[allanuber]

Mine's an import, as is my 456. No issues with imports ... however many are not advertised as such - generally the private seller pleads ignorance.

For resale ... it's sadface allround. For trading on anything else ... bigger sadface.

[tasgirevik]

F cars are an emotional investment in pleasure & pain   

[dodger]

Mine's an import, as is my 456. No issues with imports ... however many are not advertised as such - generally the private seller pleads ignorance.

For resale ... it's sadface allround. For trading on anything else ... bigger sadface.

I don't know why , after all it's the same car isn't it ?

[allanuber]

Not if you're reselling.

[dodger]

Not if you're reselling.

Its the same car as a locally delivered one with a few minor differences made good by compliance, so why the big stigma about an import ?

Unless you cant verify it's history or something like that ?

[allanuber]

Its the same car as a locally delivered one with a few minor differences made good by compliance, so why the big stigma about an import ?

Unless you cant verify it's history or something like that ?

No particularly spectacular reason, apart from some imports being utter dogs, which drags down the lot. There's a reasonable fear of salted roads, dodgy accident repairs, changed odometers etc etc - which could well be the same for local, but is certainly more prevalent for an import.

As I said, I've got 2 so obviously think they are OK - just don't buy them hoping to trade out without getting smashed.

[dodger]

No particularly spectacular reason, apart from some imports being utter dogs, which drags down the lot. There's a reasonable fear of salted roads, dodgy accident repairs, changed odometers etc etc - which could well be the same for local, but is certainly more prevalent for an import.

As I said, I've got 2 so obviously think they are OK - just don't buy them hoping to trade out without getting smashed.

If you get in cheap I guess you can afford to get out cheap, I can understand it would be hard to verify the cars past and there's no one local to refer back to.

[Wattens]

Congrats on the new car.

It is always worth the punt to drive it back but have a back up plan incase anything should happen along the way. At the end of the day a 2nd hand car is a 2nd hand car, you don't know it's history and a PPI can not predict that you won't have the unexpected happen, all it can do is help remove some doubt about the car.

What do you mean "even wattens ....."?  The first car I ever bought was a jap import.

There is a stigmatism with imports created by the Aussie dealers, and most of the time this stigma is correct. Most of the cars being imported to Australia are the bottom of the barrel, generally someone here in Australia thinks they can make money importing and selling but have no clue about the cars, the market or what to look for, so people being people they go for the cheaper cars. Long story short the cheap abused unmaitained cars tend to come to Australia, become money pitts, people get burned, they try to flog it off at a dealer and the dealer takes advantage because they are running a business and they can. Crash history is irrelevant if the car is a shit box, if the car has been in a prang and no one can tell that it has and it has been repaired properly, why is that an issue? It doesn't change the car at all.
These same people scraping money together thinking they are going to make millions importing cars and selling them are also the same ones who tend to play around with the books, history and milage of the imports all in the name of profit and then dealers jump on these examples and label all imports the same way.

It is as easy as breathing to see if a car has been pranged (if you can not see it or feel it then it isn't an issue) what is the purpose of knowing the car has had a repair but you get the car PPI and there is no evidence of a repair because it has been done perfectly? Just as easy to see if it has had a hard life and even easier to see if the milage has been played with even without hooking the car up to a computer.

A good car is a good car no matter if it has a green or purple compliance plate, they have both been complied, unless it is a collectors car there is no difference between them except for the compliance plate. I would rather have a great conditioned import than a shit condition or even an average condition aussie delivered car.

Too bad newer model ferraris can't come under RAWS, stuck with having to play into the dealers over inflated games.

[Wattens]

I can understand it would be hard to verify the cars past and there's no one local to refer back to.

Why is that? You living in the 18th century Dodger? It is only an email or a phone call over seas to the place where the cars log books say it was maintained at.

[dodger]

OK so it's not the fact they're imports it's because many imports are crap, so if you know what you're doing an import would be fine but you'd still have a problem selling it because of the stigma already associated with them.