welcome all... help with a decision?
#1
Pole Position
Thread Starter
welcome all... help with a decision?
Hey everyone, i'm from australia first of all... i'd like to say hello and introduce myself...
i'm looking at importing a Soarer from Japan - that's just the way we do things over here in aus, we never got the lexus SC
consider me somewhat of a collector... i don't WANT a brand new car... i just want a soarer. soarers are commonplace here in aus and i want something that's DIFFERENT enough to be worthy of import
anyway
i've been looking in Japan for AGES now for a car that i want that's worthy of importation into our country... it's not been easy...
i've been looking for a toyota soarer Lpackage... 97-99 VVTI single turbo... in reasonable condition to daily drive...
i won't reveal my sources of where this car is incase an australian ends up cutting my grass and buying it from beneath my feet
but my agent and i stumbled across this in japan... it's a 1995 Lpackage... unmodified except for the mods which are visible..
as you can see. the paint is incredible... the owner insists he hasn't polished it as he hasn't had time, this is evident because of no swirl marks... he says it's original toyota paint... he's the 2nd owner, and it has been kept garaged it's whole life...
this is the interior... as you can see... the KILOMETRE reading is 61 thousand. i dunno what this works out to be in miles, but the odo is genuine and service history and logbooks are there too... and as you can see... it's in pristine condition... non smoking car (rare find in japan)
my question, forum... is...
should i get this mint condition series 1.5? or should i hold out and get a 97-00 build and risk getting a newer built but possibly worse condition car... keep in mind i've been searching for months for a car now...
...thoughts?
ps
for those of you who think you're cool because you opened up and restored your headlights, or replaced with supermade / brightx lenses...
read it n weep.
original condition.
i'm looking at importing a Soarer from Japan - that's just the way we do things over here in aus, we never got the lexus SC
consider me somewhat of a collector... i don't WANT a brand new car... i just want a soarer. soarers are commonplace here in aus and i want something that's DIFFERENT enough to be worthy of import
anyway
i've been looking in Japan for AGES now for a car that i want that's worthy of importation into our country... it's not been easy...
i've been looking for a toyota soarer Lpackage... 97-99 VVTI single turbo... in reasonable condition to daily drive...
i won't reveal my sources of where this car is incase an australian ends up cutting my grass and buying it from beneath my feet
but my agent and i stumbled across this in japan... it's a 1995 Lpackage... unmodified except for the mods which are visible..
as you can see. the paint is incredible... the owner insists he hasn't polished it as he hasn't had time, this is evident because of no swirl marks... he says it's original toyota paint... he's the 2nd owner, and it has been kept garaged it's whole life...
this is the interior... as you can see... the KILOMETRE reading is 61 thousand. i dunno what this works out to be in miles, but the odo is genuine and service history and logbooks are there too... and as you can see... it's in pristine condition... non smoking car (rare find in japan)
my question, forum... is...
should i get this mint condition series 1.5? or should i hold out and get a 97-00 build and risk getting a newer built but possibly worse condition car... keep in mind i've been searching for months for a car now...
...thoughts?
ps
for those of you who think you're cool because you opened up and restored your headlights, or replaced with supermade / brightx lenses...
read it n weep.
original condition.
#5
Pole Position
Thread Starter
ahahahhaha wtf!!!
a fellow wa'er!!!
i'm pretty certain i saw your car last tuesday night turning onto main street off royal... i was sitting in amaretto's cafe!
were you going to inaloo maybe?
who knows, you may already be familiar with my car!
it's the white Nissan Cefiro with the body kit and the black boot lip spoiler... everyone knows it by that description haha
hmmmm... i KNOW i can put a 97 conversion on it... however there's a few hangups i have about it...
95...
no airbag
no VVTI
but as you can see... that particular car would be like driving off the showroom floor... sooooooooo i think i could happily fore go the extra features of the 96+ and just be happy with that one...
i was actually going to get this one http://www.j-spec.com.au/dealer/2000...T-3460007.html
2000 Lpackage with 18 thousand km...
but nobody in australia has the plates for 2000 build turbos!
so had to give it up to a local dealer...
the other glaring advantage of the 95 is that because it's a 95 i can still get it complied here in Perth, rather than getting it complied in Vic and getting it transported over... giving me an extra thousand bucks...
hmmm... defs something to consider!
glad i'm importing though... looking at some of the RUBBISH that's on carsales it's sickening!!!
a fellow wa'er!!!
i'm pretty certain i saw your car last tuesday night turning onto main street off royal... i was sitting in amaretto's cafe!
were you going to inaloo maybe?
who knows, you may already be familiar with my car!
it's the white Nissan Cefiro with the body kit and the black boot lip spoiler... everyone knows it by that description haha
hmmmm... i KNOW i can put a 97 conversion on it... however there's a few hangups i have about it...
