a little knowledge.. if you read certain uninformed publications, listen to certain main dealers and consider that the sun shines out of Quentin Willson's posterior, you could be forgiven for thinking that all second hand UK supplied cars are generally immaculate, well maintained, carefully driven genuine mileage examples with a full and proper history.
You could also be forgiven for thinking that all Japanese imports are of dubious origin with major specification differences that make them unsuitable for UK roads, are uninsurable and that spares are all but impossible to locate.
The reality is far less extreme. In fact there are both advantages and disadvantages in Japanese imports, in exactly the same way as there are with UK supplied cars. There are good and bad imports and there are good and bad UK cars. In both cases the trick is to avoid the bad'uns. You may find this survey of interest.
myths and fibs.. we have lost count of the number of callers who initially voice the same concerns about availability of parts, costly insurance and the usual urban myths. They repeat the 'grey import' negatives like a mantra, without even considering the fact that these alleged shortcomings, if true, would be insurmountable disadvantages to import specialists such as ourselves. You wouldn't believe some of the wildly inaccurate statements made by main dealer salesmen in an effort to dissuade a potential customer from buying an import. Unfortunately, if repeated often enough, these fibs become received wisdom.
Under bonnet shot of 1991 Toyota Surf 2.4TD. It has not been steam cleaned and is as it arrived from Japan. Compare and contrast with a 12 year old UK 4x4...
the facts.. our experience of imports is far removed from the extremely negative view, which from our experience originated from manufacturers and their main dealers and over 8 years we have proved that it is perfectly possible to supply imported vehicles from Japan which offer our customers a number of significant advantages over the usual mainstream alternatives. We admit that, from our position as import specialists, we cannot be entirely objective on this subject. Nevertheless, on the following pages we have endeavoured to dispel some of the myths surrounding this market, which hopefully will allow the prospective buyer to take a more informed view of the UK versus Japan debate.
more jap info..
