So the GF finally decided on her next car... a Honda Beat. But I get to looking, they go for under 1k usd in japan, but 8k+ here? What am I missing? Anyone got the skinny on a reliable, honest, importer who can help me? The more I search the more forum horror stories I find.
And while I am at it, anyone know what to lookout for when buying a used beat?
It's a big expense and hassle especially for some of the lower priced lower profit models like a Beat instead of a slew of s13s and GT-Rs these days.
Ive done it twice and bottom line if you are finding Beats for $8k, that's not really unfair. Titled, paperwork done and the fact they made container space for a Beat when they could have put an FD there and made way more money means they did 99% of the hard work for you.
I imported a car from Japan via Canada back in 2014. If you'd like to message me, I can answer any questions you may have.
Ugh.... Someone here had a huge awesome thread about importing a Skyline GT-S by himself. I'd like to name names but I am bad with them. The short version is, it's a big hassle and more expensive than you'd think, but if you really really want what you are importing, then it is all worth it. I think he had as much in fees and other expenses as the actual car cost. Since we are talking about a $10k car, $8k for a $1k car sounds pretty good.
Yea I've been looking into this as well but after everything I've read, I'll just be going through one of the dealers around here that has good reviews/reputation & letting them do the paperwork/titling/etc.
definitely good reads with lots of info. Sort of reinforces my plan to just pay the extra money. Not sure that I have the available spare time to devote to getting all the paperwork/titling stuff done myself. It does seem like if you do have the time & dedication you can save yourself a lot of money.
Paperwork really depends on the state - I've done it here in NV with motorcycles and it was super easy.
Try that 50 miles to the West of here and you'd go nuts dealing with the CA DMV.
But yes, it's a definitely time vs money tradeoff. The other parts is that you really benefit from a trusted source in Japan to source the car. There are some places like the company kanaric mentions in his thread that will buy a car you picked at auction, but the more clued-up importers have people on the ground who find the cars for them.
Also, don't forget that your $1k Beat is more likely a $3k-$4k Beat by the time it has landed here, but pre-registration. There'll be the initial cost of the vehicle, fees for the company that sourced it for you, shipping to the US (and I didn't factor in the potential damage from RoRo shipping), $250-$300 for a customs agent, import taxes, potentially storage at the port. And then you get to register it, which hopefully won't require a bunch of work for emissions.
BTW, just because a car is already registered in the US doesn't mean you can register it anywhere in the US without additional work. It will still have to pass emissions and other inspections, depending on where you are in the country.
I'm actually planning another import from the UK if I can find the time - this time, a car that is on a GRM budget, but still had some input from *that* Gordon Murray.
Already emailed the powers that be at GRM HQ, they might be interested in an article about it and if not, it'll end up on the board.
Duncan Imports is your new best friend. I've seen Beats go for less than $4,000.
I imported two cars from Europe and spent almost $8k on the container shipping costs alone. You might save some with RORO, but if it were a car I wanted I'd pay the $8k just to avoid the headache. Bonus points if I actually got a car out of the deal!
My container got stuck in customs purgatory twice. Pulled off for inspections in Slovenia and Sicily. The first time required certified translation services to get the documents in Slovenian, in Sicily no one wanted to pick up my container after it was pulled off so it sat for nearly three weeks incurring customs storage costs... By the time I was done I was out 50% above the original shipping costs (because, wouldn't you know? that quote didn't cover anything I got dinged for).
I very nearly got dinged with another $1200 "visual inspection" when it landed in the states but by this point I flew into a screaming fit of rage on the phone (right in the middle of the office) and somehow that price went down to about $256 for an x-ray or something. And then there was the registration and state patrol inspections....
I love the fact that I was able to keep the car, but dang do I not ever want to go through that again
Good Lord willing I'll be going through Shinku Classic's in Houston later this year. Great people, good reviews from previous customers, and had zero problems answering 1 million questions over the phone. Prices seem about on par with what everyone else is charging for what I'm looking for.
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