I'm going to assume most of the responses will be not to import, BUT! I want some opinions from different people Let me know what you think. Is it worth importing a car straight from Japan? I think it costs more than If I were to buy a car here.. Not sure! Let me know! I have a contact that does imports, trades, etc in Japan as well, so I could possibly have something brought over if I really wanted too.

Thanks again!

 

what if any is the benefit of importing one?

 

Depends what importing tax to your country is, and then the costs of registering it. What vehicle were you planning to import?

 

I wanted to import a EVO X, 08/09. The tax rate in Ontario is 13%. The Avg price for the car in Japan is around 20k.

 

if it's cost effective, i don't see why not, other than the steering wheel being on the wrong side. also, most cars in Japan are subject to quite a bit of rust. i'm not sure how well the 8/9/10 fends off rust and corrosion, but that's something to think about.

i've seen some of the R32 GTRs people are picking up. some of them are rust buckets. and don't get me started on the AE86s.

 

That's probably because they sit in a shipping container in the middle of the ocean for 6 months to get here and not because the cars are more prone to rust because they are in Japan. They probably don't prep the cars well enough to fend off the sea water while being shipped.

 

If its in a shipping container how would it rust? Id see it rusting more sitting on the island by the sea. What sea water, its in a container?

 

they don't come over on the ships in calm waters the whole way. they hit waves that probably dump all over the containers. Those containers are not water proof.

I have seen plenty of people who ship their perfectly fine cars over seas and come over rusted out.

 

Not really worth the hassle. Just be patient and wait for one to go on sale locally near you.

 

Why import if you can already buy? If you are going the import route at least get something that's not available in your country.
I don't know about how things are in Canada but if it's in USA I'd say DEFINITELY not worth it unless you're obsessed with what you want and have deep pockets. A friend of mine is in the Air Force and after stationing in Japan for 2 years he brought back a GTR upon return (this is before the GTR was sold in USA) with his wife and it was an absolute nightmare for them, other than tax and custom cost they had to ship the engine and the rest of the car separately (so they are not importing a "car" but "parts") and the shipping cost went over 5K even though the shipping company originally quoted 2.7k, then add on registration fees, paying a shop to put the car back together etc. the cost was in the high 4 digits.

 

until customs finds out. a friend of mine did that with a Civic Type R. customs got wind, came out, and seized the car. i think he had to pay to have it sent back too, but i'm not sure. it was a mess. not worth it.

 

import ftw