Nicksan

Hey guys.

I have some questions and hoping you guys could possibly help me out.

I'm still saving up money to buy a new car ( G37 is the number 1 on the list) however the G37 in Holland has a whopping price of 60.000 Euro.

So I did some research on importing one from the States, wich got me thinking on the prices over Japan.

It seems that with the total package ( shipping, tax etc. ) I could save close to 20.000 euro by importing from Japan.

But In europe ( especially Holland ) there are quite a few laws concerning the car.

Now my questions are as following.

1. Do the japenese cars have rear fog lights?

2. What does it take to convert the headlights ( beampatern ) from RHD too LHD?

Few Q's not concerning the laws.

3. Would it bother you if you bought a good as new car, and didn't have the warranty that came with it in Japan?

4. Are the screen and buttons in the middle of the dash displayed in English or do they show Japanes writing?
Same for the onboard computer in the middle of the gauges ( speedo and rev )


I really would appriciate any help.
So does one of u guys ever imported a car, if so what were your experiences.

I'm really leaning towards importing one, but what holds me back, is losing the warranty.
On the other hand, it would save a ishload of cash, and I get to have the beige leather interior an the thicker steering wheel.

Please guys help me out.

G37Sam

People here in Dubai sometimes do the same (import from the US) to save a few $$.

Warranty is the biggest down side. If something goes wrong you're on your own. And for some reason, G's in the US seem to have so many issues lol

Another thing, the Gs in the US with Navi package have their maps loaded on hard drives while Gulf Specs ones require DVDs loaded from the trunk. So you'll have to check with your dealer what they have.

Gulf specs also require side markers so we get that (not available on American Specs).

The local dealer also told me (not sure how true) is that their interior is not designed to handle the heat in the gulf so it'll start showing stretch marks and cracks.

Apart from that, seems like you're good. What other laws you guys have in Holland besides rear fog lights?

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

I think that Japan is also RHD..

I'm not an expert on currency exchange but isn't 60,000 Euro like $85,000 US dollars???

If so you could buy two G37s from the US, sell one used in Holland and make enough money to pay for necessary conversions as well as any issues that would normally be covered under warranty.

G-Rocket

iTrader: (1)

Even if you import it, and lets say you get it in the US for $30,000, when you add the taxes and foreign import fees you are looking at about $10 -$15000 on top of it before you even start converting it to the EU standards.
Last year I shipped Acura TL-S and the guy in Germany paid about $17,000 to get it registered and all.

Nicksan

Thanks for the info Sam.

There are laws concerning HID headlights.
If a car that was made after 01-01-07 is equipped with HID, it has to have auto leveling for the lights, and needs to have headlight washers.

Cars made before 01-01-07 cannot have have an aftermarket HID kit build in if the code on de headlights is wrong.
For instance if your headlights have HCR or HC written in the lens, it's a no go if it comes to putting in HID.
However if it says DCR or DC, you're good to go.
The codes have something to with the headlight housing.
It seems that when you put in HID in a housing that wasn't meant for it, the beampatern will shoot eveywere.

I know, this country is getting worse every day.

Nicksan

Yep you're pretty much right on the price in US $.

But, when it comes to importing a car to Holland, it also comes with alot of taxes and stuff.
So although I like the idea of importing 2 and selliing 1 it's not really an option.
The reason I thought of importing 1 from Japan, is because of the many issues I encountered on this forum. It seems the US G's have alot of them.
So I was hoping some of you guys could tell me if this is pretty much the same in Japan.
Importing from the US or Japan both end up up losing warranty, and the price is pretty much the same.
However as it is now, i'm having a little more hope on the Japanese ones being slightly better if it comes to problems, but I can't confirm the are.
So that's why I made this thread.

Nicksan

Yes you are right about the extra costs, but I already did the math on that. It will cost me about 20.000 euros on top of the price I have to pay for the car, and it's still 20G cheaper than buying one from my local dealer.

G-Rocket

iTrader: (1)

For around 60k-70k Euro you can get a pretty nice 911 Turbo or the new M3. Why Infiniti??? I like my car but if I go back to the EU one day the 2 above will be on my top 5 list.

Nicksan

I don't have anything with porsche, besides those cars are really pricey if it comes to maintenance.
As for the M3, I think those cars are way overrated, and you can see them driving on every street around here.
Infinti is still a very exclusive car around here, and besides I love the way they look.

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

I haven't heared much regarding the quality of Japanese models vs US models. I know that they do come with some extra features that we do not get in the US markets. As regards major issues- there aren't really a lot of them accross the board. It's just that when you are on a forum with enthusiasts who nitpick and are very particular about their cars, you hear more about the issues that perhaps you would otherwise. And those problems that you see typically aren't the norm. I for one have had no major issues with my car with regard to repairs etc... I have nitpicked quite a bit however.

Nicksan

That's understandable, I guess I would be the same, since everything has to be perfect. I can freak out just over a little scratch , so yeah, what you just told me makes sense.

Kwang

iTrader: (1)

Wow, so it's reversed in Europe? Quite surprising to hear that the M3 is so common over there -- it's not so common in Southern California.
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DJ Hellfire

As for the headlights, you would have to buy RHD headlight housings, which would be very expensive. Another alternative would be to try to locate a set of RHD projectors that were taken out of a pair of RHD G headlights. Then you can open up the DOT spec headlights and swap the shields or just swap the entire projector. See if there is a Japanese ebay site or something. Doubt you'll find those in the US. But the US cars don't have autoleveling or headlight washers and I doubt the JDM ones do either. The only movement the headlights do is side to side when the tech package is installed. So I think you are SOL. Maybe you can retrofit the headlights with some halogen projectors.

n_jay888

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hi-jack your thread. Does anybody know a good part store in Tokyo? I'm planning on stopping by on january and pick up some parts that's not available here.