Importing a Porsche from Japan

[Shane911]

I would like to seek forum members thought on importing a Porsche from Japan.

I recently spent 5 years living in New Zealand and about half the cars on the road over there are Japanese imports (registration cost in Japan make it uneconomic to keep a car past about 5 years of age). My experience in NZ is that these cars are very good (only low KM, well maintained and accident free cars are imported). 

There are a LOT more Porsche's available for sale in Japan than there are here in Australia and the prices are cheap (compared to Australia).

eg you can get a 6/2012 997.2 Turbo with 41,000 kms on the clock for about JPY 12,000,000 or $142k AUD.

https://www.goo-net-exchange.com/usedcars/PORSCHE/911/700956006630220306003/index.html

 I have run some numbers and it seems to make sense from an economic point of view.  See below.

Has anyone imported from Japan? Does anyone see any errors in my calculations?

The price I have used for an Australian equivalent car is probably understated, sellers seem to be asking a lot more than this (which makes the Japanese import even more attractive)

If you assume the Japanese import will incur a discount of 20% to an Australian delivered car when you come to sell then, then you are still 10% ($20K) in front but if you intend to keep it and drive it then you are $75k in front (and you have more chance of getting the model and options that you want)

Feedback would be welcome.

[MARTY]

Interested to see what others think this is a subject that has crossed my mind before,All I would say is if you are keeping the car that’s fine it’s when you come to sell it as most buyers only want an Aussie delivered car.The prices for advertised cars might be high but who’s to say what they sell for? In theory it does sound good.

[mbj]

I think you’d need to get it Australian complianced / engineering to get it registered in most if not all states and territory’s here.

[s4guy]

few things you will run into. 

Either you need to live in japan for one year to import it as a personal import or the car needs to be 25 years old. (current limit is 1997).

[MFX]

You need to look a bit deeper, because I believe basically all of the 911's in Japan are Left Hand Drive even though their own cars are RHD. It is a thing with the Japanese getting a LHD Porsches and other 'exotics' as they were originally intended to be in that format.

[WGA]

1 hour ago, s4guy said:

few things you will run into. 

Either you need to live in japan for one year to import it as a personal import or the car needs to be 25 years old. (current limit is 1997).

Exactly, If the car is less than 25 years old, not only must you have lived in Japan for 12 months, you must have also owned the car in Japan for 12 mths prior to attempting to import it....and you must have driven it at least 6,000kms during that period. However, if that car is less than 25 years old AND LHD, all bets are off, you simply cannot import it at all.

[sleazius]

Even if you could import a 2012 model while living here (you can't), prior to the explosion in values brought about by covid, the discount on imported cars was often in the 30% range. So while the numbers might stack up right now, there is no guarantee that it will stay that way once supply picks back up and/or interest rates rise.

[Coastr]

I remember when I got excited about the possibility of importing a car and did the sums, and then someone explained to me the iron-fisted grip the Australian government has over vehicle imports.  That iron grip is what grants the manufacturers an exclusive monopoly which is why the dealers gouge the local market.  
 

I went ahead and did it anyway but there’s no bargains to be had - the pricing of imports is exactly where you’d expect it to be.  Arbitrage profits for imported cars don’t exist, unless you get lucky on the exchange rate, at which point you should have just traded exchange futures and cut out all the paperwork and waiting around.

Yet another example of the Australian government saving consumers from the scourge of lower prices and greater choice.   Yes the NZ govt is far more sane in many ways (not all)

The new rolling 25 year rule is an improvement over the old, but not much.  And it’s the same as the American rule which means 25 yo Jap cars start getting bid up in price as the yanks start wanting to buy cars they never got.

You will find the odd RHD Porsche in Japan - but it’s true that buyers of euro cars in JP chose LHD a lot - it’s a bit like buying a manual car for them - more street cred. 
 

Go and do it if you want (25 yo+) but you’ll find after all is said and done just buying an already imported or Oz delivered car was less hassle.  But if you see something you gotta have, have at it.

[Shane911]

The rules on importing cars changed as of 1st of July 2021 there are now exemptions for rare models, eg less than 3,000 built a year and a there is no difficulty at all in find a RHD Porsche in Japan. Doesn't have to be over 25 years old and you don't have to have lived there for 12 months.

[Sov]

1 hour ago, Shane911 said:

there are now exemptions for rare models, eg less than 3,000 built a year

How do they count this? Is a 997.1 and a 997.2 considered a different model for example? What about a coupe vs a cabriolet. Can you import an 06 Turbo Coupe (2150 produced), but not an 07 Turbo Coupe (7885 produced)?

[Coastr]

I’m pretty sure the rare models apply to vehicles not sold in Australia.  Carrera Gt yes, 911 turbo no.  I don’t know how thin you can slice it - ie a model variant not sold in Australia of a 911 - does that apply or not.  The whole thing is to prevent parallel imports and protect the dealer monopoly.  So they aren’t going to open up grey imports of expensive models.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sevs-guide.pdf

[RLR997]

I just completed the process of personally importing my 997 Turbo and Cayenne GTS from NZ, to be honest it was the biggest pain in the ass part of moving back to Aus.  It was expensive, bureaucratic and time consuming.  The only thing that made it worthwhile was the comparative price difference I bought the cars from in NZ and replacement cost in Aus.  

