Jap imports

[ALLAN]

want to replace my Corola Verso for some thing a little bigger,been looking at some Jap imports,Honda Odyssey,Nissan Strega, Toyota Estima, any one bought a Grey import ? What should I watch out for ? I know the sat nav would take me to Osaka but not Bananarama! but hey, thats whats phones are for

[Captain Chaos]

Some Dealers seem to ask more for grey imports than UK Cars I have noticed,so do your pricing research I'd say.

I have owned a few of these except for the Nissan and have had no comebacks after they had been sold,personally I would go for the more mainstream ones such as the Estima if it were to be a keeper,I believe that there is a difference in the body width on some of these compared to the equivalent UK Previa?

Service Histories are not indecipherable as some might suggest,mileages are recorded in normal numbers.What you often find is the History is missing leaving you with the task of judging whether it looks right or not in terms of what it says on the clock.

It is possible to carry out a Japanese HPI check and if the seller has left any Auction documents in the Car then these could be useful in tracing the History of the Car as all Imports will have gone through the Auctions before being shipped.

Apart from this just all the usual go with your eyes open checks when buying a used car.

[Rebel]

I've had 4 Jap imports, all used, not new. Still have one as a daily driver. Apart from normal servicing and wear and tear / age related issues, the only problem I've had is that up here at least, it can be difficult to find a garage that will work on an import.
Not a problem if you're happy to work on it yourself, if you'd rather pay to have it repaired, might be best to check for garages in your area that will work on grey imports
My Hilux Surf used to show as a Land Cruiser Prado with my insurance company, might be worth checking with your insurance that what you have is what they think, if you see what I mean.