Aristo

[Richie]

Anyone here with a Jap spec V300 here??

[RacingAristo]

Richie,

I was thinking about buying an used (and probably modded) Aristo V300 from Japan and ship it to U.S. However, I'm not sure about the process and the fee involved in importing a vehicle.

[Steve]

importing is quite easy if you know the right person over in Japan.

If you need more info you need to contact Miquel of http://www.neweraimports.com/.. we have used ths guy before and always picks nice motors. He has a good eye for quality.

[Edited on 16-1-2002 by Administrator]

[Richie]

RA, I had the same idear, I heard you can get them pretty cheap from the middle east but also heard that most of them where stolen :(, so I decided against it.

I would still love to import one but I think it will be an expensive operation from Japan.

Thanks for the link steve!!!

[Rob]

hi richie,

not sure if you saw the report last year on bbc topgear about stolen cars???

It showed that ALL the cars going thru dubai etc were stolen from japan and then were also shipped to Dublin.

they made RH drive to LH drive changed 98 models to 2001 or even 2002 models had all the paper work labels etc etc.

so if ur going to buy something make sure it has come straight from an auction in japan.

because of the way japanese car laws etc are it is nearly impossible to re identify a stolen car and get away with it.

cheers

rob.

[RacingAristo]

Thanks for the info. I'd prefer someone in California that does the importing.

[Steve]

richie... there are now checks on all cars that come in the country so should be the same for you.

It will be quite hard nowdays to get a stolen car in the country... watch out for the left hand drive imported motors... ouch

but richie if you ever decide to get something imported you should speak to the guys at New Era.

[Richie]

Guys, I am certainly not importing a stolen car, that's just wrong!!!!!

But a V300 direct from Japan sure makes you go all :D.

Most likely it will just stay a dream though.

[Gamesound]

I recently prchased an import V300 vertex (twin turbo) - and still have the smile on my face! Prior to this, I owned a uk GS300 sport which gave me 120,000 trouble free miles - I absolutely love toyota. Some of the dealers are a bit... well...non toyota.... and it's simple, they make great cars.... I toyed with buying a 430 - but the price offered by lexus for my old gs300 i had bought from them (and serviced for many years) - was a kick in the proverbials i would offer to my worst enemy.

I changed spark plugs @ 90k and that was the only real major serevice expense.... I was told by Toyota in Japan that the V300 engine will withstand 600 bhp from the factory!

There are a few things i "miss" with my "gray import" and they are "heated seats", and some of the controls are in kanji....

Having asid that, it's a rocket, it has tiptronic and the touch screen for heater / aircon / cd / tv / sat nav is just starship enterprise...

Still dont understand why Lexus dont sell them in uk....

Importing was trouble free (but i do spend time in japan on business),.

Again - Great cars, great company - but some of the uk sales staff are obviously ex ford or double glazing salesman who cant spell toyota.... am i bitter?.... perhaps a tad... but they make great cars!

[Steve]

Guys, I am certainly not importing a stolen car, that's just wrong!!!!!

But a V300 direct from Japan sure makes you go all :D.

Most likely it will just stay a dream though.

It would certainly be hard nowadays to get a stolen import.

[Richie]

I recently prchased an import V300 vertex (twin turbo) - and still have the smile on my face! Prior to this, I owned a uk GS300 sport which gave me 120,000 trouble free miles - I absolutely love toyota. Some of the dealers are a bit... well...non toyota.... and it's simple, they make great cars.... I toyed with buying a 430 - but the price offered by lexus for my old gs300 i had bought from them (and serviced for many years) - was a kick in the proverbials i would offer to my worst enemy.

I changed spark plugs @ 90k and that was the only real major serevice expense.... I was told by Toyota in Japan that the V300 engine will withstand 600 bhp from the factory!

There are a few things i "miss" with my "gray import" and they are "heated seats", and some of the controls are in kanji....

Having asid that, it's a rocket, it has tiptronic and the touch screen for heater / aircon / cd / tv / sat nav is just starship enterprise...

Still dont understand why Lexus dont sell them in uk....

Importing was trouble free (but i do spend time in japan on business),.

Again - Great cars, great company - but some of the uk sales staff are obviously ex ford or double glazing salesman who cant spell toyota.... am i bitter?.... perhaps a tad... but they make great cars!

WOW, sounds like an awesome car!!!

Welcome to the site by the way.