95...
no airbag
no VVTI
but as you can see... that particular car would be like driving off the showroom floor... sooooooooo i think i could happily fore go the extra features of the 96+ and just be happy with that one...
i was actually going to get this one http://www.j-spec.com.au/dealer/2000...T-3460007.html
2000 Lpackage with 18 thousand km...
but nobody in australia has the plates for 2000 build turbos!
so had to give it up to a local dealer...
the other glaring advantage of the 95 is that because it's a 95 i can still get it complied here in Perth, rather than getting it complied in Vic and getting it transported over... giving me an extra thousand bucks...
hmmm... defs something to consider!
glad i'm importing though... looking at some of the RUBBISH that's on carsales it's sickening!!!
#6
Lead Lap
yes i agree some of the crap they have on carsales is just sad. as for a non vvti, depends on what you want from the car. non vvtis are generally easier to mod. but the vvti is faster in stock form.
that white one looks quite nice too, but black on black is just in a class of its own!
how come you cant compile the 2000 cars?
that white one looks quite nice too, but black on black is just in a class of its own!
how come you cant compile the 2000 cars?
#7
Hacked CL to become a Mod
did that thing just roll out of the factory or something? I've seen some 2000s that don't even look half as good as your car. Your car is mint...keep it that way.
Trending Topics
#11
Pole Position
Thread Starter
okay to clarify the above last few posts...
2000 soarers are eligable for compliance in Australia... DOTARS (the governing body) have them on the SEVS list of approved importable cars
however!
to make the car COMPLIABLE... the emissions tests and safety checks have to be performed... the RAWS workshop that got the evidence package done (this process costs the workshop about 25K, mind you this evidence package was done a few years ago when soarers were still very expensive!)
the only evidence package that austrlaia has approval for is the 1999 because that was all the shop could afford... since this package was done, nobody has bother to pay to get another package done for the year 2000 because nobody imports soarers anymore because there are so many of them and they're not worth a dealers / compliance shops time
so - 2000 GT (2J vvti non turbo) is available and very cheap
but GT-T (1J single vvti turbo) is not available unless it's a 1999 build
the owner in japan just got back to me and my agent as to how much yen he wants for his car...
...he says he wants 600K yen, i CAN offer him 550K but haggling / bargaining is considered an insult in japan, it's classed as the height of rudeness to offer less than the asking price pretty much :P
for you americans thinking "wtf does the yen price mean"
it means this soarer would be in my home country, landed, complied and ready to be registered for 15thousand AUD
this is actually very expensive for a soarer, soarers of this age in aust can be had for about 6 - 9 thousand... but this soarer, as you can see is not your average run of the mill soarer / SC with holes cut into the dash to fit exhaust temp guages, as someone said, it looks fresh off showroom floor...
so there's a lot to consider for me as a buyer really...
but as my agent says, it's the choice of getting an immaculate condition earlier model or risk getting an "ok condition for it's age" later model...
by the way
why are you americans so jealous of us? like why do i always read you guys saying "you wish you could import soarers"
you guys HAVE locally delivered SC's... what makes the soarer a better car then the SC? what's different?
ps - forgive me if my language / typing is very proper and over worded it's just that australian slang words and american slang words make our speech two very different languages, so it's for everyone's benefit that i talk like a snob. haha
2000 soarers are eligable for compliance in Australia... DOTARS (the governing body) have them on the SEVS list of approved importable cars
however!
to make the car COMPLIABLE... the emissions tests and safety checks have to be performed... the RAWS workshop that got the evidence package done (this process costs the workshop about 25K, mind you this evidence package was done a few years ago when soarers were still very expensive!)
the only evidence package that austrlaia has approval for is the 1999 because that was all the shop could afford... since this package was done, nobody has bother to pay to get another package done for the year 2000 because nobody imports soarers anymore because there are so many of them and they're not worth a dealers / compliance shops time
so - 2000 GT (2J vvti non turbo) is available and very cheap
but GT-T (1J single vvti turbo) is not available unless it's a 1999 build
the owner in japan just got back to me and my agent as to how much yen he wants for his car...
...he says he wants 600K yen, i CAN offer him 550K but haggling / bargaining is considered an insult in japan, it's classed as the height of rudeness to offer less than the asking price pretty much :P
for you americans thinking "wtf does the yen price mean"
it means this soarer would be in my home country, landed, complied and ready to be registered for 15thousand AUD
this is actually very expensive for a soarer, soarers of this age in aust can be had for about 6 - 9 thousand... but this soarer, as you can see is not your average run of the mill soarer / SC with holes cut into the dash to fit exhaust temp guages, as someone said, it looks fresh off showroom floor...
so there's a lot to consider for me as a buyer really...
but as my agent says, it's the choice of getting an immaculate condition earlier model or risk getting an "ok condition for it's age" later model...
by the way
why are you americans so jealous of us? like why do i always read you guys saying "you wish you could import soarers"
you guys HAVE locally delivered SC's... what makes the soarer a better car then the SC? what's different?
ps - forgive me if my language / typing is very proper and over worded it's just that australian slang words and american slang words make our speech two very different languages, so it's for everyone's benefit that i talk like a snob. haha
#13
Lexus Champion
iTrader: (14)
Wow that car is gorgeous! But for 15k, (~12.7k usd for those wondering) I would see what else is out there. You could save yourself some money by looking domestically, although your selection will not be nearly as good. It's your money though, and if you think this car is worth it, I say go for it. You will probably not see one in this great of condition for a long time.