Has anyone had a Japanise imported car before?

Thinking of upgrading mums 2001 Yaris, with a Jap spec 2005 Yaris (badged the Vitz over there).

Its on ebay, at a reasonable price, and now fully UK reistered, just wondering if there is anything we should be looking out for / be aware of when buying and owning/running a Jap spec'ed car in the UK.

Sorted out insurance, and price isn't to much different to a UK spec'ed one.

Jon

Sometimes the UK versions of cars can be safer, owing to British standards being a little higher in some areas - that's the only one I have heard.

You have a txt Jon


Trev

Garree001 said:

Sometimes the UK versions of cars can be safer, owing to British standards being a little higher in some areas - that's the only one I have heard.

Click to expand...

Also, some Jap spec cars had inferior rustproofing compared to their UK counterparts.

Apart from the insurance issues, the only day to day thing I can think of is availability of JDM specific parts but I don't think that would be too problematic if you have a popular import.

A lot of JDM performance cars use high octane fuel as well, although I don't think it's something you need to worry about.

My brother's Nissan Silvia that I'm driving around atm is a grey import, the biggest thing that you should be aware of is that dealerships won't touch your car with a rusty shifter Other than that, they are usually good cars, but they are just another second hand car, so take the usual precautions

I was also gonna mention the rustproofing as well as japan don't get as much crap on the roads as we do.

If you get it then just make sure you underseal the car

Jap spec can be different in everyway, as has been mentioned rust proofing is a main one but they can also be different mechanically for example gear ratios, spring rates or engine maps interior materials/design even the glass its a case of going on to specific forums for that car and asking about the differences. Some are simply just a case that they've been legalised for this country with new lights etc others can be almost an entirely different beast.

my drivers door window mechanism went and it was cheaper to get a door from the scrappies than to repair it, my car is UK spec and the door was JDM and the window did have a different tint from factory!

Jon,

Just had a mooch round the dark recesses of Matt's site, you can get a copy of the Toyota EPC (like EPER) from there

Have a look in the Downloads Index


Trev