FTO AUSTRALIA

Hey guys,

Well its official, I dont know whether any of you know but Complience for FTO's will soon be avalible and we will soon be able to import them from Japan.

The FTO's should cost aroun 11-12 grand landed and complied when imported. So my question is, do you think this will have an adverse effect on the resale value of FTO's?

11-12 grand landed / complied?

you sure about that?

remember shipping is $1750, plus tax which will be about 1-1500... then compliance (not sure of the cost now, but it used to be 2000 - will surely be much higher then that now). then obviously the cost of the car... which with the good xhchange rate would be better now then when I nought mine but still... Mine was about 10 grand aussie but with a xchnage of 62.5 (now clost to 80) It cost me about 16500 - 18000 to get mine on the road, once you include import approvals, roadworthys, rego etc etc etc..

the other problem is, that any modification done to the car when you buy it in japan needs to be taken off, so some peopel will be up for high costs of changing parts back to stock (wheels, tyres, performance parts etc).

I dont think they will be that c heap to bring into the country and get on road... but having said that the resale of the FTO is always going to continue to decrease...

In my opinion, the only people who get good resale on any car are those that service them well and keep them in a1 condition.

Are we talking about cars over 15 yrs old or newer ones in stock condition?

there are no FTO's over 15years old...

(and even those now have to be changed back to stock - as of very recently).

I'm sorry, I think I've missed something here. I thought the laws had changed and now you cannot import a second hand car that is less than 15 years old and not in stock condition. If that is the case (or maybe I have it wrong) how can FTO's be brought in??

Not sure about the import stuff, but there seems to be more "domestic" factors driving down re-sale price...

WR

Those prices would make them only slightly more expensive than they are here. I paid $13k NZD for mine, but you can get early model GPXs here for as little as $7-8k now...

from my understanding you can still import a car that is say 97.. but... the compliance is a lot tougher and therefore costs a lot more.

It doesnt have to be stock when you buy it, but it does have to be stock by the time it is registered (and no you cannot keep the aftermarket parts that the car came with).

There was formerly no compliance available to FTO's - no one was doing them as they are generally not bought in high numbers... from the post by CSV he seems to be saying that some workshops are now doing FTO compliance again - I just dont think it will be cheap.

Cars over 15years old can be brought in as well, but I have heard that even these will need to be changed back to stock very soon.

Guys importing cars is what I do ok. Im in the industry and I know these things, I know the cost of the FTO's in Japan and I have a fairly good idea about the price of compliance.

11-12 Grand is around the mark that some will be goin for Landed and Complied here in Australia. Compliance is not avalible just yet but it will be very soon.

I just wanted to here your thoughts on the subject

CSV, would u roughly know when they can be complianced and landed for around 11-12K?

The word is that it should be in the next 2-3 Monthes but no one can be sure
SEVS has just finished their analysis of the importation of FTO's and have given it the green light. Now we just have to wait for some workshops to take it on.......

Sorry CSV - things have obviously changed a lot since I imported my car. Wasn't having a go at you mate, just saying what things cost me when I did it (and apart from the actual cost of the car) i assumed the other factors, like shipping, taxes and compliance would all have increased since i did it.

good news for some if they havent.

CSV,
Is that $11k-$12k mentioned before, for you to obtain the car as a dealer as you are in the market, without your import charges?
Or, is that the final price for anybody who is a simple buyer?

Thats ok

mxysxy wrote:CSV,
Is that $11k-$12k mentioned before, for you to obtain the car as a dealer as you are in the market, without your import charges?
Or, is that the final price for anybody who is a simple buyer?

Well there is a few ways to look at it. As an Importer, I can obtain these for about 10-11 grand, about 1 thousand less than a simple buyer with the help of a broker. I add the thousand dollars on for my service fee of $500 and the other $500 goes to yards in Japan, TT Transfer, Phone charges etc. So I would send them off to a Car Dealer at around 11-12 grand.

You will not find them at this price from a Car Dealer. I assume they would sell them from 16 grand upwards.

It is very possible and easy for an average person to get an FTO at this price. You would simply import on through a broker. Such as http://www.jspec.com.au. As CSV we are affiliated with J Spec and they are a very reliable way to import an FTO in or a lot of other cars for that matter.

So simply if you wanted a car at this price then you would buy it through J Spec. They would get you one to your exact specifications.

yeh i used HB tokyo
but 2 mates used J -spec. Have met the guy who runs it a few times.

Yea good helpful there

11-12 thou is not too bad, its still not dirt cheap like 7 thou or something, so they are still pricey, (for the average consumer) value will always drop, very few cars actually increase value.

maybe im wrong, i really wouldnt know but it seems that most cars will be bought from car yards in which case 16 thou plus is pretty much the same, or private, which as stated that comes down to condition of car. so all in all the fto has done well i think to keep its value relatively well thus far.

just a question, probably to CSV as you may know better then others given your occupation, was the FTO accepted by SEVS because it is not as large a threat to safety, local market what ever, becasue of its relativly small 200hp, or maybe its limited ability to "HOTUP" via after market parts. sorry i dont understand why one car is accepted overe another.

Is it simply how well one car is built over another?????

cheers

SEVS Evaluated their decision and the whole FTO situation and decided to allow it because demand for FTO's is increasing, and yes also because it does not pose any threat to the local market within the realms of normality. There is nothing that Australia offers or produces that is remotly like the FTO so it is also to compincate the loss of the 15yr rule which is coming to an end. The public is not happy about the changes so SEVS decided to increase the number of cars which can be imported under the SEVS rule. So we dont completly hate them I spose...

CSV - no offence intended, but whenever I hear someone say 'SEVS is only just around the corner,' I switch off. Probably because there have been so many delays and changes that keep pushing the dates out.

Back in mid-2003 I was told that R34 and R32 SEVS was "just around the corner." It was basically a year before R34s became available and R32s only very recently.

Problem lies with some overenthusiastic people who despite their good intentions, spread information that doesn't hold up, because of one reason or another. Can't just fault them though, turnaround time from DOTARS is very average.

Also I think compliance costs would be fairly expensive initially. Have noticed costs start around $5000, and decrease fairly slowly after that. Even the R33, which is a popular car, compliance is still in excess of $3000.

That being said, I would love to see FTOs imported under SEVS.
Cheers...