Bonsai Car Importer

[coolrides]

i have been emailing and one or 2 phone calls to bonsai cars, based in southampton im told. was wondering if anyone on here has heard of them or even better used them to bring in a car.

they say for a fee they bring the car over, sva it, register it in your name and you just pick it up and drive.

would be great if anyone has used or heard reports of this company as i would appreciate any stories or experiences with them.

cheers.

[janey]

Some personal experience reports here TBH I think no matter who you are buying/importing through there is always a chance that things aren't quite right or as advertised. I'd personally now go with someone who has a base here rather than buying of some random Japanese dealer, so at least with Bonsai you'd hopefully have a bit more peace of mind if anything were to be wrong.

[coolrides]

Some personal experience reports here TBH I think no matter who you are buying/importing through there is always a chance that things aren't quite right or as advertised. I'd personally now go with someone who has a base here rather than buying of some random Japanese dealer, so at least with Bonsai you'd hopefully have a bit more peace of mind if anything were to be wrong.

cheers for the advice read that link you gave me seems some good some bad but i guess thats the chance you take. pity the yellow ones are so rare.

[Parf]

I got my car from there. No problems with Bonsai themselves but the company they use for the SVA and MOT are right robbing B******s. They tried charging me for new lower ball joints as they are a common problem and there was nothing wrong with them. I had a garage check them and they put a bar under them and they didnt move. Then they tried to say one of the shocks is leaking, and it wasnt. I had a long list of repairs totalling about £500. I picked the car up and took it to another MOT station with the failiure report and he said there was nothing wrong with any of the things on there apart from the tyres were low.

They prey on people who cant collect the car unless its registered, but i had trade plates and insurance so I picked it up.

My advise as this is what i am going to do next time is just get them to get the car to Southampton (option 1 I think). You can convert the speedo, fit a fog light, fuel neck restrictor etc. yourself for a fraction of the cost they charge then take it to your local SVA garage for the SVA and MOT. All thats left then is to register it.

[coolrides]

cheers for advice mate unfortunately i am in position i will have to fly from belfast to southampton to pick it up but i will ask about what happens if the car fails sva and make sure they give me in writing that its not my cost if it does.

cheers man

[Asi]

i am going to use bonsai cars to import a altezza soon. let me know if you do

thanks

[Dave1986]

I imported my car through Powervehicles, reason being iv only heard good things about them and iv seen some of the cars they ship over, guy used to live in Scotland aswell so is a pleasure to deal with, all emails were answered promptly, all questions were answered and everything went smoothly from the moment i sent my deposit until the moment i picked up my car (well apart from the slight delay on the boat but we cant predict the weather)

I got my ESVA test and the likes done independantly in Bristol, guy who owns the place was also Scottish lol (its a small world)

Since i picked up my car over a year ago iv never stopped smiling :D unless the gritter goes past!!

I think to import a car just now would cost a helluva lot coz of the gay exchange rates n stuff no?