the cars are uneconomical to operate. Conveniently, over here a personal import more than 10 years old did not need an SVA test, only an MOT. However, I think that changed so that cars coming from traders required an ESVA which required a lot of expensive paperwork. Worth checking out the status of that for sure.

The prices rose due to the exchange rate and because other markets opened up for Japan, otherwise I would be running a grey import to this day.

The big plus is the condition of the cars. My second Pajero was 9 years 9 months old when I collected it (sat on my drive ready for registration on its 10th birthday) with a personal plate it could easily pass for a 2 year old in the UK. Inside, outside, even underneath!

[Rick]

That reminds me, friends of mine bought a cheap Shogun at auction a few years ago. It too was an import, the only downside is that it seems very low geared - perhaps for inner city use in Japan?? as a result, it runs out of puff at about 50 mph. It's a fairly old one mind, so probably isn't representative of most cars brought over.

As mentioned, our Eunos was perfect, I think the only addition it received was an aftermarket rear fog light, so that it'd pass a UK MOT.

RJ
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[ukdave2002]

There are MG RV8's that have imported back from Japan....is it still a grey import if the car comes back to its country of manufacture ?

Dave

[mikeC]

Theoretically yes, if they were originally sold to the Japanese market.

I suppose, too, that both my Lancia and the Saxon are technically grey imports since neither have been imported by 'the maker's official distribution system', which seems to be the criteria to qualify

[christine lowery]

although it's a motorbike, my Honda was a gray import in 92 and Honda sell everything in the uk but it has a warrantee recall that must be done in it's home country the USA
Christine

[Rusty]

My brothers father in law bought an import, years ago now, a Toyota something (we never had them here what ever it was, I forget) and it turned out to be a nightmare ! Nice looking car that drove well and was in good order but nothing the local dealers stocked would fit it and when he did get something from Japan it took an eternity to arrive. When he wanted to bail out of it the word had got out that they were trouble and he couldn't sell it, he ended up almost giving it to another bloke who had bought one from the same batch for parts. Its probably alright if you get the right model, but don't buy anything obscure or you could have trouble keeping it on the road. We assume that all manufacturers use a commonality of components for economy but sometimes this is not the case and if you get the wrong model it can be very frustrating.