E52 3.5L wanted - import or find one from here? Newer or older? Pro/con?

[scoobyraj]

Hi All,
Some advice please, after an Elgrand E52 3.5L.
Would like something newer and have seen a couple 2016 cars in the low £20k’s big step up from the 2011 cars in price! Is the spec so different and does it make more sense to do that from the point of view of keeping the car for a long time in terms of servicing/replacing parts etc?

Is it better to import now (rubbish exchange rate and taxes, time) or just keep looking in the UK? If import (or if an importer has one en route) … any recommendations for good importers?
Based in West London but clearly would travel for the right car.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nick H.]

I doubt many people here have a recent E52. But I hope you get some detailed answers to your post. I suggest you also do some research in other places. Looking at the wiki, the 2012 fuel economy improvement sounds interesting. Perhaps you can find out the details? The 2014 facelift appears to be only cosmetic.

Got any links for these 2016 cars you mention? Dealers often deceive with their ads, using the import date as if it were the manufacturing date.

Parts and servicing are a bit of a challenge whichever Elgrand you get. There just aren't many in the UK. You have to really want one for it to be worthwhile. Older ones are more likely to have used parts available in Europe, perhaps from a breaker

Car values in Japan fall off a cliff after a few years because of the cost of the Japanese MoT. This is why we can import older cars quite cheaply.
I have a 2010 E52 3.5 Highway Star Premium, which I bought at a Japanese auction via JDMAuctionwatch. Hammer price was under £3k. Shipping, tax and commission took the total to £7300. You might find it interesting to sign up with JDM (which costs nothing) so you can see live auction prices. Then you can calculate how much you might save buying this way. It varies a lot. And you have to be patient because it takes months for the car to get here by ship.

 

[sumogne]

I doubt many people here have a recent E52. But I hope you get some detailed answers to your post. I suggest you also do some research in other places. Looking at the wiki, the 2012 fuel economy improvement sounds interesting. Perhaps you can find out the details? The 2014 facelift appears to be only cosmetic.

Got any links for these 2016 cars you mention? Dealers often deceive with their ads, using the import date as if it were the manufacturing date.

Parts and servicing are a bit of a challenge whichever Elgrand you get. There just aren't many in the UK. You have to really want one for it to be worthwhile. Older ones are more likely to have used parts available in Europe, perhaps from a breaker

Car values in Japan fall off a cliff after a few years because of the cost of the Japanese MoT. This is why we can import older cars quite cheaply.
I have a 2010 E52 3.5 Highway Star Premium, which I bought at a Japanese auction via JDMAuctionwatch. Hammer price was under £3k. Shipping, tax and commission took the total to £7300. You might find it interesting to sign up with JDM (which costs nothing) so you can see live auction prices. Then you can calculate how much you might save buying this way. It varies a lot. And you have to be patient because it takes months for the car to get here by ship.

Hi, been looking at this option of direct import and JDMauction watch is interesting!

Can I ask - what heppened when your car arrived at UK port. Did you get it on a transporter delviered to home address, then fitted a rear fog light for MOT at local garage?

It's that part of the import process that is unclear in my mind, as I don't think you can just drive it out of the UK port ? Thanks

 

[Nick H.]

It's legal to drive an unregistered car with no MoT from the port to a prebooked appointment at your MoT station of choice, so that's what I did. The car was in Southampton, parked at the docks. The MoT station was about 60 miles away near Guildford. It felt strange to have no number plates or anything. The shipping company had stuck various Japanese forms and notices on the windows and I left them there, in case anyone was wondering what I was up to.

(N.B. My car was over 10 years old when I imported it, so it was exempt from IVA. I have no idea what difference IVA makes.)

The car started on the button in the Southampton car park. Such a strong battery! No warning lights on the dash! That was a surprise. It had been on the ship for about 6 months because of Covid delays to world shipping. Maybe the shippers had been running it now and again to charge the battery? I have no idea.

The bad news was that it had a big leak of steering pump fluid. Sometimes the power steering would cut out briefly at very low speed. I first noticed it at a filling station in Southampton, a mile after I collected it. So I couldn't go ahead with the MoT test. I had to find somewhere to store it (a friend's field!) and research the problem before deciding what to do. I spoke to Martin at DRA Services in South Croydon, an independent specialist with lots of experience of Elgrand steering pump problems. I bought some steering pump O rings on ebay and some fluid and got the car taken on a transporter from the field to DRA. They fitted the O rings and a rear fog light and cleaned some rust off the brake discs and it passed its MoT. The bill was very reasonable. They are great guys, Elgrand enthusiasts and they really know their stuff. I can't recommend them too highly.

