japanese info page 4

japanese imports..

servicing and parts.. it is not difficult to locate service items or parts for Japanese imports. Contrary to popular myth, the majority of servicing items and replacement parts are identical to UK models and we have excellent co-operation with, and daily deliveries from the more enlightened manufacturer's franchised dealers. Toyota dealers' parts departments now have access to a CD-rom which accepts Japanese domestic market chassis numbers. Even with the more exotic applications such as the FTO and WRX, where the main dealer can't help, we have developed a network of specialist suppliers of O.E. quality spares, including body panels and glass, all at sensible prices.

some dispelled myths.. we hope that the foregoing has answered some questions and at the same time dispelled a few myths. A lot of the black propaganda and misinformation regarding 'grey' imports was propagated in the past by manufacturers and their dealers in an effort to protect their vested interest in maintaining the status quo - the UK being one of the most expensive countries in the world in which to buy and maintain a car. Not for nothing is the UK known to car manufacturers as Treasure Island!

changing attitudes.. over the past 12 months however, we have noticed a softening of attitude toward imports by some manufacturers and their main dealers, from in some cases outright hostility to unbridled co-operation. It seems like only yesterday that some Mitsubishi dealers wouldn't touch a grey or parallel import with a barge pole and not only were they telling anyone who would listen that parts were impossible to locate, some were actually chasing nonplussed FTO owners from their forecourts with pointed sticks whilst shouting "unclean, unclean". Now the cheeky beggars at Mitsubishi have the brass neck to actually advertise themselves as the best place to have an imported vehicle serviced. This may be because, despite all the manufacturers' black propaganda, the independent import market, currently estimated at 400,000 vehicles and rising, is just not going to go away.

free coffee.. the single largest slice of the UK's new car market is no longer the province of Ford, Vauhall or Rover, because something in the order of 17% of all new car registrations are now independently imported and thus bypass the dealer network all together. Mr Average Car Buyer has voted sensibly, with his feet and cheque book, and manufacturers and dealers have been forced to sit up and take notice. The rationale behind Mitsubishi's recent advertising campaign is simply that they may have lost the initial sale, but they are going to fight like buggery to retain the lucrative servicing and repair work. As a result Mitsubishi will now welcome you with open arms and offer you a coffee - even if your Pajero was first registered on Venus.

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