Autoadvan Advise Please!


Boozer_Matt

Boozer_Matt

New Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2007
Messages
360
I have done a search and read all the threads that came up with the 'Autoadvan' search and found it quite interesting.

I am just wondering how many of you have imported from them yourself or know of people that have?

Any problems?

Is it risky in anyway? (I see them as more of an import company than just buying straight from auction, but still cheaper than buying from here in Uk. Am I right?)

I am particularly looking at the cars that are not in the auction, but just sat there with a set price that includes all UK transfers etc.

If you have imported from them...

How long did the whole process take from when you found the car you wanted?

Did any parts get "lost" in transit?

Did you find it hard and expensive to get the car UK road worthy?


I am seriously considering going down this route in April time, rather than going straight from UK importer.

Any advise welcomed and please fill me in on any information or details I should know / think about!

Cheers
 
i imported my ek9 through advan, theyre very professional and Tony is always helpful.

I would recommend you give them a call and telll them your budget as to how much you want to spend in total landed price to get the car here in uk thats including fees, shipping tax also the condition you want the car to be in grade 3 and above is recommended

I would suggest you let them bid on a car in auction as there are better savings to be made and they will translate the report of the car in english for you and get the vehicle inspected beforehand.

Also go for a car thats 10 years or older to save yourself major hassle and money trying to sva it if its under 10 years old, i.e 1997 or early 1998 so you can register it by the time its landed here in uk.

if you take this route all you need to do to register it with dvla is get your fog light and mot done :

you will need to budget when landed here:
Mot - £50
fog light - £50 + labour
headlight bulbs, servicing oil change, filter etc, wax oil sealed £150approx + labour
converter/delimiter to read mph £75 + labour
Cat2 or Cat1 immobiliser depending on choice and budget £150-£250 approx including fitting
Road tax £100 for 6 months
V55/5 form Dvla local office to register with dvla + reg fee £50 approx
insurance certficate + all docs that came with car, dereg + tax and proof of ID

i would budget no more than £1,000 to get it on the road and thats including other bits you might want to change like the tyres

it may sound a lot of work by yourself but its a piece of cake if your prepared to do it yourself. You could order all the service and bits by the time the car has landed here approx 6-8 weeks and get them done in a day. All worth it in my opinion and save £££s

anything i missed out am sure someone will add it later
 
I would fit fog light and do any service / cambelt change myself, as I am very compitant with cars / engines etc.

You don't need a Cat 1 or 2 for ESVA though do you (I don't think anyway), so I would only have to pay for the MoT and ESVA test.

Everything else would be done by myself, so would save lots of money that way, because I am able to get very cheap parts etc. ;)
 
getting a car through the SVA is piece of cake. I built my own caterham style kit car from scratch and it passed first time. U dont need a CAT 1 alarm that for sure.
 
auto advan are by far the most professional and helpfull company i spoke to when shopping around for mine.they are also most of the time the cheapest as they dont act like a car dealer and try to bump a profit on top of the car.they just charge a fee for their middle man services.b
uying a car from japan will always hold certain risks whether it be from a fore court or auction so i wouldnt be put off by the latter as the auction sheet is generally a good guide and pretty spot on.
for example...the car i have was on their stock list through a dealer for £7800, the dealer couldnt shift it so it went to auction where i won it at a UK landed price on £5700. so hell of a saving there.

mine came over as a grade 4 b and is in very good condition.most of the marks shown on the auction sheet i havent even found and others you only catch when really inspecting the car under a light etc.

it took me about 3 weeks of bidding on cars to win one...then the shipping took around 5 weeks.
barratt shipping are great and kerrie made the process totally painless and will answer any question no matter how stupid. they even add you onto MSN so you can keep up to date with things and contact her easily.

as for stuff going missing...this isnt anything to do with the import company or even the shipping agent. i had my gear knob stolen and was told by the shipping company (in a very nice and polite way) that very very very few claims for theft or damage get a sniff as its very hard to prove the whens and wheres etc. as it could happen in the docks in japan..on the boat or in the docks over here.

if your willing to take a slight risk and wait then auctions are the way to go because sometimes you can get alot of extras and rarer models etc.
 
Thanks for the informative reply there mate.

I am deffinatly thinking about using Autoadvan when teh time comes.

I have a few other options in the air at the moment, but I'll see what happens.

The auction way does seem to be a very good and cheaper way, and like you say, all the info is there on the sheet, so I guess I will just have to have faith and keep my fingers crossed.
 
AndyH said:
the auction sheet is generally a good guide and pretty spot on.
Click to expand...

Boozer_Matt said:
and like you say, all the info is there on the sheet, so I guess I will just have to have faith and keep my fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

I think I should give my thoughts on this part...in my experience the auction sheet is one of the most deceiving things going if you use that to buy a car, instead of just a guide. Pretty much all it shows on the diagrams is the condition of the bodywork, it doesnt even show if a paintjob is bad etc. Also sometimes mistakes are made, the inspectors go through thousands of cars and are only human afterall. The worst example I have gone through was an Evo VI I was about to bid on, it was a grade 4 and according to the sheet seemed an almost perfect car, on our inspection of the car it was clear it should have been a grade R as after lifting the bonnet it was clear it had been in an accident previously.

I have seen plenty of cars wrongly graded, im not saying its intentional though, possibly just mistakes, as plenty with aftermarket turbos/roll cages etc are not graded 1, which they should be. Ive almost bid on cars but then found that they have had oil leaks/previous accidents/badly fit modifications/clutches on the way out/bad spray jobs etc.
I dont understand why people are adamant on doing things on the cheap, saving about £200 on a car that costs £6-8k, going through all the hassle and the not having the backing that they would with an import company who provide this service. With an agent service they will take no resposibility at all on a car not being what you expected, if it was an import company who source cars (like I do, and I think Dunk on here does too) they would take responsibilty for anything not being up to scratch.