On the one hand I was lucky that the pump was such an easy fix, and I didn't need to replace it. (This would have been easy but not cheap - plenty of rebuilt Elgrand pumps on ebay.)

On the other hand I was cheesed off that I'd bought a car with a faulty pump! JDM said the car had been inspected before the auction and this had never happened before. Maybe the O rings were fine until I started the car at Southampton? The steering was normal while manoeuvering in the car park. It didn't start cutting out until I stopped for petrol. So maybe that's when the O rings blew. I've read that they can do that if someone tops up the pump with incorrect fluid. The pump is very sensitive to the fluid viscosity. So always get the correct fluid. It's easy to get and doesn't cost much.

Another oddity about my car is that it's been lowered a little. It looks normal and it drives OK on bumpy British roads, so it's probably only a couple of cms less than standard. The auction details did say that the springs were not standard. But I didn't worry about it. On reflection I think this was a bit reckless. I really don't know what shocks and springs I have, and maybe the car will be too low for muddy camp sites and forest trails? I have no idea. It would be very expensive if I had to get a complete set of new shocks and springs. I should have been more careful and cautious and bid on a car with no modifications.

At the end of the day I could probably sell the car for a lot more than it cost. And it's been an interesting adventure buying it.

 

[Magnu]

It's that part of the import process that is unclear in my mind, as I don't think you can just drive it out of the UK port ? Thanks

Not sure how the police will act if they stop you and they find your pride and joy is unregistered and uninsured. Trade plates, if you have them may make a difference.
Get some proper advice from relevant authorities rather than asking folk on the internet.

Here is a link to CAB as a starter for 10
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/c...urance/when-you-don-t-need-vehicle-insurance/

 

[Nick H.]

Or you could ask one of the insurance companies which specialise in unusual cars, e.g. Adrian Flux. They deal with this situation all the time. "Folk on the internet" without first hand experience are unlikely to know. They might point you towards a non-specialist source like Citizens Advice. Adrian Flux arranged my insurance using the VIN number. Google "VIN number insurance" and you'll see many insurers who offer this for imported cars. The VIN number is on all the Japanese documents - you can see it before you bid. The only driving you can do with this cover is to a prebooked MoT test. But don't take my word for it - have a Google and call some insurers.

Getting the car trucked instead of driving it yourself is simpler and not expensive unless it's long distance. But if you've bought a car unseen in another country and it's spent months at sea, you really need to inspect it as soon as it comes off the ship. If you don't see it until after it has been trucked across the UK, and it has scratches and dents which weren't on the auction description, what are you going to do? And if you go to the port and inspect the car, it will be a bit frustrating to hand it to the truck driver when you could have just driven it yourself with a phone call to your insurer.

 

[Nick H.]

I should have mentioned VIN number insurance before, but it's all so long ago that I forgot. Sorry. Must be getting senile.

 

[sumogne]

Or you could ask one of the insurance companies which specialise in unusual cars, e.g. Adrian Flux. They deal with this situation all the time. "Folk on the internet" without first hand experience are unlikely to know. They might point you towards a non-specialist source like Citizens Advice. Adrian Flux arranged my insurance using the VIN number. Google "VIN number insurance" and you'll see many insurers who offer this for imported cars. The VIN number is on all the Japanese documents - you can see it before you bid. The only driving you can do with this cover is to a prebooked MoT test. But don't take my word for it - have a Google and call some insurers.

Getting the car trucked instead of driving it yourself is simpler and not expensive unless it's long distance. But if you've bought a car unseen in another country and it's spent months at sea, you really need to inspect it as soon as it comes off the ship. If you don't see it until after it has been trucked across the UK, and it has scratches and dents which weren't on the auction description, what are you going to do? And if you go to the port and inspect the car, it will be a bit frustrating to hand it to the truck driver when you could have just driven it yourself with a phone call to your insurer.

Thanks for the advice and all the information above - extremely helpful! Also a very good point about if getting it trucked from the port, that it should be inspected it prior to that, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Nick H.]

Thanks for the advice and all the information above - extremely helpful! Also a very good point about if getting it trucked from the port, that it should be inspected it prior to that, I hadn't thought of that.

If you check it as soon as it's ashore, and it's been damaged by the shipping company or the handlers at the docks, you might have a chance to get compensation from the shipping company's insurance, but only if the damage is reported before the car leaves the port. See the FAQ at jdmauctionwatch.com

I have no idea how jdmauctionwatch compares with the many other auction agents. If only there was a comparison online somewhere. All you can do is google all the relevant car forums, looking for people who've done it. Good luck! Most people are put off by all the challenges - they just pay the extra and buy from a UK dealer. But in many ways the Japanese used car market is more trustworthy than the British one. There's a lot more state regulation over there.