Buyer Beware!

[CanadianGTR]

what do u people thing about paying extra for additional services built into the purchase cost of a vehicle from someone with a local established storefront business? ie. inspections and repairs done prior to sale, with assurances that there will be post-sales parts and service/maintenance support, rather than just going with an importer and pay the fees to just get the car from there to here and u have to go on your own to the dock/yard and get the car yourself?

If I do import for someone, that is the EXACT relationship I want to have with my customers, helping them out when they need it, etc... and I think that since I wont be dealing with high volume, I will be able to achieve that easier than say IC (I'm not saying they arent like this, it was just an example of a larger importing company).

I plan on charging 1,000 for an importing fee, regardless of how much/little assistance the customer requires. I like an even $1,000 because it adds up well when doing the cost analysis of each car (better than a percentage). But obviously if a car is under $10,000, charging $1,000 is kinda silly. Again that is just me, and I don't even have anything up and running yet so you can't really use that as a benchmark figure to compare with others who are currently doing it.

[support@feastauto]

Its also amusing that every man and his goldfish with some spare money that can put together a website is suddenly an importer in Canada due to the lack of regulations in the market sector. There's more to being an import broker or dealer than knowing an English teacher in Japan that moonlights as an agent for example. You'll find those with more established links and experience can offer you more services that are quicker, thorough and at the end of the day, reliable. Which in the end should help you find a car that YOU want, and not a car that they want you to buy.

I found your last paragraph very obstrusive to say the least. And to think that you were aiming this at my direction was very unthoughtful of you. You obviously don't know that I'm an auto enthusiast just like everyone else on this board. The only difference between me and the others is that I'm here in Japan and others aren't. I may be new to the importation scene, but my fello gaijin/nippon partners are definately aren't.

Also, do you honestly think it's cheap to just jump into this scene under these stringent Japanese business guidlines? Perhaps you should think about what kind of ¥ is invloved to become business. Some food for thought for you.


Justin,

Regarding your post you are most certainly correct about the parrels in this business. Also, as stated in our recent conversation, I mentioned to you my perspective of what kind of people the Japanese nationals are. They are all crooks out for themselves and that's the bottom line. I look at my students real deeply from time to time, and my conclusion is always the same. This will never change whether you sell cars, jewerly or are the clerk at the local lawsons.

I look forward to our future endeavors, whether they are automotive or not.

Adam

[spikeone]

Shodo,

I think you took it wrongly... he's talking about everyone in Canada that have imported 1 car, setup a webpage and now call themselevs importers

I think those are the people he was aiming..

[saskskyline]

would any of you guys think its worth it to spend a bit of extra cash and actully fly to japan to eliminate any possible changce of disapointment and actually see and drive a car in person before buying?...just wondering...

[support@feastauto]

would any of you guys think its worth it to spend a bit of extra cash and actully fly to japan to eliminate any possible changce of disapointment and actually see and drive a car in person before buying?...just wondering...

So basically you come to Japan (Tokyo) and and search for vehicles in person with little or no Nihongo fluency. This seems to be real tuff in my eye's.
Also, you can't even go to the auction unless accompanied by a member or you can resort to the car lots where all the hassles happen.

Let's say you are successful in finding a car, then the next step is getting it to Yokohama followed by finding an agent to dereg the car. After this you have to leave it at the port with daily charges accumilating for storage until the desired ship deports from Japan.

I feel a headache happening right now!

Here's is a moderate break down of your exspences.

Return plane ticket: 1000CDN max.
Tranportation around town: 250CDN min. depending on duration of stay
#1914 International drivers license: 25CDN
Accomodations: Hostel 40CDN a night, Hotel 70CDN a night

[funkymonkey]

shodo... what spikeone said... I don't know who you are or what you do, so I definitely didn't aim anything at you. Apologies if you took offense to it. And yes, I do know some of the costs involved in setting up a business in Japan, the others guys that I work with would be more familiar with it, as they had to go thru it to establish the business in Chiba.

CanadianGTR, we charge $1000 as a flat fee for all our clients regardless of what they import, with return clients getting cheaper rates. We basically guide them throught the whole process, and provide reciepts for each expense along the way. This way our operation is fully transparent, and you know we don't have $10,000 markups (nor do we wind back odo's and give cars a respary ). So if you charge $1000 for a personalised agent service that seems very reasonable to me.

[thumper]

how about used car lots? are they tough to deal with in person?

some shops like skye service offer to help look at cars in person in japan (within reason) provided u pay for your own expenses....

[spikeone]

paying for someone to check cars in Japan and paying for a mecanic in Japan to check a car for you is same thing ..

difference is 1 is a seller and other is a mecanic ... 1 cares if car gets sold, other just inspects and gives details and gets paid for that only so he could careless if car inspection shows that car is ugly

Musashi has a lot of mecanics working for him in Japan and also looks for cars in Japan..

[CanadianGTR]

CanadianGTR, we charge $1000 as a flat fee for all our clients regardless of what they import, with return clients getting cheaper rates. We basically guide them throught the whole process, and provide reciepts for each expense along the way. This way our operation is fully transparent, and you know we don't have $10,000 markups (nor do we wind back odo's and give cars a respary ). So if you charge $1000 for a personalised agent service that seems very reasonable to me.

That's exactly what I was planning on doing, providing an original bill of sale from the supplier to show exactly where the client's money is going.

I like your style. 8)

[funkymonkey]

In Australia we used to have a lot of people prefer to buy thru dealer yards etc at a net price and so on. As the market developed and people got more familiar with it, importing thru a broker who charged a flat fee became the norm. Now buying an import from a yard is considered somewhat strange... mostly because the after sales services offered by yards were the same as those offered by tuning houses and garages. Its good to see guys in Canada try to leapfrog that stage and have more faith in brokers getting them cars at cost price.

Also it seems I have trodden on a few English teachers' toes with that offhand remark. Let me re-iterate that I don't know any GTRCA english teachers, nor have I dealt with them, what I said was from personal experiences dealing with 5 other English teachers who decided to make a lil money on the side. So please don't get all wound up over it

[thumper]

i wish there were such a thing as tuning houses and garages here like there is in oz... whenever i pick up an australian car mag, 1/2 of the advertising is from tuners. out here where i live, it's just a bunch of storefronts selling cheap aftermarket parts claiming to be tuners, but their "mechanics" are kids who barely have their driver's licenses and are learning as they go

[klys]

it's Indeed sad...

Like I said in an other thread, there isn't a big fellowship of motorsports in Canada...

maybe the day will come... but I think winter never helped the fact that you can really drive performance vehicule during the winter...(yeah yeah except CanadianGTR )

[support@feastauto]

(yeah yeah except CanadianGTR )

ahahahahhaahha what a lucky guy he is.

You should think of marrying a J-girla and move to Okinawa. Where the sunshine never dies and the car scene is so dramatic.

[gtrjazz]

Never buy a car without a copy of its auction sheet from Japan if it has grade Four or above much less problems.

[E34 M5]

From where i stand it is worth it to spend an extra 2-5g and know exactly what you are getting. even if you have a broker you are still buying the car from a photograph. if the car is here and you can get it inspected, drive it etc, you know exactly what you are getting. I know people that have been totaly ripped, paid for cars and not even recieved them, anyone want to give it a go on your own, good luck disaster may be waiting around the corner for you