Rant Over,lol
 
do agree that mistakes can happen SB...but id say its a rarity. all the imports i know of through people i have met have been fine.
 
Agreed too and thank you for the comments.

All have been listened too and taken in.

The things you mentioned are and have been on my mind about the import process but you have to know where to draw the line.

And I would be saving more than just £200 quid if I imported one myself.

if it was only £200, I would use a company.
 
AndyH said:
do agree that mistakes can happen SB...but id say its a rarity. all the imports i know of through people i have met have been fine.
Click to expand...

I agree mistakes on auction grades are not that common, but i still say that an auction report is not a good guide to buying a car, if you ever wonder why there are companies with bad reputations its because they buy on this solely, made a business out of it, and then their service may not be the best either. I know of plenty of people who do this in Bradford and Keighley and they are ripped to shreds on forums because cars are rarely what the auction sheet makes out. Come on you dont have to be a rocket scientist to know that a cars complete condition cannot be put on a number, or a couple of marks on a diagram here and there.

I am not saying imports are bad, I am saying just using an auction sheet to buy a car can have bad results, obviously its your choice to make if you did this, just trying to offer some advice as im in the business.

Boozer_Matt said:
And I would be saving more than just £200 quid if I imported one myself.

if it was only £200, I would use a company.
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Remember that companies also have trade contacts and know ways to reduce costs as they do it regularly, so the 'cost price' will most likely be lower than you would get, then adding their wage onto that would probably take the 'sale price' somewhere around what your 'cost price' would be. I would do a private import for £500 so it may work out the same price as going through the hassles yourself, that all depends on each individual and how well they know the process and how cheap they can get things such as transport etc.
 
just comes down to using your common sense when choosing the right condition of the car and autoadvan can help with that.

sticking to 10 year+ no sva rule is the best way to save costs and the middle man
 
What sort of price would a 3/3.5 grade ek9 go for at auction?

I wouldnt mind buying a bit of a ratty one to modify. I want to keep my one totally standard but i always get the bug of wanting more power so having a 2nd would be an option for me.

SB, are you saying if i privatley bought one from an auction you would import it to the UK for £500?
 
Rclub said:
What sort of price would a 3/3.5 grade ek9 go for at auction?

I wouldnt mind buying a bit of a ratty one to modify. I want to keep my one totally standard but i always get the bug of wanting more power so having a 2nd would be an option for me.

SB, are you saying if i privatley bought one from an auction you would import it to the UK for £500?
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Yes, I'd do that for any member...Look on my site at the 'Services' section, that is how I would source one for you mate.
If you just want more power though, surely getting a different car would be better, or if you wanted to stay EK9, there isnt much that will be quicker than my EK9 that I have for sale and is already in the UK and ready to be taken away.

tacka said:
just comes down to using your common sense when choosing the right condition of the car and autoadvan can help with that.
Click to expand...
Your right that generally buying cars does take some common sense, but common sense also says you wouldnt buy a car blind, just of a sheet of a paper with a number on it...we only buy cars once we have seen & inspected them in the flesh, I cant believe people in the UK do that on a regular basis.
 
SB-Performance said:
Yes, I'd do that for any member...Look on my site at the 'Services' section, that is how I would source one for you mate.
If you just want more power though, surely getting a different car would be better, or if you wanted to stay EK9, there isnt much that will be quicker than my EK9 that I have for sale and is already in the UK and ready to be taken away.
Click to expand...

I looked at your service section but there was nothing on it.

Im not really interested in getting another car, ive had a Pulsar before, although fun its not a drivers car like the EK9 so blown motors is not the route for me. Ive always liked my 1600 engines, had corsa gsi on throttle bodies & currentley own a 106 rallye 16valve which i thought was awesome until the EK9 came along. When that vtec comes in it & the engine turns in to race mode it really does put a smile on your face from ear to ear. I really dont want to mess about with this one but i do want another for track days. Really like the turbo'd R you have, I bet its a handfull & a half?!!!
Would i be dreaming if i thought i could import one for about £4500? I would even settle for an R graded one if the price was right.
 
You had me worried for a sec, until I checked, and then I read your second mesage, lol.

I know what you mean by saying the '9 is a good drivers car, Ive never driven a Pulsar so couldnt really comment, but I would like to drive a 106 Rallye, think they would be nice.

Put simply, Yes, I think it would be too difficult to get one here, even if its a grade R for £4500. I do have a Grade R EK9 available that will cost around £5k though, but that wouldnt include MOT, road tax, registration etc. as it wouldnt be needed if its a track car anway.

About our Turbo'd R, its not a handful TBH, thats what amazes me about the chassis of the EK9, it can cope with extra power brilliantly and it isnt too much power, just responsive as hell and one of the most fun cars I have in stock, mainly due to it being so controllable whilst being so quick...only downside is it spins quite a bit in the wet if your not careful
 
The chassis is awesome on the EK9 so i can believe that it handles all that power. Ive never driven a car that handles so good & gives so much feedback from stock!!! I absoloutley love these cars!!

Could you send pics & details of the R graded one you have, may be interested in that. My email is beaglepop@hotmail.co.uk.

Cheers SB.
 
Will send them soon mate.

Your right about the feedback etc. thats what I like so much about them, power wise the car isnt much compared to others but the feel is astonishing.
 
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