Buying an S15?????

[WillG180]

Help.

I am very seriously thinking of purchasing an S15 but my pea sized intellect is having difficulty on a few things involved with acquiring a car from Japan.

1. I think I can just about understand what I’ll end up paying; FOB price, plus 10% import duty, Plus 17.5% VAT, Plus the shipping fee, and plus the clearance fee. (Sound ok so far?)

2. Its what I do next that confuses me. I pick the car up from the docks, and I need to get it sva tested- right? How do I go about this, and how much does it cost for say an spec R s15?

3. After this I’ll need to register the car, and get a registration number. Again what kind of price is this, and what’s the best way to go about it?

4. Next up MOT?? Brains hurting now, but will it now have to be MOT’ed before the very happy motoring begins? And does it need to be converted to mph/miles to get through the MOT?

5. Insurance any recommendations, as I haven’t tried to insure an important



Any help is greatly appreciated, sorry for the stupidity, and the ridiculous amount of questions.

Cheers

Will.

[Yakozan]

Help.

I am very seriously thinking of purchasing an S15 but my pea sized intellect is having difficulty on a few things involved with acquiring a car from Japan.

1. I think I can just about understand what I’ll end up paying; FOB price, plus 10% import duty, Plus 17.5% VAT, Plus the shipping fee, and plus the clearance fee. (Sound ok so far?)

You pay 10% import duty for the car price and shipping. VAT is then added based on the car price, shipping and import tax. Just a way for the government to get more funds

2. Its what I do next that confuses me. I pick the car up from the docks, and I need to get it sva tested- right? How do I go about this, and how much does it cost for say an spec R s15?

I used a company in Bristol called BMS ltd. They picked the car up and did the ESVA thingy. A stock S15 Spec-R would be about £1000-1200. Every aftermarket part on the car would up the price and if it isn't one of the usuall aftermarket parts, you might need to source the stock part yourself.

3. After this I’ll need to register the car, and get a registration number. Again what kind of price is this, and what’s the best way to go about it?

Pretty cheap I think. Nowhere near the ESVA price tag. I think it's the DVLA who handles this part.

4. Next up MOT?? Brains hurting now, but will it now have to be MOT’ed before the very happy motoring begins? And does it need to be converted to mph/miles to get through the MOT?

MOT is required. It's just like a regular MOT. mph should be changed by the ESVA company. This is just ordinary MOt things like tire thread and stuff.

5. Insurance any recommendations, as I haven’t tried to insure an important

No idea I'm afraid

Any help is greatly appreciated, sorry for the stupidity, and the ridiculous amount of questions.

Cheers

Will.

I hope my answers are helpfull
I did my import a few years ago and used a company to do it. I was just updated very often on the progression and how it was done so I know alot about it.

The company I used is called Jap-City. Very cheap and very good chap.
Just incase you decide to get these things done proffesionally.

Edit: Damn, with all this knowledge about importing I've got I could probobly set up an import company in the UK

[Nicely]

5. Insurance any recommendations, as I haven’t tried to insure an important

As always, it depends on a lot of variables about you. However, my 1999 325bhp S15 cost me less to insure (with all mods declared, and agreed value) than my 1995 320bhp S14...

Listen to Yakozan. He's done it all himself and knows what he's on about

[sushiming]

as above he's done it he knows it...
insurance always depends one you as a person if you got points or not where you live and your driving experiences aswell...mine isnt too bad it drop almost half the price the second year i insured it...

Have you actually tried looking at some which are already in the country?? there are a few which are pretty good still about...

[Chihiro]

Help.

3. After this I’ll need to register the car, and get a registration number. Again what kind of price is this, and what’s the best way to go about it?

Will.

Not too sure on the rest of your other questions but it'll cost ya £134.00 to register the car, get your plates and get 6 months tax. Take your SVA documents, export certificate, MOT certificate (not sure if the SVA covers that?!), driver's licence and two utility bills to your nearest DVLA office. Fill in a short form, hand details over and cash and wait 3-5 working days before going back to collect your registration number and tax disc. Get plates made and you're away!

For the cost of importing now, surely it is more viable to buy from here now? There are S15 for sale here and 99% are registered so saves you the hassle of going through an SVA; look into the fact that if you fail the SVA it'll cost you the same again! In order to get through the SVA the vehicle has to be total STANDARD and have the likes of speedo converted, petrol nozzle adaptor, fog light.............

[Nicely]

It is cheaper to import yourself (as in £2-3k), but you have to be quite hands-on about it all. Buying from an import specialist removes the hassle and gives you some safeguards, but comes at extra cost.

If I bought another, I'd do it myself, but I've gained a substantial amount of knowledge about the process since buying this one

[WillG180]

Thank you very much everyone

Very Helpful, Got alot more looking around to do. It makes alot of sense for my first time to pay the extra and get someone who knows what there doing to sort things out. But around 2K is alot of money! hmmmmm

Well hopefully I'll be joining you guys soon, Thanks again, and untill then anyone want to buy an mo30 944 turbo

[moomin]

i just got my s15 yesterday!!! hurrah,
cant help with alot of your questions, alot of them seem to be answered all ready, but try sky insurance, im with them, i rang around loads of "modified specialists" and non of them were really interested! i got told by 1 company that they have had alot of claims made recently on s15's so they wernt prepared to give me a quote!!! lol
i got a really good deal with sky so, thats my advice, hope it helps!

[sushiming]

yup a lot of us have now move to sky very good
did u get the agreed value aswell its well worth it...?

[moomin]

yes, got the agreed value, very handy indeed!!!!

nobody else really compared with sky's quote....