Mazinger

HI all,
While browsing on the net I thought "Why not check Toyota's China site" , And so I did, However I stood in awe as I saw that the 180 series Crown was being sold in China! At first the thought of a right handed version came to my mind (the Century is sold in RHD form in china), but then i entered the site as was STUNNED to see that the car is Left handed!
here is the site http://crown.toyota.com.cn/index.html
However the site dosen't mention a price for it, I expected that it would be more than the 5 million yen for the 2wd 3.0 crown in japan (roughly 48000 USD) and this is for the DBA-GRS182- AETUH model hoever this site mentions that the highest model in the crown lineup in china costs 480000 yuan http://my.tdctrade.com/airnewse/index.asp?id=5687 which is about 58000 USD, and thats probably for the GRS182L-DETUKC whish SHOULD lack a few features from its Jpanese sibling, now I don't know how much does the Chinese goverment charge for taxes on new cars (and built in China at that), but it does sound kind of reaosonable.
Here are the models offered in China http://www.fudatoyota.com/cy/hg8.htm and offered in Japan http://toyota.jp/crownroyal/grade/grade/index.html .
As you can see the Crowns interior looks strickingly similar to that of the Lexus GS. Atlest in the gearshift area, The Dashboard is definetly different though, but it wouldnt surprise me to see that the new GS shares more than the engine and transmission with the Crown.
http://crown.toyota.com.cn/html/intro/interior.html
Some picture of the GS's interior.


With the GS300 2WD even beign cheaper than either Crown's that are sold in Japan or China at 43500 USD, it kinds of surpprises me, why were they testing the Crown's in the USA, since its pointless to sell it there unless the price is much lower (probably by 5000USD at least) than the GS300 2WD, Which I don't see happning. Also I wonder if the Crown LHD will be returned in the Middle East ,there will be a huge demand for them in Iraq, as its the "national car" there, kind of the bettles in Mexico, However no China Toyota cars are sold in the Middle East at the moment, Unline the USA where the Corolla sold there is made in China.
Toyota's Hong Kong site weirdly (for me at least) has the Japanese Corolla and Crown in RHD form. Is this normal? Since HK is a part of China now, wouldn't they move to LHD?
Finally does anyone know the rules in China for foreigners owning cars (taxes...etc)? and what about exporting cars from China to the world, is it easy like in Japan or not?
I'd really like to see this car sold Internationally, as it is my favourite one.
regards.

Falcon LS

As far as the Middle East market goes, to be honest I don't really see the Toyota Crown returning any time soon becuase the current lineup is pretty much established itself so to speak. The Crown used to be pretty popular in the 80s though, just like the Caprice Classics...mainly because they were reliable and cheap to run vehicles. US$48,000 is a lot of money for a Crown, as you pointed out so I doubt it would attract any interest in it as a Toyota...

It wouldn't be that difficult to import one from Japan to the Middle East though...you can get it converted to LHD easily in the UAE.

redkingjoe

i'm not interested in crown so is the majority in hong kong because the crown is designed to be used with a chauffeur. so

1 most of the good things are left at the rear seat: such as rear message seats, vcd, wine cooler etc

2 the driver seats are very primitive, mainly come with manual movement

3 it's not stress on the fun of driving when designing but rather designed to make the one at back seat to be most comfortable

4 it's slightly more expensive than the 2004 GS 300 in hk.

if one drives oneself, i don't think it's wise to take that

Mazinger

Its a sad thing a great car like the Crown won't be offered in the Mid-East, however i'm sure the Gs300 will try to fill its spot.

RHD to LHD conversions are a no no, specially with these newer cars (fiber optics wires, who can extend them), they are virtually banned in the UAE anyway now, you can only register them in Dubai and they have to be converted by one of the monopolising garages that are in the goverments "certified" list, and even those don't do a proper conversion. I belive the steering wheel should remain where it belongs.

The first 3 points redkingjoe seem to fit the Crown comfort (130 series) better than the 180 series crown i'm talking about, This one should have a very "Lexus" feel to it, kind of between the LS and the GS (I haven't drove it, but this is what i expect) , I don't think the GS350 is out yet in Japan, but it should be priced similarly to the high end crown at 5mil yen.

Can you tell us about the registration and export laws in HK and China? Also why do HK drive on the left and in China poeple drive on the right, I thought they became one country in 99, do you need a permit to move from HK to China too?

GS400kid

HK was a British colony, thats why they are RHD, and switching RHD to LHD would be fun to see people turning into wrong lanes after they have been driving in the opposite direction for 20 years or so, also that would be PAIN IN THE BUTT. And i think there is no point of switching it, as now everything is fine, it will be a big mess if they switch it anyhow

Cars that sold in China and you dont see it anywhere else in the world, they are probably MADE IN CHINA, exporting will be much easier than Japan...its only the matter do you want one or not. and the next thing is getting it register in the US will be the hardest part.

Mazinger

I'm surprised you are saying that exporting out of China is easier than Japan, thought it'd be the other way round.
No problem for registeration for me (at least for now) any left handed car can be registered in my country.
I think these Crowns would be pretty cheap in 2 or 3 years (i'm expecting 40% down) maybe it would be efficent to import one then. Since its by Toyota it would rock for ever (Japanese Toyotas do, dunno about this one).

TLW

any more news on this

Mazinger

No news, exept that I found out that the chinese are not exactly the best of drivers (read: too many accidents) hope these Crowns remain in one piece for a few years.

I'm wondering how many they'll sell, and how well optioned they'd be, In Europe people don't usually buy high-optioned cars, but in japan they do.

TLW

i was actually talking with someone about selling my GS in japan and bringing a Crown over in its place

i think if you register as a show car you can drive it

thoughts?

XeroK00L

Apparently somebody has already done it, unless it was a Toyota HQ/dealer's test car.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=159488

Mazinger

Bringing the car to the US, i'm not very sure of that, but think of this.

you export a 06 gs300 out of the country, then you export a crown to the same country, now swap the vin plates and import the crown to the US with the gs's vins. The customs in the US should know the gs has been exported and will probably allow it to come back again with minimal fuss, only it will be a "bodykitted" gs for them. think it will work for you? its downright illegal, but sometimes you have to take the risk to get smething you want.

Good thing this does not apply to me, as long as the steering wheel is on the left (origanally) I can get the car registered in my country easily. Then again I don't know when this might stop.