 Can't see how you could make the Japan thing work given the above and others comments

[edgy]

On 16/03/2022 at 00:19, Coastr said:

I’m pretty sure the rare models apply to vehicles not sold in Australia.  Carrera Gt yes, 911 turbo no.  I don’t know how thin you can slice it - ie a model variant not sold in Australia of a 911 - does that apply or not.  The whole thing is to prevent parallel imports and protect the dealer monopoly.  So they aren’t going to open up grey imports of expensive models.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/sevs-guide.pdf

From the preliminary rules, this is how it was... surely they make more than 100 911 Turbos per year? 

Rarity: total worldwide production of the vehicle ‘Make’ is less than 3000 units per year; or total worldwide production of the vehicle ‘Model’ is less than 1000 units per year; or total worldwide production of the vehicle ‘Variant’ is less than 100 vehicles per year.

 

[Coastr]

@RLR997 the process is fun, isn’t it!  Lots of waiting and paying bills.  Were these NZ delivered cars or imported from somewhere else to NZ?

[Rblove33]

Hi, Joining the conversation as I have a similar situation. 

I am living in Japan, and will be re-patriating to Australia end of next year. COnsidering I have about 12 months left, I was considering to buy (*very soon) a porsche to bring back (taking some advantage of my situation). It seems that basically only the non 911 cars are RHD (very rarely but you can get 911 also in RHD but mostly are LHD because Japan allows it, Porsche Japan imports them and sells locally, and they get the additional options of the europeans like the larger fuel tanks). 

So the options are really things like Cayman Gt4, Spyder etc... But I have another interesting topic trying to look into, what about if I need to sell the car down the track, are there restrictions on the grey imports and another would be, if any australian buyers would find it difficult to justify to buy an imported car? (i.e. will I be left holding that car longer than I'd want... ) - keen to hear any input or opinions (on second point). 

[sleazius]

Any of the serious JDM cars will probably make you more money and far easier to sell because there aren't any hang-ups in that community re: imports like there are in the p-car space.

 

[Dalai]

12 hours ago, sleazius said:

Any of the serious JDM cars will probably make you more money and far easier to sell because there aren't any hang-ups in that community re: imports like there are in the p-car space.

 

Hakosuka 

[P-Kay]

8 minutes ago, Dalai said:

Hakosuka

Have you watched the Skid Factory plonking a V8 into one? Sounds glorious 👍

[sleazius]

1 hour ago, Dalai said:

Hakosuka 

I'll take a NSX-R (NA1 or NA2, not picky)

[Quackers]

I’d be tipping you’ve not allowed anywhere near enough on your shipping, marine insurance, and landing costs.
If it’s like importing from the USA that I’ve done multiple times before your also going to be slugged cleaning and customs inspection & attendance fees, paperwork and data fees, transport and container fees. 
then I’d be banking that you will have some extra expenses with getting compliance for Aus road Registration 
All the steps along the way they don’t see a nice 911 turbo they see a cow that needs to be milked…

also if it got damaged during transport I’d imagine no one will be putting their hand up and insurance might not play ball either (but you’d still want cover in case of a total loss claim) 
I know a guy who had brake fluid destroy the trunk/roof/bonnet of his ex usa muscle car and he was out of pocket 15k to have it fixed no one would admit what happened and it couldn’t be seen in any of the purchase or loading pics.

also some salty parts of Japan can be harsh on the underneath of a 911 yet it might look very tidy throughout. 

[MFX]

On 21/12/2022 at 23:54, Rblove33 said:

Hi, Joining the conversation as I have a similar situation. 

I am living in Japan, and will be re-patriating to Australia end of next year. COnsidering I have about 12 months left, I was considering to buy (*very soon) a porsche to bring back (taking some advantage of my situation). It seems that basically only the non 911 cars are RHD (very rarely but you can get 911 also in RHD but mostly are LHD because Japan allows it, Porsche Japan imports them and sells locally, and they get the additional options of the europeans like the larger fuel tanks). 

So the options are really things like Cayman Gt4, Spyder etc... But I have another interesting topic trying to look into, what about if I need to sell the car down the track, are there restrictions on the grey imports and another would be, if any australian buyers would find it difficult to justify to buy an imported car? (i.e. will I be left holding that car longer than I'd want... ) - keen to hear any input or opinions (on second point). 

Another thing you may not be aware of is that if/when you go to sell the car in Australia, it will be worth significantly less than the Aussie delivered equivalent. In Aus, imports are harder to sell and generally go for around 20% less than an otherwise identical Aus delivered car. So that should factor into your financial calculations. 

[Rblove33]

2 hours ago, MFX said:

Another thing you may not be aware of is that if/when you go to sell the car in Australia, it will be worth significantly less than the Aussie delivered equivalent. In Aus, imports are harder to sell and generally go for around 20% less than an otherwise identical Aus delivered car. So that should factor into your financial calculations. 

Thank you! Exactly what I was looking to know! 

P.s. love your work!